David July

Trees and woodlands line the Yellowstone River near the Mary Mountain East Trailhead as it flows north toward Otter Creek with the 9,380-foot summit of Observation Peak visible beyond.

Grand Loop Road, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming: Monday, 26 August 2019

part of the Yellowstone National Park album

Sometimes there are images that I try to capture repeatedly, oftentimes because I am not stopping to see the subject and am instead shooting from a moving vehicle. The results can be mixed but I try to learn from each attempt and then iterate with improvements. Such a situation occurred last August as I wanted to frame the Yellowstone River, surrounding woods and background peaks through groups of trees lining the road while moving past at thirty-five miles per hour.

This photograph was taken during the third pass on trip day six. Although some photos from other passes have positive attributes, I choose this one for processing due to the bright and colorful palette seen on this sunnier day. Thanks to perspective distortion, the summit of Observation Peak pictured is more distant than it appears, being approximately 6.6 miles away.