Backlight for Color & B&W

Mammoth Hot Springs captured by Z 9 / Fisheye
I love Mammoth Hot Springs! It never ceases to amaze me what Mother Nature has created and shared with us when I walk its boardwalks. The majority of the time I do it in the afternoon, the hours the critters are typically taking a siesta. When in Yellowstone my priority is the critters so landscapes are taken only when there is nothing else the majority of the time. This early morning though as we passed the terraces, the light and sky just screamed for our cameras so we hit the boardwalk. The backlighting is what made them jump out at us. As they are all white, the light is bouncing everywhere so then it’s just a matter of arranging the elements to move the eye through the frame. In the black & white, I closed the aperture down to create the starbursts to move the eye around. In the color version, it was the algae I used as an anchor for the eye. And in both the backlit steam set the stage and brought the romance of the landscape to the image. We so enjoyed our time on the boardwalk even after we learned we missed a bear. It was a gorgeous morning for backlight color & B&W!

Mammoth Hot Springs captured by Z 9 / Fisheye