Colorado

Here is my Colorado page. I moved to Colorado in 2001 after graduating college and discovered the wonderful world of wilderness in the mountains. I already had experience of nature photography but here is where I decided to get into it and do exploring myself. I did lots of hiking and camping with a little bit of backpacking to capture the wonders. I even became friends with John Fielder who was a an awesome professional Nature photographer himself and I learned a lot from him. We did several hikes and camping trips as well. One backpacking trips with two Llamas even, to carry our heavy load for 4 nights. In the first 4 years in Colorado I used slide film exclusively because of the cost of digital cameras and the technology wasn't there yet for pros to use. In 2005 I got my first DSLR.

Colorado Columbine

The state flower of Colorado. The focus is on the bright yellow stamen in the center of the flower

Aspen Leaves

Aspen leaves on the forest floor still with good color and some rain to top it off.
Not something you see often are the colors while leaves are on the ground. Doesn't last once they are off the tree.

Peanut Lake

Sunrise on a John Fielder workshop near Crested Butte in the Central Mountains

Boulder Falls

Early winter with the water flowing well but ice everywhere. Just outside the town of Boulder up into the foothills.

Hallet Peak from Dream Lake

Hallet Peak sits above Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. One of my favorite snowshoe hikes as it was relatively easy and not too busy if I went on a week day afternoon.

Ice Lake, just over 12,000 ft

Turquoise blue lake in the San Juan mountains above treeline and the only water going into the lake is the ice melt. Rock flour forms from finely ground rock which floats on the surface and reflects the blue sky above.

Cottonwood Pass Sunset

Camping near Cottonwood Pass in south central Colorado mountains. Pass is a little over 12,000 ft and only open in the summer and fall with great colors. I got this shot first then the camp one with my tent.

Cottonwood Pass Camp

Beautiful sunset where I set up camp just in time to get this photo. Pretty sure I did it in a hurry. The other shot I took first then 3 minutes later this shot. I love to get some shots of my tent in the majestic scenes I capture.

A painter in front of the Maroon Bells mountains

If you look closely at the painting you can see the mountain if you know the Colorado mountains at all.

Tent set up in the rugged mountains in the wilderness

High up around 12,000 ft and below some 13ers

Camp in wilderness

Here is my tent in the wilderness on some of the only level ground nearby and minimal large rocks.

Bald Eagle above river

Bald Eagle above the Colorado River where we took a break and went up a hillside to get this shot.

Moose

This is a moose in the Front Range on Guanella Pass. Very large it stands above the brush for clear visibility

Ice Lake in the San Juan mountains

This area has several 13k ft peaks nearby. Rock flour forms as things begin to warm and glaciers melt, filling up the basin with water. The finely ground rock is so light that it floats near the lake's surface where it reflects the blue sky back to our eyes.

Ice Lake, San Juan mountains

This beautiful lake sits a little over 12,000 ft near Telluride.
Rock flour forms as the glacier melts, filling up the basin with water. Without sun the surface looks a little blue but not bold turquoise.

Wildflower hike near Breckenridge

On a wildflower hike with my friend John Fielder. We are up in the mountains with some puffy gray clouds to make it interesting and better lighting

Lower Cataract Lake area

Nearby lower cataract lake in the central mountains.

Sheep in Rocky Mountain National Park

The sheep are very plentiful in the area roaming around near the visitors.

Calypso Orchid

Beautiful wildflower with what seems in my mind as a nice smile with the black dots and then the petals as the smile.

Full moon, moonset, mountains, Longs Peak

Longs Peak Moonset

Longs peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. During full moon the sun rises almost exactly the same time the moon sets in the opposite side of the sky. Perfect timing ...planned in advance and good weather was luck.

Longs Peak Moonset

Here is the moon setting right behind Mt Meeker which is directly beside Longs. You have to line up in adcance so the moon is directly behind the peak itself....only problem comes when there is a cliff blocking the perfect location.

A black bear just outside Breckenridge

I was heading from my car to a cabin and saw the bear crossing the dirt road so I went to the edge of parking lot and snapped a few photos. It just crossed the road to the other side so no worries

Paradise Divide Central Mountains

A beautiful mountain pass near Crested Butte

Paradise Divide

Just outside Crested Butte on a one way 4wd mountain pass. So beautiful with fall colors in the fall and spring flowers in early summer.

Paradise Divide cropped

A briliant red color and reflection