- [Announcer] Voyage Charters shares the blue waters of the British Virgin Islands and offers private sailing vacations aboard ships like the Summer Breez, a six cabin, all electric catamaran.

It's your voyage.

Make the best of it.

(calm music) - [Announcer] Sigma is proud to support photographers and filmmakers around the world.

And we believe creativity and sustainability go hand in hand.

(calm music concludes) - [Announcer] Every explorer seeks their own path and the promise of what's to come.

(compelling music) The truth lies west.

- [Announcer] Georgia College & State University provides over 40 graduate program offerings, including doctorates in nursing and education.

Learn more at gcsu.edu.

- [Announcer] Troncalli Subaru is a proud sponsor of "View Finders."

(wind howls) (uplifting music) (uplifting music continues) (uplifting music continues) (uplifting music continues) - One of the youngest mountain ranges in North America.

- Over 310,000 acres in size.

- Featuring eight mountain peaks over 12,000 feet.

- This is Grand Teton National Park.

I'm Chris.

- I'm Paul.

- [Both] And we are the "View Finders."

(upbeat Western music) (upbeat Western music continues) (upbeat Western music concludes) ♪ I remember well ♪ ♪ It was long ago ♪ ♪ And it's true there's things these photographs don't show ♪ ♪ We belong here with the Great Tetons ♪ - This is a truly stunning scene, and the light has been phenomenal.

It was like hazy and smoky, and we were not feeling good about it.

And then suddenly, it just all changed in a matter of like 20 minutes.

- We got this leading right up into the mountain there.

The only problem is we got a little bit of haze, but I think we can make this work.

We've been out here for a while, and it's gonna have to work.

(thunder rumbles) (hail taps) Well, in baseball, they call this a rain delay.

- It is a rain delay, but it's a rain delay for when you're up by like eight runs.

That's how I feel (laughs) because when we were driving here from the lodge, everything was so hazy, so smoky.

There was no definition.

And so we were both kind of thinking, oh, this isn't looking good.

- Yeah, wasn't the best.

- And we get here and it changes, and the light is just absolutely dynamic.

We found a composition we both loved, and it just kept getting better.

It was changing.

The rays were moving directions.

I mean, what a great start to the Tetons, man.

♪ We belong here with the Great Tetons ♪ ♪ Yes, we belong here with the Great Tetons ♪ - So the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem makes reference to Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone to the north, and all the surrounding national forest lands, other federal lands and state lands as well.

It's considered to be one of the largest intact ecosystems in the temperate regions around the world.

So we're talking like 22 million acres.

Pretty amazing.

And I think one of the things that makes this area incredible is that all of the animal species that were here prior to settlement are still here.

- It's good for our psyche to know that there are places that are wild, that are kind of void of the human presence.

When you're driving down the concrete and there's signs and all the whatever, it's good for you to think about places like this.

♪ Pick your poison ♪ ♪ One day, you'll stop calling ♪ ♪ Burn my ego ♪ ♪ My friends are more than people ♪ ♪ Choked on envy ♪ ♪ Won't somebody come get me ♪ ♪ Choose your partner ♪ ♪ Find them slow dancing with another ♪ ♪ Lay me down in the woods ♪ ♪ Until I've overgrown the things I should ♪ ♪ You know I'd love to stay ♪ ♪ At least until I can't feel my bones shake ♪ ♪ Feel my bones shake ♪ ♪ Feel my bones shake ♪ - Well, Paul, we've had a great morning so far.

- Yes.

- And the sun hadn't even come up.

- Very early morning.

- So we're on our way here to this overlook to photograph first light here, the Tetons.

And we came across a stunning scene of just elk running.

- [Paul] And it was an unplanned kind of pit stop to try to see if we were gonna see some moose.

- [Chris] Oh man, and they posed for us.

It's like they knew - They were not shy at all.

They just wanted to make sure that we didn't present any danger to them.

(Chris laughs) And that was really it.

- It was fantastic.

So that was a good start.

Now we're here, and we're hoping, we're hoping that the sun is gonna catch the very, very top of those mountains and then kind of slowly come down.

And so that's the shot I think we're both looking for, probably similar compositions, but it's cold.

- Very.

(laughs) - I need another jacket on top of this one.

- You're not supposed to see your breath in July, you know?

- No, not in late July.

(camera clicks) ♪ Ooh ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Lay me down in the woods ♪ ♪ Until I've overgrown the things I should ♪ ♪ You know I'd love to stay ♪ ♪ At least until I can't feel my bones shake ♪ ♪ Feel my bones shake ♪ ♪ Feel my bones shake ♪ ("Bones Shake" continues) ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ Ooh ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ Ooh ♪ - Paul, this is a really cool way to experience the Tetons.

