Late September into early October proved another productive autumn photo season for me again. Last year I traveled and took advantage of a long foliage season but this year I stayed close to home. For this post I want to share one of my favorite local mountains with fall colors. Mount Jefferson straddles the state line between Idaho and Montana and is the tallest Centennial Range. Due to its location, both the images I am showing here were shot with moderate telephoto lenses with the one above shot at approximately 200mm shortly after sunrise.

This next image was taken at 300mm. It was very low light and the mountains and surrounding landscape were glowing in the pre-dawn light. This shot was more difficult to capture not only because of the low light but also because the hillside began to obscure the peaks, so finding the best angle while not losing the colorful foliage tricky. Due to the time of day, both shots required a tripod. Even with landscapes, if I can get away with not using a tripod, then I’ll do it just because it allows me to work quicker and change angles faster. With light changing constantly this is important though learning to shot from a tripod, especially early in one’s experience is critical. I’ll show some more of my favorites in the coming days.

It’s mid-November so I need to figure out holiday ordering and this year the last day I can accept orders and expect to get them to you in time for Christmas is once again December 9th, if shipping within the US. After December 9th, I cannot ensure that it will arrive in time for Christmas. And if you experience problems with making an order, feel free to contact me from my website’s contact page. There have been some issues with it accepting orders that I’m trying to work through, but it’s taking some time.

The image above was taken back in August of Gibbon Falls in Yellowstone National Park. Even the most epic sunrises have limitations on what makes a suitable foreground and on this morning there was some brilliant color in the sky… in the wrong places for the best foregrounds. I took a look around and thought perhaps the color would show behind Gibbon Falls but of course I would need to get there before the color faded. I made it with a few minutes to spare.

Back in September I had posted some elk images from the rut and intended to share more but time got away from me. It was a busy autumn with elk, moose, and beautiful foliage. Now of course, the snow is falling and the landscape is taking on a whole new beauty. The image above was taken in Yellowstone at the beginning of the elk rut. The bull was very interested in the cow as she moved past him.

Back in September I had posted an image of these two sparring but thought this image better showed the size difference between the young bull versus the mature bull. The larger bull patiently stood there hold his antlers steady while the little guy went to town. It was quite interesting to watch.