Golden and Blue Hour Photos in Idaho and Wyoming

Trying to get that early morning shot can sometimes require a little preparation with equipment set-up. Using a tripod and wide-angle lens is always a good idea. My favorite thing about this first photo is how I was able to capture the first bit of light reflecting off the ice crystals in the atmosphere. It looks almost like an ice rainbow.

The above early-morning blue hour shot was captured using a slow shutter speed. The slow shutter helps to let more light in while using a smaller aperture for a clearer shot. Notice how the details are clear in the foreground as well as the background. This is when your tripod comes in handy as well. When you slow down your shutter, you can easily get blurry photos from camera movement. Using a tripod helps to ensure you don’t get ‘camera blur’.

All three of the photos in this post were taken on the same weekend. The first photo was shot in Idaho, while the following two were shot during golden hour on the other side of the Tetons in Wyoming. Grand Teton National Park is breathtakingly beautiful during Golden Hour.

These next two shots were also captured using a tripod. Because of the early hour in Grand Teton National Park, there was still beautiful frost on all of the foliage. I was able to capture the incredible pink light of the sunrise along with the ice crystals still clinging to the plants. I love the gorgeous bokeh in the background of this photo:

For this last shot, my ISO was set to 100 and my aperture was f/16. Because I was using a tripod, I was able to capture the slow-moving mist across the top of the lake:

In the last picture, I used the bracketing setting on my camera. I took 3 photos, each just 2 stops apart; I was able to blend the photos together to make sure nothing in the photo was over or under-exposed. I like the way I was able to capture the first morning light on the mist along with light hitting the fall colors on the trees. It was a frigid October morning in that beautiful space between Autumn and Winter. If you look at the above photo closely, you can also see that beautiful pink light reflecting off the ice crystals on the sagebrush across the lake.

See more golden hour photography HERE.