Kevin Palmer

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  • Young saplings grow among the older pine trees near Red Grade Road in the Bighorn Mountains.
    Young Saplings
  • The remnants of a low-precipitation supercell moves past a prairie outside of Norfolk, Nebraska. This storm dropped large hail earlier on, but started to die shortly before the sun set. After watching the sun slip beneath the horizon in the other direction, I went up the road a little bit and came across this stunning sky. I was fortunate to find these purple wildflowers on the side of the road to include in the foreground. The sun sets late here this time of year, this was shot after 9:00.
    Dying Beauty
  • Shell Falls plunges 120 feet through a gorge located on the west side of the Bighorn Mountains.
    Shell Falls In Summer
  • A flowering yucca plant stands out among the swaying grass in the sunrise light. Tucked away in a dusty corner of northwest Nebraska, the Toadstool Geological Area is a place very different than the rest of the state. It's similar to the Badlands of South Dakota, yet different. The badlands and geological formations here are very brittle and are constantly changing and being weathered away. Many of the toadstool formations that the park is named after are no longer standing.
    Yucca Badlands Sunrise
  • Shell Falls plunges 120 feet through a gorge located on the west side of the Bighorn Mountains. In January it was almost completely frozen over.
    Shell Falls In Winter
  • Steamboat Point is located in the Bighorn Mountains west of Dayton and there is a trail that leads to the top.
    Up to Steamboat
  • After the sun set, the cliff face of Steamboat Point above continued to soak in the golden sunlight for a few more minutes.
    Sunlight Ascending
  • Anyone who has tried chasing the aurora is familiar with disappointment. Especially in mid-latitudes, there can be months in a row with little to no activity. And when the sun does get more active, sometimes it feels like everything is working against you. Unpredictability is high. The timing is all wrong when the geomagnetic storm happens during the day, or on the cloudiest night of the week, or when the moon is so bright you can’t see it. But if you keep going out and watching, eventually you’ll catch a view like this. Last night I went up to an overlook in the Bighorn Mountains. For the first couple hours the aurora glowed but lacked any movement. Then at 10PM, a substorm broke out into these colorful pillars moving from right to left. Just half an hour later the moon was up and the show was over. Aurora activity will continue to increase as we head towards solar maximum.
    Highway 14 Aurora
  • A colorful sunset fills the sky south of Casper Mountain.
    Behind Casper Mountain
  • A rainbow formed over Big Muddy Pond near Casper, Wyoming, during a summer thunderstorm.
    Big Muddy Pond Rainbow
  • At the end of September week an early season snowstorm swept through northern Wyoming, dropping up to 6 inches in the mountains and valleys. I spent a few hours in the Bighorn Mountains trying to capture the clash of seasons. The snowstorm coincided with the peak of fall colors, although some trees were already bare. Aspen trees are not as widespread in the Bighorns as they are in other parts of the Rockies, growing only in a few areas. Circle Park is one spot I knew I could find them. The trees in an aspen stand are actually clones of one another, all connected by an extensive underground root system. While an individual tree may only live 100 years, aspen groves as a whole are some of the oldest and largest living organisms on Earth. Aspens can survive wildfires much better than conifers, but they require more sunlight to grow.
    September Snow
  • I had to pull off of I-90 to shoot this distant view of a thunderstorm rolling out of the Bighorn Mountains. But I nearly got stuck on a muddy road.
    Where the Rain Falls
  • A herd of wild mustangs moves across the sage brush in between Cody and Greybull, Wyoming. I counted about 100 horses in this herd.
    Moving the Herd
  • A pair of bull moose trot past grazing bison in Yellowstone National Park. At up to 7 feet high, moose are the tallest mammals in North America, while bison are the largest. Bull moose typically lose their antlers in early winter, but you can see the stumps remaining between their eyes and ears. The flap of skin hanging from their necks is called a bell and it is not known for sure what purpose it serves. The Lamar Valley where this was taken is located in the remote northeast corner of Yellowstone, along the only road that's kept open in the winter. It has been called the Serengeti of North America because of the wide variety of large wildlife that inhabit the valley. Grizzlies, black bears, moose, bison, elk, wolves, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, coyotes, and red foxes can all be found here.
    Trotting Moose, Grazing Bison
  • A wall cloud descends behind Crow Peak in the Black Hills. Not long afterwards a tornado would knock down parts of the forest.
