Wednesday, August 17, 2016

And, of course...

I had to wait only ten minutes for Old Faithful to blow. As I approached the geyser I saw the shot I wanted to take. Because Old Faithful is as much about the people who come to see it as the geyser itself.

You have people like the older couple and the woman in green who are just witnessing the eruption. You have people hurrying to get closer. You have all the people taking photos (um, that would include me, I guess) and you have the guy in the red jacket and his family taking a selfie with their backs to the geyser. They won't see the actual eruption, only their picture. They came all that way for a second-hand experience. Perhaps they've seen it before. Perhaps they'll see it again, but still... Selfies like that say, "We were here. Look at us. We're what's important here." The moment they're in is about themselves.

5 comments:

  1. Nice picture, how hot is the water-vapor coming out of the hole, if it touches you, could you sustain burns ?

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    1. It's boiling, which is why it shoots out of the ground.

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    2. OH boy, so it will burn your a.... uh ?!!

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  2. Is it terribly smoky in Yellowstone? I know there are fires in the area. Just wondering. Great pictures.

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    1. I went out the north entrance, to Gardiner, MT. I started noticing the smoke at about the junction with 191 to West Yellowstone. So, basically, the northwest corner of the park is smoky.

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