Bob: I agree, completely!

Marturo: Join the club! I am 77 and still learning, and I don't want to stop. I found out about layering in the instructional video with my Luminar 2018 program. Check Affinity and see if they have an instructional video or have a layering function in the editing section. It Affinity has a "Professional" selection of filters, processes, etc., then you could use that to put your signature on your photos. If you have questions, contact me and I will tell you what I do with Luminar. Hopefully, Affinity will have a similar feature. Good luck!!

Marturo:
I am glad to hear that your are enjoying your introduction to Affinity. Although it is not the program I use, I have heard many good things about it and wish you much success in mastering it and using it to achieve your goals for the images you record. As to putting your "signature" on the photo, Affinity may have a special tool for that. If Affinity has a way to add layers to a photo, you could create a file that is your signature and superimpose that file as a layer on the photo. this is how I do it in Luminar. Perhaps is will work for you. Good luck!

More wonderful photos, DaveO!!! Congratulations. Your shots give me an added impetus to keep growing as a photographer. Again, THANK YOU!!!!

This has been the state of all photography, glass plate, film and digital. Developing glass plates and film and printing them are processes different in nature from digital processing/post-processing but not effect. On one edge of the spectrum is radical altering of the image that can turn the end result into almost a cartoon or parody of the original scene. On the other hand is an absolutely minimalist approach that would eschew various filters (warming, polarizing, neutral density and other possibilities), HDR and other manipulations of a digital image. Oh, and there is a process in converting RAW to TIFF or JPG, since RAW requires a process to become a workable file: just like developing film, converting a RAW file makes it usable for printing or whatever end use the photographer has in mind. Yes, Bob, integrity does enter into the matter and so does good taste.

What wonderful shots!!! I am a late comer to wildlife photography and these inspire me to get out really do a lot more. Thank you!!!

Given your travel plans, I think Green River Lakes is a fine choice. The campground is very nice; clean, sites are not crammed together and facilities well tended. The road is paved as far as 25 miles north of Cora: then is is a gravel surface that is well maintained. Your route would be: south on US 189 from Jackson to Hoback Junction, then left on US 189 to its junction with US 191. Go left (east) on 191 for 5 miles and turn left on Wyoming 352. Follow the signs as the gravel road goes pretty much straight ahead: do not turn off. The road then curves right and dead ends at the campground. Depending on when you travel, you should have no problems, although right now, the unpaved road might be a bit rough as it is rather early in the season. Call the Forest Service Office in Pinedale for latest conditions. Have a wonderful time in the beautiful country.

[quote=kcooke]

I have hiked on the western slope of the Wind River Range but not the Red Desert. We camped at Green River Lakes and then went on hikes south and east of the campground. There are three other "entry" points that I want to explore. The busiest one is east of Pinedale, WY and gives access to the Fitzgerald Wilderness and some fine territory. On the southwest , near Kemmereer, you can access the range, the southern part of the Bridger Wilderness, and also the Popo Age Tribal Wilderness. It is the least traveled, partly because of the log drive from the nearest towns. On the eastern side, Dubois, WY offers access to the range, as well as some very nice territory in the southern Absarokas. This side gets a little more traffic than Green River, but there is great hiking, as well, and much to see on the eastern slope.

I have hiked in Colorado and Wyoming, as well as Idaho and Montana. Colorado is wonderful, but as for frozen tundra - what are you describing? Wyoming has great photo opportunities that require just a big more searching, not like the Front Range. Check out the Absaroka Wilderness, The Beartooth Mountains and Plateau. They are full of fine vistas. Idaho didn't reject Wyoming! Western Wyoming was initially settled by Mormon farmers who moved into the Jackson Hole and Star Valleys when Idaho became a state and outlawed polygamy.

Beautiful shots druthven! The Moulton barn and Oxbow photos are one I have made in my film days and the barn, again a few years ago when my daughter and son-in-law were visiting. You are right about Grand Teton. It has great in the Tetons, as well. I am going back this summer and really appreciate the mention of your guide Daryl Hunter. I am going to cnatact him and see if I can get him to guide a trip for me. As you wrote, the eastern side is rich in great vistas. But, up in the canyons of the Tetons there are great opportunities, as well.

Just because something like sky replacement is there is not a reason to condemn Luminar for offering it. They are trying to establish a broad customer base and I don't blame them. Just because a feature is there that many, myself included, think "denaturalizes", over saturates or garishly creates something like bad poster art, doesn't mean the product itself is bad. It is the end user who can choose to be both creative and artistically truthful or not. By your reasoning, because, in a fit of bad judgment, car driver injures a pedestrian or other driver, it does not make the vehicle at fault. In terms of logic, this is a fallacy called a non sequeter.

Wonderful collection of photos!! This summer I am planning a trip to the Sawtooth Wilderness and surrounding area. I have to pick my time well and fit it in after a trip to Glacier. Your beautiful photos are another inducement to make my reservations in Stanley/Lower Stanley, and get up there. THANKS!!!

Some great advice ecunnar! The weather can take you for a ride in this area. It can snow any month of the year in Idaho and Yellowstone weather is even more active. I moved to Idaho twenty years ago and never regretted it. Yellowstone, Grand Teton right in my back yard, so to speak. And two years ago, friends from Texas and I went to Yellowstone in winter. It was a magnificent experience. Living up here helped me come into my own as a photographer. And there is yet more to see. I have gone to Glacier yearly since 2015 and it isn't a bad trip from Idaho Falls or Pocatello. The Yellowstone River Falls are very photogenic and even a modest one, like Lewis Falls very worthwhile. I am going back in September for a couple of days. By the way, a very good barbecue restaurant in Jackson is Bubba's.

Call YNP headquarters for the latest information. I am heading to Glacier late next month and they will be open for business. That said, I don't stay in the park, but with friends in Kalispell. Lodging in YNP is extensive, but you ought to call and find out what they anticipate. As for the towns I recommended, Jackson would be my first point of inquiry.

My daughter and son-in-law gave me a Manfrotto Element tripod with a ball-head mount for Christmas. My previous tripod was not what I needed with a D7100 and decent sized telephoto zoom. The new one is very sturdy and at a little over 3 pounds, very packable - I strap mine to my LowePro backpack. It cost them $150 from B&H. I recommend it to your consideration.