8/18 I have taken almost 2000 pictures since I’ve been here. Lately, the sunsets have been amazing and I’m sharing some tips with fellow co-workers. There are at least 6 of us who have decent cameras, some are more advanced than mine. I think I’ve outgrown my Nikon D7100 or am just jealous.

Most days, I walk around the basin looking for geyser activity and cool pics to take. The mornings are calm and a little mysterious, as the steam from the geysers fills the landscape and create a mysterious fog. There are only a handful of people around. The trees are shrouded by the fog and it looks a little mysterious. By mid morning, the sun is up and the fog clears to reveal the basin, and people are starting to arrive and enjoy the scenery. Afternoons have been hot and lately, and more crowded than at the beginning of the season, but the sun brings out the colors and if we are lucky, the wind blows the steam away and reveals the richness and wonder of the springs and geysers. And when the sun starts going down, the shadows get longer and the light is a little softer, which gives the basin a whole different appearance. This is so cool!!! Night time is a whole new experience, and it took a while for me to get the nerve to go outside at night to look at the stars. OMG!!!! I can’t even tell you what that’s all about. I have never seen the Milky Way before!!!! WOWOW! Only been out about 3 times and the first time I went to the Prismatic Springs overlook with a couple of guys to do some astrophotography. I was scared to pieces but it was a great experience.

My camera was showing a pink fox face at the edge of the night photos and I brought it to the camera shop in West Yellowstone to see if I could get it cleaned up. The technician is a local photographer and it was fun have a celebrity work on my camera. He said that it was pretty dirty and that the focus should also be better now that it’s been cleaned.

We went out again to Castle geyser at night to watch the comet and take more pictures. Again, I was petrified, cuz it’s truly pitch black out here. I was better and took some great pictures, and the geyser erupted and was beautiful. Unfortunately, the fox face was still there so I went back to the camera shop to see if they could figure out what the problem was. They never saw this phenomena and had no idea what it was, so I googled it and think it’s a light leak somewhere in the camera. Most of the articles suggested that the viewfinder might be the issue, so I’ll try to find the little cover for it and do another night shoot. I suppose that the more I go outside at night the easier it will be. This is a story that I’ll talk about in person someday.

Sunsets are my favorite!