Created 27-Nov-14
Yellowstone National Park
Aug 29 - Sep 10, 2014

Photography: Stephen Talabac
Post Processing: Diana Talabac

When one visits Yellowstone, it becomes evident why it was declared America’s first National Park nearly 150 years ago, in 1872. The land was set aside by Congress as a "pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people." As noted on the National Park Service web site, Yellowstone is “…home to grizzly bears, wolves, and herds of bison and elk” and “the park is the core of one of the last, nearly intact, natural ecosystems in the Earth’s temperate zone”.

Yellowstone is huge: 3,472 square miles; more than 2 million acres. We could easily drive 100-200 miles a day… and all the while remain within the confines of the park boundaries. One must remember that when visiting Yellowstone, you are inside a huge, ancient super volcano with a caldera that measures 34 x 45 miles! About 1,000-3,000 earthquakes are registered annually.

The landforms within the park range from deep, rugged, colorful canyons cut by the forces of the Yellowstone River and its waterfalls, to the broad Hayden and Lamar valleys which are home to bison, bear, wolf, elk, and other wildlife.

And then there are the famous geysers, steaming hot springs and thermal vents, sulfurous bubbling mud pots, and incredibly colorful thermal pools. In these regions of the park, nature photographers are presented with a seemingly infinite number of opportunities to capture the textures, patterns, and incredible colors of these fascinating land forms. Many offer the opportunity for creative post processing to produce artistic abstract imagery.

The galleries in this collection strive to capture some of the characteristics of this magical landscape.

Click the first photo in each gallery for a larger view. Captions are provided beneath each photo.
Yellowstone - The LandYellowstone - Thermal FeaturesMammoth Hot SpringsYellowstone - WildlifeYellowstone - Color, Pattern & TextureYellowstone - Artistic InterpretationsYellowstone Abstracts