    Crow Peak Wall Cloud
  • At the end of September an early season snowstorm swept through northern Wyoming, dropping up to 6 inches in the mountains and valleys. I spent a few hours in the Bighorn Mountains trying to capture the clash of seasons. The snowstorm coincided with the peak of fall colors, although some trees were already bare. Aspen trees are not as widespread in the Bighorns as they are in other parts of the Rockies, growing only in a few areas. Circle Park is one spot I knew I could find them. The trees in an aspen stand are actually clones of one another, all connected by an extensive underground root system. While an individual tree may only live 100 years, aspen groves as a whole are some of the oldest and largest living organisms on Earth. Aspens can survive wildfires much better than conifers, but they require more sunlight to grow.
    White Fall Foliage
  • A moose cow and calf share a look while grazing on a snowy morning in Grand Teton National Park.
    Moose In a Snowstorm
  • While coming down from the Bighorn Mountains I was treated to a dramatic sunset ahead of an incoming snowstorm. The mostly hidden peak on the left is Darton Peak, with Peak Angeline in the middle. Both of them are over 12,000 feet high. I often wonder what it would be like to watch a sunset like this from the summit of a tall peak in the winter. One thing for sure is that it would be brutally cold. This picture almost didn't happen because I was in a rush to return my rental skis before the shop closed at 6:00. After taking this one last shot I made it there with 2 minutes to spare.
    Flaming Winter Sunset
  • A vivid rainbow appeared on the other side of this storm near Crazy Woman Canyon.
    Rainbow at the Ranch
  • The temperature topped 100°F as I drove down a dirt road called the Calypso Trail. The terrain of eastern Montana may appear boring at first. But the Terry Badlands area is filled with all kinds of geological wonders including toadstools, pillars, caves, and these natural bridges. I couldn't find much information on this place and getting here wasn't easy. Washouts, sand, and sinkholes make the road in very rough. Any rain will turn it to mud and make it impassable. Once at the end it's only a couple mile hike through fields of biting flies. I didn't even know there would be 3 natural bridges until I arrived. It was tricky to get all of them in one picture until I went underneath. Just past the bridges was a strange tunnel carved by water, with the roof collapsed in places. Some of the only shade in the area is found by standing underneath the bridges which are up to 50 feet long. This is a dry, desolate place, but still it has a certain beauty to it.
    All 3 Natural Bridges
  • As I drove into the Absaroka Mountains towards Kirwin, a storm was clearing. I loved this view looking up a valley with fog between the trees.
    Fog After the Rain
  • On this day I headed up into the mountains with one goal: to capture the snow and fall colors together as two seasons collided. A snow storm occurring when the colors are at their peak is not something that happens every year. I wanted to be there the moment the storm ended and the sun came out, because fresh snow does not stay looking fresh for very long. Temperatures remained in the high 20’s all day and rime ice caused by freezing fog had coated the forest as well. The sun finally came out shortly after 5PM and then soon disappeared behind a nearby ridge. Aspen trees are not as widespread in the Bighorns as they are in other parts of the Rockies. Large clusters of them can be hard to find, but this stand across from Antelope Butte is one of the larger ones that I’m aware of. All the trees in an aspen stand are actually clones of one another. They are connected underground by a vast root system. This makes aspen trees some of the largest living organisms on Earth.
    Autumn Frosting
  • I stayed at Poker Jim Butte to watch the sunset. While trees block the views in most directions, there was a pretty good view towards the west.
    Before the Colors Fade
  • Cloud Peak is the highest peak in the Bighorn Mountains at 13,167'. It also holds the last remaining glacier in the range, which can barely be seen below the granite wall. Because the peak is flat-topped, it's not too difficult to climb, although it still requires a 25 mile roundtrip hike.
    Cloud From the East
  • As I drove towards the Frenchman Valley campground, this herd of bison crossed the road in front of me.
    Saskatchewan Traffic Jam
  • This picturesque church sits at the edge of Esterbrook, Wyoming. The tiny community with a population of 52 is only reachable by dirt road. Towering in the background is Laramie Peak, scarred by a wildfire from 5 years ago. The 10,276' high peak was a well known landmark on the Oregon Trail. It could be seen from up to 100 miles away, which was about 1 week's travel. From the summit on a clear day you can see all the way into South Dakota, Nebraska, and Colorado. The far-reaching views made it the perfect place to watch the solar eclipse when I returned 2 months later.
    Church of Esterbrook
  • Morning sunlight illuminates an unnamed peak in Montana's Beartooth Mountains. This was the view I woke up to while camping in the East Rosebud Valley in Early May. In this mountain range are found dozens of glaciers, and the largest high elevation plateau in the US outside of Alaska. In the upper reaches of these steep slopes avalanche activity was high. A cornice, which is an overhang of snow caused by strong winds, can be seen on the upper right. Overnight the snow solidified as the temperatures cooled. But once the sunlight touched the snow and temperatures warmed, the snow became unstable and gave way. In my 10 mile hike through the wilderness I witnessed about 20 avalanches, most of them small. Sometimes I would hear them before I saw them, with the noise sounding like distant thunder. See below for a picture of one.
    Beartooth Mountain Majesty
  • Rain was falling from the clouds, but it evaporated into the dry air before reaching the ground. This is known as virga. The views were dramatic from the McCullough Peaks Badlands, especially when the sun came out and contrasted with the dark clouds.In the distance the snow capped Bighorn Mountains can be seen.
    Vanishing Rain
  • There were about 8 bighorn sheep grazing on this hillside. When I walked up to take pictures I didn't even notice this ram to my left at first. He traversed a steep 45 degree slope and came within about 50 feet of me. He looked like he had been in plenty of fights with patches of fur missing on both sides and a broken left horn.
    Roughed Up
  • Abiathar Peak towers above the Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of Yellowstone, while 4 bison graze below.
    Abiathar and Bison
  • The last sunrise of 2016 covers the Teton Mountains in a golden glow while strong winds gust around the peaks. This is a 100 megapixel panorama and is suitable for large prints.
    Last First Light
  • I spotted this icefall while driving through Ten Sleep Canyon. The north-facing side of the canyon does not see any sunlight all winter.
    Ten Sleep Icefall
  • Layout Canyon in the Pryor Mountains is filled with towering cliffs like this one. I balanced the crescent moon on one of the pillars.
    Fortress of the Moon
  • Faster and faster the wind gusted, until it was blowing 700km a second - solar wind that is. The solar wind carries an embedded magnetic field from the sun. When it's oriented northward, it gets repelled by Earth's magnetic field. But when the solar wind is oriented southward, that's when things get interesting. The magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun connect to each other and charged particles are funneled into the upper atmosphere. Collisions with air molecules emit the light that makes up the aurora. After monitoring solar conditions, I went out as soon as the data looked favorable. While I've captured the northern lights over Steamboat Point before, I've been waiting for a chance to try this viewpoint further away. The moon setting in the west was lighting up the cliffs with a warm glow. As the moonlight faded, the aurora brightened, until it broke out into these red and green pillars shortly before midnight.
    Aurora With a Touch of Moonlight
  • When the sun finally appeared over Hurricane Ridge, it was a dark red, before slowly brightening as it rose higher. It seemed like I was looking through a solar filter, but it was only heavy smoke.
    Filtered Sun
  • The buildings of the Abisko Science Station looked especially photogenic with the mountains behind them in the late evening sunlight.
    Abisko Science Station
  • In the dry climate west of Kaycee, it does not stay this green for very long. But I love the contrast of the greenery with the red rock formations. I came across these 6 horses at the Hole in the Wall Ranch while driving by. They were on the other side of the field but trotted over to greet me as soon as I walked up to the fence. This area has a history of horse thievery. At the end of the 1800's this was the hideout of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang, which included Butch Cassidy and many other outlaws. They would lay up here after robbing trains or rustling cattle. This rugged country was easily defended with only one way in from the east. While there were shootouts, in 50 years no lawmen were ever able to capture any gang members here.
    The Gang's All Here
  • I rarely stop to photograph deer since they are so common. But I liked the way these bucks were standing on top of a hill, with storm clouds behind them. Plus I rarely see bucks with antlers.
    Two Bucks On a Hill
  • One of my goals this summer was to capture a lightning storm from the Bighorn Mountains. But it’s not easy since by the time a storm pops up it may be too late to get to the right spot. And once I’m in the mountains, lack of cell data makes it hard to know what’s happening with the weather. But storms weren’t even expected on this night. I was camping near an overlook called Freeze Out Point. At 11PM I went up to the overlook one last time and was surprised to see flashes to the east. The cell was some 75 miles away in Montana, and at that distance lightning often appears red as it’s seen through the thicker lower atmosphere. Distant lightning strikes that are silent and without thunder are often called heat lightning. But heat lightning isn’t really a specific type, thunder simply can’t be heard from more than 10 miles away. There was just enough time to shoot a time lapse of this moonlit lightning storm before low clouds and fog came in and obscured the view.
    75 Mile Strike
  • Ever since I saw this mountain engulfed by a storm earlier in the summer, I was hoping to have a chance to get some better pictures of it. There's something about a lone isolated mountain that's just begging to be photographed under the stars. There are at least 10 Square Buttes in Montana, and this one isn't even the most popular. That makes it hard to find information on it. In case you didn't know, a butte is a flat-topped mountain with steep sides. This particular Square Butte rises 2600 feet above a town with the same name and a population of 20. Finding the right spot to place my tripod isn't always easy. I needed to be NNE of the butte, not too close and not too far with no hills or anything else in my way. There was no time to waste since the milky way and Jupiter were in position as soon as it got dark. The milky way won't be visible for too much longer before it passes behind the sun for the winter. To get a sharper picture I took a 12-minute exposure of the mountain and combined it with a shorter exposure of the sky.
