Schwabacher’s Landing in Grand Teton National Park

Our second morning at Grand Teton was going to be spent taking shots at Oxbow Bend near Jackson Lake. Oxbow Bend is a beautiful spot where the Snake River takes a meandering bend with Mount Moran in the distance. We scouted out some spots, marked them on the GPS, calculated where sunrise would be, etc. – all the typical prep for a landscape shot – and happily went on our way to scout additional locations. We stopped by Schwabacher’s Landing and found that, for our final morning, its potential trumped Oxbow Bend.

Schwabacher’s Landing is a spot in the Snake River, almost exactly east of Grand Teton, where the terrain flattens out and allows easy access to the river. There is a dirt road coming off the main highway and down to various trailheads. As we hiked around we found several beaver ponds that, combined with Schwabacher’s lower elevation (thus blocking the wind), would very likely provide some spectacular reflections of the mountains. Well, we got up at about 5:00 AM and headed out to the spot, though we were bummed by the lack of clouds in the sky. There were several other photographers down there (none of whom were using polarizers – tsk, tsk) but there was plenty of room to find shots.

Larger versions of these photos are available in my gallery.

22mm, 1/13 second, f/16, ISO 100, polarizing filter

This ended up being my favorite shot from the location and was from a spot that I only reluctantly visited. I was skeptical of the spot’s potential but decided to shoot a couple shots from it anyway. I sure am glad I did. On the regularly sized shot you can easily see rocks under the water near the tuft of grass in the foreground.

33mm, 1/6 second, f/16, ISO 100, polarizing filter

I like this shot but it is near the bottom of my keepers from the trip. It was shot from my first location and was taken only minutes after the sunlight hit the peaks. The one thing I dislike about the shot is the lack of an interesting foreground element. I’m not sure the reflection is enough of a foreground element for this photo to compete with the others taken that morning. Still, I thought it worth adding to the site.

75mm, 0.6 seconds, f/16, ISO 100, polarizing filter

I really like this shot and it was the reason I decided upon this specific location for first light. It had a great reflection, mist rising off the water, a soft light, and Mount Moran lit up by the rising sun. I also think Mount Moran is framed a bit nicely by the pine trees on the right side of the frame. The only thing that would make this a bit more interesting would be some clouds in the shot but, alas, you work with what Mother Nature gives you.

71mm, 1/6 second, f/16, ISO 100, polarizing filter

This was shot from almost the exact same location as the previous photo but later in the morning (about 6:20 AM). The drastic difference lighting has on a photo is amazing.