We had a wet winter and spring this year in Yellowstone and the result has been an outpouring of lush grass and wildflowers. The bears love eating the flowers, of course, and they also make great photo subjects.
It always seemed kind of silly to visit a place of grand natural beauty and spend the time taking close-up pictures of flowers, ignoring things like the mountains and geysers. But who can resist them this season? The key is to find a distinctive background to make your flower picture a permanent reminder of Yellowstone.
Wildflower in front of Mt. Haynes overlook
This shot was taken at the Mt. Haynes overlook about seven miles into the park from the entrance at West Yellowstone, Montana. This is a great photo location no matter the time of year and it’s worth a stop on your way to Old Faithful.
For this picture I did the following:
- left home at 5:30 a.m.
- used the macro mode of the camera to focus on the flower
- positioned the camera to have the Mt. Haynes overlook nicely balancing it in the back.
What a lovely photo. I just got back from Yellowstone and I took photos of the wild flowers by the ton. They were beautiful. I also saw my first bear. How exciting.
Thank you, Martha. It was a great year for wildflowers. Hope you got a bear picture, too.
David
Took a photo along the shore of Yellowstone lake of a beautiful plant with blue flowers, made my best of Yellowstone pictures file, truly the flowers were spectacular in the park. We drove in from the east each day and found new flowers each trip in.
I know the drive you are talking about. Quite a scene, especially with the yellow flowers along the mountain just after you enter the park. David
Just returned – got some good wildflower shots too – maybe I will post them.
You should – it was a remarkable year for them.
David