    Galactic Butte
  • There’s perhaps no better way to practice social distancing and clear your head than to spend some time under the stars. The idea for this picture came months ago: to capture Orion setting over this jumble of giant boulders called the Fallen City. After doing the math and simulating the view, I determined exactly where to put my tripod and when to make it happen. But one problem is this is a very windy spot in the Bighorn Mountains. My attempt in February was foiled by the wind and I could not get any clear images. But March brought another chance with calmer weather. A fresh snowfall topped with rime ice made the forest glow in the starlight.<br />
<br />
The Orion Nebula is the brightest in Earth’s sky. It can be seen with the naked eye from dark skies and looks spectacular in a telescope. Also visible next to Orion’s Belt are the Flame Nebula and Horsehead Nebula. To get this picture first I took a series of images of the sky with my camera on a star-tracking mount. Once the nebula set, I turned the tracking off and took a longer exposure of the foreground.
    Orion and Fallen City
  • Early in the morning the northern horizon glowed green. This was caused by a geomagnetic storm from a recurring coronal hole on the sun. A coronal hole is an opening in the outer atmosphere of the sun that allows the high-speed solar wind to escape, which triggers the aurora when it impacts Earth’s magnetic field. Since the sun rotates on it’s axis every 27 days, this can be predicted in advance. I saw the aurora from this coronal hole in September, but last month it was too cloudy. I was determined to see it again this weekend even if it meant staying up all night dodging clouds (aurora hunting is an addiction). The infrared satellite showed a gap in the clouds moving in at 2AM, so I made some coffee and found a dark spot on the Wyoming/Montana state line to watch and wait. It wasn’t the best display I've seen, but I’ll take what I can get during solar minimum, and the meteor was a nice bonus.
    Parkman Pond Aurora - 32
  • A lone bison grazes in the evening light in Badlands National Park. Cowbirds like to hang around bison because they stir up insects as they graze.
    Bison and Cowbird
  • There are lots of different mesas and buttes to focus in on when the sun sets over the Grand Canyon. This view is from Hopi Point.
    Mesas and Buttes
  • Clouds drift past the medieval village of Conflans in Albertville, France, as a storm clears.
    Conflans Fog
  • In the Pryor Mountains of Montana lives a herd of about 120 wild horses. Thought to be descendants of Spanish colonial horses, these mustangs were the first to be federally protected after nearly being removed in the late 1960's. This wild horse range is not easy to access. It requires a long 40-mile drive on steep, rough, and rocky dirt roads, where navigation can be tricky. It's not a place to go unprepared. After I couldn't drive any further, I walked the rest of the way since I finally spotted the herd in the distance. I counted a total of 22 horses near the top of Sykes Ridge at 8,000 feet.
    Chasing the Mare
  • While hiking to Tower Fall in Yellowstone National Park last winter I came across this bison bull grazing above the trail. I slowly made my way past while watching for any signs of aggression. At one point I could see his breath as he exhaled into the cold air and I had my camera ready. Bison are the biggest land mammals found in North America, with bulls weighing up to 1 ton. They typically live for 12 to 15 years. But it's always a struggle to survive the harsh Wyoming winters, with up to 40% of calves succumbing before their their first year. They will forage for grass wherever the snow cover is thinner such as thermal areas or on steep hillsides as this bull was doing. If the snow is too deep, the hump on their back enables them to pivot their head from side to side, sweeping away snow like a plow. Yellowstone is the only place in the United States where bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times. Their population dwindled to just two dozen in the early 1900's, but they now number at close to 5,000 animals.
    Bison Breath
  • As I came back into Sundance, the sun came out and this rainbow appeared, perfectly aligned over Sundance Mountain.
    Sundance Mountain Rainbow
  • Fueled by hot, dry weather and gusty winds, it only took a day and a half for the Apple Fire to explode to 32 square miles. As the forest went up in flames, the plume of smoke ballooned to 25,000 feet. That's more than twice the height of San Gorgonio Mountain, Southern California's highest peak seen in the middle of this photo. The behavior of this fire is extreme enough to make it's own weather. Pyrocumulus is a type of cloud formed when intense heat creates an updraft similar to a thunderstorm. Pyrocumulus lofts embers high into the air, creates strong unpredictable outflow winds at the surface, and in rare cases even generates lightning. The same phenomena is seen in volcanic eruptions. All of this hampers firefighting efforts and causes the flames to expand even more. But even in the devastation, there was beauty. From my vantage point northwest of the blaze, the smoke plume took on a deep red glow at sunset before the 97% full moon rose above it.
