If you have been there no words are necessary. If you have not and you enjoy landscape and wildlife photography make sure you plan a visit.
These are not the most visited National Parks in this country and in case you wonder that it could be the Yosemite National Park in California the answer is no. The honor goes to The Great Smokey Mountains National Park in the North Carolina-Tennessee area.
Grand Teton is a place that fascinates me with over 200 miles of trails to be explored, rich with wildlife, pristine lakes and alpine terrain.
Plenty of wildlife depending on the season like grizzly bears, pronghorn, gray foxes, elk and bison just to mention a few.
The trumpeter swan, the biggest bird in North America lives in the valley near big extensions of water. Pronghorns can run at speeds of 70 mph so do not come too close to them. As a matter of fact, they are all wild animals and rangers will warn you not to come close to them especially grizzly bears with cubs.
Yellowstone was our first National Park. Located in parts of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana it was established in 1872 and it has a beautiful ecosystem of 28,000 square miles with more geysers than in most places on earth. This beautiful ecosystem has also abundant wildlife and breathtaking landscapes.
As to be expected the summer season is busy with crowds from all over the world and most probably the worst time to photograph. Fall by late September is excellent because it is less busy. Winter conditions could be brutal with temperatures as low as 3 degrees Fahrenheit and tons of snow requiring the closing of many roads and limiting access to the Park.
All images made with a D100 using a 28-105 f3.5-4.5 Nikon D lens and for the wide vistas the 12-24 f4 AF-S Nikon lens. Do we need to carry more gear? Perhaps a long lens for wildlife.
The first shot made in early light at Schwabacher's Landing with a setting moon.
The second shot was made in late evening at Jenny Lake.
The third shot made from aspens moving the camera up and down with a slow shutter speed. Freeman Paterson calls these images "subrealistic."
The next one is a view of the Grand Teton mountains range with the Snake River in the foreground. This was documented in the mid 40's by Ansel Adams in beautiful b&w and remains a classic. There is an Ansel Adams gallery in Yellowstone National Park under the management of his daughter.
One of the many geysers is the next shot. Do not miss "0ld Faithful" that seems to come alive every 45 minutes or so.
One of the old barns in Mormon Road. I used a soft Gaussian blur for the dreamy effect.
Finally a water fall in Yosemite.
All images made with camera on a Gitzo tripod with Linhof ballhead and an electronic shutter release cable.
Topaz Adust 5 and Photoshop used for editing the files. All original JPEG images in the sRGB color space.
I hope you enjoy looking at them.

I am what I would say is an advanced amateur, shooting for a few years since retirement. A Nikon guy for no particular reason, other than I had to make a decision and go one way or another. Have several FX cameras, and the holy trinity of Nikon lenses. I feel like I have not yet figured out what "speciality" I want to focus on in photography and enjoy just shooting whatever. I like landscape and adventure travel. Problem is that here in Florida, I try to shoot the natural landscape but wildlife seems to be a big thing and I am limited with a max length lens of 300mm. I have the 70-300 and a 28-300, the latter being the sharper in my opinion. I'd like a longer lens for birds. My questions are: How long is necessary? Is a prime the better solution? And is faster worth the extra cost? Is Nikon the way to stay, or is one of the 150 - 500 or 600 Sigma or Tamron lenses okay? I am thinking something in the range of 400 to 600 mm, and not particularly interested in a $17k 800 mm. I have several very good tripods but wonder if my skills are good enough to get sharp photos from a really long lens. Any input would be appreciated.