In the pre­vi­ous post, I showed one of my Yel­low­stone images that will appear in a group pho­tog­ra­phy exhibit enti­tled The Next Step that opens this com­ing week­end. This is the other image that will be in the show. Like the pre­vi­ous image, this one is part of my Motion|Pictures series. But where the pre­vi­ous image shows the kind of intense col­ors you can find in hot springs when the sun is high in the sky, this image illus­trates how hot springs are all about reflec­tions early and late in the day.

This image was taken near the start of the Foun­tain Paint Pot Trail in Yellowstone’s Lower Geyser Basin. Runoff streams and pools cover a vast area below the trail’s board­walks; when the sun is low or (as in this image) below the hori­zon, the min­eral and algal col­ors beneath the thin layer of water dis­ap­pear and are replaced by reflec­tions. In this case, reflec­tions of the intense, post-sunset sky vis­i­ble in the back­ground. Steam rises from areas where the water is still hot; tan­gled roots of trees killed by the mineral-laden water dom­i­nate the shad­owy fore­ground. In a future post, I’ll talk about the prob­lem of cap­tur­ing high-contrast scenes like this one when using cam­era motion techniques.

Tech­ni­cal Data:
Body: Canon EOS Dig­i­tal Rebel XTi
Lens: Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM at 50mm
Expo­sure: ISO 100, f/22, 1/4 second