Hello All!

I went to Yellowstone National Park one summer a couple years back with my family. It was my first time there and I was excited to hike and be out in nature once again. For those who have been following my blog, you would know that I am a city girl who always felt out of place in the city, because my heart, happiness, and love for photography belonged to the great outdoors. So of course, I brought along my old Nikon D70 and took some amazing photos of the wondrous landscapes of the park.

Midway Geyser Basin 

While my family and I hit too many places to count throughout the park, there were a few that really stood out to me when looking for fantastic shooting opportunities. First up is the Midway Geyser Basin, which includes the Grand Prismatic Spring. This is located just south of the west entrance of the park. It is a great place to go in the early morning, between 6am and 9am, since it's typically in full sun and there are less people between those times. There’s a boardwalk that you can go on to look at all of the different colored springs. While you can’t go off the boardwalk (yes, acidic water is indeed dangerous), you can still get some pretty good shots from the boardwalk, which loops around most of the springs. There is also a short trail to an overlook of the Grand Prismatic Spring, which I recommend taking as the view is quite remarkable and a spectacular photo opportunity. Again, make sure to go early when there’s less people, so you’ll be able to move around and take photos from different angles.

Grand Prismatic Spring

Upper Geyser Basin 

Next location is the Upper Geyser Basin, which houses the most famous geyser in the U.S. Yep, you guessed it: it’s Old Faithful. This place is located just a bit farther south of the Midway Geyser Basin. You should also go here earlier in the morning (6am to 9am), however, I went after going to the Midway Geyser Basin (9am to 12pm) and it still wasn’t too packed. The very first thing I went to photograph was Old Faithful. Old Faithful erupts about every 90 min and lasts for 2 to 5 min. When I went, I made sure to get near the front, especially since I’m only 5’ 2”, and since I knew it would be very crowded (which it was). The geyser had a “false alarm” eruption at the beginning, but a few minutes later, it fully erupted, shooting up to 145 ft. It was quite a wondrous experience and I took photos (and personal video on my phone) pretty much the whole time. While the photos turned out well, one thing I wish I had done differently was use a tripod, because my arms got tired pretty quickly from keeping them in the same position for nearly 5 min. After experiencing Old Faithful, my family and I looked at the other geysers that inhabited the Upper Geyser Basin. Honestly, most of them were just as interesting if not more so. There’s a whole loop trail on cement and boardwalk that you can do, which can take at least 2 hrs. In my opinion, most of these geysers are also worth seeing and taking photos of. Some of my favorites are the Daisy Geyser, Grotto Geyser, and the Grand Geyser, which is the tallest predictable geyser in the world, reaching up to 200 ft. An important thing to keep in mind when going around the loop is to make note of when each of the geysers go off and choose which ones you would like to see. You can do this through using the Yellowstone App. This is another thing I wish my family and I had done, because we were rushing around and would sometimes miss some of the geysers going off. There’s also a cool little trail with a look-out point of Old Faithful that goes up the side of a hill where other geysers can be seen. Though the geyser was far away, I personally loved the look-out because it gave a different angle of the geyser and there were less people, so you could move around easier. For these photos, I zoomed the lens to get a closer photo. If you stay at the Upper Geyser Basin long enough, you can watch Old Faithful go off more than once and that’s how I was able to take photos from the ground and above.

Midway Geyser Basin

Ground View of Old Faithful

Look-out View of Old Faithful

Daisy Geyser

Grand Geyser

Mammoth Hot Springs 

Mammoth Hot Springs is another great spot for shooting. It is located near the north entrance of the park. Home of the giant rock formation, the Liberty Cap, this attraction contains many different springs and sulfur-built, falls-like rock formations, similar to what you might see in a cave. Like the others, Mammoth Hot Springs has a boardwalk that you can take to safely view the sites. I personally loved all of the unique colors that the rock formations encompassed. I went to this place with my family early in the morning, between 6am and 9am, after going to the Midway and Upper Geyser Basins the previous day, and I would recommend going at this time. The reasons are like the others: there’s less people, it’s in full sun, but also because the steam that comes off of the wet falls formations is so cool and so fun to photograph.

Grotto Geyser

Liberty Cap

Canyon Village (Upper & Lower Falls & Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone) 

Another place to photograph is Canyon Village where the Upper and Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River are situated. This is located at the middle-eastside of the park. The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is grand indeed. Carved out by the Yellowstone River, the canyon is about 25 miles long, 1,200 ft deep and 4,000 ft wide. My family and I took a short hike to one of the look-outs to see the Lower Falls of the canyon, which had a beautiful view that I really enjoyed photographing. The Upper Falls also had a short walk to a look-out at the very top of the falls. This was really a wondrous sight to behold and photograph. I wish I had had more time to play with different techniques for photographing the water, but I had no tripod with me at the time and my family was impatient (haha). I also wish I had a wide angle lens with me to capture more of the canyon, but had to make do with my basic lens (ah, the struggles of being an amateur photographer. I’m glad I’ve grown since then). Alas, I had to make do with what I had. Luckily, my photos still turned out pretty decent. My family and I visited most of these look-outs in the morning (6am to 12pm), the day after visiting the Mammoth Hot Springs. I also recommend going between these times for the same reasons mentioned earlier…and to spend time looking at the majestic canyon and its falls’.

Mammoth Hot Springs

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

Lower Falls  

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

West Thumb Geyser Basin 

The last destination is the West Thumb Geyser Basin. It is located on the westside of West Thumb (part of Yellowstone Lake). This basin contains multiple, colored springs of different sizes that are right next to Yellowstone Lake. Once again, there is a boardwalk that makes a loop around the springs and goes up against the edge of Yellowstone Lake. I loved photographing this place, because the composition was so fascinating with the colored pools and the lake in the background. My family and I went there in the early afternoon, between 12pm and 3pm, on our last day, the day after going to Canyon Village. You could probably visit this area anytime because it is not as popular as the other destinations I had talked about. It is mostly in the sun though, so prepare for the heat. Again, I wish I had a wide angle lens at the time because some of the pools are so huge that it’s difficult to get a full picture of them and then some.

Top of Upper Falls

West Thumb Geyser Basin - West Thumb, Yellowstone Lake

To wrap this up, I want to say that Yellowstone National Park is one of the most fascinating national parks that I’ve ever been to and I highly recommend going to it. It’s a fantastic place to photograph and there is so much to explore. I hope to go back soon with my updated photography gear and take even better photos. Anyway, thanks for reading about my first experience in Yellowstone! 

Have a Happy Day!

Isabel B.

West Thumb Geyser Basin