- This is beautiful.

This is beautiful.

- You know, the Snake River is iconic.

You hear about it all the time when you think about the Rockies, and I get it.

It's crystal clear.

- The water is, I mean... (Paul laughs) - [Chris] Yeah, you can see right to the bottom.

It's full of fish.

See people fly fishing everywhere.

We've seen eagles.

- [Paul] Probably the best view of the mountains from out here too.

- I know, it's been really, really cool.

And we've asked our guide to produce moose and bears.

So I'm sure that's gonna happen sometime soon.

- Some people sometimes ask, do you get like bored of it or, you know?

And you never do.

I mean, every day you look out and you see the natural beauty around you.

And that's why most of us live here.

That's the reason why people come here is to see the natural beauty and to be, to really enjoy an area that, you know, we've decided to keep more pristine and really have put a lot of effort into doing that.

And it's part of the joys of living here is, you know, waking up in the morning and seeing a moose in your backyard or seeing a bear or seeing wolves in the winter.

And just being able to kinda live, you know, and try to find a way to cohabitate with all of that nature.

You know, that's kind of the point of being out into nature is to really feel small just a little bit (laughs) and realize, you know, there's a lot else out there.

♪ Waking in odd spaces, knowing now ♪ ♪ That I'm not alone and you are around ♪ ♪ And I have forty-nine places all lined up ♪ ♪ While I'm stumbling 'round ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ With a spilling cup, singing ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ Facing another way, where I am knowing ♪ ♪ That the love can stay ♪ ♪ And we're out ♪ ♪ Down by the water ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ Singing our songs ♪ ♪ My darling ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ The loving sun's going down ♪ ("Down by the Water" continues) (water trickles) - Paul.

- Yeah.

- I appreciate you coming through in a pinch and letting me borrow your camera because mine is literally laying on my bed in my room right now.

- Oh wow.

That's like one of my biggest nightmares.

- It is literally a...

It is the cardinal sin of a photography show when you don't have your camera with you.

(laughs) - That's the number one rule of photography, have a camera.

- So the good news is that we are in a really cool, beautiful new spot of the park that we did not know about.

And you're gonna get a chance to really explore it 'cause I'm gonna have to leave you, drive all the way back to the hotel, get my camera, and then return.

So I am getting a nice little bit of a sunrise shot here.

He's letting me borrow his backup body.

That's awesome.

It's gorgeous as you can tell.

But then I have to skedaddle back to the hotel quickly, but within the constraints of the speed limit to get my camera body, return, so that we can continue.

So this is not how I wanted this morning to start, but I totally blame 4:30 alarms over and over and over.

♪ Cuffed up in my ways and I know you ♪ ♪ But I know myself like I know you too ♪ ♪ And I see a lot of faces just like ours ♪ ♪ And they're going fast ♪ - We got a really cool shot here.

A local guide here put us onto this spot, and there's a great chance that you might not see this anywhere else.

We got this nice stream just coming straight down into the frame, leading us right into the mountain there.

And then we got some nice sunlight that's getting ready to pop up over the sky.

It's gonna hit that mountain.

It's gonna show us all the detail on the mountain.

Perfect shot.

(camera clicks) ♪ Down by the water, emptying cups ♪ ♪ My darling, the loving sun's coming up ♪ - National parks are really important, but it's really important too to make sure that we continue to protect those national forests and other public lands surrounding the national parks because these wildlife, they don't pay attention to these political boundaries, okay?

They oftentimes move in and out of the national parks in different habitats.

So it's really important that these national parks not become islands surrounded by development.

I think of a relationship with nature as being such an important, I would say, critical source of joy, peace, and, when need be, healing.

- You know, 500 plus bison here in the Tetons.

Kind of between two different elk herds, almost 15,000 elk here.

Grizzly bears that everybody wants to see, you know, maybe 40, 45 ish, kind of fluctuating between the park and the forest.

And seeing them on the landscape, I think for a lot of folks it brings them a sense of, wonder what my life would be like if I were that animal.

♪ I know now that I can't make good ♪ ♪ How I wish I could ♪ ("SPEYSIDE" continues) ♪ Go back and put ♪ ♪ Me where you stood ♪ ("SPEYSIDE" continues) ("SPEYSIDE" continues) ♪ Nothing's really something now the whole thing's soot ♪ ("SPEYSIDE" continues) (waters sloshes) - I swear I took at least two, I might've taken 300 pictures just now.

(laughs) - Yeah, I think I did probably about 200.

- I put mine on like high frame rate.

- Yeah.

