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Yellowstone National Park has the largest collection of geysers in the world making it the perfect place to create beautiful geyser photos. But before you get your camera out and begin clicking on geysers, there are some things you should know about photographing geysers.
Geyser photography involves some very unique challenges that are not normally encountered in most nature and landscape photography. I know because I initially made a ton of mistakes photographing geysers on my first couple Yellowstone trips.
After 20 Yellowstone trips, I have learned quite a bit about how to photograph geysers so I created this “How to Photograph Geysers- 13 Great Tips” post so you don’t have to make all the mistakes I made.
Note: What this post is not is a how to guide for exposure or focusing techniques. It assumes readers have some basic photography knowledge.
Before I get into the detailed tips for photographing geysers, let’s take a second to think about the overall goal of geyser photography. For most, that goal would be to convey the raw power of a geyser eruption.
Now let’s look at why photographing a geyser’s eruption can be so challenging along with tips for photographing it.
1. MASTER Focusing On A Geyser
When a geyser erupts, the camera’s autofocus usually will not work since the particles of water and steam may cause focus to shift or fail.
To deal with focus issues, arrive at a geyser prior to its eruption time and establish focus on a desired point. Once focus is established, switch the lens to manual focus, wait for the eruption, and begin photographing.
If you wish to change compositions once the geyser begins to erupt, again autofocus on an area where the mist and water will not impact the focus then again switch to manual focus prior to photographing.
Deciding Where To Focus
In this situation I wanted both the foreground and background to be in focus so I focused about one third of the way into the scene prior to any of these geysers erupting. I then switched the focus to manual to ensure the area would remain in focus.
2. SELECT THE RIGHT Shutter Speed
With geysers, selecting the right shutter speed is critical to creating a successful image especially when trying to convey the power of an eruption
Most photographers choose to photograph geysers with a fast shutter speed that shows water droplets hanging in the air to convey the eruption force.
To freeze these droplets, the correct shutter speed will depend upon the power of the eruption as well as how far away you are from the geyser.
In most cases, I recommend photographing geysers at shutter speeds of at least 1/2000 sec to freeze water droplets.
Although fast shutter speeds are the norm in geyser photography, don’t get locked into images that just freeze action.
For geysers that do not have powerful or high eruptions, consider using a slow shutter speed instead to create a silky stream as shown in the second image below. Get creative.
Whatever you do, either shoot fast or slow but nothing in between if you wish to create great geyser photos. In other words stay away from shutter speeds of 1/250 sec as these speeds will neither blur the water or freeze its droplets.
Use the same principles as you would when photographing a waterfall.
To see what happens when you use the wrong shutter speed look at the third image below that I shot years ago at 1/250 of a second.
Fast Shutter Speed
Steamboat Geyser shoots rocks and other items into the air that you want to capture therefore a fast shutter speed is needed.
Wrong Shutter Speed
Great Fountain Geyser here was photographed at 1/250 of a second which created a blog instead frozen particles or a silky stream. Don’t make my mistake.
Geyser Photographed with Slow Shutter Speed
Castle Geyser during a minor eruption was shot at 1/10 of a second for a silky jet effect.
3. PROPERLY EXPOSE THE GEYSER ERUPTION
The bright water from an eruption usually results in geyser images being underexposed. Why? Well the camera wants to make white or bright areas neutral grey so the water will become grey and everything else in the image will be too dark.
However, depending what area a camera is metering on, geysers can also be overexposed. Careful attention to camera metering settings is required.
A better approach for obtaining a correct geyser exposure is to put the camera in manual mode and spot meter on the brightest area prior to an eruption and set the exposure accordingly.
Next take a shot, check your histogram and adjust as needed. When the geyser finally erupts, you should be able to focus your attention to capturing the eruption without worrying about exposure. Note- this only works if the camera is in manual mode.
If you change the composition substantially, complete the above step again, even during the eruption.
If you are not comfortable shooting in manual mode, shoot in aperture priority and take at least three bracketed shots that increase exposure by 1/3 stop.
Whatever, do not rely on any auto modes to render correct exposures for geysers. Use manual mode or program modes.
4. ALWAYS PHOTOGRAPH GEYSERS WITH A TRIPOD
Always use a tripod when photographing geyser eruptions. In fact, arrive way ahead of a scheduled eruption and practice composing the image remembering to leaving plenty room to keep the jet in the frame.
