2012 Favorite Images

It has been too long since I have posted to this blog, The past year has been busy and challenging with ups and down including the passing of my father. I managed to get a reasonable amount of photography done with several trips. Reviewing my images I have picked out 12 of my favorites from the year. Enjoy! I am resolving to post more in this new year.

Missouri River floodplain grass, Charles Russell NWR

Eureka Dunes, Death Valley NP

Grass and Willows, San Luis Valley

Cotton Lake Marsh, Medano Ranch

Tall Grass Prairie Sunrise, Oklahoma

Wind River Aspens, Wyoming

Kebler Pass aspen boles

Blanca Peak Clouds, Colorado

Kansas Prairie Sky, Quivira NWR

Prairie Storm Rainbow, Chico Basin Ranch

Running Horses, Zapata Ranch

Kebler Pass Aspen and Ferns, Colorado

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The Color of Light: Lessons from a Spring Aspen Grove

Cool light in the Aspen Forest

This past weekend I found myself photographing in the great aspen forest that covers the terrain west of Kebler Pass in the central Colorado Mountains. The fresh Spring foliage was a beautiful lime green and I started exploring looking for compositions  before sunrise and as time passed I made a number of images with different compositions. What was particular striking was the change in the color of the light as time progressed. The early images made just before and after sunrise with the aspen still well covered by shade took on a distinctly cool tone with subtle shades of blue reflecting off of the white aspen trunks.  Later images were distinctly warmer producing a very different look. The two images posted  show how photographers can take advantage of the “color” of light to make images  of similar subjects that have distinctly  different character. This is the essence of good photography;  using  the character  and “color” of light as an essential element of  a striking visual image.

Warm post sunrise light on the Aspen Grove

Looking Forward to Summer: Light in the Aspen Grove

I have been trying out LR3 beta 2 and in a hard drive search for some images to try with the new  LR3 RAW processing engine I discovered an image I made in  a Colorado aspen grove last summer  that had some nice angled back-light. The back-light and strong highlights were a challenge to deal with  but after some work both in LR and CS4. Here is the result. I for one am ready for summer!

A Colorado aspen grove glows with morning back-light

Taking another look: finding new images among the old.

In getting ready for the upcoming Colorado College Arts and Craft show I have been revisiting older images in my files looking for new stock to print.  I impose on myself very high standards for images that  I offer  for prints so usually very few selects from a particular trip  ever become  a fine print on paper.   However sometimes  a subsequent look after the passage of time will reveal an image that  deserves to be printed, and in my search for some new images to offer  I did indeed find a few more gems on my hard drives:

Aspen,Willows and Pines, Teton NP, Wyoming

I made this image in Teton National Park in the Fall of 2007.  The soft cloudy afternoon light that made the Autumn colors pop, and the strong composition of layers of grass, willows and aspen make this image worthy of  printing. Enjoy.

Autumn in the Colorado High Country

Autumn View into the Upper Slate River Valley near Crested Butte, CO

It has been a busy September with lots going at CC, but I did manage  to get out this weekend to do a little aspen photography around Crested Butte. The color in the aspens is progressing but needs at least another week to peak. Even without peak  aspens I did find a number of fine images including this fabulous view with foreground grass looking down into the upper Slate River Valley with wonderful cloud laden morning light.

The compositional  elements that attracted me to this image were the strong layers and diagonals anchored by the wonderful golden colored grass with the beautiful clouds lit up by the early morning light. This image shows that not all that is gold in the Colorado high country are aspen! When you are out always keep your eyes open for the little gems like this scene. Enjoy!