Portrait Format (No Cityscapes)
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): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60.
North Clear Creek Falls, near Lake City, Colorado, is kind of in the middle of nowhere, and doesn't get many visitors. But it is one of the prettiest waterfalls in Colorado, and it is a one-minute walk from the parking lot to the viewpoint from which I took this photo. Everything around the waterfall is relatively flat, so you'd never know it was there if not for the signs. It's definitely one of my favorite waterfalls, and unquestionably one of the easiest to photograph. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72, 54x80, 60x90.
Colorado's “Million Dollar Highway,” which stretches from Ouray to Silverton, is one of the prettiest drives on the planet. There are numerous jeep and / or hiking trails, lakes and rivers for fishing, abandoned mining towns, dispersed and organized camping spots, and scenic viewpoints along this amazing highway. One of the easiest spots to reach is the Bear Creek Falls lookout, which is a 30-second stroll from the road. If you were to drive past the small parking lot, you'd never know these falls were here, because the top of the falls begins underneath the road, itself. Quite the feat of engineering! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60.
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.
A whole bunch of Glacier National Park was closed during my 2020 visit, but the short and beautiful Avalanche Creek hike (it's less than a mile … more of a stroll than a hike) was not. I went here first thing in the morning and got this shot. Most of the hike is on a boardwalk, which has good and bad implications. On the negative side of things, it makes taking long-exposure photographs from a tripod difficult, because people walking on the boardwalk twenty or more feet away can shake the boardwalk and make images blurry. It was a good thing I was there early, because later in the day, the boardwalk would certainly have been too busy for this shot to even have been possible. As it was, I had to wait something like 15 minutes in order to find the 15 or so seconds I needed to get this photo. But as often is the case in photography, my patience ended up paying off, and I was able to get this great photo that really shows just how blue glacial melt can be! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72, 54x80, 60x90
I spent some time watching a group of mountain goats from Glacier National Park's Highline Trail during a summer 2020 trip. They wandered around for a bit, but eventually made their way out of the hot sun and onto some cliffsides, where most of them went to sleep. This one, though, kept wandering, and eventually settled on this great spot from which he was able to survey all the land around him. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60.
The Columbian ground squirrels in the area around Glacier National Park's Logan Pass Visitor Center are practically tame. Visitors are discouraged from feeding them, and I believe people are much better about this than when I was a kid - I remember people getting squirrels and chipmunks in National Parks to eat out of their hands. Nonetheless, these animals are used to there being so many people around that they'll scarcely pay you any attention. I saw a kid nearly (accidentally) step on one during this 2020 visit. And this particular squirrel stood on a rock with walking paths 3 feet from him in several directions and just chirped loudly for several minutes, all while people walked right by him. It made for a good picture! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72.
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, where I had this view more-or-less to myself. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72, 54x80, 60x90.
One of the most photographed parts of Montana's amazing Glacier National Park is the multi-colored river rocks. Just do an image search for something like “Glacier National Park river rocks” and you'll see what I mean. Or, check out the rest of my Montana photos to see some of my other related photos. Anyway, I'd visited Glacier many times before my 2020 trip, but somehow had never taken any photos of these beautiful rocks. I decided it was time to fix that problem when I visited Lake McDonald at sunrise, and put a polarizing filter on my camera. A polarizing filter allows one to increase or decrease reflections on the surface of water, and I used my polarizer to reduce reflections as much as possible for this photo. Looking at the bottom of the photo, it isn't even apparent that there's water covering the rocks. But as one's eye moves further up the photo, the reflection increases, until it is near 100% reflective by the time the mountains are reached. I love this fading effect. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60, 48x72.
I found myself in Steamboat Springs in late July, 2020, and without much of a plan on how to spend my day, I went to one of the most popular day hikes in the area – Fish Creek and Lower Fish Creek Falls. This being 2020, COVID was on everyone's mind, and when I arrived at the trailhead, I almost turned around because of how crowded it was. But mask compliance was, for the most part, quite good, so I popped on my own mask and went for a nice little hike. Lower Fish Creek Falls, shown here, is only a 5-10 minute walk from the trailhead, and easy to photograph. The rest of the hike was enjoyable, but didn't result in any spectacular photos. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60.
