I always have a camera with me when I run errands, these days the Z 6III / Z24-70f2.8 (it has the Dark Tone Monochrome I love for B&W). While my mind should be on getting done the tasks at hand, I can’t help but look out the window going up and down the Bitterroot Valley admiring the view. At times, I run my errands when the light sucks just so I get things done quickly. But that’s rare. More the case, I’m cursing the highway as there is a photo to be taken but no place to pull over. I’ve become very knowledgeable where parking lots, not a through street, dirt roads are that I can duck into to get the shot. While I go out with stops planned, timing down to make pick-ups, it could be argued that goes out the window when I see them clouds performing. In this case, we were late getting to breakfast when I saw these clouds dancing overhead. Errands always take longer than they should.

The winds were wiping overhead, the incoming storm racing to stay with them as the sun began its work for the day. The layers of texture, color, and the drama of the light stopped me in my tracks! No matter how the day might unfold, it was a spectacular start. One of the best parts was not the building color so much as the drama that unfolded as the light came up changing the sunrise to a dramatic B&W. What an introduction to the day, glorious salutation!

Yeah, I am goosing it a bit by shooting when it’s cold so the steam is more predominant but you gotta have it in the first place, and Yellowstone gotz it! The volcanic activity that lives deep below Yellowstone produces so many photographic opportunities seemingly around ever turn. The challenge is bringing back that “heat” in your photos. To see the steam, one way is working with cold temps, in this case, the freezing point. Another is by having a dark background for the “white” steam to stand out. This of course brings photographic contrast into play. I added to that by including the sun, closing the lens down for the starburst and a stop underexposure. It’s what makes it so much fun shooting in the land of contrasts.