    Pyrocumulus Moon
  • The Big Horn fireworks display is seen with Blacktooth Mountain in the background.
    Fireworks Under Blacktooth
  • A few minutes earlier this supercell produced a tornado, but I couldn't see it from my vantage point. I thought it was going to do it again here, but there was only this funnel cloud.
    Hulett Funnel
  • All night long lightning flashed to the north over Steamboat Point in the Bighorn Mountains. Then at 2:30AM Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE rose above the horizon. Finally as the first light of dawn came, noctilucent clouds appeared. It was the brightest display I've ever seen. Seeing all these things at the same time made it a night to remember.
    A Night to Remember
  • There are some things that just don't happen every day. One of the brightest comets in decades is swinging past Earth this month. As I brainstormed to figure out where to capture it, Steamboat Point seemed like an obvious choice. Anyone who has driven Highway 14 would recognize this iconic peak of the Bighorn Mountains. It gets its name because of the massive rock face that sticks into the air like the prow of a steamboat. Even though storms were around in the evening, I was not expecting them to last. But lightning flashed to the north for the entire night. The red color is an effect caused by viewing from a long distance through the thicker atmosphere. At 2:30AM, the comet rose above the northeast horizon, tail-first. A comet's tail always points away from the Sun. The 67% moon off to the right lit up the mountain, while shadows added depth to the scene. Soon after this, noctilucent clouds joined the show, but that's for another post. By the time the sun rose my memory card had 1400 new images. It was a night very much worth losing sleep over.
    Worth Losing Sleep Over
  • I found these wildflowers near the top of a mountain above Red Grade Road. The sunset wasn't very colorful, but it was still interesting watching the fog below. This is looking north towards Sheridan.
    Wildflowers Above the Clouds
  • When the lightning rod at the top of Black Mountain started buzzing, I knew I had to descend to escape the lightning danger. But I'm glad I returned afterwards, because the  sunset was incredible. Mammatus filled the sky as the storm cleared and it took on an orange color as the sun lowered. All the smoke in the air added to the surreal atmosphere. The fire lookout structure was recently closed to the public because it's fallen into disrepair.
    Lookout Above
  • The first light of the day illuminates the north face of Mount Hood. The Eliot Glacier is the largest in Oregon.
    Morning in the Hood
  • My goal was to get an overview of the Teton Valley with the highest peaks lighting up at sunset. But despite the forecast for clear and sunny skies, I was dismayed when I got to the top and saw that the Tetons were hidden from view and the clouds were not going to lift. So I turned my attention to the west instead, looking towards Stouts Mountain and the Swan Valley. At first the light was flat there too, but then a gap in the clouds slowly began to open up. Sunbeams danced across the ridges and the light became better and better. Finally the sun came out for just a moment, and a pillar appeared above it caused by ice crystals suspended in the air. It wasn't the shot I had planned, but this short-lived sunset view was worth all the effort to snowshoe up this mountain.
    Big Hole Mountain Sunset
  • It's not easy to find water that's not frozen in Abisko National Park in the winter. But the river was flowing fast enough here that the middle was kept ice-free.
    Cold Flow
  • I took advantage of the nice March weather by heading to a place called Castle Gardens. I love exploring places like this, well off the beaten path that few people know about or visit. It's an area of fantastic rock formations: bluffs and hoodoos, toadstools and arches. Even though it's not a large park, it's easy to spend a whole day exploring and the photography opportunities are almost limitless. But I had to be careful wandering at the edges of cliffs. Often what looked like a solid rock from above was actually overhanging several feet and supported only by crumbling sandstone below. The arch pictured here likely won't survive much longer; it's connected only by a 2 feet thick section of brittle sandstone.
    Castle Gardens Sunset
  • It wasn't just a good night for watching lightning, there were plenty of Delta Aquarid meteors as well. This one was particularly colorful.
    Lightning and Delta Aquarid
  • On this evening I headed up into the hills to watch lightning. The first storm that made me head out the door wasn't any good for pictures, since most of the lightning was intra-cloud. But then I watched another cell pop up to my south. As this updraft exploded into the starry sky, it started producing positive lightning strikes. Positive lightning accounts for 5-10% of all lightning, and is up to 10X more powerful than negative strikes with a peak discharge of 1 billion volts. It originates from the top of a thundercloud and travels through miles of air before striking the ground. Positive bolts can hit up to 25 miles away from the parent thunderstorm. These "bolts from the blue" are especially dangerous because people may assume they're a safe distance away from the storm when they strike.<br />
The night couldn't have been more perfect for watching lightning.A full moon helped to light up the landscape and gave the thundercloud a silver lining. I stayed in the same spot for hours as multiple storms followed the same path.
