Major schedule changes for the annual Fall photo meetup

After much thinking and much talking with others, I need to make changes to the annual Fall photography meetup. Many of these changes are big switches from the original schedule which should now be completely disregarded. As many of you know, Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park were hit very hard by the recent flooding we have had here in Colorado. As such, access to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park has been severely limited due to the usual highways, HWY 34 and HWY 36 being all but destroyed. The only way to access Estes Park is to come in from the west side and go over Trail Ridge Road which can close at any time due to weather this time of the year or take 6th Avenue west to HWY 119 out of Blackhawk, to HWY 72 to HWY 7 which leads into Estes Park. I have mapped out the specific routing for getting there via Google maps http://goo.gl/maps/zgztC

I am going to cancel the second week all together, sadly. Right now it appears that our Government will be shutting down which would in effect close Rocky Mountain National Park all together during that time. I am also cancelling Saturday the 28th of September as it is a free day in the park and with much of the park & its roads closed due to flooding, it will an absolute zoo and very bumper to bumper. Not an ideal situation. All alerts, conditions and closing, along with openings for Rocky Mountain National park can be found here http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/flood_alert.htm

New Schedule-Where, when, times; 

Sunday September 29th 6:30am
We will meet in the parking lot of the Beaver Meadows Visitors Center inside Rocky Mountain National park at 6:30am. This is the west side entrance in Estes Park. See map here http://goo.gl/maps/zgztC It is where mark "B" is located. Please, don't be late as we will need to leave quickly to get in position to photograph the sunrise over Longs Peak. Afterwards we will look for Elk to photograph along with other wildlife within the park. Please be advised that all trails on the Estes Park side of Rocky Mountain National Park are currently closed. I will be in a silver Dodge caravan with a black and white dog. So keep an eye out! I will have my tripod out behind the car so I am easily recognized.

If you plan to stay overnight in Estes Park or have made previous reservations, I would call as soon as you can to check and see if those are indeed still good. Many hotels and motels have closed due to the flooding.
I hope to see some of you out there! Just allow yourself enough time if you are coming from Denver as it is longer to get there. 3am may seem to early to leave but I can promise you, in the end you will glad you did!
---John

Announcing the 2013 Fall in Rocky Mountain National Park meetup!

Well, it is hard to believe that Fall is almost here and with that comes our annual meetup in Colorado's beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park! This is something I put together on a yearly basis and everyone is welcome regardless to what you shoot and there is no cost involved to join us all. It's always proven to be a wonderful time and we have always had a lot of fun. It is also a very relaxing type of atmosphere, lots of fun with the ability to also learn from your fellow photographers too. More or less, it's just a time to unwind and enjoy Fall in a way which you may have not before if you haven't joined us in the past.

Last year we witnessed many amazing things, from a spectacular sunrise along the shores of Lake Estes overlooking the famous Stanley Hotel, to seeing and photographing bull Elk crossing the lake to working on more intimate nature scenes with macro photography in Moraine Valley. The sound of Elk bugling fills the air early in the morning and it makes for a magical experience. Get ready to see, hear and photograph things like you never have before!

The dates;

Week 1---Saturday  Sept. 28 & Sunday Sept. 29
Week 2---Saturday Oct. 5 & Sunday Oct 6th

Place & Time;

We will meet at 6:30 am on the shores of Lake Estes in Estes Park, Colorado. GPS coordinates are 40.376418,-105.503399 roughly. A map can be found here through Google Maps http://goo.gl/maps/zQdpW  Don't be late and allow yourself enough time to get there, we wouldn't want you to miss anything after all. It is very easy to get to and I will be there early with my tripod set up, just look for a tripod on the shoreline pointing east along with a silver Caravan. From here, we will shoot the sunrise and then move on to Rocky Mountain National Park to photograph the Elk rut in the morning light of Golden Hour. You are of course also free to do your own thing too, naturally!

What To Bring;

*A change of clothes. Dress warm for the mornings but also bring a change of clothes for the warm temps mid day. Temps swing wildly this time of the year and going from 20 degrees to 70 is commonplace. That means gloves people! I can't stress this enough.

* Food & drinks. There aren't many places in the park to get a drink so be sure to stock up on bottled water and the like which also helps with the altitude. Same can be said as far as food goes.

