Logan Pass East Side Access from Going to the Sun Road Closes on September 23

This is directly from the National Park Service - Glacier National Park. 

Going-to-the-Sun Road Construction Notice – Beginning September 23, 7 a.m. the road will be closed to vehicular traffic between Logan Pass and the foot of St. Mary Lake (adjacent the St. Mary Campground entrance) for the remainder of the season to facilitate accelerated road rehabilitation. Logan Pass will only be accessible from the west side beginning September 23.

 

Fall hiker-biker access will be allowed between the vehicular closure at St. Mary and Rising Sun and between Logan Pass and Siyeh Bend. There is no pedestrian or biking beyond Siyeh Bend or Rising Sun. Restroom facilities are only available at Logan Pass and the Rising Sun Picnic Area. There are no facilities at Siyeh Bend.

 

Backcountry trail users should be aware that the east-side road work precludes roadway access and specific trail segments may be closed.

 

Please visit http://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm or contact (406) 888 7800 for trail access information.

 

View the latest travel and construction information and mapping on the Western Federal Lands Highway website at http://www.wfl.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/gtsr/

 

Fun New Video! Finalshot Photography

I just produced this exiting new video for you to enjoy. . .  I hope it's something you like!   It's snowing like mad here today with about 20 inches of new snow on the ground so i decided to stay in and make a fun video of images I've captured over the last couple of years . . .

So get a sip of coffee and sit back and enjoy this short video of photographs from the rocky mountains, the crown of the continent, glacier national park, and places in between around us!

 
Cheers!

Tony Bynum 

Snow East Glacier Park Montana

It's mid November and the snow's flying . . . We have about 3 feet on the ground and as of early morning on November 19th, it's still coming down. The temperture this morning is minus 2 F. Enjoy this series of short clips for East Glacier Park!

Glacier Impressions Gallery, and Spring Flowers!

It's finally done, the new Glacier Impressions gallery located at 1000 Hwy 49 in East Glacier Park, Montana is now open!  After a long wet and mostly cool spring, the paint finally dried and we were able to get the carpet in and the art work up.

This is arguably the finest gallery in the region. Art is by local artists personally hand picked for their skills in crafting work inspired by nature and Glacier National Park. Come on by and say hi and take a look around.  Either I, Bob, or Gina will be here to help you. While you're here, also stop in and talk with Joyce at the Clark Gallery, and see the unique carvings from John L. Clarke (a feature article about the gallery is in the June issue of Montana Magazine, I shot the piece) and don't miss the Spiral Spoon right next door.  And if you have an appetite I recommend Luna's (one block down from Glacier Impressions) or the Two Medicine Grill (on Hwy 2), both have a nice menu at reasonable prices!  The Glacier Village Cafe also has fine food and whether your eating or not, stop by that location and see our showroom where I have a 7 foot canvas print of the "untouchables" for sale and many more images of Glacier Park and the surrounding area.

My recent adventures have taken me down the mighty Missouri River though the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. It's a spectacular place. I captured lots of great images and had a wonderful time!  It's back to the Park now with a few scattered trips to Eastern and Central Montana mixed in.

Logan Pass, i.e. the Going to the Sun Road is now open in both directions.  Recent snow  delayed the scheduled opening. The lower area flowers are coming on strong. The Balsams and Camas are peaking and should be around for another few days. The flowers along the lower elevation roads up Many Glacier and the roads along the Parks west side all have great photo opportunities.  The wet spring is sure to help out as the days click away.

Jaida Bynum - my little girl

If you're on the Park's east side be sure to come and visit us in East Glacier Park!

Tony

Montana Guest Photographer, Oil Drilling, Looking Glass, What's Next?

Guest Photographer for the Montana Office of Tourism
Monday morning at about 9am I received a phone call notifying me that I had been selected as one of the two, 2010, 2011 "guest photographers" for the state of Montana's Office of Tourism.  Wow, imagine my surprise; I feel very honored to receive that kind of recognition and I'm exited about starting work on the project. The other guest photographer is arguably one of best anywhere; some of you may know him, it's Chuck Haney.  Over the next 12 months part of my time will be spent capturing images for the Montana Office of Tourism. 25 images will become part of the states collection and used for marketing the state to tourists across the U.S. and abroad.  I'm looking forward to making this project part of my regular photographic life.

Print Winner
Someone won the print, he guessed Hwy 49 just past East Glacier Park.  It was a shot of Froggy Flats, on Hwy 49 just past East Glacier Park on your way up the Two Medicine . . . Congratulations!  And thanks to all that sent it guesses.  I'll be doing another one very soon!

New Oil Well
This is a shot of a drill rig.  The well on the Blackfeet Reservation was drilled about a month ago between East Glacier and Browning, just south of Highway 2.  That is Rising Wolf in the background.  This tower is now gone but it's been replaced by a permanent flair stack.  The news recently reported as many as 70 wells are proposed for the Reservation, this is the second, or maybe third of the 70.

Billy Bowman
Can anyone guess where Billy's at in this image - I'll give you a hint, it's in Glacier National Park?

Trash on the Looking Glass Road
I was just thinking that maybe next year I should organize and sponsor a trash clean up of the Looking Glass road (Hwy 49 to Kiowa).  This year was as bad as I've ever seen it, it was absolutely disgusting!  This is NOT a staged shot, this is what I saw the day the road was "opened" for travel. This is unacceptable and I want to do something about it. . . I'd like to think I could stop the problem all together, but since I'm smarter than that, I think I'll just have to focus on a little education and clean up.  Hopefully that will also increase awareness and create some self policing.  Does anyone have any words of wisdom, or would you like to share with me some ideas about how we might be able to approach a clean up next spring?  The grass will soon be to tall to effectively gather the trash, so tell me what you think so I can get started on a clean up for next spring!

