A Tall Upward Blast Of Water From The Deep Pool Of Oblong Geyser Standing Above The Firehole River

The Wild Images Team has often been asked: what are the most difficult subjects you have photographed? We will begin this topic by stating that no subjects that we have photographed have been easy. There is always an entire set of factors that have to be accounted for in order to compose a great image. Lighting is super important, and since much of our photography is of the outdoors, lighting is something that we cannot control other then wait until the moment presents itself. Many days can pass by with flat light due to a thick cloud layer especially during rainy or snowy weather. Then there is the background to consider, which often includes the sky. Depending on the time of day and the angle of the shot, the sky can be washed out from the intense light from the sun. Other times planes will streak the sky with vapor trails that can take forever to dissipate. Wildfires are very common, and if the wind is from a certain direction, the sky can be hazed out for days and days. Then there are the clouds themselves, constantly moving and changing, and alternately covering up the lighting source. Then there is the foreground, which can have plants and water surfaces moving around due to wind or falling debris. Once all of this can be factored in, a great landscape photo or urban architecture photo can be captured. If the subject is wildlife, extra time has to be spent waiting for the wildlife to do something interesting on top of all the aforementioned factors. But for The Wild Images Team, the most difficult subjects of all to photograph are the geysers. Why? Geysers spend most of their time not even being present to capture an image. Some of the geysers we have photographed only erupt once per day, once per week, once per two weeks, or even less. Many will not erupt at all for years. When they do erupt, they are as likely to erupt in the dark of night as they are during the day. And most importantly, when the eruption finally occurs after waiting for days or weeks, it often lasts for only a few short minutes, with some even lasting less than a minute. And all aforementioned factors have to all be met at this very moment. Then, if that is not enough, geysers often produce enormous amount of steam that will often completely cover up the eruption itself. Geysers are our toughest subject to photograph. Hands down. But no single geyser has been tougher to capture than Oblong Geyser, seen in the above image. Why Oblong Geyser? It isn’t a super rare geyser, though it isn’t very frequent either, erupting once every 5 to 16 hours, at least when active. It does become less active or dormant other times. As it leads up to an eruption, Oblong Geyser will cycle through periods of low water below its crater rim, and brief high water pouring out of its pool about every 20 minutes. Oblong Geyser originates from an oval shaped pool, measuring 40 feet by 10 feet, from which it earned its name. It is a fountain type geyser, where the steam originated in vents submerged under deep water and bursts through the surface carrying large volumes of water upward with it. But Oblong Geyser is surrounded by runoff channels and also continues to push out enormous amounts of water during an eruption. With all of that boiling water comes a large amount of steam. As can be seen in the above image, an Oblong Geyser eruption is surrounded by steam in all directions, masking the water texture in its eruption. It took several months of attempts but we finally captured this absolutely stunning Oblong Geyser blue burst image available for sale in our store! It was taken on a different day, actually exactly 19 days later than the image seen above. So there it is, our most difficult subject to photograph, Oblong Geyser. Not the other geysers have been easy either. Even Old Faithful Geyser, with its frequent eruptions, is difficult to capture in a great photo. But we succeeded in doing that in this captivating image of Old Faithful Geyser also available for sale in our store. This required many months of work! The Wild Images Team has captured many other photos in Yellowstone National Park including a Beehive Geyser eruption with a massive rainbow, the world famous Old Faithful Geyser with water textures, a towering Grand Geyser pause burst eruption, a sunset Castle Geyser eruption with a bright rainbow, an afternoon Riverside Geyser eruption with a rainbow, an early morning Lion Geyser eruption with a rainbow, a very difficult to catch Oblong Geyser blue burst eruption, the extremely powerful Artemisia Geyser eruption with deep bursts, the very moment of waves from a Great Fountain Geyser initial eruption, an iconic White Dome Geyser eruption at sunset, the large bursts of a Fountain Geyser eruption in steam, the delicate red light on a Grotto Fountain Geyser eruption at sunset, the defining moment of a Rocket Geyser eruption at sunset, the extremely brief Aurum Geyser eruption with colors, a view through a Cliff Geyser eruption of Black Sand Basin, the colorful patterns of bacterial mats in Midway Geyser Basin, the changing conditions that cause a rainbow to parallel the Snow Lodge, the Biscuit Basin duo of Black Diamond Pool and Opal Pool, the colorfully pock marked waterways of the erupting Blood Geyser, the active steppes of the Mineral Terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs, the distant double rainbow over the Lewis River Canyon, the before eruption reflections of sunset over the terraces of Great Fountain Geyser, the deep colors of sky reflections over Beauty Pool, the thermally induced sunset light filters through the steamy trees, the intense moment of mammatus clouds over the Firehole River, the very early morning fog surrounding Lower Yellowstone Falls, the runoff created reflections over the colorful runoff pan of Constant Geyser, the unworldly terrain of the extensive Porcelain Geyser Basin in Norris, the deeply hued steam over colorful bacterial mat reflections of Grand Prismatic Spring, the contrast of runoff channels surrounding the blue superheated water of Sapphire Pool, differing wave patterns created by the colorful submerged Fishing Cone Geyser, the strong green created by the record depths of mysterious Abyss Pool, the moment the full moon rises over the Grant Village Lakehouse, the cloud symmetry of a sunset reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, and moments earlier with a cloud shelf reflection over a calm Yellowstone Lake, each of which are available for sale in our store. Blog posts from Yellowstone National Park have documented the Old Faithful Geyser eruptions, the steamy Oblong Geyser eruptions, the deep drain Uncertain Geyser eruptions, the steep crater Depression Geyser eruptions, the amphitheater Grand Geyser eruptions, the impressive Fan and Mortar Geyser eruptions, the very quick Aurum Geyser eruptions, the rooster tail Whirligig Geyser eruptions, the series type Lion Geyser eruptions, the tall grotto White Dome Geyser eruptions, the frequent Sawmill Geyser eruptions, the double cone Atomizer Geyser eruptions, the nozzled Beehive Geyser eruptions, the cratered Fountain Geyser eruptions, the deep pool Artemisia Geyser eruptions, the playful Vixen Geyser eruptions, the scenic Riverside Geyser eruptions, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from above, the very rare Ledge Geyser eruptions from below, the gurgling Tilt’s Baby Geyser eruptions, the bursts of Great Fountain Geyser eruptions, the hidden Dome Geyser eruptions, the tilted Daisy Geyser eruptions, the remote Pink Cone Geyser eruptions, the long Castle Geyser eruption water phases, the loud Castle Geyser eruption steam phases, the stark Constant Geyser eruptions, the rim wall Cliff Geyser eruptions, the initiation from Grotto Fountain Geyser eruptions, the continuation of Grotto Geyser eruptions, the defining moment of Rocket Geyser eruptions, the marathon Spa Geyser eruptions, the blue waters of a Spouter Geyser eruption, the isolated Artist Paint Pots throwing mud, the little seen intricate burst of a mud volcano, a view of a dozen visitors under a Beehive Geyser rainbow, the eruption through numerous vents of Fan and Mortar Geysers, the enormous amount of water through the runoff channels of Excelsior Geyser, the otherworldly view of cloudy blue runoff pools in the Porcelain Basin, the moment that a large bison bull rolled in his claimed dirt pile, the rule for the right of way wildlife, the high altitudes where a large raven that perches over the Dunraven Pass, the the day that a phoenix streaked across the backcountry sky, the trail from Grant Village that crosses over this suspended bridge, The Wild Images Team in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, our Photographer Jeremy Robinson shadowed in Morning Glory Pool, and The Wild Images Team Travel Gnome at the Yellowstone National Park entrance sign.

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