- And man being able like having a 600 to like reach out and grab 'em, you know, like it's just different.

- [Paul] A 600 that'll keep 'em sharp, yeah.

- [Chris] Like if we've shown up with like a phone or something, they wouldn't been the same.

- It's not gonna work.

- [Chris] So there's a time and a place for sure - For long lenses - To have a big, long lens.

And this is the time and the place.

Every once in a while, I would just kind of pause and just like soak it in, not through my viewfinder because it's just witnessing something that's rare and special.

(camera clicks) ("SPEYSIDE" continues) (camera clicks) ("SPEYSIDE" continues) ("SPEYSIDE" continues) (water trickles) This is magnificent.

♪ I can't rest on no dynasty ♪ ♪ Yeah, what is wrong with me ♪ (camera clicks) ("SPEYSIDE" continues) ♪ Man, I'm so sorry ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ I got the best of me ♪ ("SPEYSIDE" continues) ♪ I really damn been on such a violent spree ♪ - We're kind of spoiled.

We get the Tetons.

It's smaller.

We don't get as many people as Yellowstone.

We're not as big.

I grew up in Colorado, so I'm used to big landscapes, but there's something about being able to go from the valley floor to an alpine lake in just a couple miles ♪ With what's left of me ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ As you live and breathe ♪ ("SPEYSIDE" continues) ♪ I really know now what had hold on me ♪ ("SPEYSIDE" concludes) - The more time I spend in aspen forests, the more I develop a search image for these markings that you see on this aspen tree here.

It looks like almost like black claw marks essentially.

And they're black now.

They're healed.

It's basically almost like a scab, like we would have a scab on ourselves.

The aspen trees do that as well.

These marks were made by a bear or probably by multiple bears over time.

And you think, well, what would be the motivation of this bear climbing this tree?

Sometimes a mama bear will send cubs up a tree, you know, if she feels threatened or the cubs feel threatened.

But in this case, this aspen tree is right next to this hawthorn shrub.

And this hawthorn shrub is one of our key berry producers, particularly in late August and September.

And so bears will stand up on their hind legs and reach up and eat the berries.

You know, they'll eat the low hanging fruit, but how does a bear get to the upper branches, especially since this is not a very big tree?

What they do is they use this aspen tree just like a ladder, and the black bears especially 'cause black bears are better climbers than grizzlies.

Black bearers will climb these trees in order to get the high hanging fruit.

So it's really fun.

It's one of those things that the more I notice it, the more I see it, the more I recognize it When I go into aspen forests.

♪ You know, I can't ♪ ♪ Eat without you ♪ ♪ And I can't ♪ ♪ Sleep without you ♪ ♪ Stay up all night ♪ ♪ Writing songs about you ♪ ♪ Take me on ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ And I spend all my days drinking ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ So I don't ♪ ♪ Have to spend 'em thinking ♪ ♪ And I know ♪ ♪ That I won't last long this way ♪ ("Misty" continues) ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ ("Misty" continues) ♪ - So we were just driving to our sunset spot and came upon this, and it's just so phenomenal.

This is, I guess, the cathedral, these massive 13,000 foot plus mountains.

The sun is shining over 'em.

The clouds are streaming overhead.

All of this kind of scrub here is lighting up.

And so I'm shooting this with actually three exposures.

I'm shooting an exposure for this foreground here.

I'm shooting exposure for the actual mountains.

And then I'm putting on a really strong indie filter, which is like strong sunglasses so that I can slow my shutter speed down and shoot a 20 to 30 second exposure to get the clouds kind of streaking overhead.

And I'm gonna blend all of those together into the final shot.

So, I'm hopeful it's gonna turn out, but we gotta move on to the next spot here in a second.

(camera clicks) ♪ It's too far off ♪ ♪ And in my chest ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ The rhythms go ♪ ♪ And all of the rest ♪ - When you see really jagged mountains like this, you know they're very young mountains.

In fact, the Tetons are thought to be some of the youngest mountains in North America.

They're a mere 10 million years old.

Hard to fathom that kind of time, but those are considered very young mountains.

And when you see some of those valleys that have been carved, a lot of those valleys are carved by glaciation.

So glaciation, glaciers, ice ages have played a major role in carving out those mountains.

And then of course the U-shaped glacier valleys then were followed up by snow melt then continuing to carve those valleys deeper, making them more V-shaped as well.

♪ You got me walking 10 miles high ♪ ("Misty" continues) ♪ Ooh ♪ - I love this spot because we can get right down to the water, and it allows us a chance for reflections.

It allows this massively grand scene.

I mean, we're basically at the base of these incredibly high 13,000 foot mountains.

