Landscape Photography in the Wind River Canyon
Photographing landscapes in the Wind River Canyon is much different than my favorite kind of photography----hummingbird photography. Our hummingbirds are crazy-fun to spend summer days shooting these hyper-flying jewels, but it's fast and furious reactions that capture hummers in-flight. Landscapes by definition must be a very different kind of photography, especially in the Wind River Canyon. It's easy to shoot pictures of the canyon, just pull over and take a few snapshots. I've done it myself far too many times, and usually hated them.
Getting an interesting landscape photo is going to require some work and some planning, and in the canyon it's going to require some leg work and some lingering pain later on. I knew where I wanted to shoot pictures of the canyon, I just wasn't so sure that getting down to this particular spot on the Wind River was going to be easy; and it wasn't! It's the narrowest spot in the Wind River Canyon on the northern half, not far from Chimney Rock and the monument. It also happens to have a beautifully green, and grown over, ancient mudslide. The opportunities for a good long shot of the canyon seemed endless, but getting down there didn't thrill me.
Less than 48 hours ago I finally put my plans together. You need to pack lite; remember that whatever you carry down there, will need to be hauled way back up there! One small camera bag about the size of a large lunchbox will do; snap the shoulder-strap back on and empty out all the crap you won't need. Camera with short and lite lens, and make sure the battery is okay. A little extra padding was a great idea....glad I thought of it.
About five miles north of my cabin is the parking spot for this little adventure; I drank some
cold tea, but didn't bother taking the bottle. Walking over the guardrail and looking down was enough to make me wonder what I was thinking. Don't think about it; find a way down, and try avoiding the poison ivy. In the Wind River Canyon this time of the Fall the poison ivy is a beautiful sight, and the most colorful plant in the canyon right now. It's red and orange and pretty and makes me itch just thinking about it----avoid it at all costs. Around here it grows as a large bush....a large pretty bush. It's everywhere and quite prolific, but as you can see it's colorful.
Loose rock and boulders halfway down was my route till I came to a jumble of huge, squarish ones. The only way was to backwards crab down between two of these big boulders, but first I had to drop my camera bag the last five feet! Remember the padding and the sling-strap? They came in handy after all. The last thing was to jump off and try missing the poison ivy....it's everywhere! Wow, I'm fine and it's wild down here, and it occurs to me that in the last decade maybe a very small handful of people have been here. But what on earth would they have been in this isolated spot in the canyon for anyway?
The Wind River in this spot is running low right now. The boulder I was standing close to was covered in moss all the way to the top, and it's more than two feet above my head! That means July's river level would have been more than eight feet higher where I was standing. The river dives quickly down to inky blackness, far deeper than the easier to reach popular fishing spots. The only sound you hear is the Wind River rushing it's way north through the narrow cliffs. It's difficult walking on the moss covered rocks, so pay attention or you and your camera will take a header; this isn't the spot for a stupid move.
Spending quality time at this isolated spot in the Wind River Canyon is nothing short of exhilarating. I sat with clear insight while shooting photographs of this magical canyon, knowing that this has probably never been done down here digitally before. Take the time to breathe in the clean canyon air; let Mother Nature take you in her arms. These were moments I will remember forever, and will repeat when my back stops hurting.
Not knowing how many pictures I'd taken was the bonus, I'd just enjoyed my time in this isolated Eden. Not knowing what time it was, or how long I'd been down there was interesting, but all too soon I realized I had to leave; it was getting colder. Oh, but the hike up seemed daunting while standing there looking up! I looked for the shortest spot with no poison ivy and made my way up the nutty-steep hillside. There was one moment I thought I gotten myself in trouble; my shoes had little to grip. The alternative was a headline of the kook that got smooshed in the canyon.
Two days later my back still hurts and my knees ache as usual. Having over one hundred photos to go through was not a surprise, I thought there'd be more. The ones I liked the best were worked in the Canon supplied software, Digital Photo Professional. Using a one file HDR (high-dynamic range) gave me some real artistic choices without the usual five or more bracketed photographs. I couldn't have taken the big black tripod down there anyway, or gotten it back up for that matter. Chimney Rock is on the left, the pointed spire is unnamed as far as I know. I used Lightroom only for sharpness and clairity, then added all the metadata to the digital file for the SEO.
The grassy shoreline is an ancient mudslide like the ones created this Spring in the Wind River Canyon; the blue sky reflected off the river. It was a beautiful day for an adventure, and I cannot wait for another, but it was just another day in the magical Wind River Canyon.
Thank you for your valuable time, and I hope this inspires you to explore Mother Nature's gifts for yourself. But remember to always take your camera, just in case the aliens land, you don't want to be the one that forgot the camera.
All photographs and writing by Michael John Balog----Hogbats Photography----Wind River Canyon, Wyoming.