Icy branches in Yellowstone:
Ice by our driveway (a week after the snowstorms!):
Mammoth Mornings
It’s been over a month since we left Yellowstone, but I still am going through my photos. Here is a shot of the chapel with an elk grazing outside.
And below is a very early and very cold morning view of the Yellowstone Justice Center. Can you spot the elk in this photo? 🙂
Snowy Roads
It is almost a tradition with us to go out driving into the forested side of town on a snowy day to see what we can see. Although we live in a relatively small town, there are definitely microclimates within the town. Our neighborhood is definitely a high desert climate, but a few miles away (and a few hundred feet higher), it is more of a mountain climate. They get more snow- and it is really pretty!
I took this through the front windshield as we drove toward the Thumb Butte, which was shrouded in fog that morning. We only have patches of snow left at our house- but I would imagine there is still a lot of snow left in this part of town.
Snow Drops
When we went outside last weekend, the melting snow on the evergreens sparkled in the sunlight- and I couldn’t resist going back in to grab my camera!
Snow at Daybreak
This is an early morning view from our driveway of the hills to the southeast of us. I posted the original photo on Facebook last week, but had fun playing with it yesterday, using two filters from Topaz Impression plus an added texture.
Up on the Roof
It was snowing as I waited at the church for members of my HeartMath group to arrive. I entertained myself by taking photos (of course) and was especially drawn to a group of robins on the roof. Two were flying around while this little guy sat there, making up his mind what to do next. I love our snow days!
Snow Delay
The El Nino storms have been hitting Prescott this week. Here’s a very early morning shot of a snowplow clearing the street yesterday, making it safe for the kids to get to school on a “snow delay” day.
Edited with Topaz Impression and Topaz Texture Effects
Happy New Year!
Thank you for letting me share my photos with you this year.
I’ll be back tomorrow to begin my SIXTH year of photo-blogging.
May your new year be full of wonder, peace, love and joy!
Upper Terraces, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park
Caught
Yesterday’s snowfall gave me the chance to take some macro shots of the snow that was caught in the little twigs of a shrub out front. 
Edited with Topaz Texture Effects.
Life in a Christmas Card
When I woke up this morning, our neighborhood looked like a Christmas card. As a California transplant who has never lived in snow until the last couple years, I am enchanted by the transformation that takes places overnight. It snowed here a week ago, and parts of town were still covered- but we only had snow left in patches until this morning. I put on my boots and went out with my warm jacket over my PJ’s and took some photos with my Nikon- but my favorite shot has to be this iPhone panorama.
I did a quick HDR edit in Snapseed and posted it to Facebook. As usual, I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so brought it into Lightroom for some brightening and noise reduction. I then took it into Photoshop and applied some Topaz filters. First, I used Simplify to create more of a painterly look- and then Texture Effects, where I did a “from scratch” edit to bring in a texture that made it look like it was snowing.
And now it really does look like we live in a Christmas card!
It is highly unlikely that we will have a white Christmas, but we are certainly enjoying the pre-Christmas snow!
Stark
This shot was taken from the walkway leading to the LOWER terraces at Mammoth Hot Springs. I like the bleak landscape with the barren trees poking out of the snow.
Yet another. . .
Happy Friday! Can you stand to look at yet another photo from the upper terraces at Mammoth? I hope so, because this is one of my favorite photos from the trip! I just love the combination of hot and cold, snow and steam- and the life that manages to survive in that landscape.
Bison in the River
You might think that I was finished with bison photos- I see them every time I go to Yellowstone, after all. However, on this last visit I saw got to see bison doing something I knew they did, but had never viewed. On the last day of our visit (the same day we saw the bighorn sheep), my son-in-law pointed out a small herd of bison crossing the Gardiner River. This is probably a typical sight for him, but, for me, it was something new to photograph.
Bison in the Mist
Every time we made the short drive from Yellowstone to Gardiner, Montana, we would see bison gathered at the river munching on the grasses. The steam rising from the water gives a misty appearance to the scene, contrasting with the icy banks. We stopped several times to take photos; I never get tired of this scene!
Frozen Sunshine
We were out on a drive looking at majestic mountains and beautiful expansive views, and I was down on my knees in the snow, shooting icy weeds and wishing I had my macro lens. No, that’s not a bokeh texture- that is sparkly snow!
melinda anderson photography 