*Lenses. Generally you will want something in the 300mm range at minimum to be able to photograph the Elk. Though we have been known to lend out a few lenses while on location to fellow photographers who don't have that focal length depending on what system you shoot.

*Money for entrance into Rocky Mountain National Park. Be aware that Saturday, Sept. 28th is a FREE day into the park. As such, no admission is charged however that also means that the park becomes very crowded by late morning. Fees are $20 per car and is good for a full week. More about the fees and annual passes can be found on the website of RMNP here http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm

Lodging

I highly suggest inquiring about reservations as soon as possible if you plan to stay over night. 

*KOA Estes Park.  http://koa.com/campgrounds/estes-park/  Several people have stayed here in the past and have had good experiences. They offer quite a variety as far as lodging goes including cabins with showers. The rates are quite affordable.

*RMNP Campgrounds http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/camping.htm Many are first come, first served this time of the year and don't take reservations.

*Saddle & Surrey Motel. http://www.saddleandsurrey.com/ One of Estes Parks best kept secrets.

*Comfort Inn Estes Park http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-estes_park-colorado-CO406 has very high reviews with competive rates.

Bring on Fall in the Rocky Mountains!
---John.

Staying Down Low

It's been a crazy summer and it's hard to believe that Fall is just around the corner. My camera, a Sony A550 gave up the ghost while on a photoshoot outside of Breckenridge. The circuitry went adios and it is now sitting at the Sony repair headquarters in TX waiting to be fixed. Shortly before that happened, just weeks, I got incredibly ill with a very serious skin infection which lead me to being hospitalized for almost a week. I was in a bad, bad world I tell ya. Needless to say I have an incredible amount of medical bills  which I need to pay and my camera being repaired? Well...I wasn't sure what i was going to do. I decided to try and drum up print sales through my site on deviantART  and it's actually been going pretty good. I also have a nice enough friend who let me borrow his brand new, basically still in the box, Sony a65 for a few weeks that I could shoot and try to make some cash with my images. I owe him let me tell you!

Anyways, this year I have stayed down low. Most photographers when they visit Colorado, or are from here, tend to go to the mountains but I did this rather intentionally. I wanted to be able to focus on Colorado locally and concentrate on my state, county and city parks and wilderness areas. I have found many new areas to photograph, met some wonderful fellow photographers who I now call friends and have seen some great wildlife.

Wildlife though was another reason. I wanted to better myself as photographing animals. I spent a lot of time watching, observing, learning and being patient. Not taking a million photos but just a few. I intentionally limited myself to try and get the shot that I wanted right away. Some times I was successful, sometimes not. However, I taught myself and I learned a great deal. It's proved a very valuable lesson.

I guess in 6 weeks time we'll see how much I learned when I head up to Rocky Mountain National Park to photograph the annual Elk rut. I'm excited and I think this year I will see things like I never have before with putting what I learned to maximum use.

Onwards and upwards!
---John

A white-tailed deer fawn as seen in the grassland of Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife refuge in Colorado. 

The landscape of Red Rocks Park shows off it's prehistoric beauty as the soft light dances across the land and the colors of sunrise paint the sky a brilliant shade of pink and blue

A Red-tailed hawk keeps a watch out against a blue sky in Colorado. Such stunning birds with an incredible magnificence about them.

Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR-A Little Known Jewel

This year I haven't been up in the mountains a single time. I know most people will probably think "What! Are you insane! You live in Colorado!" but in reality it has been by choice. In January this year I discovered Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge & their recently opened auto tour. Located in Commerce City, Colorado (a suburb of Denver) it is a huge area which could almost be a national park, a former superfund site which was once a weapons & munitions manufacturing facility, much of the area is still closed and deemed to contaminated for humans. However, it is beaming with wildlife in a way which I have never seen anywhere else. Now a USFWS refuge, wildlife here rules to roost and has taken over since the days of the past when it once produced chemical weapons.

Bison, Eagles, hawks, songbirds of all kinds, deer in both white-tailed and mule variations and more Coyotes than I ever seen in one place. Honestly, it's never a question if you will be able to photograph something but how much. For wildlife photographers this place is absolute heaven but there is something here for landscape shooters as well. It offers a unique landscape which one usually doesn't think of when they think "Colorado", more of a forest meets prairie feel which can offer up some great images backed up by several lakes. If you are willing to take the time and really explore the environment here, you will find that there is an absolute ton of things to photograph and that is why I have been keeping to the low land so far this year.

