Then again, so are you (unless you have never pressed a button on a device and seen a picture appear). My photography website is
Although I'm no lifelong pro, I've attended workshops and have otherwise studied the photographic and post processing techniques of some pro photographers. I can teach you a little bit of what I've learned. I spent 7 days with the guy who replaced Ansel Adams when he retired from Yosemite.
Do you know the relationship between shutter speed, aperture and ISO? It's not complicated, but very important. Do you understand the difference between the same shot at f/2.8 and f/16, and how different the result can be? Do you know what noise is, and how to minimize it? If not, I can teach you a lot.
Do you own a Nikon? If so, and you're not too hamhanded, I might let you use my lenses. I'll definitely let you use my tripod - in fact, I'll insist, if you're serious about learning a few things. If you don't have a camera, you can use my Nikon D750. And maybe the D850 with close supervision.
The icy wetlands, especially in the morning, are a great place to practice shooting and come home with some unusual, interesting pictures. I guarantee they'll be unique. The scene doesn't just change daily - it's every hour. If I forget my camera and see something, I don't bother to go home and get it -it's most likely a moment lost forever.
It wasn't at all because I'm a hiker in summer trying to extend my season. It's because the snowshoes let you go places in the woods you couldn't have a chance to get to. We get over 200 inches of snow per year here. If you walk (in shoes) on a footpath next to a river in mid-winter, you can't just walk to the river. With snowshoes (and some common sense!), you can go in and find all sorts of interesting things. The edges of rivers are amazing and ever changing.
In the gallery below are pictures taken just a few minutes walk from the lifts. The wetlands are great for closeups. These (except one) are examples of things that you'll see every day alongside the snake river. The colorful exception, the blue one, was shot in Antarctica. Around here, there's not so much color. The yellow one that looks like a cavern - that was shot where you'll be exploring. And I'll tell you how I did it.
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