Winter Photography in the Rockies

Article and Images by Dominique Chamberlain

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Visiting Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks have always been an exceptionally rewarding experience for my husband and me. For many years we have had the opportunity to explore both national parks by foot—backpacking, back country skiing and snowmobiling. The ways to enjoy these two marvelous national parks and their surrounding areas are unlimited and many local organizations can provide the visitors with wildlife watches, snowshoe walks, ice fishing, cross country skiing, or dogsledding to name just a few of the winter activities. Yellowstone National Park (307.344.7311 and www.TravelYellowstone.com) can provide you with a list of outfitters offering a variety of rentals and guide services.

There is always something going on throughout the year in the Tetons, but most visitors are there during summer when the weather is sunny and warm. Winter dominates the Teton country for about half of the year. The snow can be extremely deep and night temperatures often fall below -25 degrees Fahrenheit during the winter months.

Storms may hide the mountains for a few days in a row but after they pass the cold, clear, dry air permits unsurpassed views and photographic opportunities. As a photographer I would say that Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks are my favorite examples of the western frontier—winter only enhances their rugged scenery. Winter is truly spectacular in this part of the United States, but it can be extremely demanding physically. Because journeying by back country skiing or snowmobile will be in frigid temperatures, some knowledge, skills and survival equipment are necessary. A cellular telephone is probably a good idea even though a signal is not available in all areas of the parks.

For the last few years we have been traveling the parks and wonderful national forests surrounding them with our snowmobile, pulling an aluminum skimmer to hold our photographic gear, ski and survival equipment. All our camera equipment is protected in Pelican cases filled with foam. We usually carry our camera bodies between our thermal underwear and fleece and have extra batteries in the inner pockets of our coats. In frigid temperatures, batteries loose power and the shutter may fail. To protect your equipment against such failure extra precautions need to be taken for both the electronics of the cameras as well for your film. The film becomes more brittle with extremely cold temperatures. If your camera allow, it is a good idea to rewind manually at the end of the roll. This will also save some of your batteries.

Upon returning at night, we always bring our Pelican cases inside and do no open them for a few hours. If you bring your equipment indoors and do not allow it to warm up slowly, the cold surface of the lenses will become covered with moisture from the warm ambient room air. This could also happen to your film inside your camera. To avoid this problem, we are careful to bring all our equipment slowly to room temperature.

While we travel throughout Yellowstone, we also make a habit of leaving from the South entrance and stopping overnight at Flag Ranch. Then we proceed to Grand Teton National Park the next day time it to catch sunrise of the Teton range. Watching the sun rise over the entire range evokes a feeling of awe. The view is breathtaking and unforgettable.

Once in Grand Teton Park, several possibilities for further travel exist. The Gros Ventre area is open to winter recreational vehicles and offer wonderful wildlife watching. After exploring the Grand Teton area, including Bridger Teton National Forest, you may want to travel back into Yellowstone. An overnight stay in Old Faithful Lodge is always fun. Prior reservations for Old Faithful Lodge are a must. Upon arriving at Old Faithful your trip from the most southern point in Grand Teton National Park that is accessible by snowmobile will have brought you approximately 85 miles. There will be many incredible photo opportunities along the way.

In both parks and adjacent national forest, wildlife is abundant. Elk, bison, mule deer, moose and coyotes are common during winter months and should be quite easy to photograph.

There will also be grand opportunities for landscape photography. If you have the chance to visit after a fresh snow fall, you will probably experience some bright surroundings on sunny days. Because you will be traveling during the brightest part of the day, you need to be concerned about the potential contrast you may encounter. However, the snow surround your subject will act as a giant reflector filling shadows and somewhat reducing contrast.

The most challenging problem that may be encounter while traveling in the Rockies is proper exposure and altitude. Both national parks are over 6,000 feet and as we gain in altitude the natural light provided by the sun becomes more bluish. This bluish cast can be compensated for by using an 81B filter. With an SLR camera the through the lens meter make the proper adjustments for the light loss of the filter. If you are using a manual camera, you may expect a one–third F–stop loss of light and will have to open the lens accordingly.

The exposure will be more critical when surrounded by snow fields than in most other landscapes. We do not want muddy light gray snow or even washed out snow, so exposure is critical. Over exposure or underexposure are not pleasing and can break a photograph. If we keep in mind that the built-in meter in our camera measures light reflected by the subject and that it will suggest the combination of shutter speed and aperture to obtain an eighteen percent gray tone, things become simpler. We see most object because they reflect light. The more light an object reflect, the brighter it appears. A bright snow field is a perfect example of high reflectance. When we take a reflected light reading of bright snow, camera meters will adjust to a combination of shutter speed and aperture to obtain an eighteen percent gray. The result is disappointing when we received our slides from the processing lab.

There are several ways to solve the exposure problem. One is to use a gray card. However, the gray card must be in the same light as your subject. Another alternative is to use the spot metering function (assuming this option is available to you) and find an area that compares to an average gray and meter on it. This could be the blue in the sky or the average tone of a tree. You can also take a direct reflected light reading from the bright snow and add 1 to 1.5 or even 2 F–stops to the exposure suggested by the meter. By doing so, you are metering in the area of the photograph where you want to show details keeping in mind that when reflectance increases, you have to compensate more to avoid an average eighteen percent gray.

Should you bracket? Some photographers feel that it is a waste of film and additional developing expense. Personally, I bracket all my photographs, because I know how much one–third of a stop can change a subtle nuance and the emotional impact of a photograph. (Editor’s note—Good for Dominique; this is the smartest approach.)

As with most things in life, experience is the best teacher and preparedness allows a solution to potential problems. Although photographing in mountainous terrain can be demanding, the reward can be beyond words. Enjoy making your own memories and special images this winter!

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