Landscape Format (No Cityscapes)
Courthouse Mountain, in the Cimarron Range, just east of Ridgway, Colorado, isn't super famous, but it is, in my opinion, one of the prettiest peaks in the State. Lying in the Grand Mesa / Uncompaghre / Gunnison National Forest, there is a great deal of dispersed camping in the region, so I found a spot to park my van for the night that afforded me this view only a few steps from where I camped. Not a bad view to fall asleep (or wake up!) to. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48, 80x54, 90x60.
I did a lot of camping in 2020, since there were no art shows, and being outside and away from people didn't pose any COVID risks. In late September, I was near Ridgway, in southwest Colorado, with the goal of shooting the changing leaves. I love photographing aspen groves just before they reach their “peak” color. The mix of green and yellow is quite beautiful. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40.
Great Sand Dunes National Park, in south central Colorado, is a fun spot to visit. Well, it usually is. I was there in early September, 2020, when winds like none I'd experienced before in Colorado came through. I was camping in the National Park Campground, and had intended to continue my camping trip for the next week or so, but greatly-reduced visibility caused by the worst wildfires in state history, combined with the just-mentioned winds caused me to re-think my plans, and ultimately cancel the last week of my planned trip. I took this photo on my way out of the park, and heard later that day that the Parks Service had to close the campground and kick everyone out because of the dangers associated with the insane wind. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30.
This is a photo that could have been taken anywhere. It was taken near Buena Vista, Colorado, but I don't think the location is particularly important here. And although this is a color photograph, it could almost pass as a black-and-white. A nice, simple composition with a lot of contrast, and it worked out alright. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40.
I'd never visited the chalk cliffs outside of Buena Vista, Colorado, until a cross-Colorado camping trip I went on in the summer of 2020. When viewed in the middle of the day, these cliffs are nearly white, but I took this photo at sunrise, and the horizontal light gave the landscape a saturated orange hue. I took this photo with a telephoto lens to bring the detail of the cliffs into focus. It's a much more abstract photo than what I usually chase, but the colors, contrast, and patterns of lines is quite beautiful. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
I'd never visited the chalk cliffs outside of Buena Vista, Colorado, until a cross-Colorado camping trip I went on in the summer of 2020. When viewed in the middle of the day, these cliffs are nearly white, but I took this photo at sunrise, and the horizontal light gave the landscape a more saturated color palate. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 10x8, 14x11, 20x16, 24x20, 30x24, 40x30, 50x40, 60x48.
Golden-Mantled Ground Squirrel
In the summer of 2020, I went on a cross-Colorado camping trip, visiting locations throughout the state that I'd never been to before. One such location was the Grand Mesa – the largest flat-topped mountain in the world, occupying approximately 500 square miles. It was pretty, and I'll have to return some day, and hope for better weather – there were many wildfires burning throughout the state when I visited which greatly reduced visibility. So I didn't get any good landscape photos, but I did stumble across the “Land's End Observatory,” a Works Progress Administration / Civilian Conservation Corps site from the 1930s that affords – in less smoky conditions, anyway – long-reaching views of western Colorado and eastern Utah. And because it gets fairly frequent human visitors, little rodents in the area have learned to act cute and beg for food. I didn't feed any of the cute little rodents (you shouldn't – they can become accustomed to human food and have a hard time making it through the winter), but did get some nice photos, since they weren't afraid of getting close to me. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
In the summer of 2020, I went on a cross-Colorado camping trip, visiting locations throughout the state that I'd never been to before. One such location was the Grand Mesa – the largest flat-topped mountain in the world, occupying approximately 500 square miles. It was pretty, and I'll have to return some day, and hope for better weather – there were many wildfires burning throughout the state when I visited which greatly reduced visibility. So I didn't get any good landscape photos, but I did stumble across the “Land's End Observatory,” a Works Progress Administration / Civilian Conservation Corps site from the 1930s that affords – in less smoky conditions, anyway – long-reaching views of western Colorado and eastern Utah. And because it gets fairly frequent human visitors, little rodents in the area have learned to act cute and beg for food. I didn't feed any of the cute little rodents (you shouldn't – they can become accustomed to human food and have a hard time making it through the winter), but did get some nice photos, since they weren't afraid of getting close to me. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 10x8, 14x11, 20x16, 24x20, 30x24, 40x30.
Colorado isn't exactly famous for its waterfalls, but there are quite a few good ones scattered throughout the state. I'd heard of and seen photos of Rifle Falls for years before I made it to Rifle Falls State Park in the summer of 2020, and finally got this image. I can't think of any other waterfalls that are made up of three distinct streams. Quite a sight. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72, 54x80, 60x90.
In the late summer of 2020, I went on a cross-Colorado camping trip, exploring parts of the state I'd never visited before. I camped a few nights near Craig, in northwest Colorado, and one evening, while wandering around the campground, I came across a pond with a whole bunch of frogs on the surface. I ran back to my van, grabbed my telephoto lens, and returned to snap this photo. Small animals can be quite tough to photograph, since the best animal photos are always taken at eye-level. Well, it's impossible to get a camera to eye-level of a frog, because even if the camera is on the ground, the center of the lens will be higher than the animal's eyes. But a photo like this is about as close to eye-level of a frog as one can hope to get, and I think it turned out quite well. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 10x8, 14x11, 20x16, 24x20, 30x24, 40x30.
