Greetings and Welcome!

I've been photographing Wyoming and all of its wild residents for my entire 38 year career, and it never gets old or tiring. If the good Lord gave me several lifetimes I could not accomplish all that I dream of or visit all of the places in this state I've called home for 57 years.

I have two websites currently that showcase my work at www.jerrygeist.com and www.wyomingpanorama.com. There you will see galleries of landscape images, Wyoming's wildlife and wildflowers and special galleries of my favorite place, Yellowstone National Park and my favorite large mammal, Bison Bison or the buffalo as many call them. There is a special gallery dedicated to this fascinating creature and I've even made a special tribute print called 'Tatanka and the Iron Horse - the Decimations Haunting Specter' remembering the near extinction of this most significant symbol of the west. My intrigue for this wonderful animal will continue for as long as I can make trips to photograph them.

You can read all about my work, my career and individual pictures by visiting the website, but here I will share with you special places that have particular interest to me, see how I travel and shoot my images, read about some of my past and present experiences, meet friends that have shared special times with me, hear my ramblings about equipment, and hopefully respond to some of your comments.

Well, that is enough of an introduction. Welcome to my world - Images of Wyoming.

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Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Traveling in Wyoming for Photographers -Part 1

I'm addressing this article to the more serious photographers, rather than the casual Wyoming tourist who just likes making pictures. So with that in mind, let's get started talking about some of the issues that confront professionals and serious amateurs alike.

When I worked for the state of Wyoming, I was expected to get great images of historic places or iconic images of Wyoming's outstanding scenery for publication in a variety of travel oriented brochures and publications. I was given a state vehicle to get to and from various locations in the state and had a budget for lodging and food. I had no out of pocket expenses, and that was great. The downside! Nothing I shot was mine to keep: it belonged to the state and that is ultimately why I quit and started shooting for myself after a long 16 years, but that is another story.

My job required me to get great shots, but there was little consideration for the logistics of getting from my point of lodging to the greatest locations in a timely fashion to take advantage of the best light, the earliest light of dawn. Because of where I had to stay, it sometimes involved predawn treks that might be upwards of 70 or 80 miles from my motel. It was doable sometimes, and downright impossible at others. My days often started at 3 or 4 am and I normally worked until dark to maximize the time allowed which was always a five day trip. I left on a Monday after staff meeting and got back before quiting time on Friday. That schedule alone deprived me of many opportunities as Wyoming weather and seasons are so very unpredictable. More times than not, I was fortunate enough to catch things in optimum conditions on those prescheduled and timed trips. They were extremely limiting conditions to work in and try to get the expected great images.

That brings me to suggestion number one for taking advantage of the best opportunities. Don't use a motel! If at all possible, buy or rent a camp trailer, motorhome or truck camper. Why? You can get much closer to the places you want to be, whether staying in commercial campgrounds or more primitive forest service or national park campgrounds. Either option is usually much closer to the best locations than traveling to a nearby town, paying for expensive rooms and having to get up early and arrive back at the room very late, after a long days shooting.

A case in point. I led a photo workshop to Yellowstone for a seven day trip, taking nine of my seasoned and experienced photographic workshop students. Obviously we couldn't afford to rent enough motorhomes for the week long trip to accommodate all nine people so I booked rooms in several locations that would put us fairly close to the areas we were going to photograph. The trip took place in late fall, but even then the days started at 4:30 am, often to drive over 50 miles to arrive at our sunrise locations. We would go all day long, often walking on six to eight mile hikes carrying our equipment, then staying out until after dark to make night time photographs. That would put us back in the motels at 11pm, only to start the process over for the next six days. Many of the attendees wanted nothing to do with 'professional photography' after that experience. Imagine how early the days would start in the summertime. I've gotten out of bed at 2:30 am on many occasions to make my appointed location on time for sunrise. That gets very, very old in a hurry.

The one exception to my dislike for motels is my wintertime photography. When I visit Yellowstone in the winter, I stay in a motel in Gardner, MT. Since sunrise doesn't happen until about 8am, I have plenty of time to get to my desired locations. An added benefit is that sundown comes early so there is ample time for a good nights rest in a warm, comfortable bed. The off season rates are much more affordable, as well. Even with these added benefits, one of the major problems is the constant loading and unloading of equipment into a room and the vehicle. I don't care what time of year, the rate, or location, that is a major pain and after a very long day, it is one of the last things you want to deal with. With digital photography, there is always additional work to do after the days shooting. You all know what that is don't you? I don't know of a photographer who would leave any equipment in a motel room, especially things like laptops, extra lenses, etc., so the alternative is to repack the entire vehicle each morning, with things you may not have need of during the day. That is just more unnecessary work. Motels are great for the tourist, but in my experience they are a big nuisance to the one who must work in the field day after day. There are better alternatives.

Well, in the next installment of this topic, I'll suggest some other options and tell you about my solutions, arrived at after much trial and error. Every alternative has its positive and negative points and I'll try to share some of those with you, too. After some thought you should have several choices from which to choose. One should fit your working style better than others. Keep on shooting and please feel free to comment on your experiences about photography, travel and lodging. Until next time – Jerry.

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