Yellowstone Landscape

  

Photographer: Stu Witmer
Summary Author: Stu Witmer

Yellowstone National Park has many wonders including dramatic waterfalls, spectacular canyons, exotic wildlife, boiling hotspots, geysers, mud pots, fossil forests, a glass mountain, the list goes on seemingly without end. People come from the world over to view Old Faithful and cause traffic jams trying to view bison and other wildlife. But with all this wealth there's one thing that encompasses it all and is seldom remarked upon or contemplated as avidly as the established stars of the show: the landscape. Yellowstone was created by Congress in 1872, making it the world's first national park. Since then, most of the landscape has remained virtually unchanged. This is a living picture of what the North American West was like before it was logged off, paved over, subdivided, dammed, farmed, railroaded, mined, or homesteaded. The photo above shows traffic-stopping bison resting and grazing. But look beyond them and remember that this land is, purely and simply, how it has always been. In today's world, with every tick of the clock, this becomes increasing impossible to find. Photo taken September 2, 2007 at 4:28 p.m. (Mountain Daylight Time).

Photo details: Camera Nikon E5700; f/2.8; focal length 35 mm; ISO 100; exposure 1/1900; Software used Adobe Photoshop 7.0