I drive along Interstate 70, through Colorado's Rocky Mountains, dozens of times every year, but it wasn't until 2020 that I discovered a popular trailhead probably half a mile from the interstate, near the mountain town of Silverthorne. A 3.5 mile round-trip hike takes one to Lily Pad Lake, appropriately named, since, at least when I was there, almost the entire surface of the lake was covered with lily pads, and because I was accidentally there at the right time of year, there were many blooming flowers growing in the lake as well. I had my telephoto lens with me in the hopes I'd be able to photograph some wildlife along the trail, but there was very little to be found. I made use of the long lens, though, in capturing this image of one of the yellow pond lilies that were too far away to capture with a normal lens. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60.
I drive along Interstate 70, through Colorado's Rocky Mountains, dozens of times every year, but it wasn't until 2020 that I discovered a popular trailhead probably half a mile from the interstate, near the mountain town of Silverthorne. A 3.5 mile round-trip hike takes one to Lily Pad Lake, appropriately named, since, at least when I was there, almost the entire surface of the lake was covered with lily pads, and because I was accidentally there at the right time of year, there were many blooming flowers growing in the lake as well. I had my telephoto lens with me in the hopes I'd be able to photograph some wildlife along the trail, but there was very little to be found. I made use of the long lens, though, in capturing this image of one of the yellow pond lilies that were too far away to capture with a normal lens. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 20x24, 24x30, 30x40, 40x50.
Perhaps the busiest trails in Colorado's spectacular Rocky Mountain National Park are those around Bear Lake. My favorite of these trails gives one access to a series of higher and higher elevation mountain lakes – first Nymph, then Dream, and finally Emerald Lake. On a summer 2020 camping trip to RMNP, I tried to photograph these lakes at sunset, but the lighting wasn't great, so I set my alarm for 4AM the following day in order to reach Dream Lake (the prettiest of the three, in my opinion) before the sun came up. I took photos from a few angles and with different foregrounds, and most of them were landscape format, as opposed to portrait. Mountain reflection shots tend to work better as landscapes or panoramas than as portraits, but, having found a location that allowed me to keep both the top and reflection of Hallet Peak (left, elevation 12,713) in frame, as well as some trees in the foreground, I got this portrait-format photo that may work better to hang on certain walls. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 20x24, 24x30, 30x40, 40x50, 48x60, 60x75.
Marmots and pikas are among my favorite animals to photograph. I'm sure part of that comes from my having grown up an hour from Rocky Mountain National Park, in northern Colorado, so I have many fond memories of seeing them as a kid. When you encounter them in areas frequented by large numbers of tourists, they tend to be easy to photograph, since they are accustomed to people gawking at them. One of the best places I know of to photograph these animals, which inhabit high mountain tundras, is along Rocky Mountain National Park's Trail Ridge Road – a spectacular two-lane road that takes one over the continental divide and reaches a peak elevation of 12,183 feet. I was lucky enough to be pressing the shutter on my camera just as this yellow-bellied marmot let out a high-pitched squeak. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 20x24, 24x30, 30x40, 40x50.
I took this photo on one of the least driven roads I've ever had the pleasure of exploring. Capitol Reef National Park, in south central Utah, is already in the middle of nowhere, but most visitors to Capitol Reef only see the portion of it that is accessible by paved road. I stumbled upon a dirt road that allows one access to the extremely isolated southern portion of the park during a Nevada / Utah trip in 2020, and I'm happy to report it is spectacular. But don't tell anyone, I don't want the secret getting out! Available in the following sizes (Rectangle B): 8x12, 12x18, 16x24, 20x30, 24x36, 30x45, 40x60.
When the 2020 COVID-19 stay-at-home orders came to an end, I hopped in my van and made my way to Nevada. The emptiness of Nevada is something to behold. It's a strange feeling to drive along some of the loneliest highways on the planet, but it was while I was doing just this that I came across a herd of bighorn sheep. A few of them were nice enough to pose for me. Available in the following sizes (Rectangle A): 8x10, 11x14, 16x20, 20x24, 24x30, 30x40, 40x50.
