Photographer in Colorado

A few weeks ago, I made a trip to California to meet up with our daughter. The first day, I headed out along I-70 to reach Richfield, UT. This route crosses the San Rafael Swell, where there is some spectacular scenery. I made this image at one of the Rest Areas along the route.

The next day, I left early in the morning to head to Yucca Valley, CA. This city is located adjacent to the Joshua Tree National Park. After checking into the hotel, I headed into the park just before sunset. This image shows some of the typical plants that may be found among the granite hills. We can see Cholla, Yucca and Joshua Trees.

As the sun set lower in the sky, the spines on the Cholla light up to outline the limbs of the plant. I chose a monochrome black and white rendition for this image.

Here is another image that shows some more of this landscape before the sun set.

Along the park road, I found a large Joshua Tree at the roadside. In this image, I composed a silhouette of the tree, with the sun behind the tree’s trunk.

In this image, the sun had just set, but continued to light up some of the distant hills. I found a Yucca and nearby Joshua Tree to complete the composition.

In the above area of the park, there were grass fires that occurred several years ago. Perhaps, that contributed to the dead trunk of the Yucca?

Continuing with our trip to National Wildlife Refuge at Bosque Del Apache, we arrived at the Flight Deck ponds at sunrise. The Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese were leaving the safety of the ponds to find their daily feeding grounds. I managed to capture these three snow geese as they flew out for the day.

These five Sandhill Cranes were preparing to leave the pond. They had adopted the typical pose before they take flight.

Here is another crane considering taking flight. In the meantime, the crane in the background had just headed out.

The fall colors were late arriving in the refuge. I could not help but make some images of the autumn leaves.

Later in the morning we were looking out for a Northern Harrier that we had spotted. I made another image showing the fall colors.

That afternoon, we found a Northern Harrier hunting for small critters in the grass. These raptors fly a few feet above the ground and have highly maneuverable and unpredictable flight paths. We spent an hour or so, watching this harrier work the field.

We also found a Red-Tailed Hawk that had just attempted to catch a wild turkey without success. I made this image as it was perched and watching the flock of turkeys walking past.

Around sunset, we headed to the pond by the Flight Deck. The moon was close to being full. I made this image of the reflection of the moon in the pond.

We enjoyed the short visit to Bosque Del Apache, and returned home the next morning.

Last month we visited the National Wildlife Refuge at Bosque Del Apache. We arrived in Socorro late in the afternoon. After checking in, we managed to get to Bosque with plenty of time before sunset, where we spent all the time close to the Flight Deck. The Sandhill Cranes were starting to arrive to spend the night in the safety of the ponds. I capture this crane as it gliding in to the ponds.

As the sun began to set, the sky lit up in pink. Here, I captured an image of one tree against a backdrop of the pink sky, that was reflected in the pond.

Grasses growing in the pond were silhouetted by the sunset.

The following morning, we headed back to the Flight Deck for sunrise. Then we spent a couple of hours in the refuge before heading for breakfast. We found this Great Blue Heron standing on one leg by the irrigation ditch.

Later that afternoon, we explored some other areas of the refuge. We were lucky to spot a Road Runner crossing the road ahead of us.

Finally, I made this image at sunset, with the skies reflected from the pond at the Flight Deck.

More to come.

We have been enjoying a fabulous fall in the Denver metro area. At the end of the day, I either talk a walk through the neighborhood, or a bike ride along the Platte River. During a walk, I took a different route where a path crosses a ditch. There are several Sumac bushes growing in this area, with bright red leaves.

Close to Halloween, there are many seasonal decorations in front yards. Here are group of smiling lighted pumpkins.

While walking next to Kunming Park, I noticed these pastel colored leaves that had fallen from various different trees. The range of colors in these leaves is absolutely amazing!

On another day, I found some more Sumac.

The late afternoon sun created a spectacular backlight for the red leaves.

That evening, there were some really interesting clouds in the evening sky. We were treated to another spectacular sunset.

Returning from a bike ride, I crossed the Platte River as the sun was setting. I could not resist making this image from the middle of the bridge.

Close to Halloween is the “Day Of The Dead” celebration. So here is a fun image of decorations in the front yard.

We planted several Clematis plants in our backyard. This year they grew to cover much of the fence. Several plants had flowered to create seeds. Last weekend, I spent a couple of hours in the yard making macros images of the wispy seeds.

The flowers create a cluster of seeds. Each seed has a long wispy tail. This helps to disperse seeds when a string wind blows.

Enjoy.

One afternoon earlier this week, I headed up Ohio Pass. At the base of the pass, I found this small colony of aspen trees.

As I headed up the pass, there are couple spots where the forest opens out to reveal some meadows on the mountainside. At this spot location, the afternoon sunlight was grazing the tree tops of this aspen colony.

