just in time for Christmas, i have decided to have a massive, fine-art print sale…
all available color and black & white prints on my website are 50% reduced or more!
but the sale will only last until december 14th, to insure that all print orders are received in time for Christmas delivery.
merry Christmas!!
~ andrew
i’ve said it before; i don’t share my sacred places. there are a select few places that i go multiple times a year to get away, clear my head, and recharge my batteries. big bend national park is one of those places.
wyoming is as well. and as it was, i entertained company (my brother) in october. it was a new experience. and a good one. i’d even say refreshing.
so again, a few weeks ago, it was time to share.
my girlfriend elle had a birthday coming up. i wanted to do something special for her…
“let’s go backpacking!” she said.
and so it was. big bend, here we come!
elle had a great birthday, she said. and i had more fun than i ever imagined… sharing one of these places that i thought was mine.
i think i’m beginning to like this “sharing” thing…
i was lucky enough to be invited back to vermejo last week for another shoot.
the hummingbirds were very social.
there are a few groups of ferrel horses on the property. they don’t call them wild because at some point they were broken and used by humans. but they are now ferrel because they have been released and are free to roam the 600k acres.
i came across a group of about a dozen on the road down to the main lodge. i stopped the car and stepped out to snap a few shots. two of the horses came right up to me and began sniffing. they gently rubbed their long faces against me.
i had no idea what was going on, but it seems these powerful, wild creatures wanted to be friends. perhaps they missed the strange bond that horses and humans share.
one of them seemed interested in tasting my camera.
i had a strong urge to hop up on one of their backs and see if they remembered what it was like to transport a human to and fro. i decided against that idea.
it was really hard to get back in the car and leave my new friends…
but i did. after all, we had lots of great wine to drink…
the next day, we set out for lower underwood lake to catch some trout. i have never fly fished before, so i thought i’d give it a try…
with the help of a fantastic guide, and a lot of luck, i got to land a 3 lb brown. good looking fish!
that afternoon, john and i headed for the streams. fly fishing streams is a whole different game, and frankly, my confidence was high and i wanted to give that a shot as well.
the weather had different plans however. the sky opened with reckless fury. lightning and wind kept us from fishing the rest of the day.
we set out at 6 a.m. the next morning to catch our flight out of amarillo. on the way out of vermejo, we were treated to a spectacular sunrise.
a great last memory to hold in my mind of this amazing place…
i sincerely hope i have the opportunity to return, some day.
one of my first, and best, friends when i lived in wyoming was kim. she recently got married and had a gorgeous little girl, kate. first thing’s first… i had to go see them.
now on to my animals. a coyote searches for food in the elk national wildlife refuge near jackson.
two ocean lake in teton wilderness provided fantastic scenery.
on the way out of two ocean and pacific creek, one of my favorite views of the tetons materializes quickly. almost out of nowhere, the jagged peaks come into view with force and drama.
then, of course, the jackson lake dam provides unimpeded views of this beautiful mountain range, the grand tetons.
a lone big horn ram wandered, grazed.
early in the morning, the elk eat dew-covered grasses.
lamar creek. the hidden gem of the lamar valley. always one of my favorite spots to sit in the morning.
the lamar valley in the summer is a haven for the american bison. they graze it heavily in massive swarms.
the lamar valley is also home to many bears. this pair, one black bear and one cinnamon black were inseparable as i watched them cross miles of open landscape. i saw this same cinnamon about four years ago in the exact same spot. glad to see he’s got a lady to keep him company now…
bull elk are scattered across yellowstone this time of year. typically alone, they seem to know that the autumn rut and breeding season will be coming in a few short months.
sulphur stained ponds dot the landscape of yellowstone.
a lone black bear on the northeast entrance road scavenges in the shadow of the mountains surrounding the montana/ wyoming border, near cooke city.
not even a mile away from the bear, a fox too looks for an evening snack.
on the road to lulu pass, just outside city limits, seedlings, clear cuts, mountains, and sky provide the backdrop for cook city, montana.
early morning, heading back from a night spent at the cooke city dump, the mountains and fog performed a ballet. mist danced across the tops of trees as the light watched passively from behind the clouds.
and it only gained dramatic crescendo as i made my way back, further into the lamar valley of yellowstone.
after a long morning hike up the side of a peak in the lamar, a lone antelope kept his distance.
a 45 minute exposure at oxbow bend in grand teton national park, well after sundown.
morning glow over the tetons. i love waking up to this view!!
mid-morning at oxbow bend. light slowly makes it way toward me from behind, painting my canvas.
jackson lake was glass. a rare site.
string lake, near jenny lake, grand teton national park.
back to my old haunt in sublette county… green river lakes in bridger-teton national forest.
the lower lake was in tumult, with wild winds from the south rumbling like a freight train through the valley toward the upper green.
the green river was calm the next morning, though the sky overhead read drama.
i hiked the highline trail toward the upper lake. squaretop mountain spectacularly reflected the patches of sun.
i followed massive grizzly tracks all the way to the upper lake about three miles. it was not alone. two smaller sets of tracks alerted me to the fact that a sow with two yearlings could be around any bend.
on the way into little soda lake, the aspen groves catch a reflection more colorful than reality.
cactus patches keep me aware of where i place my feet…
just a few minutes from the front door of my old house in pinedale, soda lake reflects the wind river mountains, creating impressionistic hues that would make any artist salivate.
here’s a quick preview of a new film i’ve been working on called the mountain. just like the other short films, it’s basically just moving versions of my landscape/ nature imagery, put to music… i’m still very new to this. i hope to grow and become more sophisticated in my attempts at filmmaking. but if you like this kind of thing, please check out the film chronos. it has provided great inspiration for me, and it is a fantastic example of how a film of this sort should look.
these particular clips were shot in telluride this past week. however, the rest of the film is shot in locations all over the world. locations include (or will include) big bend, wyoming, california, spain, lebanon, kenya, ethiopia, and hopefully many more.
i don’t plan to have the mountain finished anytime before the winter of 2010, but i’ll continue to release little previews like this one. let me know what you think…
thanks so much for watching!
music: “up on a mountain” by the welcome wagon
all images © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2009
andrew slaton | blog 