It's really an interesting place and one hardly anybody knows about. In fact much of the time I am here I pretty much have the entire place to myself. Even on the weekend mornings, there's hardly anybody here and those who are seem to be a hand full of other photographers or fishermen. I guess that is also another reason why I like it, it is utterly quiet here, only the sounds of the Coyote's singing at dawn. It's hard to believe that Denver is only minutes away yet you hear nothing, no traffic, no hustle and bustle....just peace. It's also free to get in but the hours I have to say are a tad on the wonky side, 6am-6pm which I am not fond of as it basically kills being able to photograph both sunrise & sunset here during summer. I really wish that they would re-examine that and keep it open 24-7 just as National Parks are.

For more information on this fantastic location, please visit the website of Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge or checkout their facebook page  and while you are there, be sure to look for my work as they feature my photography quite often. So the next time you are in Denver or just passing through, I highly suggest making this place a "must see" destination! You won't regret it!
---John

Let's Cut The Crap Already

I am not sure where abouts this whole thing originated from (I have a few ideas) but one of the things which I have noticed lately over the last several months is the absolute arrogance and ego coming from some of the what I call "The 1% Photographers Of Privilege". I'm not going to mention names here but if you are on any social media sites like G+ then you know who I am talking about. It disturbs me that is still after many months discussion on why some think their images are better than yours because they don't add a signature to their photos.

Say again?

Yes you read that correctly. Apparently a few of these people see photos that have a signature as being unprofessional. They argue that it takes away from a photo and all this jazz. I can understand that train of thought WHEN it is something which it is a tangent or obstructing the image itself. I don't see something small in the bottom right hand corner of an image as being bad and heaven knows I basically sign all my work. I am after all proud of my work, a signature is the finishing touch to a piece. What bothers me however is the sort of bashing attitude that many of these folks have. I also find it almost hypocritical that in reality, many of these photographers don't have to rely on a signature to get web traffic to their site. This is also one of the reasons why I sign my work, I include my website address so people can go there and see more of my work; they know where it came from. However when you have a following that is essentially larger than a army in some countries, it is irrelevant. For those of us who though scrap to get by with our photography, it is an essential piece of the promotion game and make no mistake about it, most of us do struggle to get by who do this full time and to hear the bashing coming from people who are more of a marketing person than a photographer is an insult.

Look, many of us also can't afford to stick our high resolution photographs without signatures on the internet free to download. Wallpapers are one thing but to stick a full on high res file online? These "1% Photographers Of Privilege" need to understand that to us, this is a financial issue. If I made millions with my work or a very cozy and comfortable living, I would be able to offer such things and I imagine many of us would be able to do that as well. However as it stands now, this only serves to compete against ourselves directly. It must be nice to be able to offer such things for free and not have to worry about where your next check is coming from to pay for your groceries, power bill, etc.

We get it. You make a ton of money with your photography, you have a massive following, cool deal. I am happy for you. Just please don't trash the rest of us who don't and who bust our butts just as hard as you do and often more so.

Let's cut the crap already.

Photographed at Chatfield State Park, Colorado

Introducing the jdebordphoto.com Lightroom presets-Volume 1

For an awfully long time now I have wanted to do this; release a set of Lightroom presets which I designed on my own. It's one of those things which has been on the back burner for a long time and today I am happy to announce that I am releasing my first collection of 19 different Lightroom effects in this collection.
This is, more or less a test run to see how well it is received and to see how people like them. It is more of a feeling out process for me to see what people think, so I would encourage you all to leave your feedback here on my photoblog entry. I tried to mix it up as much as possible so that there was essentially something for everybody.

These were created inside Lightroom 3 so I imagine that they will work with both version 3 and 4 of the program. From B&W to retro color effects, have at it and enjoy! They can be downloaded  here and are in WinRAR format. You may need a copy of WinRAR which is free in order to extract them and that can be had on the WinRAR website  If you need help in understanding how to install presets into Lightroom, then I will refer to this simple and very short tutorial on Digital Photography School 

The Long Road - An Editorial

So, I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. Probably too much and maybe in some respects not enough as I really should have done this long ago. I have started to question a lot of things lately, most of it relating to what I can only refer to as "social network photographers" or perhaps "social network photography" in general (probably a better description)

Recently I came upon two blog posts which made me stop in my tracks. One which written by Rachael Alexandra titled "10 steps. Feathers, webs & water" The other was from landscape photographer Dan Jurak titled "Shooting the landscape or let's play follow the leader"

Notice anything in those posts? They exemplify what I have been feeling for a long time now as a photographer. Quite awhile actually. See, I have been questioning for awhile now sites like Google Plus and how they cater to those who literally need to feel justified within their artistic endeavours as a photographer by the amount of +1s something gets. It's all become photography masturbation 101 (excuse my French there) and it has become the home of elitism defined. Once upon a time I used to love the place, I praised it endlessly and I adored it. I used to log in and start my day there each and every morning and now, I don't.

Now I am sure that this post will rattle a few bones in some, I don't have many qualms about that but it is what it is. For lack of a better description, what is happening is that you have essentially a handful of people who run the whole show on there. No I won't name any names but suffice to say many of you know who I am talking about & they know who they are too. From petty, absolutely stupid things like "I will not share you in a circle because you have a watermark" to the massive amount of ass kissing and cliquey atmosphere which has developed. people who are in the whole "photographer of privilege circles" and play the numbers game.

Enough with that though because this isn't a photoblog entry strictly about the merits (or lack thereof) of G+ but about the whole picture (no pun intended lol) of things.

There is only one real way to get better at things and it involves almost nothing to do with social networks with comments of "pretty" or "nice shot" exist. You know what that is? To keep doing it more and more. Keep shooting more and more. Art is one of those things that everybody grows in after a period of time and photography is no exception to the rule. Often times we look to others to gain insight, learning & help which I agree is helpful, tremendously but nothing will ever replace time spent in the field doing what you love to do, take pictures.

I see so many these days get frustrated with their work and one thing seems to be a common trait across the board. The lack of feedback which they get on their work. Whether it on G+, deviantART, Flickr...the problem is one which spreads across multiple photo websites.

Why? 

People have a natural drawing to things which make them feel good and getting comments on a photo which you clicked the shutter for is just that very thing. While it feels good to be patted on the back with praise and compliments and it feels good to have your ego stroked, I offer up the question of what is it doing for you as a photographer?! I see so many base their self worth as a photographer on the amount of favs, +1s, "likes" something gets and it makes me so sad. This is certainly a product of the Internet age and it is a bad one at that too. If we go back to 1995, who was doing that? Nobody. No one based their own self worth on anything like this. Today though that isn't the case and I see many fall into this trap. Everything is so in the "here and now" as it relates to things. One look at any social networking site and you will see something like "Wow! I got published!", "I have 125,000 followers now!", "Thank you so and so for sharing this of mine"...on and on it goes. The circle or merry-go-round, never stopping always constant.

Breathe.

Step back, re-evaluate, think and yes, breathe. many times we don't. Many times we fail to do the one thing which really can help us. Prioritizing. Where is it you want to go with your photography? What is it you want to achieve? What are your goals? We all share one common trait, no matter what subject you shoot...we all want to get better. It is how you execute that in which you will find happiness and enjoyment when photographing. Write out a list of what you seek, try to follow it and come back in 6 months and see what you have done. Tuck it away, keep it safe and revisit it after a period of time. You will find one of two things--you either were sidetracked and didn't keep to it or you accomplished what you want too. You will fine one thing though for sure in it---honesty.

The Long Road

I found happiness behind the camera finally and some others I have spoken with also have. How? they did it by putting forth a commitment to not get to engulfed in social networks, play the numbers game for popularity, they took a break from such sites and got back to doing what they love, photography. A lot of folks get wrapped up in social networks, seek the praise and seek the quick ego strokes. I understand that fully, I really do because I used to as well. Probably more in some respects than most. heck I used to spend upwards 8 hours a day and more on deviantART alone (what was I thinking?!?!?!?) 5 years ago. I saw a lot, I learned a lot and one day I had what I can only say amounted to the Nestea plunge poured all over me. My health began to suffer from it and I realized that instead of being a photographer I was a "social network photographer". Now what I had planned nor what I ever envisioned. Yet there I was....

