In the beginning this journey of photography was just about “freezing” the moments and finding the simplest joy in new discoveries. New compositions, new locations, new techniques and new gear were each keen inspiration for continued adventures. Having travelled my home state of Colorado without a camera over the previous 25 years meant that I could return to each of my favorite destinations with a new curiosity and a new intent.
In the past eight years this has meant trips to Steamboat Springs, Crested Butte, the San Juan Mountains, the numerous national parks and monuments all while discovering new beauty in places that might have felt less photogenic. The solemnity of quiet night skies and the placid Colorado dusks and dawns have taken on new meaning in this time. These new noticings has created a cycle of creativity that has felt like real rooting in what has coincidentally been a chaotic stretch in my life. Winter photography in the Wet Mountains and the Yampa Valley have offered creative outlets when past school years have begun to drag into their longest days. The snowy hikes on and along the Elk River forced such focus on the moment that the stresses of work would easily melt away.
This is the first year where those images feel completely elusive - both because of change in my personal circumstance, now living further from Westridge and the school house that has anchored so many of the Steamboat trips is no longer available. So what has been a nearly automatic, cyclical motion is now derailed. The abruptness of this all has left me scrambling a bit in search of new scenes and settings. It feels as if this disruption, while opening up new opportunities, will take some time to get used to. I have been a creature of dedicated habits, and casting the old habits aside to allow for change will take some getting used to.
Winter into spring meant less opportunities to shoot while I focused on resetting. The aurora showed up for one, brilliant night’s display, a lunar eclipse arrived and the wildflower season exploded in the High Country.
Of these, a trip to Crested Butte was as close as I could come to plugging myself into one of these older patterns. I’d missed the previous two summers in the Elk Mountains, and this year’s trip was a breath of fresh air. Snodgrass was brilliant while both the East River and Ohio Pass put on their own beautiful displays. Its startling to see such wild bouquets, the intensity and richness of the color seems more Hollywood-made than Mother Nature, but the gentle breeze carrying these delicate, pastoral sails offer a deep relief to the most recent, chaotic events.
Gothic Lupine Sunset - Sony a7iv w/ FE 14 GM - ISO 160 | F/8 | 1/125 sec ~ 14mm