23 Nov 20 Some of you may recall that one of my favorite, if not the favorite, road to drive in the U.S. is MT Hwy-191 between the Hwy-287 junction and where it drops down out of the mountains near Bozeman. That portion of it just inside the far western edge of Yellowstone National Park, where it parallels the Gallatin River, is my favorite section. There are several places along the road that I photograph, often multiple times on each visit, depending on the weather and/or color conditions. This year the small willow bushes that line the river were in full color, first time I've seen them this way, and the intensity of the yellow, even with the smoke, was something memorable. There is a small section of the river very near a pullout where it widens just enough to form what looks like two very small connected ponds and quite often I find waterfowl paddling along just waiting for me to startle them and send them flying. That wasn't the case on this last visit but the brilliant yellow of the willows more than made up for the paucity of birds. On the day I took this shot the sky was still contaminated with lots of smoke, looking like a flat grey blanket, so using the capabilities for sky replacement in the latest version (4) of Luminar, I added a sky taken on the next day. It was likely there when I took this shot but it just wasn't visible through the smoke. I wasn't alone out there that day but apparently I was the only one armed with a camera, or at least a real one; all the others had hip waders, baskets slung across their shoulders, and a long stick in their hands. Apparently the river was supporting more fish than it was birds, or so they were hoping.
This is basically what the camera captured save for the substituted sky. Something in Yellow Nikon D500; 18 - 200; Aperture Priority; ISO 200; 1/800 sec @ f / 9.