It is really easy to get caught up in it all and lose sight of everything. In many ways it becomes an addiction (in fact it is) Many who were once big on deviantART who have left the site will tell you this. It was their drug until they woke up too and realized what was happening. They were losing them as an artist and as a photographer for the quick praise. Granted some don't but many do.

When I took a second step back about 10 months ago I noticed some other things. At the time I was very active on G+ and I started to see the forest through the trees. It was starting to repeat again but not so much with me but others--the chasing of praise, popularity, the cliques which were evolving, the snarkiness, the alienation of many to serve the chosen few, etc. It was then I decided to focus my attention on my personal website and on my facebook photography page

I know a lot of people have issues with facebook but I will give the devil it's due here. It allows me to communicate with people unlike ever before. No other site anyplace else allows for this because it isn't just my fellow photographers but rather the general public at large. People who aren't photographers but have a general love of my work, people who admire it for what it is. This in turn leads to clients (your fellow photographers aren't the ones purchasing your prints, they have their own work) I found it refreshing and I found it completely non-stressful as well. For me, it was the oasis in the desert that I had been searching for. Ultimately this lead to the freeing up of more time for me to do what I love and do best, photography. Not being only out there in the field but processing and editing too.

In fact I have been shooting so much that I need as much time as I can get just to process images. I am literally entrenched in what seems like a never ending workflow. Maybe it's time to hire that robot that is ACE certified lol

I do know one thing though, don't lose sight of what you want out of your photography and if you do, come to me and I will gladly through my old Bogen 3030 head at ya. Thing weighs a ton and will will wake you up pretty quick!

Now, go get it done!
---John

                                                     The Watcher

A Ferruginous Hawk watches for prey while perched at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife    Refuge in Denver, Colorado. More can be seen on my website at www.jdebordphoto.com

2012 - A Year In Review

Another year down and another year filled with photography lays ahead. It is hard to believe that 2012 is in the books and over. Wow, where has the time gone, seriously? Over on Google+ some of the themes currently running that many are participating in is #mybest2012  #top2012  #bestof2012 #best2012  #topphotos2012 where people essentially post their top 12 photos of the year. I figured I would participate but instead of posting all of my photos on there, I would post them on my photoblog instead. I also am doing a few more than simply 12. This is just some highlights, I have a lot more I could add in here but I will save this for future photoblog entries. It also reminds me that I am very backlogged in processing and have a great deal to do yet.

I learned a lot this year, a whole lot. Not only about photography itself either but certain aspects that go along with it. Much of it sadly is negative but as I found these things out, I made changes to switch things up and turn that negative into a positive. Sometimes it is good to rearrange things to where you have the option to do this. As the saying goes; 'When God closes a door, he opens a window" and many windows were opened for me this year.

So kick back and enjoy. This won't be in any particular order. If you are interested in seeing larger sized images, please click the photo which will take you directly to my website itself. As always, every single one of these photos is available for purchase as fine art prints and products.

"A September Remembrance - Regardless of what a lot of photographers say, there is a great deal of “luck” involved with getting a photo. I am not really sure if there is any greater luck than the weather itself. I only have control over my camera, things like fstop, exposure, shutter speeds, lenses, filters, deciding when to click the shutter. Often times I am presented with skies which are completely cloudless when I wanted clouds for instance and every once in awhile mother nature gives me something to where I am literally screaming at the sky in excitement.Fog in Colorado is a very uncommon thing and for this, I just happened to pick the right place to have as a meeting point for the first day of our annual “Fall In Colorado Photo Meetup” on the shores of Lake Estes in Estes Park. We were presented with a scene that was almost unworldly at times with the rising sun backlighting the fog and creating an almost surreal glow about it. I just wish we had weather like this a great deal more often! The title of the piece…it’s breast cancer awareness month and the colors seemed to fit that quite well.

"Ghost Light" - Last year , myself along with one of my shooting buddies headed out to the eastern plains of Colorado to do some hunting for some good old “rural decay” as I call it. We wouldn't come away empty handed. We found this old abandoned farm and decided to double back to photograph it at sunset. I was thinking that this place may be really lit up against the setting sun and I bet right (for once) The light was completely crazy lighting up the barn that you see here and illuminating the sky behind it, turning it this glowing iridescent indigo blue.

