My wife and I live in Jackson Hole, south of Grand Teton National Park, and our son was home visiting. We had been planning on going to Oxbow Bend, a peaceful section of the Snake River, to kayak at sunset, but we watched as a front of thunderstorms rolled in. "Let's go up anyway," I suggested. "We don't have to take the kayaks; let's just go." As we drove the 35 miles to Oxbow Bend, the weather went from driving rain to sunshine and back again. But as we arrived at the turnout for Oxbow Bend, the sky went very dark, with some gorgeous shafts of light materializing in different places.
I rushed down to the river's edge and set up my tripod. I put a 10-stop ND filter on the lens and exposed the sensor for 36 seconds. During that time, a bright light emerged to the north of Mount Moran even as the sky roiled. The peacefulness of Oxbow Bend's flat surface was juxtaposed against an angry sky with the sun illuminating the river's edge. It was, to me, a magical moment for photography. For my wife and son, it was another example of how the weather and light in the West can make even the rainiest evening into an adventure.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor