Montana produces great opportunities to capture unique weather events, especially during spring. I often find the snow continues to be thick in the mountains, the skies have amazing cloud formations, and the storms are dramatic. The warm spring temperatures produce winds which blow into mountain ranges, then the air cools when it hits the mountain and extra water vapor condenses, creating great cloud formations over mountains!
There are so many dirt roads to explore in Montana. Driving these roads during Winter can sometimes be a challenge, but the reward of some spectacular Winter scenery awaits. I often travel to the east of the Crazy Mountain Range, especially when I see clouds engulfing the mountains, just waiting for a mountain peak to break through the cloud cover and capture a dramatic moment.
Single trees are one of my very favorite subjects. There’s nothing like finding a single tree in the middle of a field and capturing its loneliness in a wide open landscape. Farms in Montana almost always have one single tree which perfectly accentuates the aesthetic beauty of the farmed landscape.
Glacier National Park is great for reflections. There’s so many photogenic glacial lakes to document. This shot is Bowman Lake, one of my favorites in GNP. It’s early May, so just a hint of snow and I photographed this scene for a while during the early morning. The scene changed quickly as the sun came up and the clouds went from barely any to a full cloudy day. I experimented with a neutral density filter, but actually found better results with a quicker exposure. It’s just nice sitting by Bowman Lake and soaking up the scenery, this lake is a photo extravaganza!
I’m a cloud chaser. Fluffy cloud days in Montana are plentiful. Clouds really stand out in black and white. I enjoy capturing these moments and making clouds a big part of my photography. I often find myself on dirt roads, flying down dirt roads, just to capture a fleeting cloud moment.