It’s been a smoky week in Yellowstone, what with the fires burning across Idaho and the winds blowing towards the east. While it dulled much of the light during the day, at dusk the red orb filled the horizon with hues normally unseen.
The sun sets over Porcelain Basin at Norris in Yellowstone National Park
The sun sets into the smoke of Idaho fires in the Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park
The North Fork of the Shoshone River near Wapiti, Wyoming
nomadruss in words and photos 
They are beautiful. I was able to get similar images a few years back due to Wildfires in California. Sort of bittersweet. You love the beauty of the image with the orange glow but you can smell the smoke around you and reality sets in that homes were destroyed, lives were lost and people were displaced. You take a moment to reflect on the firefighters out there fighting for you and gratefully marvel as companies from the east show up to lend a hand. They to became part of your photography collection as they head in to rest, meet at command central or even as they wash their trucks at the local self serve car wash. But when the boot comes along you gladly thrown in a contribution.
Personally I’m glad to know that we allow more fires to burn naturally and await nature to cause it to subside. Certainly protect life and property, but outside of that allowing a forest to burn is natural and healthy. And yes, sad to hear of three fire fighters who recently lost their lives.
I do see and understand your point in regards to the natural act of fires in nature. If only we could avoid loss of life. It also goes that people need to limit inhabiting some parts of nature, in my opinion.
Reblogged this on Oyia Brown.
That bottom photo is post-apocalyptic! It is a little scary how many fires there are each summer in the west.
There’s a new one in Yellowstone today, lightning caused, and it’s between two arms of a lake and between old burns. We’re going to let it play out its ecological role and burn naturally. I was glad to hear it.
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The fires are simply horrible but the smoke does make for good sunsets. We even had that effect in SF, too. Sad.
That would make for some nice photos in SF!
Yes..the sunset in my latest post courtesy of the smokey haze.
These are exquisite, Russ. Nature comes through in spectacular ways even under harsh circumstances as these photos illustrate.
Thanks, nature does amaze!
pleasure is a follow-up please
That you shall have ☺️
Hi. I love your photos and the lighting on the Shoshone River one is gorgeous. Yellowstone’s a long way from the “United” Kingdom but I have a couple of DVDs about Yellowstone that astound me each time I watch them, and I’ve reviewed the BBC one on a review site. There’s a lovely and moving quotation by one of the sound recordists, Mike Kasic,who loves to swim the waters: “I need this land of wilderness for my heart to beat,” he declares.
The BBC has done some remarkable work. Even if we don’t see the wilderness for ourselves, it’s important to know that it exists!