    Under Jupiter
  • Every summer I try to climb at least one big mountain, and this time it was Darton Peak. It's one of the highest peaks in the Bighorns, and is very prominent from Highway 16 far below. With a goal of standing on the summit at sunrise, that meant a 3:30AM wake up time. But the bright moonlight helped illuminate my route as the stars faded out. The wind chill up here was in the lower 20's and fresh snow lingered from a couple days earlier despite it being August. Darton is typical of other peaks in the Bighorns and is covered with car-sized boulders. With towering cliffs on 2 sides, the long and rounded peak requires a 16 mile roundtrip hike, but I was able to camp at Lost Twin Lakes the night before. At an elevation of 12,275 feet, the air is only 63% of what it is at sea level. There's always something beautiful about the way the the light appears at high altitudes at the edge of day. It's amazing how the colors can seem both soft and intense at the same time.This view is looking south towards Bighorn Peak.
    Bighorn From Darton
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  • It was half past midnight on the last day of August. A solar wind stream blowing at 700 km a second reached Earth a little sooner than predicted. The northern lights had been dancing on and off for the past few hours. But then I noticed a strange pattern, which was dim enough that I wasn’t sure it was really there. A long exposure revealed greater detail and color. The picket fence pattern is related to a rare, recently classified type of aurora called STEVE (Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.) STEVE most often appears as a bright, pinkish ribbon of light found away from the main band of aurora. STEVE may or may not be accompanied by this green picket fence, but on this night the brighter streak of light was absent. It was my first time seeing it this far south in Wyoming. Lake DeSmet provided a beautiful blurred reflection when the wind let up. This night was the first of 4 in a row that I’d capture the aurora. The weeks surrounding the spring and fall equinoxes tend to be the most favorable for geomagnetic storm conditions. But around here the weather tends to be a lot clearer in the early fall, which is why I have more aurora sightings in September than in March.
    Emerald Waters
  • After shooting the milky way over Square Butte, I drove back south to shoot the aurora. It wasn't as active as the night before, but there was a short flare-up at 10:40PM.
    Short Substorm
  • On this day I headed up into the mountains with one goal: to capture the snow and fall colors together as two seasons collided. A snow storm occurring when the colors are at their peak is not something that happens every year. I wanted to be there the moment the storm ended and the sun came out, because fresh snow does not stay looking fresh for very long. Temperatures remained in the high 20’s all day and rime ice caused by freezing fog had coated the forest as well. The sun finally came out shortly after 5PM and then soon disappeared behind a nearby ridge. Aspen trees are not as widespread in the Bighorns as they are in other parts of the Rockies. Large clusters of them can be hard to find, but this stand across from Antelope Butte is one of the larger ones that I’m aware of. All the trees in an aspen stand are actually clones of one another. They are connected underground by a vast root system. This makes aspen trees some of the largest living organisms on Earth.
    Aspens and Snowy Cliff
  • It looked like there wouldn't be a colorful sunset since a snowstorm lingered into the evening. But then it started to break, revealing the peaks of the Alaska Range underneath fiery clouds. As far as I can tell this peak has no name but it is in front of Mount Moffet which remained mostly hidden.
    Sunset Over the Alaska Range
  • It’s one of the coolest places I’ve ever been. At the terminus of the Castner Glacier in the highest mountain range in North America is this frozen cave. I’m sure it’s easier to get to in the summer. But with 2 feet of snow covering the trail, and moose tracks outnumbering those of humans, I almost gave up on finding it. The cave is not visible until you’re standing right at the entrance. Inside is a world of ice reflecting every shade of blue. Rocks and gravel were locked in the ceiling just waiting to fall. It felt like I was in the belly of a giant beast, examining what it ate for breakfast hundreds of years ago. Down the middle flowed a silty stream. Further back very little light reaches and a water crossing prevented further exploration. Eery booming sounds came from deep within the darkness. But at least I felt safer visiting during the cold season when the glacier wasn’t actively melting. Many maps and descriptions of this place are no longer accurate. Glacier caves are temporary features which change from year to year, and as the Castner Glacier recedes there’s no telling how long this cave will last.
    A World of Ice
  • The moose is the tallest mammal in North America. And the Alaska Range is the tallest on the continent. They both came together for this shot. According to the sign at the overlook a herd of bison also roam here in the summer.
