Photography In The National Parks: Don't Let The Weather Get You Down

Even rainy days can turn into a pot of gold/Deby Dixon

In Yellowstone National Park today the wind was blowing cold air, snow, and rain into my face as I stood in Lamar Valley and watched as the 'œnew' Lamar Canyon pack, two adults and six pups, made their first public appearance in their valley.  The pack visited an old carcass, ran, played, and hunted a 7-point bull elk. 

If I were a fair-weather photographer, I would have been at home with a fire going in the wood stove, the window open a crack so that the sounds of the Yellowstone River filled my ears, and working on the computer, oblivious to the day'™s events.  That is until I read about it on Facebook, at which time I would be kicking myself and extremely jealous of those who were there. 

I am a full-time nature and wildlife -- primarily wildlife -- photographer living right outside of the North Gate of Yellowstone, and one would think that I could pick and choose my days in the park, based on weather and activity. But it does not work that way for me.  I get up nearly every morning, well before dawn, and head out to see what the day will bring, never, ever, checking the weather forecast. 

Some envy me and get a little jealous because of my access to the park, thinking that I have the dream job - that I am living their dream and so life is not fair to them.   

While I am living my dream, it is not an easy life.  Wildlife photography does not even cover its own expenses, let alone pay my living costs.  And, I am out in all kinds of weather, driving, hiking, waiting, and watching, hoping that the day will bring fabulous wildlife sightings with stellar photographic opportunities that include subject, light, and background.  But, those days and those opportunities are few and far between, and often I have the subject but not the light or the right setting. 

But, most people do not live near Yellowstone or another national park and so do not have the luxury of looking outside and deciding if they want to venture into the park to take photos that day or not.  They are here for a short time. As a result, most people will go out and make the best out of what the weather brings, rather than sit in their motel rooms, motor homes, or tents. 

Recently, I went down to Grand Teton National Park in hopes of capturing some landscapes that included the mountains and the fall colors.  My second wish was to capture some environmental wildlife photos of the animals in some of the most spectacular landscape I have ever photographed. I reached the Tetons in the middle of the afternoon, with blue skies, warm temperatures, and the mountains in full view, just ahead of a rain storm that would last for days.  My plan was to just stay a day or two, tent camping at Gros Ventre Campground. 

Having an umbrella handy will help keep your camera, and you, dry/Melba Coleman

My timing was bad for a couple of reasons - the rain came and stayed for days, and the Park Service had just put down a cow moose that had been injured when it ran into a picnic table and then fell into a fire grate.  The moose was severely injured, and at the time of her accident she and the bull moose were surrounded by photographers.   

A photographer is anyone with a camera who is taking a picture, and is not a title reserved for the pros with the big lenses.  Photographers with the big lenses were initially accused of causing the moose to injure herself, but were later cleared of wrong doing when it was discovered that the moose had an eye infection and probably did not have good vision.   

As a professional photographer, I purchased a big lens so that it was possible to stand back from the animals and give them space, yet still get the shots.  And, while some photographers do push the limits and give the rest of us a bad name, the worse photography behavior comes from those with cell phone cameras and point-and-shoots who have decided that they should get the same, close shots that we get with our telephoto lenses.  Time and again this summer I watched as visitors walked right up to dangerous animals and stuck cell phones in their faces, while crowding them so badly that the animal could not move about freely.

So, there I was in the Tetons, unwelcome because of being a photographer, and it was raining so no mountains and no pretty landscape/wildlife scenery shots.  Home was only three hours away, so I could have left. But I instead chose to stay and see what the days would bring.  And, despite the rain, I stayed much longer than my plan.  As long as I am in a national park, I am happy, no matter what the weather is doing.

Until this year I have not had to deal with much rain in the parks and so had been quite lucky.  Still, I was prepared for keeping my camera equipment safe with a rain cover that was specially made for me by the wife of friend and photographer, Max Waugh.  I keep this rain cover on the camera and lens at all time because the weather can be sunny and warm one minute and cold and snowing the next.  Besides, it protects my equipment from scratches and it makes my lens look bigger than it is.  If you are interested in purchasing one let me know and I will put you in contact with Max.  I found the rain covers at the camera stores to be very expensive and not the right color.  I am not a camouflage sort of gal!

Other than a rain cover and some dry towels kept in the car, along with a beautiful and large umbrella given to me for my volunteer service at Yosemite National Park, I just have coats, hats, gloves and a change of clothes. I have yet to invest in rain gear.  

The thing with shooting in low light is that if you bump up your shutter speed too high, you will get a lot of  noise/grain in your images and if you shoot too low you risk images that are not sharp. Either way you will have unusable images.

My time in the Tetons, photographing the moose in the rain, gave me the opportunity to hone my low-light photography skills and stretch the limits of my camera.  I found that as long as it was possible to keep the camera still, I could get some great shots at slower shutter speeds, and the rain added a different sense of atmosphere to the images, along with enhancing the texture of the animal'™s coat.  

One of the techniques that I have found most useful for avoiding camera shake is the use of a bean bag, which absorbs the movement of the camera.  And, so, whenever possible, I stayed in the car, which kept me fairly dry and warm, and used the bean bag over the window sill, instead of the tripod.  

But, when I did use the tripod, I found that despite it being of good quality, it is near impossible not to get movement when pressing the shutter.  Which is why I keep my hand over the top of the lens, to minimize movement.  The best technique, and one that I don'™t use often because I have a hard time keeping track of them, is the use of a camera remote so that you don'™t have to push the shutter on the camera.  Instead of the remote, I often use a 2-second timer, which delays the shot some but also keeps the camera steady and is useful when the subject is fairly stable.  And, believe or not, those moose chose to stand in the same spots for long periods of time.  Or, they were lying down.

One of the benefits of not having the beautiful Teton mountain range to place behind any landscape shot was that it challenged me to go out and find something beautiful in the soggy world, and so I explored the park from a completely different viewpoint and was quite happy with the outcome.

Now, I must admit that the entire time I was in Grand Teton National Park my mind was dreaming of the storm breaking and light streaming in front of dark and ominous skies, along with rainbows arcing from one end of the park to the other, but that never happened.  Nothing wrong with dreaming.

So, don'™t let the weather keep you in.  I have found some of my best landscape shots in the midst of a rainstorm.

Despite rainy weather, photo ops abound, such as this one from Grand Teton National Park/Deby Dixon