12 Favorite Photos from 2023

January

A pine forest tapering off below the Teton Mountains at sunrise. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

The dead of winter is always a beautiful time in Jackson Hole. During this January we were in the midst of consistent below-average temperatures with above-average snow. As a result, I did my best to head out and capture some of the wildlife and landscapes of the area. On one pleasant morning, scenery-wise, I drove past a familiar spot and was struck with the way the storm was clearing off of the Teton Mountains. Add to that some dynamic lighting and silhouetted trees in the foreground, and the outcome was a pretty winning combination.

February

A winter wonderland stretching out above the Cache Creek Trail. Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming

With so much fluffy powder piled up all over Jackson Hole, the snowshoeing opportunities became quite stunning. On any given day, any direction was a true winter wonderland. Cache Creek was naturally no exception. On this particular day, I headed up the main trail, then backtracked via the nearby Sidewalk Trail. Along the way under bold blue skies, the white landscape appeared perfectly smooth around the dense evergreen forests. It was simply too beautiful to ignore, and the image quickly became one of my favorites from the season.

March

A moose struggling to walk through deep snow below the Teton Mountains. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

By March the snow levels were reaching depths that were even tripping up the moose. Though their long legs are normally able to navigate excessive snow buildup, this season proved quite difficult for them. During a frigid foggy morning, I watched this moose struggling to take each step as it headed roughly a mile south. It’s not simply the scene itself that I enjoy so much about this image, but also just how dwarfed the moose appears within the snowy landscape.

April

Northern lights filling the night sky above the Teton Mountains. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

April produced one of the best northern lights displays over Jackson Hole I’ve seen in years. Unfortunately on this night, my 3 year-old daughter was already asleep by dark, so I wasn’t able to get in the car and find a new vantage point. Fortunately, I live in Kelly, a tiny community in the corner of Grand Teton National Park, an area that happens to be a new vantage point for photographing the auroras. Likewise, I also happen to live very close to the boundary for uninterrupted views. As such, I headed out, still within earshot of my home and was able to capture a dazzling display of auroras over the landscape. This image, I felt, summed up the night.

May

A hooded warbler perched on the end of a branch along the Moose-Wilson Road. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

While leading a photography workshop in early May, I was telling my clients that despite not being much of a birder, I still loved the movie The Big Year. After our outing was complete, I realized it had been a while since I had last seen it. That night, I put it on and went to bed. The next morning I woke up and felt different. I could feel that the bird calls outside my home weren’t just random birds anymore. I needed to know what they were. Literally overnight, I had become, *gasp*, a birder. I spent the next couple of weeks walking the Moose-Wilson Road before traffic overtook it. While this wasn’t technically my best shot of a bird, it was the rarest, and thus, one of my favorites. This hooded warbler doesn’t venture out of the southern states or much farther west than Ohio. Not realizing it at the time, I simply assumed it was another bird. Upon learning its migration habits, and the fact that it has absolutely no likelihood of showing up in Grand Teton National Park, it quickly became one of my favorites.

June

A grizzly bear nicknamed, Bruno, walking through wildflowers and sagebrush below the Teton Mountains. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

At the same time I was enjoying the thrills of finding new “lifers” daily though, I was also becoming more disinterested in the swarms of cars that jam the roads any time a bear makes an appearance. That being said, before the crowds show up, I love a good grizzly sighting, especially if I’m one of the first on the scene. Such was the case when this mighty beast came lumbering out of the woods and into an open meadow below the Teton Mountains. With a storm clearing from the peaks, it left a moody and picturesque backdrop that made for a beautifully “Teton” shot. Knowing (hoping) the shot was coming, I brought my backup camera out with a shorter lens than the 500mm f/4 I frequently have aimed at wildlife. Fortunately, this bear was one of the cooperative ones.

July

Lightning striking the ground near the Teton Mountains as a large thunderstorm passes through. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

July was a difficult one to narrow down. I had two images that I really liked – one, a Swainson’s thrush singing from a branch in a sea of green broken by a few branch, the other, the above. Given how rarely I’m able to catch lightning with the Teton Mountains though, this one won out. Partially for the dramatic sunset, partially for the incredible moodiness, this shot stands out to me as a nearly perfect landscape of Grand Teton National Park under a thunderstorm.

August

The Perseid Meteor Shower streaking down through the night sky above the Kelly Yurt Park. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

While the Perseid Meteor Shower of 2023 didn’t disappoint, it wasn’t until I went to bed that it got really good. I left my camera going on a time-lapse outside of my home at the time, aka, an old yurt, to capture the night sky above. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many meteors were bright and visible once I woke up. Also, a distant unshielded light highlighted the main foreground subject.

September

The aurora borealis adding splashes of various colors across the sky above Jackson Hole. National Elk Refuge, Wyoming

September saw the return of northern lights. My only problem was this particular storm flared up a little last-minute. On top of that I was temporarily living in the town of Jackson at the time. As such, if I wanted a good shot before the activity waned, I needed to head somewhere nearby. I rushed out to the National Elk Refuge to see if I could capture the Miller House below them. While i got a few of what I was wanting, it was the more pulled back shots that I still really enjoyed. This one especially shows off tremendous variety of color that we rarely get from the northern lights over Jackson Hole.

October

The Milky Way Galaxy rising above craters and cinder cones. Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho

I took my daughter camping in Craters of the Moon National Monument in October since the weather was still quite pleasant. Itching for some night shots, I stayed up after she went to bed and did the best I could from our campsite. Naturally, I picked a campsite with an uninterrupted and open view looking south and southwest upon driving in for this very reason. A panorama I put together featuring the Milky Way Galaxy and the North Crater (among others), came out as one of the ideal shots of the night sky from the area that I was wanting.

November

An American dipper catching a bite of food in the Snake River. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

By November, just in time for fall bird migration (ie, all the birds leaving Jackson Hole), I was making a bigger push to up my game for better bird photography. I made a hike down to the Snake River where I found an American dipper still enjoying the icy waters of a slower channel. I spent some time with the small feathered friend and watched as it popped around the rocks, capturing small aquatic insects and larvae. While I managed to get a few shots of it in action, it was this shot, complete with splashing in the water for its victim, that was what I was hoping to come away with for the day.

December

I recently realized that it had been a while since I photographed the Moulton Barns at night. With new gear since my last attempt, I figured the Geminid Meteor Shower was the perfect time to push myself back out into the deep dark cold. The night the meteor shower peaked was fortunately a clear night, so I headed out to Mormon Row to try my luck. While the meteor shower wouldn’t get good until early the next morning, one meteor did manage to grace a shot of the T.A. Moulton Barn under the starry night sky. It was a nice touch to an image I was already happy with.