Whatever superlative you choose to describe the Teton Range, I'll raise you. Massive, breathtaking, flamboyant, dramatic, dazzling...the Tetons are the rock stars of the Rockies.

Come and see the show!

Whenever I hear someone pontificating about how grand landscapes are passé, it makes me cringe. I'm all for finding smaller details in the landscape, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with depicting expansive vistas in all their majestic glory. Like the Teton Range.

If you visit Grand Teton National Park, I'd hope you'd make at least a few photographs featuring these glorious mountains. How can you not? I guarantee you'll find it difficult to ignore them.

Keep your eyes open for both sweeping landscapes and intimate scenes. They're not mutually exclusive.

What I would challenge you to do with your grand landscapes is to get beyond postcard shots. That doesn't mean avoiding locations that are popular with photographers, but think about pushing the boundaries a bit to come up with unique ways to interpret scenes.

Of course, branching out onto the road less traveled is never a bad thing: looking for spots that maybe aren't as iconic. Just because you're not surrounded by dozens (ugh) of other photographers doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the site at which you've chosen to work. Quite the contrary. Maybe you're more adventurous. More creative. There's a lot to be said for thinking differently.

Getting back to the Tetons - my favorite Rock Stars - what can you do to infuse some originality into your images?

There are more than 50 named mountains within Grand Teton National Park. The Grand may be the Big Cheese, but there are plenty of other options. Look in another direction. Just shifting your focal point can make a difference.

The photograph at the top of this post is an example of what can happen when you get away from the photography hot-spots and shift your gaze away from the Big Names, even just a little bit. That's Mount Moran on the right, but from a less-recognized vantage point, and Moran isn't the star of the image. Light and shadows are. Your eyes land first on the brightest part of the sky behind the lower peaks (anonymous to many), and then up to the lovely geometric effect created by the shadows cast by rays from the sinking sun bouncing off the peaks.

Shortly after I made that photograph, I turned my attention to a lone little aspen in the foreground. It caught the waning light in such a way that its vibrance was significantly magnified. The effect didn't last long but it was quite beautiful. The Tetons provide important context, but I'll bet you can't rattle off the names of those peaks.

As for The Grand and Mount Moran, the latter being my personal favorite, I'm always looking for opportunities to depict them in more unusual ways.

Fog can be a great tool in that regard, as it was in both of the following photos (it's Moran in each one).

Don't be afraid to go for the gusto. You can make compelling, interesting photographs featuring grand landscapes.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with some fun facts about my local Rock Stars, the Teton Range:

• They're a bit of an oxymoron. One of the youngest mountain ranges in North America, they are composed of very, VERY old rock: some of the oldest on the continent.

• The summit of Mount Moran contains a layer of sandstone rock, which is the remnants of an ancient ocean. This same layer of sandstone is buried 20,000 feet beneath Jackson Hole on the other side of the Teton Fault.

• The Tetons are getting taller, rising one foot every 300-400 years on average.

• There are 11 active glaciers in Grand Teton National Park. The largest is Teton Glacier (on the northeast side of The Grand).

• The tallest peaks in the range are known as the Cathedral Group.

• In 2022, a big "chunk" fell from The Grand's east ridge. Big means really big. It was significant enough that it changed the peak's profile as viewed from the valley below (most noticeable from the north).

Most important fun fact? The Tetons are absolutely spectacular. Breathtaking. Magnificent.

You might already have known that.

"The Teton Mountains are, to my way of thinking, quite the grandest and most spectacular mountains I have ever seen."
John D. Rockefeller, Jr.