Join me on a photographic tour of Yellowstone! Wonders await. All images were taken by me (unless otherwise noted) and are available for for download/print here. Images are not to be copied, reproduced or otherwise used without my permission. Just contact me at pbrow11@tigers.lsu.edu!

Yellowstone National Park is one of those magical places on earth that you can't imagine until you see it, or see pictures of it. And even then, to think of standing on top of an active volcano, which last erupted some 640,000 years ago (with a history of erupting every 600,000 years or so) is otherworldly. The central part of Yellowstone Park sits within the Yellowstone Caldera, miles beneath which is the Yellowstone Supervolcano. A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption (Wiki). You don't want to imagine too vividly what would happen if that volcano erupted again anytime soon, or you might pause to visit Yellowstone National Park!

[M]ost damage would come from "cold ash" and pumice borne on the wind. Lowenstern [Jake Lowenstern, scientist-in-charge of the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory] and his colleagues consider it "disastrous" when enough ash rains down that it creates a layer of 10 or more centimeters on the ground — and that would happen in a radius of about 500 miles or so. This ash might reach so far that you'd see a fine dusting of it on your car in New York. - What will really happen when the Yellowstone supervolcano erupts?

I had the immense pleasure of visiting Yellowstone after graduation this year. I packed up all the photo gear I thought I would need, and set off on a journey that took me and a few family members from Baton Rouge, to Denver, to Salt Lake City, and by car up through Jackson and the Tetons to Yellowstone National Park. Quite a trip! Our pit stops in Park City, Utah and the Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, were beautiful enough to warrant entire photography trips to themselves.