Behind the Shot
Yellowstone National Park is home to the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world. Named after the rainbow of colors found naturally in the spring, the Grand Prismatic Spring is 160 feet deep at its deepest, and larger than a football field in diameter.
“This was a dream shot because of all the colors, pulsing with bubbles and textures,” recalls Kyle. “Luckily, from the air, you can’t tell just how much it smells.
“It was midday on a relatively cold September day. We visited the park as part of our national park tour along with Zion, Glacier and others. We rented a plane and were able to fly far over the spring to get the full scope of the colors from the air. I hadn’t expected it to be nearly as cold up there as it was, though. I shot from an open window in this tiny airplane. It was the coldest conditions I’d ever been in. Every time I clicked the shutter I pulled my hands back in and sat on them to warm up!”
The next day, Kyle and his group visited the spring on the ground. “You really don’t get a sense of the size until you see it from their air.”
