"Prince of Wales Hotel" Evening sunlight paints the fall clouds above the Prince of Wales Hotel, in Waterton Nat. Park. Built by the Great Northern Railway, the hotel opened its doors on July 25, 1927.

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Wild & Free Montana

Creative photographs of Glacier National Park & western Montana. Moonbows, star trails, light paintings -- even some traditional landscapes.

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JohnAshleyFineArt > "Lake McDonald Pearls."

The reflection in Lake McDonald makes a pearl necklace out of the moon’s path across the sky, from moonrise to moonset. I started this photograph at about 11 PM and finished around 4 AM.

Behind the lens.

This is one of our most technically challenging photographs. On the previous night, I was photographing the moonset from the other side of Lake McDonald. Standing on the gravel beach, in the silent glow of a full moon, I studied the moon's path and then stared across the lake. Back to the moon, then back across the lake. Over and over. Suddenly, this image appeared in my head. You know what that meant -- I had to return the following night and stay awake AGAIN if I hoped to create this image before the weather forecast brought wind and the surface reflection was lost.

I showed up early the following evening, took my compass readings, and set up my gear. A handful of tourists overcame their shyness to ask why I was sitting there next to my camera but not taking photos. I tried my best to describe the moonbow that I hoped would happen later that night -- a scene that I had never actually seen anywhere but inside my head. Most of the people I talked to nodded politely and at least pretended to comprehend my challenged description. "You mean you have to stay up all night?!" Yes, I said, knowing just how strange I must have seemed to them. But for this photograph, strange was worth it...

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Apgar Moonset."

Lake McDonald reflects the full moon as it slips silently behind the Apgar Mountains, and the village of Apgar, in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Behind the lens.

This is a good example of how the moon sometimes changes color as it approaches the horizon. While photographing this spectacular moonset at around 3AM, I kept thinking, "I should wake up everyone sleeping in Apgar -- they're missing this!"

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Wild Goose Milkyway."

The summertime milkyway spills out of the sky above Wild Goose Island, in Saint Mary Lake, on the east side of Glacier National Park.

Behind the lens.

I planned this image in my mind, and then I had to wait almost six months before the Milkyway lined up where I wanted it, right above the island. Between the moon and the weather, I only had one dark (moonless) and clear (cloudless) night to attempt to get the image out of my head and into my camera. And even though it was cloudless, there was lots of drift smoke in the sky from wildfires in British Columbia, hundreds of miles away. Because of the smoke, the stars turned out a little more subtle than those in a clear sky, like "Mt. Reynolds Milkyway."

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Logan Pass Alpenglow."

Ancient boulders bear witness to the last light of day coloring the mountain tops and the skies above Logan Pass, in Glacier National Park. (Note cards available here.)

Behind the lens.

When the clouds cooperate, the last light of day climbs up Mt. Reynolds until it's spotlighted in alpenglow. Photograph taken from the mountainside above the Highline Trail, in the Logan Pass area of Glacier National Park, Montana.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Bowman Lake Blues."

Star trails over Bowman Lake disappear into the hazy smoke from summertime forest fires, in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Behind the lens.

While Tracy and I were driving up the North Fork to create this photograph, there was a forest fire burning about 50 miles to the west that filled the park with smoke. From the foot of Bowman Lake, we couldn't even see the other end of the lake, much less the mountains beyond. The lake surface calmed down nicely after midnight, and the stars began emerging from the blue smoke. Somehow through the long exposure, details emerged in the photograph that we couldn't see when we were there. Eternal processes -- fire, smoke, star trails -- come together to create a scene of summertime tranquility.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Stars on the Water."

Star trails are reflected on the surface of Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park, Montana. Lake McDonald Lodge glows warmly along the distant shore.

Behind the lens.

I can't begin to tell you how hard it is to create an image like this. Photographing dim stars is one thing, but trying to record the much dimmer reflections of stars on the surface of a lake is even more challenging.

Just to make it more fun, there's also a small creek entering the lake off-camera to the left. So even though it's windless, there are small, one-half inch compression waves on the lake surface. These small waves act to spread out each stars' pinpoint reflection into a constantly wiggling line.

Persistence and patience usually pay off, eventually. So after only two or three attempts, I finally caught the stars on the water.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Mt. Reynolds Moonbow."

The moon carves a path over Mt. Reynolds, in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Behind the lens.

This was one of many full moon nights that I've spent working up on the side of a mountain, somewhere in Glacier National Park. The park turns into a different world on these wonderful nights. It's easy to see everything around you during a full moon and, if the wind is laying low, you can hear everything for miles around. It's quite mesmerizing and somewhat addictive. The only downside is, if the moon sets before dawn, then you're climbing down a mountain in the pitch black night.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Dawn Geese."

Canada Geese gather together in the peaceful, pre-dawn light on Lake McDonald, in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Behind the lens.

It's funny to me that so many of my photographs were made during the early morning (or the wee hours of the night), because I love to sleep in. But every time I'm out and about in those misty, pre-dawn hours, I'm reminded that it really is a peaceful, magical world out there. The light often has this ethereal feeling to it, and even the animals seem different somehow. It's an easy way to get back to your childhood sense of wonder and amazement -- with the help of an big boy sized cup of coffee, of course.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Heavens Above."

The Milky Way warms up the night sky above Heaven's Peak, in Glacier National Park, Montana.

Behind the lens.

Heaven's Peak is a well-known mountain up in Glacier National Park. What better foreground subject for a photograph of the Milkyway?

Milkyway photos demand a dark, moonless and cloudless night sky. Otherwise the clouds of stars don't show up very well, if at all. Even under the best conditions, the summertime sky doesn't turn totally dark until 2-3 hours after sunset. Then the first light of dawn starts creeping in 2-3 hours before sunrise. This leaves a darkened window that only lasts about two hours in the mddle of the night.

I created this window towards about 3 AM, when the first light of dawn is just starting to appear. So instead of stars on a black background, we get stars on a blueish background. This is a fine splitting of the hairs with background colors, and not all that easy to accomplish.

Fortuately, you get to stay home asleep while I work these things out for you...

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Stars & Stones."

It all happened one night at Lake McDonald. Star trails sweep across the sky. A crescent moon is reflected on the water. The golden glow of pre-dawn, and the faint glow of Lake McDonald Lodge. Underwater stones along the shore complete the image. The night was photographed exactly as it happened, and it was captured in a way that we can never see in real time.

Behind the lens.

This one image is a combination of three different photography techniques, all performed without moving the camera. Startrails are captured with a time exposure, underwater rocks are highlighted via light painting, and the crescent moon and reflection is your normal press-the-shutter-once image.

This lake and mountain scene has been photographed millions of times by pretty much every visitor and every professional photographer that has landed on the shores of Lake McDonald. That is, millions of times in the daylight. All of the colors and textures that I have captured here were created on a totally dark and mostly moonless night in Glacier National Park.

Inside the box is boring -- photography is much more interesting outside the box.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Lake McDonald Lodge."

Stars slide across the night sky above Glacier National Park, while park visitors are snug in their beds at Lake McDonald Lodge (left) and in Apgar (right).

Behind the lens.

Lake McDonald Lodge is a busy place in the daytime. Lots of people, cars, boats, and all of the sounds associated with these things. But at night, all of that activity goes away.

After dark, the buildings around the lodge become peaceful points of light and color in a much broader pallet. The quieter, natural sounds return to the lake while the stars ease across the sky. Even the waves calm down. At night, Lake McDonald is a peaceful place once more.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Chief Mountain Milky Way."

The summer milky way slides across the midnight sky behind Chief Mountain, in Glacier National Park.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "The Occultation."

Venus slips behind the crescent moon during a rare occultation.

Behind the lens.

This is a composite of six images captured at two-minute intervals. The camera stays on the tripod and never moves.

"Prince of Wales Hotel"

Evening sunlight paints the fall clouds above the Prince of Wales Hotel, in Waterton Nat. Park. Built by the Great Northern Railway, the hotel opened its doors on July 25, 1927.

JohnAshleyFineArt > "Prince of Wales Hotel"

Evening sunlight paints the fall clouds above the Prince of Wales Hotel, in Waterton Nat. Park. Built by the Great Northern Railway, the hotel opened its doors on July 25, 1927.

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Keywords: prince of wales great northern railway john ashley waterton nat. park

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