A Hunt’s Photo Adventure experience with Don Toothaker
The Grand Prismatic Spring — Yellowstone’s largest, most colorful, and perhaps most photographed hot spring — stretches an impressive 200–330 feet across and plunges more than 120 feet deep. To see it in all its glory, you take the Grand Prismatic Overlook Trail: a 1.5-mile out-and-back climb with a 200-foot elevation gain. It takes about 30 to 60 minutes to reach the top — unless you stop for photos, snacks, or existential reflection (some of my trailmates did all three).
Now, here’s the rub. When I reached the overlook, the photographer in me winced. Trees have grown tall enough to block what was once the iconic, unobstructed view. Pine needles everywhere — beautiful, yes, but not what I had envisioned.
Thankfully, I had just completed Ray Levesque’s class on Adobe Lightroom Classic. Before that, my editing skills were limited to cropping and exposure tweaks — about as advanced as adjusting a toaster dial. But with Ray’s instruction, I decided to try something a bit bolder: remove those intrusive pines entirely.
The result was surprising. Without the pines, the image took on an almost aerial quality — as if viewed from above by some lucky raven coasting the thermals over Yellowstone. What had been an obstructed vista became an abstract study in color, texture, and natural design.
The class was worth every minute — and I still have the three-session series saved for future reference.
So thank you, Ray. You didn’t just help me refine an image — you helped me refine my art. If I were a painter, I certainly wouldn’t have placed trees to block the beauty and geometry of the spring.
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