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where to make amazing Yellowstone pictures

A Photography Guide on the best photo spots in yellowstone national park

October 1, 2020

Established in 1872, Yellowstone is America’s oldest national park, and it’s also one of the most photographed nature destinations in North America and perhaps the world. If you’re planning a trip to this beautiful Wyoming destination with the hopes of making incredible photographs, Yellowstone will not disappoint.

But if you’re a first-time visitor to Yellowstone, you might not be familiar with just how vast this territory truly is and how long it takes to get around. So if photography is one of your primary objectives, you’ll want to consider factoring in not only which route you take to enter and exit the park, but also the travel time between your desired photo spots, and what time of day you’d like to arrive at each.

With this in mind, we’re sharing the best photo spots in Yellowstone and some tips for making your photographic efforts a little bit easier.

yellowstone Photography Tips:

yellowstone’s best photo spots

Mammoth Hot Springs

Mammoth Hot Springs is located just inside the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. If you’ve come into the park from the south or east entrances, it’s going to be quite the haul to get there, and you might be wondering whether a trek up to the Wyoming-Montana border is worth it. Let us reassure you that, yes, it’s absolutely worth the extra diving.

Known for its curious travertine formations created by an interaction of limestone and water, the Lower Terraces and Canary Spring are the most popular spots to photograph in the Mammoth Hot Springs area.

📷 Photographer’s tip: Get there at sunrise, bring a tripod if you have one, and don’t be afraid to shoot in the direction of the sun. Light traveling through the steam from behind can make for some pretty dramatic images.

Lamar Valley

Located in the northeast section of Yellowstone National Park, Lamar Valley is one of the best places to view Yellowstone wildlife, including bison, black bears, grizzlies, bighorn sheep, elk, pronghorn, and wolves.

📷 Photographer’s tip: Be patient. Wildlife in Yellowstone aren’t just waiting for you by the side of the road. You might get lucky, and many people do, but if you don’t have a long enough telephoto lens (at least 200mm), the animal you’re photographing is more than likely going to resemble a speck in the distance. If you choose to hike closer to photograph wildlife, do not approach bears or wolves at a distance of fewer than 100 yards or any other wildlife within 25 yards.

Upper Geyser Basin

Upper Geyser Basin is just a short walk from Old Faithful, one of Yellowstone’s most popular attractions, and Yellowstone’s largest geyser basin. A boardwalk loop through Upper Geyser Basin gives visitors an up-close look at these fascinating geothermal features, including over 150 geysers in this one square mile area. According to the National Park Service, Yellowstone contains half of the geysers in the entire world, and most of them are located right here in Upper Geyser Basin.

📷 Photographer’s Tip: Bring a camera with interchangeable lenses and switch between a wide-angle lens and a medium or long telephoto for maximum visual variety. Don’t own a DSLR with independent lenses? Consider renting a camera before visiting the park. Thanks to our affiliate relationship with Lensrentals.com, you can score 15% off any rental order with our unique coupon code TAC15. Please note: Lensrentals only ships within the United States.

Old Faithful

Old Faithful is pretty much one of those Yellowstone bucket list items that you just have to check off. And even though you’ve probably already seen a zillion images and videos of its eruptions, it’s still an amazing sight to witness in person. Check the geyser predictions in advance and arrive at least 30 minutes before this time to allow for parking and walking into the site. Also, there’s zero shade while you’re waiting in the viewing area, so you’ll want to bring plenty of water and slap on your sunscreen.

📷 Photographer’s Tip: Eruptions last longer than you might guess, on average between 1.5 to 5 minutes, so you can actually capture both still photographs and video in that amount of time, if desired. Consider going at any other time than smack in the middle of the day, such as the early morning or even at night. This will allow you to avoid the crowds plus score a more unique image of this iconic attraction. If you have a tripod, consider shooting it against the night sky, just as one example. If you don’t own a tripod, I use this Carbon Fibre Travel Tripod System by 3 Legged Thing.

Grand Prismatic Spring

Grand Prismatic Spring is Yellowstone’s largest hot spring and the third-largest in the world. Of the park’s 10,000 thermal features, it’s also one of the most well-known and visited destinations. The spring itself is over 121 feet deep and measures close to 370 feet in diameter. It’s named for its striking colors that resemble the rainbow of light dispersed from an optical prism.

📷 Photographer’s Tip: There are a few different ways to view Grand Prismatic Spring, including a boardwalk right up to its edge and an overlook hike. We recommend doing both. We didn’t know about the overlook trail while in the park as it’s not well-marked, and the parking for it is separate from the main parking area for Grand Prismatic. To get to the overlook, park 1 mile south of Midway Geyser Basin at the Fairy Falls Parking Lot and take the 0.6-mile trail.

above images by Elaine Skylar Neal and Vincent Neal/Travels and Curiosities

Waterfalls in Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

If geysers, mud pots, and hot springs by the thousands weren’t enough things to see in Yellowstone National Park, a 20-mile canyon known as The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone features three dramatic sets of waterfalls on the Yellowstone River. The tallest of the three, Upper Falls, drops 308 feet and can be viewed from several different locations, including Artist Point, among the most popular.

📷 Photographer’s Tip: Hold your camera steady, or use a tripod, and drag your camera’s shutter to 1/60 of a second or slower (experiment with 1/30 and 1/15, for instance) to capture a sense of motion in the falling water.

rent this camera!

Thanks to our affiliate relationship with Lensrentals, we had the amazing opportunity to rent Leica’s SL2 for our trip to Yellowstone National Park. The SL2 is a 47MP full-frame mirrorless camera and a followup to Leica’s SL (Typ 601), which we already own. We were really excited to try out the latest addition to the SL system, and it did not disappoint!

Interesting in renting camera lenses or testing out a new camera system? Check out experience using Lensrentals and see for yourself!

📷 Use our unique Travels and Curiosities coupon code TAC15 for 15% any rental! 📷

Please note: Lensrentals only ships within the United States.

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