- If you're looking for a good foreground, you're looking for a good mid ground and background, you got it here.

These rocks perfectly placed in my opinion.

- And we've got the clouds just kind of coming right over.

And so, just to me, it's perfect.

- Gonna mellow out the water.

After a while when it gets a little darker, I'm gonna have the shutter stay open a little longer, smooth out that water, and gonna keep my fingers crossed, put some color in the sky.

- The only way I could improve this is if we get some color in that sky.

And we'll know that in about 30 or 40 minutes.

(camera clicks) ♪ And we were singing ♪ ♪ Ooh if you'll be mine ♪ (camera clicks) ♪ Then ooh, we will climb ♪ ♪ 'Cause we belong ♪ - I'm often asked by either visitors or people who are planning to come here, when's the best time to come?

And my response is always, what are you interested in?

Because truly, literally every month, every week, you could say there's something special happening, whether it be animals giving birth, whether it be animals gorging themselves before hibernation, or certain plants that are abundant at certain times of the year.

- You can have somebody who's never visited this place before, and, you know, they're bug-eyed and as rightfully so.

And then you can have folks who said, "I've been here a 100 times," or, "I came here when I was three and a half feet tall, and I still remember it."

(camera clicks) And the collective memory of what Teton and Yellowstone and Western Wyoming means is huge.

♪ We belong here with the Great Tetons ♪ - Paul, this has been one of the better photographic experiences of my life.

- Ah, I second that.

I second that.

- It was just unbelievable day after day.

- Before coming here, I thought of this as a photographer's paradise.

It didn't let me down.

- You were correct.

- Did not let me down.

- We got so many pictures.

We can't possibly share them all.

The episode isn't long enough, and the light has gotten so good over the past few days.

The smoky haze has kind of filtered out here.

Temperatures are great and just absolutely stunning views.

- (sighs) I don't even wanna go home.

- I don't either, I don't either.

Does anything stand out in your mind as like the shot?

To me, it's impossible to choose.

- Sunset, sunrise, sorry.

Sunrise from yesterday morning stands out to me.

I liked the composition I had out there.

It was pretty simple, but it was something that I don't normally get a chance to shoot, so- - [Chris] You're saying that because you knew I forgot my camera and had to drive.

- No, I'm not even thinking about... No, no.

- Get my camera.

- Not even going that way.

- While you were having the best morning of your life without your partner.

- No, no, no, no, I feel so bad for you.

- Oh God.

- But it was beautiful.

I mean, it was just beautiful.

The sky, the colors, it went through the whole orange to pink, to blue to dark, beautiful.

- And we learned so much.

We have an even greater understanding of how special this place is 'cause it truly is.

And so just overall, it's been a fantastic trip.

I'm so glad we did it.

So glad we saw this.

I can't wait to go through my pictures.

I've got over 2,000 pictures.

I mean, it's just crazy.

- I'm afraid to count how many I have.

- Yeah.

But what's also crazy is we've got more adventures ahead, a lot of them.

So, I don't know about you.

I'm ready to hit the road.

- Let's go, man.

- Let's do it.

♪ Hollows in the woods call out ♪ ♪ Trails up mountains climb ♪ ♪ Waves and sand keep beat and time ♪ ♪ Mossy blankets, swirling streams ♪ ♪ Over rocks and dirt ♪ ♪ Run at pace with all the earth ♪ ("Chasing Light" continues) ♪ Could we capture nature's wonder ♪ ♪ Find our way to getting lost ♪ ♪ Freeze a frame to save forever ♪ ♪ Adventure worth the cost ♪ ♪ Bees and dandelion grain ♪ ♪ Dance in sun-soaked fields ♪ ♪ Wind and gleam together yield ♪ ♪ Pocket worries fade to dim ♪ ♪ Wait on focus new ♪ ♪ Wild is coming into view ♪ ("Chasing Light" continues) ("Chasing Light" continues) ("Chasing Light" continues) - [Announcer] Voyage Charters shares the blue waters of the British Virgin Islands and offers private sailing vacations aboard ships like the Summer Breez, a six cabin, all electric catamaran.

It's your voyage.

Make the best of it.

(calm music) - [Announcer] Sigma is proud to support photographers and filmmakers around the world.

And we believe creativity and sustainability go hand in hand.

(calm music concludes) - [Announcer] Every explorer seeks their own path and the promise of what's to come.

(compelling music) The truth lies west.

- [Announcer] Georgia College & State University provides over 40 graduate program offerings, including doctorates in nursing and education.

Learn more at gcsu.edu.

- [Announcer] Troncalli Subaru is a proud sponsor of "View Finders."

(upbeat tone)