Helios

Beneath Yellowstone’s thousands of square miles of mountains, pine trees, lakes, and rivers lies a volcanic system that has given rise to more than 10,000 thermal features across the park. The most striking of these is the Grand Prismatic Spring.



The word “prismatic” comes from the Greek stem “prisma” meaning “separated or distributed as if by a prism.” Grand Prismatic’s color separation results from a temperature gradient that gives life to different types of thermophiles. Orange, brown, and green microorganisms are found in the cooler waters around the outside of the spring, while the colorless and yellow thermophiles grow in higher temperatures. At nearly 190°F, the center of the spring is too hot for most of these heat-lovers, leaving clear water to reflect the deep cobalt blue that we observe.



Photographing landscapes comes with its own challenges, but photography 2,000 feet above a landscape presents a new slate of factors to consider. I worked with my pilot, Skyler, prior to the flight to share the angle, perspective, and scale that I had in mind for this image. However, there is no good way to fully prepare for reaching out of a helicopter at 120 mph and shooting straight down with the wind blasting your arms straight back at you. Shutter speed, normally an afterthought for landscapes, becomes paramount. With temperatures significantly colder at altitude, gloves restrict the typical, second-nature handling of the cameras. Despite the complications, there is no rush quite like soaring over one of the most unique settings in the country with an unobstructed view.



When we reached Grand Prismatic, the pilot tilted the nimble R-44 so we were leaning directly over the cauldron below. I knew I wanted to include people in the photograph both to provide a sense of scale but also to give a hint of realism to what is certainly an abstract scene.