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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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.

photo: Green River Storm Light

Storm clouds in the Upper Green River Valley, Wyoming

Here is another image from my recent Wyoming trip. After hiking out in the snow and rain from the Deep Lake area in the Wind Rivers  I headed to the upper Green River valley near Green River Lakes. The afternoon of August 15 provided some of the most amazing storm light I have witnessed with rapidly moving clouds punctuated by changing sun light. It was spectacular to watch and photograph. This image is one of several I made throughout the late afternoon. What makes this one standout is the light highlighting  the  colors of the marsh grasses along the river in combination with the incredible sky and clouds.  Sometimes you get lucky!

Wind River Range Trip

I returned last night from a trip into the Wind River Range in Wyoming where I backpacked into the Deep Lake area from the Big Sandy Opening trail-head.  As much I like to photograph the prairie, there are times I need to return to the mountains and the alpine environment; places that are close to my heart and I came to love when I first ventured west as an undergraduate geology student at Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania. Although I have visited and traveled in many  of the mountain ranges in the West over the last 35 years, I have  not really been back to the “Winds” since I was a serious technical mountain climber back in my 20’s and 30’s. It was an immense pleasure to travel once again into what I consider to be some of  the finest  mountains in  the West and I was blessed with interesting weather and some stunning light.  The two images below were made early  in the morning on August 14 in  Deep Lake  cirque with the rugged and magnificent peaks of East Temple and Temple Peak rising over the lake. I was very fortunate to have  fabulous  early morning golden light, along with  perfectly calm conditions that allowed me to make an almost perfect reflection image of Temple Peak in the lake. It was the start of a  wonderful day in the magical environment of the alpine zone of the Wind Rivers.

Temple Peak Reflects in Deep Lake ©Stephen Weaver

Temple and East Temple Peaks, Wind River Range ©Stephen Weaver