Into the Valley - a photo on Flickriver

Into the Valley

            Most photographers I know (or artists in general) all have their one favorite peice of work they have created. A peice that represents best what they constantly strive to make... a defining moment in their own history when everything came together and fell into harmounious place. This shot is that for me. It's probably not the best shot I have ever taken, but it's special to me for many reasons.

A decade ago, when this was taken, I was spending yet another summer in Glacier National Park, an eden for landscape photographers. The place is breathtaking, really. But this breathtaking beauty means it's photographed... A LOT. So having found this unique comp that had not been previously photographed to my knowledge, was an exciting moment for me.

I spent the next 4 evenings sitting atop this waterfall, soaking my nether regions in the cold snowmelt that feeds it. Finally on the last night, the light I was dying for happened. But for me, it's not the epic light that stands out in my mind when recalling this evening. It's the place, the solitude I had that evening with nobody around me, the excitement of having longhorn sheep walk right up to me for a couple sniffs (I hadn't showered for probably 9 days), and knowing that I was going to create something that would be really special to me.

It's those things that make this shot my favorite I’ve ever made... even a decade and tens of thousand of photos later .Everything just fell into place. The comp, the light, the moment as a whole... and now the memories. And since this is such a special image for me, I tend to go back every couple of years to reprocess it to keep it looking up to date for my current position in my photographic progression.

Anyways, here it is. My favorite photo I have ever taken... featuring Lewis Range peaks Reynolds Mountain, Cannon Mountain and Mount Oberlin. In a large version of this image, you can see part of the 600ft Bird Woman Falls inbetween the distant peaks as well as tall stands of Beargrass blooms in the meadows to the right.

Taken on: June 18, 2018

Tags:

storm

sunset

stream

creek

bird woman falls

bird woman

Reynolds

cannon

mount

Oberlin

mountains

mountain

Ryan Dyar

Montana

glacier

glacier national park « less

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