In Bloom Assignment Winner Jim Shoemaker

Congratulations to Jim Shoemaker for winning the recent In Bloom Assignment with the image, “Wildflowers, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.

“Every summer, I like to experience mountain flower season by traveling either east to Colorado, Wyoming and Montana; or north into Oregon and Washington. In July of 2011, I had made my way north from the San Juan Mountains of Colorado to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. It’s a busy time of year for the park, and between dealing with crowds and Blue Sky Syndrome (empty skies) I wasn’t sure if I would come away with anything of value.

“One morning, I entered the park before sunrise to find the mountains concealed by clouds. As the morning wore on, the clouds began to break up and revealed the mountains beneath them. This image was shot from the Antelope Flat area of the park using a Canon EOS 5D Mark II and a Canon 16-35mm L lens mounted on a Gitzo 5561 Tripod and using a cable release. The lens was fitted with a Singh-Ray warming polarizer as well as a Singh-Ray 3-stop graduated ND filter to help tame the clouds, which were very bright by that time of the morning.”

See more of Jim Shoemaker’s photography at jimshoemakerphotography.com, as well as his extended photo galleries and follow him on Facebook.