What's Next?
How many of you know what youre going photograph next? Do you just search around looking for images to show up, or do you plan your shoots? Everyone wants to be original right?  We all want to bring to life our own visions through our imagery correct. So if you plan, how do you plan what to shoot when you have not seen it yet?

Are you interested in what kinds of things I consider before I decide what to photograph?  I mean really, you can be in only one place at a time right?  If you're interested in more about how I plan please let me know.  If there are other things you'd like me to discuss or present, send me a message and I'll be sure to mention or discuss them  . . .

One last word.  There's been a delay in the opening of the new Glacier Impressions gallery.  The carpet we ordered cant be installed until June 9th so it seems that we will be opening sometime after that.  Later in July we will have our official "grand opening" so I'll be sure to let everyone know the date and time!

Tony

Glacier Park 100 Yrs Old, A New Treat at the Grill, Glacier Impressions.

Glacier Park 100 Yrs Old on Tuesday!
There's only a couple more days to make your plans to share cake at the Parks 100 year birthday party!  Tuesday's the day!  Head on over to West Glacier to join the festivities.  For more information go directly to the Parks site.  http://bit.ly/Glacier100years

I shot the cover for this book . . .


Two Medicine Grill
Everyone knows that Two Medicine Grill, and Ramsey's Fire Brand are the only two restaurants open year around and they are where the locals eat. The Two Medicine Grill is now serving a cheesecake to drive across the Rockies in the blizzard to eat - it's a home made huckleberry cheesecake made by Colleen, the wife of the duo that owns the Grill. Stop in at the Grill and have a slice or if you're a ice cream fan, try a scoop or suck down one of their world class milkshakes.

Ramsey's Fire Brand
What can we say about Ramsey's other than, "go eat there." Basically they make great Montana style food and do it at a reasonable price. When I take people there I always tell them the same think, "everything on the dinner menu is good!" They generally have a special and it's always worth a try. . .

Glacier Impressions Fine Art
Were continuing to make progress on the new digs. The weather has been less that helpful. It's hard to paint and mud when it's so cold, the paint dries slow, and the "mud" is more like rock, making it hard to apply . . . in any event, we are making progress and plan to have a "soft" opening on May 28, 2010 and a "grand" opening later in July. I'll keep you posted on those details in case you're interested in attending or if you just want to keep track of our progress.

My "Wild Montana" Collection
Here's a link to the images shown at the "Wild Montana" benefit show for Headwaters Montana, a non profit working to protect the North Fork of the Flathead River Watershed. This collection, like all my images, are for sale as prints, canvases, aluminum prints or framed art. 

 Sinopah, Glacier National Park


Have a great weekend! 

Spring Arrives In Glacier National Park, Two Med Open to the Falls . . .

Spring is no doubt in the air! One minute snow, the next rain and all of it sideways! It is astonishing though that the snow in my yard is all gone by April 4th; I think that’s a record! So what does it all mean, and why am I telling you this? It means get outside and enjoy it before someone notices and turns on the snow machine for a week! Just a couple days ago the clouds built up over the plains out near Cut Bank, and a thunder storm developed. The rapid changes in the weather though make for some dramatic and interesting photography opportunities.

On Friday night April 2, as it was snowing on the top of Summit Mountain and falling on East Glacier, I planned to shoot the sunrise on Saint Mary’s Lake the following morning, a favorite location for photographers and one of the most recognizable images of any national park. It’s an “iconic” image made famous by – I don’t know who - but everyone who comes here wants the shot and who would blame them?

An average (typical) Iconic Shot of Wild Goose Island, Glacier National Park, MT


It’s early o’clock on Saturday morning and I woke about ½ hour before my alarm went off. I don’t sleep very well the night before a fun shoot is planned. I’m to anxious and just always want the sun to come up. I loaded up the rig and left at 5am. The drive from East Glacier to Saint Mary’s takes usually about 50 minutes but not on this day. . .

It was snowing lightly when I left town, but that soon it changed to a complete white-out blizzard starting along the Milk River and lasting clear across the pass at Divide Mountain. On top, the road narrowed to less than a lane I and had to stop a few times, the road was getting lost to snow drifts  – it’s not very well marked up there so it’s hard to see the edges when the wind is blowing the snow at 50 MPH.

Took this shot before I encountered the Blizzard on Divide. This is near Cutbank Creek on Hwy 89.

Anyhow, I finally arrived at my destination and spent the next 5 hours waiting for the weather to break; it never did, so I returned home around noon.

That reminds me, one spring I made 23 trips in a row from Browning to shoot Wild Goose Island; I kept going till I finally got the shot I wanted. . . So, just like I did that year, I returned the next day, after getting skunked on Saturday. The difference between then and this year is it’s much earlier in the season this year, so the Sun Road is still closed; I walked from Rising Sun to a suitable shooting location along the lake – which means you have to add some time to the trip . . . it’s more rewarding in my view to put down some boot rubber before you shoot . . .

So Easter arrived and it was blustery and lightly snowing in East Glacier but on that morning I could see stars and the moon – that was good enough for me . . . I arrived about an hour before shooting light, got all my gear together and headed into the huge winds and blowing snow for my Easter encounter with Saint Mary’s Lake and Wild Goose Island . . .

Shooting Data: 14mm, 1/6^th@f22, iso 100, 14 bit, raw, polarizer, Kaiser Ballhead, Gitzo g-loc tripod and a 30 lb pack hanging from the center post for stability.


Persistence pays off. Stay at it, work hard and keep shooting. Oh yea, don’t forget the bear spray, the grizzly bears are active. . . and the Two Medicine Road is open to Running Eagle Falls. Have fun till next time . . .

Tony