On Saturday, I made trip to Pawnee Buttes to join the Front Range Photography meetup group. The buttes are located in the Pawnee National Grasslands. The grasslands are also home to a wind farm. I made a stop here to capture some images of the wind turbines. About two weeks ago, the High Park Fire forest fire started west of Fort Collins and continues to burn. The sky to the east of Fort Collins was full of smoke. I made this image of the wind turbines with the sun shining through the smoky sky.
Wind Farm And Smoke
I arrived a little late at the trail head for the Pawnee Buttes. I missed the rest of the group and proceeded to hike towards the buttes — maybe I might catch up with the group.
Pawnee Butte And Grasslands
Continuing on, I met two photographers who were part of the meetup group. It turned out that the remainder of the group decided to drive to a different area of the grasslands; these two had decided to hike to the buttes.
Pawnee Butte
At the base of the butte, I found some interesting plants that had established roots in the cracks of the soft rock.
Plants Below The Butte
I continued on the trail to the eastern butte. The smoke trail had moved northwards, revealing the blue sky and some high altitude clouds.
Trail To East Pawnee Butte
I like the composition of the three lines – cloud, smoke and trail – balanced by the butte on the left. At this point it was time to turn back to the trail head so that I could arrive before total darkness. As the sun set, it passed behind the smoke and the clouds. I positioned myself to capture a silhouette of the western butte and turbines against the orange sky.
Sunset Over The Wind Farm
Looking up, I noticed the sun lighting up the high level clouds against the blue sky – an image not to be missed!
Sunset And Cloud
That was a great way to end a great day.