After reaching the top of the pass, I continued on to Kebler Pass. The setting sun was lighting the far side of the valley, revealing the full range of fall aspen colors in the autumn.

Early the next morning, I headed out to Carbon Creek. I discovered the previous week, where the fall colors were reflected in the still water.

Returning to Ohio Pass, I stopped by the Ohio Creek which flows down the pass and out into the valley below.

During the mid morning, I found several locations where the morning sun backlit branches that were laden with yellow leaves.

On to Kebler Pass, I returned to a pond that offers some really great reflections of the surrounding aspen forest.

Often, I like to make some images of aspen leaves that have fallen to the ground. After looking around, I found a single yellow leaf that had some orange coloring.

This final image was made at the bottom of Ohio Pass. This is close to the location the first image on this post.

Enjoy.

Two weekends ago, I headed out to the Gunnison area to view the fall colors. The route to Gunnison passes by the Taylor Reservoir. I often stop here to take in the scenery before driving along the Taylor River. This year, the aspen on the far hillside had just peaked.

After setting up the tent side, I headed towards one of my favorite locations — Ohio Pass and Ohio Creek. A storm had just started to build along the West Elk Mountains.

The journey up Ohio Pass winds through the Aspen Forests. Rounding a bend, I was struck by the colors of the aspen tree straight ahead. Most aspen turn from green to yellow before the leaves fall. However, there are some trees that turn from yellow to orange or even red. This tree had all the colors.

Near the top of the pass, the forest opened up to reveal the valley walls. There were fiery patches of color from aspen and gambel oaks.

During this trip, the forests had a range of colors that included green and small patches of yellow. As autumn progresses, the green turns yellow before the leaves finally drop. Often high winds can strip leaves as soon as they yellow. Fortunately, this had not happened in this location.

Last weekend, I made a second trip to the mountains. This time I decided to explore a route along the West Elk Mountains. Driving along dirt roads through sage brush, the road passed by an aspen forest. At this location, the sage brush was adorned in fall colors.

After making several images, I found a gap in the forest, where there were deep shadows below the tree canopy. This created a sharp contrast of the pale sage brush against the background shadows.

Further along the dirt road, the aspen had fallen to create a yellow carpet on the road.

More to come. Stay tuned!

Early July is a great time for wildflowers in the mountains. This year I headed to the Gunnison and Created Butte area where I spent 3 days among the wildflowers. There was quite a bit of of smoke in the air from all the wildflowers burning in the western states.The flowers at Crested Butte were really spectacular. I don’t remember see the Corn Lily landscapes like this year. Heading towards Gothic, I captured this image of the Corn Lilies. Early in the season, these lilies have bright green leaves. After flowering, the leaves turn brown before the plants die off. Some of the plants in the foreground have started showing brown leaves.

Cow Parsnip is another plant that was abundant.

The morning after arriving at the campsite in Gunnison, I headed out west along the Gunnison River. The sky was thick with orange smoke from the wildfires. I headed down to the rocks along the shoreline, where I included a reflection of the sun in the water.

Returning back to Gunnison, I headed to an area that I had not visited for a few years. At certain locations around Gunnison, there are outcrops of breccia towering above the sage brush.

One of my favorite roads to Crested Butte is the road through Ohio Pass. I made several images of the wildflowers at the base of the pass. Here I found a clump of White Geraniums. I believe that these are Richardson Geraniums.

While spending lunch time under the aspen trees below Kebler Pass, I was surrounded by corn lilies. I made a macro soft focus image of the corn lily flowers; this image was made with a Lensbaby Velvet. At wide apertures, this gives a very soft focus, ideal for flowers!

Later in the afternoon, I was back on the road from Crested Butte to Gothic. I walked up a hillside covered with corn lilies. I like this backlit image of the corn lilies against a dark background of a pine forest. Among the lilies were occasional fireweeds; those are the pink/purple flowers at the bottom left.

Here is another image of the corn lilies on the hillside, bounded by forest of aspen and pine trees.

One of my favorite plants is the Green Gentian. They are not as prolific as some of the other plants, so I don’t always get to see them. These plants typically grow to 6 feet in height. I did find a few dozen plants along the roadside.

In this image, I found one plant with yellow daisies stretching out into the distance.

After arriving back at Mount Crested Butte, I was waiting for the sun to drop below the clouds. Looking up, I found blue sky with sunbeams shining through — the smoky air probably contributed to the spectacular sunbeams on that afternoon.

At Mount Crested Butte, there is one location where the hillside was covered with yellow daisies. In the distance the sun lit up the mountains among the smoke-filled air. However, I had to wait until the sun dropped below the clouds so that it would light up the valley below and the flowers in the foreground.

The following morning, I made my way along the north canyon drive from Gunnison to Crawford. Along the way, I found several locations where fireweed were growing along the roadside.

I made my way to the town of Paonia before heading back through Crested Butte and returning home that evening.