Teton Canyon, Yellowstone And More...

By Don Henderson

Photographer, Don Henderson, has been pursuing his passion for photography for over 25 years. He first became interested in photography while taking a Geology of the National Parks Class in college. They say that everyone has a teacher who makes an impact on them that will last a lifetime. That truly happened for Don. “I’ll never forget this one particular teacher, his name is Ray Ressler. He said on the first day of class that this is a lab course, and normally that means you will spend time in the lab once a week looking at rocks, but this class is different, you will be required to go on 3 weekend field trips to National Parks. Don purchased an olympus camera and a lens to take on these trips. “On the first trip when we exited the tunnel and I saw Yosemite National Park for the first time, my life was changed forever. I wanted to learn to capture what I was seeing and share it with others”. That began my pursuit of light and images!

When he is not busy working, he spends much of his free time with his family in Idaho and Wyoming chasing light and searching for images. In addition to to landscape and nature photography, Don also enjoys photographing concerts and sporting events. You can see more of Don’s work here.

Click on each image to see the enlarged version.

One day while I was out exploring Teton Canyon I came across this small stream with these granite rocks covered with lichen. The colors and the patterns on the rocks were really great so I used a long exposure to soften the water and bring more attention to the lichen covered rock.

This is an image of Castle Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park. During the summer months, afternoon thunderstorms often roll through the park, creating dramatic skies and interesting light. Although this area is known for its unique colors, I find it a great place to create Black and White images.

Steam rises above the surface of Grand Prismatic Spring and reflects the deep blues and greens from the water below. In the foreground you can see footprints from Bison who have walked across the Bacteria Mat and left their marks. I visit this spring often as the colors are constantly shifting and there is always something new to see. Grand Prismatic Spring is located in the Midway Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park and is one of the largest hot springs in the world.

I made this picture on a spring trip to Antelope Canyon just outside of Page, AZ. The canyons are on a Native American Reservation and a guide is required to take you in. I was lucky to be one of only a couple of people in the canyon on this particular day which made photographing very easy. I was even luckier that the other person in the canyon was a Navajo flute player. The sounds echoing through the canyon were truly amazing. A great soundtrack to my day!

I made this picture of alpenglow on the Grand Tetons from Teton Canyon in Alta, WY, seconds before the sun dipped out of site behind the Big Hole mountains on the West side of Teton Valley. This valley is one of my favorite places to explore and photograph year round.

On a hiking trip with some friends along the Carrizo Gorge Railway in the Anza Borrego Desert, we came across this section of track which had been overtaken by the shifting sand dunes. I thought it created a surreal scene and shows the power of mother nature who always reclaims what is hers.

We came across this mother Polar Bear and her cub just before sunrise during a trip to Churchill Manitoba. We were in a tundra buggy and had just left Tundra Buggy Lodge, where we had spent the night. We were heading out to capture first light and hopefully see some polar bears. We came across these two bears, and I thought the expression was beautiful. Polar Bears are majestic and so incredibly fragile at the same time. A species I hope we can find a way to save.

I have always enjoyed photographing water. There are so many subtle details to be found if you just spend some time looking for them. Sometimes I will add water as a part of a bigger landscape image, other times I look for more abstract images by getting myself closer to the ground and focusing in on the water itself. This image was made along the shores of the Yellowstone River on a warm summer day.