Shades of Spring eastbound

Shades of Spring eastboundMy favorite oxbow on the Yellowstone winds through Paradise Valley below the Absaroka Beartooth Mountains in the background. It's a beautiful time of year when the cottonwoods begin leafing out, the river creeps up with snow melt, and all around there's a sense that seasons have shifted out of the long winter. I shot this panorama during sunset, showing the gentle shades of lavender that often settle over the eastern horizon. Using Fuji's amazing 102

The mid-March Milky Way streams over the Canton Historic Church not far from Helena

and head-high new growth nearly as dense as a rainforest

there were still asters blooming and tired bumble bees crawling over them

and wavy reflections

even during clear weather

saturation

The early autumn sun rises in Yellowstone National Park over a meadow of sage coated with one of the year's first frosts while morning mist and smoke from stubborn wildfires hangs in the sky

A variety of sizes are listed below

I returned the the Big Horns and this meadow

narrower space

watching most the remaining ice sheet melt during the first day I spent on the shores of this beautiful

They speak to me about our past here in Montana and