One challenge in photographing geysers is being there at the time of the eruption. During my visit to Yellowstone, I was fortunate to witness the following geysers erupt: Old Faithful, Grand, Riverside, Daisy, Beehive and Lion.

If you see a crowd gathered by a geyser, chances are that it will erupt in the near future. While I was visiting, there were several well informed viewers who understood what to look for as indicators of an impending eruption for each geyser. They would radio others and before long a large gathering of people would be on hand to witness the eruption.

For this shot of the Beehive geyser, a man was sitting in a lawn chair on the boardwalk near the geyser. Although the geyser's next eruption was classified as "unpredictable", he noticed indicators that the geyser would erupt within 15 minutes. He warned me that if I stayed near him, I wouldn't just get sprayed--I would get drenched! Keeping in mind that this sulfur water would do a number on my lens, or glasses for that matter, I moved away from the geyser and included the gathering crowd in the frame to provide some perspective.

Beehive Geyser audience The other resource I used to photograph eruptions was the Old Faithful Visitor Center. At the center, eruption predictions (posted as a range of time) are posted for five geysers: Old Faithful, Castle, Grand, Daisy, Riverside and Great Fountain. Some geysers have predictions with a relatively narrow span of time--such as Old Faithful. The predictions for eruptions of the Grand geyser, for example, fall within a four hour range. I waited for 90 minutes to witness this magnificent eruption of the Grand geyser:

Grand Geyser (B&W version) Riverside geyser's prediction range falls within about an hour. This eruption occurred in the last five minutes of that range, just before sunset--but just after the shadows from the trees started to fall on the cone of the geyser. However, I was rewarded with a rainbow:

Riverside Geyser One last resource that I used during the trip was the Geyser Hotline! You can call the Geyser Hotline at 307-344-2751. The hotline announces current predictions of the eruption times for those five geysers.