Hummingbirds are incredibly difficult to photograph. They are tiny, they move quickly and erratically, and their wings beat in the neighborhood of 50 times per second, so getting a photo where the wings appear still is tough. In the summer of 2020, I found myself at a cafe in the Flat Tops Wilderness in northwest Colorado, and they had a bunch of hummingbird feeders out that were extraordinarily successful in bringing in dozens of these beautiful creatures. So I ordered an ice cream sundae, and spent close to an hour snapping photos. Out of the hundreds of photos I took, very few were in focus, but this one turned out especially well. I have so much respect for the small number of people who are able to make a living on wildlife (i.e. no landscape) photography. I can't begin to comprehend the patience required. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 10x8, 14x11, 20x16, 24x20, 30x24.
Owls are among my favorite birds. They're tough to find and photograph, so I considered myself quite lucky when I spotted this guy perched above a creek near Craig, Colorado. I grabbed my telephoto lens, plus a 2x teleconverter (which turned my 200-600mm lens into a 400-1200), and set up my tripod. With such a long focal length, several things come into play that make getting a good photograph difficult, but years of knowledge and practice paid off, and I was able to get this nice photo of a great horned owl waiting patiently for his next meal to make an appearance. I hoped to see him again the next day with brighter light – this photo was taken at dusk – but I never saw him again. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30.
A spontaneous trip to Glacier National Park in the summer of 2020 took me through some parts of Wyoming and Montana that I'd never seen before, including the “Hell's Half Acre” roadside stop. Kind of in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, it is a great place to get out and stretch one's legs, and perhaps have a snack or some lunch. This place looks strikingly like the more famous Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Check out my images from there and see if you can tell them apart! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
A spontaneous trip to Glacier National Park in the summer of 2020 took me through some parts of Wyoming and Montana that I'd never seen before, including the “Hell's Half Acre” roadside stop. Kind of in the middle of nowhere in Wyoming, it is a great place to get out and stretch one's legs, and perhaps have a snack or some lunch. This place looks strikingly like the more famous Badlands National Park in South Dakota. Check out my images from there and see if you can tell them apart! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48.
Glacier National Park is probably best-known for its (disappearing) glaciers, beautiful lakes, mountain vistas, and wildlife. But one other thing Glacier has to offer, and it's something I've never seen anywhere else, is the assortment of multicolored river rocks found along the shores of Lake McDonald, as well as in and along McDonald Creek. When the rocks are dry, they tend to be a grayish brown color, but when they are wet, their beauty truly shines. Purples, blues, and reds appear like magic. While the composition of this shot was easy, it took a bit more work to capture than one might think. I took this photo along the shores of Lake McDonald, and I had to fill up a jug with water from the lake and spill it on the rocks. It was a hot day, though, so I had to keep running back and forth from the lake to the rocks to keep them wet, because they kept drying off before I was able to get the shot I wanted! Eventually it all worked out, though, and I got this awesome shot. I shot at f/22, which produced the many sunstars seen throughout the photo. Nope, it isn't a filter! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48, 80x54, 90x60.
Glacier National Park is probably best-known for its (disappearing) glaciers, beautiful lakes, mountain vistas, and wildlife. But one other thing Glacier has to offer, and it's something I've never seen anywhere else, is the assortment of multicolored river rocks found along the shores of Lake McDonald, as well as in and along McDonald Creek. When the rocks are dry, they tend to be a grayish brown color, but when they are wet, their beauty truly shines. Purples, blues, and reds appear like magic. While the composition of this shot was easy, it took a bit more work to capture than one might think. I took this photo along the shores of Lake McDonald, and I had to fill up a jug with water from the lake and spill it on the rocks. It was a hot day, though, so I had to keep running back and forth from the lake to the rocks to keep them wet, because they kept drying off before I was able to get the shot I wanted! Eventually it all worked out, though, and I got this awesome shot. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30, 60x40, 72x48, 80x54, 90x60.
I spent some time watching a group of mountain goats from Glacier National Park's Highline Trail during a summer 2020 trip. The flowers were in bloom, but the goats were mostly avoiding these multicolored meadows. But eventually my patience paid off, when this young goat left its mother's side and went for a wander through the flowers. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 12x8, 18x12, 24x16, 30x20, 36x24, 45x30.
There are a lot of fully-established trails in the area around Glacier National Park's Logan Pass Visitor Center, and there are also some that are less crowded, such as the path to Logan Creek Falls. When I visited in the summer of 2020, some of the trails were closed, and others were packed with tourists. In the middle of the day, I didn't feel like dealing with crowds, so I went on the less used path to Logan Creek Falls, and came upon this field of wildflowers along the way. Absolutely beautiful. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 10x8, 14x11, 20x16, 24x20, 30x24, 40x30.
The construction of the Logan Pass Visitor Center, at the summit of Glacier National Park's Going to the Sun Road, was completed in 1966, when a lot less visitors made it to this absolute gem of a National Park. These days, it is packed with tourists, and if you want to find a parking spot, you need to arrive early. Fortunately, being a nature photographer, I'm out and about hours before most park visitors are even awake, and was thus able to easily get a parking spot when I visited in the summer of 2020. I knew from previous visits that bighorn sheep frequently visit this parking lot, especially early in the morning. This big guy was one of five or six big males that came down to the parking lot to say hello to all their fans before moving off into the surrounding valleys to begin grazing. I followed them (from a safe distance, of course) and began shooting when the parking lot was safely out of sight. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 10x8, 14x11, 20x16, 24x20, 30x24, 40x30, 50x40.
