sierraclub.org - sierra magazine - jan/feb 2013 - daily-ray-of-hope - the daily ray of hope: yellowstone
Sean Patrick Peck
One of Sean Patrick Peck's life goals is to photograph every U.S. national park. During his first visit to Yellowstone, he captured this image with a 10–24 Tamron wide-angle lens (ISO 200mm, f/6.3 and 1/160 sec). It wasn't the image he'd originally set out to capture: "I had spent over two hours in the rain watching a wolf pack across the valley stalk a herd of elk," Peck says. "Eventually, for whatever reason the wolf pack decided not to strike. I decided to return to my campsite. As I was driving, the sun came out enough to light up this valley, and my eyes were drawn to the clouds. Then I saw this pool of water along the side of the road. I pulled over, walked down a small hill, and saw the clouds in the sky beautifully reflected in the water—and snapped a few photos as the mosquitoes bit," he says. "This photo makes me hopeful because, it's one of my favorite photos, and I almost didn't stop along the road. It's those spur-of-the-moment decisions in life that can be so surprisingly beautiful and insightful."