    Moose and Mountain
  • These desert plants at the base of Mastodon Peak were looking nice in the early morning light.
    Blooming Yucca
  • I went snowshoeing a few miles on this snowmobile trail in the Bighorn Mountains since I had never explored it before. The South Tongue River could only be seen in a few places, it was mostly frozen.
    Snowing On Snow
  • Steamboat Point is a favorite mountain of mine that I've climbed more than any other. But I've never been able to catch a great sunset from the top, until now. The 7,877' peak is close to Sheridan and easy to access year round. On the lower south-facing slope the snow is quick to melt. After the trail bends around into the forest, the snowpack is often a couple feet deep in the winter. But the summit itself is usually scoured clean by the frequent strong winds. I'd estimate winds were gusting to about 80mph up here, making it difficult to stand up straight. But it was these same winds that contributed to the fiery sunset. On warm winter or early spring days it's common to get lenticular or mountain wave clouds over the Rockies. They are caused by oscillations in the air flow after encountering a mountain range. When the sun catches them just right, the color and texture of these clouds can be truly stunning.
    First Sunset of February
  • At 7AM the last stars had faded out but there was still a deep blue color in the western sky. Darton Peak slowly began to emerge from behind the clouds.
    Snowy Morning Blues
  • This deer was just standing there watching me when I stopped. It was just far enough away that I could capture the Bighorn Mountains and the colorful sky in the same shot.
    Just Standing There
  • The evening light was really nice when I drove past these horses near Riverside, so I stopped to capture them.
    Three Chestnut Horses
  • It wasn't until 7:30PM that I decided to intercept this supercell to my south. The rotation here was very apparent. It was nice seeing some of the best storm structure of the year so close to home.
    Ucross Supercell
  • South of Billings, Montana, rising up out of the Bighorn Basin, is the Pryor Mountains. These mountains are home to a herd of mustangs. Some of these wild horses hang out in the lower elevations near Bighorn Canyon, but the majority are found near the mountaintop at 8,000 feet where the grass is greener. Getting here requires traveling a long, rough, and steep dirt road. On my prior Pryor visit, I didn't get all the shots I wanted and was only able to capture the horses in the middle of the day. But this time I made sure to be in the right place at sunset. The views were amazing into the valley below, and the light was magical. The horses numbered at least 60, but I lost count as they moved around. In the last minutes before the sun set, many of them trotted past me. Shooting into the sun created a dreamy look, but I had to be careful not to blind myself.
    Walking Into the Light
  • A flock of birds flew out of the tree as I stopped to shoot this little abandoned house near St Xavier.
    Fly Away
  • There are no trails in this part of Bighorn Canyon, so I had to find my own overlook.
    Little Pine and Sagebrush
  • Last month I visited Devils Tower when the fall colors were at their peak. Although the tower is mostly surrounded by a pine forest, there are some deciduous trees to the south by the Belle Fourche River. While wandering around before sunset I found this view of the tower above the oak and cottonwood trees. Established in 1906 by Theodore Roosevelt, this was the first national monument in the US. Devils Tower is actually a mistranslation of the Native American name "Mato Tipila," which means Bear Lodge.
    Tower Woodland
  • Early in the morning the northern horizon glowed green. This was caused by a geomagnetic storm from a recurring coronal hole on the sun. A coronal hole is an opening in the outer atmosphere of the sun that allows the high-speed solar wind to escape, which triggers the aurora when it impacts Earth’s magnetic field. Since the sun rotates on it’s axis every 27 days, this can be predicted in advance. I saw the aurora from this coronal hole in September, but last month it was too cloudy. I was determined to see it again this weekend even if it meant staying up all night dodging clouds (aurora hunting is an addiction). The infrared satellite showed a gap in the clouds moving in at 2AM, so I made some coffee and found a dark spot on the Wyoming/Montana state line to watch and wait. It wasn’t the best display I've seen, but I’ll take what I can get during solar minimum, and the meteor was a nice bonus.
    Parkman Pond Aurora - 54
  • This was the 2nd twister that I saw outside of Buffalo, South Dakota. It danced around, touching the ground briefly and lifting again a few times. But the wall cloud on the right was beginning to show very rapid motion. It was about to drop a wedge tornado, and I knew I had to get closer to get a better view.
    Cute Little Twister
  • Outside of Ekalaka, Montana, the structure on this mothership supercell was incredible. At times it looked like a giant tsunami in the sky. This storm would go on to produce at least 8 tornadoes.
    Montana Mothership
  • The mammatus looked impressive on the back of this storm after sunset.
    Blue Mammatus
  • This severe thunderstorm rolled out of the Bighorn Mountains near Aberdeen, Montana. After it passed by I found 1.5" hailstones on the ground.
    Aberdeen Supercell
  • This tornado near Broadwater, Nebraska, developed almost on top of me while I was attempting to core punch the storm. At the intersection of Rd 78 and Hwy 385 I was close enough to hear the roaring waterfall sound and feel the intense RFD winds. But I couldn't see it because the storm had become HP (high precipitation) and visibility was horrible. As I fled south on Hwy 385 debris started flying past me including sheet metal hitting my car. A semi truck that I passed would be flipped over on it's side and all the sign posts at the nearest intersection snapped in half. Once I made it a safe distance away (about 5 miles) I stopped and took this picture looking north. Visibility was still bad, I couldn't see the tornado and I even missed it the first time after reviewing my pictures. But after enhancing the contrast the twister became visible in the rain shaft on the left.
    Broadwater Tornado
  • With severe weather in the forecast, I headed downstate to do some storm chasing. This cell formed over the Laramie Mountains before pushing east onto the High Plains. At first it took it's time maturing. But just before 4PM it transformed from an ok looking storm into this in only 10 minutes. As the storm moved into a better wind shear environment, it turned into a mothership supercell displaying very impressive structure. I was mesmerized watching it roll across the Nebraska stateline outside of La Grange. Despite the ominous and otherworldly look, the storm wasn't severe at this time. As it passed over me it brought small hail and blowing dust with lots of tumbleweeds.
    Mothership Supercell
  • A pinyon pine clings to the edge of the Grand Canyon rim, illuminated by morning sunlight.
    Let There Be Light
  • I went for a hike at Bud Love Big Game Winter Range on the last warm day of fall. The light and contrasting colors seemed to work better in black and white. I spotted this pillar near the Sayles Creek trailhead and thought it looked like a half-buried raised hand.
    Buried Hand
  • Thanksgiving morning at Bighorn Canyon brought the best sunrise I've seen this year. Even an hour before the sun rose, the clouds in the east were already showing a deep pink color, and it only got better. The clouds were sculpted by strong winds and showed lots of texture. This view is from the Hillsboro Ranch trailhead at Barry's Landing.
    Hillsboro Sunrise
  • For the Geminid meteor shower I snowshoed to the top of the continental divide in Western Montana. From the Granite Butte lookout tower, the views were stunning in every direction. The weather changed by the second alternating between snow showers, gale force winds, freezing fog with zero visibility, clear skies, and brief moments of calm. The tough whitebark pine trees which grow up here are all permanently bent. They point eastward from the prevailing westerly winds which almost never stop. The low temperatures, strong winds, and fog combined to create hard rime ice, which covered every surface (including me and my camera) with a coating up to 2 inches thick. To say that shooting conditions were challenging would be an understatement. My tripod had to be carefully propped up to avoid it blowing over. And with all my batteries dying too soon, I didn't get to take as many pictures as I wanted to. This was one of the brighter meteors which shone through the fog. The lights on the right are from the city of Helena.
    Through the Freezing Fog
  • The views at sunrise were stunning from the Granite Butte fire lookout on Montana's continental divide. All the whitebark pine trees were coated with thick rime ice and fog drifted around the valleys.
    Rime Before Dawn
  • The crescent moon glowed brighter after the sun set. By walking up the canyon a bit I was able to line it up behind this cliff.
    Crescent Cliff
  • A creek bed buried under several feet of snow forms an S-curve.
    Snowy S-Curve
  • During the most intense part of the geomagnetic storm, I looked straight up and this is what I saw. It's known as a corona, and it looks like the aurora is radiating outward from a single point in the sky. This was the first time I've seen a corona and it didn't last long.
    Aurora Corona
  • The sun sets over the hills and prairie of Grasslands National Park. This was taken from the Rock Creek trail in the East Block.
    East Block Sunset
  • The sun sets over the hills and prairie of Grasslands National Park. This was taken from the Rock Creek trail in the East Block.
    Butte Afterglow
  • Fall foliage is reflected in Long Lake in the Cloud Peak Wilderness. Up above, snow was falling on the higher peaks.
    Long Lake Reflection
  • This was the only time I was able to see the Snæfellsjökull volcano in it's entirety. The clouds on the left would soon move in and block the view of the glacier.
    Snæfellsjökull Barn
  • This halo stayed in the sky for most of the evening over the Icelandic village of Arnarstapi. The pyramid-shaped mountain is Stapafell, which is a lower peak of the glacier-capped Snæfellsjökull volcano behind it.
    The Halo of Arnarstapi
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