SEARCHING IMPRESSIONS OF LIFE: Moulton Barn

Monday, December 7, 2015

Around the Moulton Barn

Hi Everyone!

Shooting and editing these days and very little posting. But while going through my folders, I found a few images I shot when I went to the Moulton Barn, near Jackson, in Wyoming, so I thought it would be nice to post them. Though the main purpose of that session was to take a good shot of the barn – you can see what I did here – after that was done, I had a chance of photographing some of the wildlife that hangs out in the area.

Of course the funny little Ground squirrels. This one was not really afraid, still cautious, and went inside his hole right away. But it was not long before his curiosity won and it appeared again to see who was there taking pictures.

Also a scruffy Magpie. Probably it had a bad encounter with a predator, its left shoulder showing a red injury, with the flesh exposed where once were feathers.

And the beautiful Bluebird... a little scruffy too... I was wondering if the birds in that area were having a hard time.

I am happy to have been able to take a shot of the Robin as well. I know, it's a common bird, but I hadn't had the chance to take a close shot up till that moment. The North American version is very different from the European, smaller Robin. The only common thing they have is the red breast but all the rest is different.

And as I was almost leaving a Killdeer arrived flying and stopped right on the path between the barns. That was a nice surprise and I was happy to snap a few shots of this bird as well. Hmm, I am wondering from where its name is coming...

560mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO200

560mm f/7.1 1/640sec ISO400

560mm f/5.6 1/640sec ISO250 +0.67

560mm f/7.1 1/640sec ISO500 +0.67

560mm f/5.6 1/640sec ISO640

560mm f/7.1 1/640sec ISO640 +0.67

560mm f/5.6 1/800sec ISO160

560mm f/5.6 1/320sec ISO100

560mm f/5.6 1/320sec ISO125

560mm f/5.6 1/320sec ISO250

560mm f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO320

560mm f/5.6 1/2500sec ISO1000

Sunday, September 6, 2015

The Moulton Barn

I couldn't visit one more time the Grand Teton area without stopping to take a shot at one of the most photographed landmarks in the USA. It's been photographed thousands of times and pics of this barn are published in books, calendars, postcards and appear multiple times on the web. It is said to be the most photographed barn in America and has become a symbol for the nearby town.

The Moulton barn is not very far from Jackson, Wyoming, driving towards Grand Teton National Park and taking a right on Antelope Flats Road, until you cross Mormon Row. Everything started when Thomas Alma Moulton settled in that area in 1912 to work the land, and soon family members joined and a small complex of buildings where built around Mormon Row.

There isn't only one Moulton barn, and actually the one I photographed is not the most famous of the two, but I only made it shooting this... a good excuse to go back for the other one!

I drove there with Denise in the middle of the day, to see where the place was and we took a few shots, but of course the time and light were not the best ones. So I decided to go back at dawn for a more classical scenario.

I left the lodge early, when it was still pretty dark, but I noticed the Tetons were covered by low clouds... "Not good" I thought, "the background will not be ideal", but then I thought clouds were good to make the photo more interesting and I hoped they would rise at least a little by the time the sun arrived.

I got to Mormon Row more or less 15 minutes before dawn, when ten/fifteen photographers were already setting up their tripods, studying the best composition while waiting for the sun to rise over the horizon. The Tetons were visible through the clouds, so the situation was not too bad. I wasn't thinking of finding the definite shot, something different from all the others... first of all because the barn had been photographed so many times that that was almost impossible and secondly because I kind of preferred the classic composition that's chosen most of the times. But interestingly enough, while waiting for the sun, I thought of taking a shot opposite to everybody else and I photographed the barn against the rising sun. We can discuss about it being a good choice or not and if that is a good photo of the barn, rather than just a dawn shot, but I like what came out, and it is certainly different from the majority of the shots out there.

24mm f/20 1/60sec ISO 100

After walking back to the "proper"spot – not to miss the golden moment and not to make all the other photographers mad because I would have been in their pictures ruining the shot – I took different pics until the sun was lighting the whole area.