Jansen Gunderson Landscape Photography

We went on a short backpacking trip through the Teton Range recently. Beginning in Teton Canyon, we traveled south-east up to Alaska Basin in the Jedediah Smith Wilderness then up to Hurricane Pass in Grand Teton National Park. After the pass, we headed back north through a trailess region to gain the ridgeline that leads up to Table Mountain. I stood atop Table Mountain while a thunderstorm was quickly approaching and shot a panorama of the Teton Range as well as a few sheets of 4×5 film with my view camera. Below is one of the photographs I made from Table Mountain, looking north to Mount Moran. You may view the Grand Teton Panorama at Virtual Jackson Hole. More Wyoming Landscape Pictures here.

On July 2nd I was priviledged to take an early morning flight over the Teton Range with Pete Lindell. We removed the rear door of the aircraft so that I would have a clear view with my cameras. I brought along a Canon EOS 10D, Pete’s Canon EOS 30D
and my Mamiya 645AF with Fujichrome Provia 100F film. It was quite exhilarating to simply be strapped into the aircraft with no door and I had to be careful not to lean out too far and get into the airstream as we were traveling at around 100 mph. Below is a photograph I shot with the Mamiya of the Grand Teton. More Wyoming Landscape Photos here.

Spring finally came in about the middle of June here in the Tetons. It only took a few weeks of warm weather before the trees again grew their green leaves. Just a few days before the official first day of Summer, Brian McGeogh and I made an early morning trip to Oxbow Bend. This famous location on the Snake River is a perfect view point for Mt. Moran and the still waters of the Snake create a perfect reflection. The below photograph I made on Fujichrome Provia 100F QuickLoad film, f/32 1/45″. More photographs at Wyoming Landscape Photographs.

The Red Desert photography expedition is now becoming a yearly event. We traveled to the Killpecker Sand Dunes region this year and explored the surrounding areas. I believe the trip was an incredible success where we enjoyed amazing light and uncommonly little wind. During the trip we did make it back to the northern region of the Red Desert and did a short excursion in the afternoon to the top of Continental Peak. Continental Peak is unique in that the Continental Divide intersects its summit. The peak provided a spectacular view of the vast expanse of the Red Desert and of the Wind River Mountains to the north.

The Killpecker Sand Dunes are the largest moving sand dune system in the world. One region is set aside for off road vehicle use while the other is protected as a wilderness study area. Thunderstorms from the few days prior to our arrival left interesting and unique patterns in the sand. After only one day the patterns had been blown into a smooth surface by the wind. Below is an image of the Killpecker Dunes in the Wilderness Study Area at sunrise. More images at Wyoming Landscape Photography.

On May 9th the Park Service completed snow removal operations on the road from Flagg Ranch at the South Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. A friend and fellow photographer, Brian McGeogh and I drove up for a weekend of photography and experienced two days of extraordinary light. The Summer crowds had not yet arrived so the park remained peaceful and was not at all congested. At most of the locations where we were shooting we were the only people there. Below is a photograph I made at Mammoth Hot Springs, at the Northern entrance to Yellowstone. More photographs at Wyoming Landscape Photography.

Anna and I got out of ice and snow choked Jackson Hole for a few days to do some climbing in Zion National Park in Utah. It was great to get back down to the desert and soak in some warmth for a long weekend. I forgot how much I miss climbing in Zion; something I did quite often while in college at Southern Utah University. We got a tip on a route from one of my old college roommates called Cowboy Ridge. It is an alpine-style ridge climb that ascends the southwest ridge up to Mount Kinesava. It was excellent exposed climbing through quite a lot of choss (broken and loose rock) so it wasn’t much different than climbing in the Tetons. I shot a panorama with Anna’s Canon point-and-shoot from the top of Mount Kinesava. The larger red butte formation is the West Temple, the highest point in Zion National Park.

I recently made a photography trip to Yellowstone National Park. Access to the park in the winter time is much different from that of the summer. Camping is somewhat difficult and only two lodges in the park remain open in the Winter: Mammoth Hot Springs and Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Access to Old Faithful Snow Lodge must be done by either a guided snowmobile tour or by snow coach. We hired a snow coach departing from Flagg Ranch at the southern entrance to the park and spent a few days touring the park on skis, rather than by the controversial snowmobiles. It was the last weekend of the Winter season and the park was eerily vacant. We watched the Old Faithful Geyser erupt and there weren’t any other people around; quite the opposite from the crowded summer months. The weather turned out to not be quite ideal for photography yet I am quite happy with the few pictures I did make. Below is a photograph of Castle Geyser, located on the boardwalk in the Firehole River Geyser Basin, near Old Faithful. Fujichrome Provia 100F, 4×5, f/32 for 3″. More photos on Wyoming Landscape Photography.

I have compiled a small portfolio of photographs taken this past winter in Wyoming. This Winterscapes portfolio is comprised of photographs taken with 4×5 inch large format film and 6×4.5 centimeter medium format film. I am also working on transitioning my other portfolios to some new web exhibit software Matt Magruder turned me onto called Indexhibit. The image below is titled Ice Cave and was taken last month in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming.

Thanks to everyone who came to the opening reception of Winterscapes at the Teton Art Lab as well as the Labor of Love exhibition at the Art Association of Jackson Hole. I will also be exhibiting at the Art Association’s annual Member’s Group Show this Coming March. More information to come.

I am very exited to be showing at the Teton Art Lab Gallery in Jackson, Wyoming this February. It is a group show titled “Winterscapes” and runs from February 1st through February 29th with an opening reception on the evening of February 1st. I’ll be showing just a few small prints along with some extraordinary work by other local artists. Directions below.