I have been traveling a good deal this past year, though my photographic efforts have disappointed me somewhat. Part of the reason for that has been weather-related, always one of the key confounding variables for the landscape photographer. Rain and cloudy weather have been the biggest culprits, dulling the imagery or washing it out entirely on some days. Nevertheless, persistence pays off as it commonly does, and in between the suboptimal weather and the raindrops, I made some decent images.
One image in particular was quite special to me. I went out after dinner while in Jackson Hole to photograph a herd of bison not too far outside the city They were resting fairly close to their fence enclosure earlier in the day, so I thought some close-ups of value could be made. When I arrived at the location, however, the bison had moved further away, making any kind of interesting image very unlikely, another photo disappointment! On the other hand, a herd of wild horses had arrived across the road, right in front of the Teton mountains, which are an exceptional range of dramatic peaks and an incredible backdrop for photos. Initially, the horses were scattered and simply grazing in small groups, none of which made for an interesting image. I thought that this would turn out to be a bust as well, since the sun was now setting and soon all my light would be gone. No light = no photo! Just as I was about to leave the area, however, I noticed one golden horse separating itself from the others and slowly moving to position itself directly in front of the Tetons. Almost at the moment of last light, he turned sideways, the sun dipped behind the mountains, but a golden light, nicely matched to the horse’s color bathed the scene. I took a quick series of photos, and then, almost as suddenly as the image appeared to me, it was gone, the horse turning and trotting back to rejoin his grazing herd. For that image, the conditions might have been perfect for 30 seconds at best. But I did get what I wanted, and it is perhaps my favorite image so far from this year’s efforts.
Golden Wild Horse and the Tetons at Sunset, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 2024