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Night Photography at Yellowstone Geysers

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

4.8/5
based on 4 reviews

Description

Added by Eric Bennett

An amazing foreground, with really dark, clear skies and no crowds.

During the day this spot will be packed with people. Come back here at night time to get some beautiful night sky photography with the amazing hot springs and geysers in the foreground, without the crowds.

If you are new to night photography, you can read my adventure on Mormon Row where I explain the essentials and the basics so you can get started. I've also included it below for reference.

This is a great place to learn or for advanced photographers as well because it has some of the clearest skies and the brightest Milky Way I have ever seen.

Check what time the moon will be setting/rising to make sure it won't be out while you are shooting or else you won't be able to see. The milky way rises in the SW part of the sky and comes up at different times during the year, so look that up to so you don't miss it!

Aim where the milky way is, if you can get good photos of it, then you can at least sort of see it in the sky. If you cant see it in the sky, most likely it won't show up too great in your photos. Turn your ISO up to about 2000-3200 depending on what kind of camera you are shooting. Cropped sensors will be really grainy at 3200 but 2000 is acceptable. Full frames should be fine and 3200 and anything brighter isn't necessary and will just take out a lot of contrast from the dark sky. If you are shooting a wide lens like 16mm-8mm you can get away with a 30" exposure but 25" will make the stars look the sharpest. If it is still really dark you can bump it to 30" though, there will just be a tiny bit of drag as the earth rotates. If you are shooting tight like 50mm-24mm you won't want to pass 20" or else the star streaks will be really noticeable and your sky will never look in focus. Open your lens up to f/2.8 or the widest aperture it can go, to let in the most light possible. If you go past f/2.8 your foreground can be really soft or it can be really hard to get the stars in focus. To focus your lens correctly, switch to live mode and zoom in. Search for a bright start and manual focus on it, this way you won't have a soft sky and thus will be able to see more stars/ more detail in your photo. After that, just snap away!

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Night Photography at Yellowstone Geysers Reviews

If you choose to photograph at night in Yellowstone be sure to go with a guide or a group. There is literally a book called Death in Yellowstone that documents those who strayed off the path at night and slipped into hot springs or geysers.

Unlike photographing any other landscape.

Dark skies combined with incredible scenery, Yellowstone is a great place for astrophotography! Make sure to be vigilant about local wildlife, especially in the quieter park times of the year!

This is the best way to see the park with some solitude.

Leave No Trace

Always practice Leave No Trace ethics on your adventures and follow local regulations. Please explore responsibly!

Nearby

Explore Midway Geyser Basin

Fairy Falls

Hike above Grand Prismatic Spring

Drive The Firehole Lake Loop

Mystic Falls Loop

Sentinel Meadows to Fairy Falls and Imperial Geyser

Let Adventure be your Destination in Wyoming

Wyoming’s wide-open spaces make it easy to get off the grid and on a trail, through a park, into a forest, up a mountain or down a river. During your journey through Wyoming’s Black to Yellow Region, discover geologic marvels, dense evergreen forests and sprawling prairielands.

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