Tranquility

The Tetons had a forest fire just weeks before this image was taken and smoke still blurred the otherwise sharp contour of the mountain range. This was just helpful enough to create this special image in this iconic spot in the Grand Tetons National Park. Oxbow Bend is a great spot, which overlooks a calm backwater that was left by the Snake River when it cut a new southern channel. This sanctuary surrounded by the cottonwoods is an attractive place for sandhill cranes, great blue herons, pelicans and trumpeter swans and many other bird species. Occasionally moose, elk, beaver, otter and grizzly bears can be spotted along the river, too.

I set up my equipment early in the morning, well before sunrise with my friend, Jon Paul. He was leading a workshop to the Tetons. I scouted the location beforehand because I wanted to use a different vintage point, which was hard to find in this location. After setting up the panoramic camera by using my headlight in the gentle breeze, a little bit higher up from the shoreline, I was excited to see what mother nature would unfold before my eyes that morning. As the fog started disappearing from the surface of the water, the fall colors of the aspen trees started to show their glorious hues. Geese, ducks and cormorants swam by in search of food. And then the unexpected happened: time just froze all of a sudden. The wind stopped blowing, the birds rested in one spot and the soft waves in the water died off creating an almost mirror smooth surface reflecting the multiple layers of colors and Mt. Moran behind it. This didnt last long, but for that short amount of time I found myself in a peaceful world, where tranquility ruled everything. I clicked the shutter to immortalize that feeling.

This 3:1 artwork is available in the LIMITED edition Series here.