Once you have settled on a composition, leave the camera in place and you will be ready when the geyser erupts.
Use a polarizer to reduce glare and increase saturation. If photographing with a wide angle lens, be sure to use a slim circular polarizer!
6. Bring Plenty of Lens Cloths and Wipes
Some geyser spray can contains substances that are harmful to the glass of a lens as well as the camera body itself. Keep cameras and lens bodies clean at all times and immediately wipe off all spray.
Use extra care when cleaning the glass of a lens since these substances include material that can resembles shards of glass which can damage lens.
Always keep your lens cap on when not in use at all geyser basins.
Use a lens cover for added protection, this is especially true with certain geysers such at Steamboat Geyser.
8. Keep a Decent Quality UV Filter on Lens
As mentioned above, geyser spray can be harmful to lens glass as well as lens and camera bodies. For extra protection, I recommend photographing geysers and all thermal basins with a good quality UV filter on a lens such as this Neewer UV Filter. Although I don’t advocate adding extra glass in most cases, with geysers, I would much rather replace a UV filter than a lens.
9. Keep Cameras in Camera Bag Until Ready to Use
Due to the above mentioned danger, it is best to keep all camera equipment in a backpack or camera bag and only take it out when ready to use. This advice also holds true for cell phones and iPads.
10. Avoid Photograping Geysers on Cloudy Days
It is difficult to obtain good images of geyser eruptions on grey sky days since the mist will blend into the grey sky. On overcast days, focus on photographing thermal pools and other features where skies are not in the image. Thankfully, the geyser basins are filled with wonder cloudy day subjects.
Cloudy Sky
Sunday Sky
On cloudy days, work thermal basins and compose with no sky.
Example of a better subject to photograph on cloudy days.
11. Pay Careful Attention to Wind Direction
Make sure the wind will blow the eruption spray in an opposite direction from where you are photographing in order for the jet to be visible. The image below illustrates what happens if you fail to do this!
A blob of steam with no idea what geyser this is.
12. When Possible Photograph Geysers in Early Mornings and Late Evenings
Some of the best geyser images are created during the early morning and late evening hours when the sun is low in the sky.
For geysers that erupt multiple times of day, try and schedule your photography visits for early mornings and late afternoons.
For all the other geysers, you must accept what nature gives you. For instance, I waited 9 days for Steamboat to erupt only to have it finally erupt in poor lighting late in the evening as can be seen in one of the above photos. Thankfully, I was fortunate to capture it erupting again days later in better light.
13. Learn About the Predictable Geysers
Geyser Times is a wonderful website everyone who visits Yellowstone should utilize when planning geyser shots. Not only does the site list estimated eruption times for the predictable geysers but it also includes a list of all recent eruptions.
Gain an understanding of the pre-eruption signs some geysers will have such as at Great Fountain Geyser where its pools will begin to overflow prior to an eruption.
Certain geysers erupt as both minor and major eruptions as you can read about in my Upper Geyser Basin post under Castle Geyser and Grotto Geyser. With this knowledge you can better plan your shots.
There are some geysers that will erupt together which or course you will want to capture. For example, in the image below both Grand Geyser and Turban Geyser are shown erupting.
Final Thoughts on Photographing Geysers
Yellowstone National Park is so filled with photo opportunities that it is so easy to grab a few quick obligatory photos of famous geysers and thermal features and move on to wildlife and waterfalls. I know this all too well as I once did this before I slowed down and discovered how exhilarating it is to photograph geysers.
If your schedule allows, I encourage you to commit at least one entire day to photographing Yellowstone’s more predictable geysers such as the following geysers:
Grand Geyser- Upper Geyser Basin
Castle Geyser- Upper Geyser Basin
Old Faithful-Upper Geyser Basin
Riverside Geyser- Upper Geyser Basin
White Dome Geyser- Firehole Lake Drive
Great Fountain Geyser- Firehole Lake Drive
Daisy Geyser- Upper Geyser Basin
To see a variety of Yellowstone Geysers and thermal features, be sure to visit my gallery at Yellowstone Portfolio. or see my entire Yellowstone portfolio at Yellowstone. Also be sure to read my Yellowstone Packing Guide for items you may wish to pack for any Yellowstone trip.
Thanks for joining me on another Photo Road Trip adventure and stay tuned for upcoming posts including a Complete Guide to Visiting Yellowstone.
