Photos of Sublette County
Photos by Scott Almdale
January 13, 2007
Editor’s Note: Pinedale resident, Scott Almdale, sent in these photos from his recent outings around Sublette County. Scott moved to Pinedale from New Hampshire not long ago and is enjoying the scenery of the area. Scott’s comments beautifully capture the essence of what many of us feel about living here in western Wyoming.
_____________________________________________
My wife and I moved to Pinedale last July from New Hampshire. We had been coming to Pinedale for vacationing since we got acquainted with the town and the area back in the summer of 2000. We decided Pinedale was where we wanted to live and retire eventually. We could not wait until 2010 to move. So we pushed back the year date for the big move to WY last summer.
I am into photography. I also have been exploring different media for painting. I seem to feel the powerful pull by the stunning landscape that I behold around here in Pinedale and the rest of Sublette County.
The rolling hills, a bit of badlands, ranches, and the surrounding mountains all coming together with perfect harmony can be so overwhelming. I can see where the ranchers have worked hard for many years with the land to smooth out land contours and create irrigation for haying. The historic stewardship the ranchers have provided for their land has obviously created a stunning landscape that can not be matched with any other kind of landscape found elsewhere. The ranches with distant, but not too distant, mountains dancing on the horizon can provoke deep feelings for anyone, especially me. The magnificent, imposing Wind Rivers standing over Pinedale is also something else to behold....especially when they show different moods, depending on the weather.
I have seen the Great Tetons many times, and they are magnificent, too. It is that the Wind Rivers and the Tetons both have different personalities, and they both provoke different feelings for me. Plus, the wide, open, vast spaces in places like Daniel and Bondurant can make one feel lonely or humbled.
This type of topography, historically, has always been a perfect setting for a cowboy and cowgirl who like solitude and prefer being alone so they can get in touch with feel for the land as part of their work. Maybe I have that cowboy spirit that I unknowingly had for many years, and then it surfaced dramatically after my wife and I accidentally found this corner of the Wyoming country.
The other reason why I am into this particular kind of landscape is because it is music to my eyes. It makes up for what I can not hear. I was born deaf and music from sound does not do much for me. I want to try to capture the feeling through photography or paintings that I see in every aspect of the landscape that provokes that feeling.
- Scott Almdale, Pinedale
|
