Teton Meadow

Located deep in Grand Teton National Park along the Teton Crest trail wildflowers explode in a rainbow of color. A rare view of the Grand Teton and surrounding peaks is the backdrop for this amazing meadow which sits atop the Death Canyon shelf, a high terrace of land perched above a hanging glacial valley. To reach this location with my 4x5 view camera was not an easy feat, but the effort absolutely paid off when I realized my timing could not have been better. This image was taken shortly before sunset after hiking two days to reach the location. Perhaps the trip could have been shortened but like many trips in this era of my photography career, the entire family was along for the adventure! This was a big venture for my kids who were 6 and 8 at the time. We had set up our camp and rested shortly that afternoon in the basin below the shelf, opting to hike up without all of the weight for the late afternoon and sunset light. As the sun descended to the west, long shadows cast themselves across the foreground revealing the myriad of color in the fields of wildflowers. Dinner was a larger priority for my companions and with about an hour or so until sunset, the family headed back to camp before darkness settled in, allowing me to focus my full attention on the task at hand. Shooting film here was such a challenge as I only had a dozen sheets for the whole trip! I exercised great restraint and only exposed one sheet on this epic moment, thankfully making a perfect exposure! This was one of those moments as a photographer when I could genuinely say, I got it! For the actual sunset alpenglow, I composed a second shot using a different lens and tightening up the view of the mountains. Within a few moments the light was gone and I was busy packing up my set up ready to race back to camp to get some well-earned grub! I am sure when I arrived back to camp the excitement was palpable. It would be several weeks before I would actually see my work from this trip as the film still needed to be developed. Indeed this type of patience and restraint are no longer a part of modern photography, which is a bittersweet evolution I sometimes lament.

400 Limited Edition / 20 Artist Proof