"Klaus" - This is an incredibly personal photo for me. Photographed in May 2012, it would be the last really good photo which I ever took of my dear boy before he passed in late June. As I write this, I get teary eyed as I miss him so much. he was my protector and my best friend and always there for me through thick and thin. he knew my inner most fears and my inner most secrets. He went through so much with me. He now lays at rest where I photographed this very photo at his favorite place-Chatfield State Park in a an area I call "Klaus' spot"Every time I am here, I stop and say hi and spend a few minutes with my best friend. 

"The Serenade Of Orange" - Again, another very personal image of mine. We were photographing the Sunflower fields out on the Colorado plains in the middle of no where watching a great sunset when all of the sudden a little dog approached us who seemed all but forgotten about, very hungry and very thirsty. Ironically it was almost a month to the exact day in which Klaus passed away. Needless to say I now have a wonderful short haired Border Collie laying here at my feet as I type this who has come into my life and stolen my heart who we have nicknamed "Sunny" affectionately after the fields which we found him in.

"Puppy Face" - And here he is! My new best friend, "Sunny". I simply love this photograph of him and how it  shows his playful, loving and  the very affectionate disposition he has. I processed this one in B&W intentionally and I like it how it came out with the softness a great deal. 

"Mister Big Mouth" - each and every year during Autumn I look forward to being able to photograph the annual Elk rut in Rocky Mountain National park, Colorado. This guy was something else, displaying his battle scars with a cut lower lip . I had to be patient to get the shot I wanted; something that really brought out the detail in the face and in the eyes. One of my favorite photographs from 2012, no questions asked!

"A Fall Stillness" -  One of the things I love to do is "compression landscapes" as I call them. Basically it's using a very long lens (in this case a Tamron 200-400mm lens) to get in close to details of the landscape that the human eye would likely not see. Panning around and studying the detail and composition, it has lead to some great images which I otherwise would have likely missed. Photographed at Chatfield State Park in Colorado, I was all over the reflection and how the foothills in the background has this texture which seemed to flow downward in a pattern. I just ordered a 30x40 metallic print of this shot and I have to say, it is absolutely stunning!

"Drops Of Gold" - i have really come to love and enjoy the macro setting on my Tamron 200-4000mm lens. Not a true macro, as it only does 1:2 magnification but it has allowed me to get some shots which I otherwise would have missed entirely and this is one of them. Photographed this Autumn in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

"A Wash Of Color" - Photographed on the day in which the Mayan's said the world would end. A Doomsday sunrise if you will. I stood here freezing my keester off at Cherry Creek State Park, Colorado but was rewarded with an incredibly sky which bathed Pikes Peak and the frozen lake in a complete wash of colors. It was as if someone painted the sky and dumped the bucket over the landscape. 

"Skies Of Autumn" - This Fall, my meetup group was treated to a spectacular morning along the shores of Lake Estes in Estes Park, Colorado. As the sun started to rise, the clouds broke giving away to fresh snow covered peaks as they reflected the color. You add in the sounds of the Elk bugling and fog lifting and you have something which I think a lot of photographers would call “perfection” as far as conditions go. The famous Stanley Hotel (made famous by Stephen King’s “The Shining”) stands tall in the background. 

"Heavens Gates" -  I love fall in Colorado, it is my favorite and it is the time of the year yours truly looks forward to being able to do what I do best; photography. This was photographed at one of my favorite locations, Knights Of Pythias cemetery outside of Central City. This place is the real deal, containing the graves and headstones of those who first settled the town during it's gold rush heyday in the 1800s. Walking around in here you get a real sense of not only being alone but calm as well. It is kind of spooky but also very tranquil too.  For this shot I really wanted to get the glow that was happening as the sunlight was soaking up and reflecting against the colorful Aspen trees. I really liked how the gate played into the scene with the pathway, as if calling to visitors to come in. Stunning stuff and I can't wait to get back up here this coming Fall!

"Relaxing In the Morning Light Of Autumn" -  On a cold and frosty Fall morning I was able to photograph this bull who was starting to just stir to start his day. Awakening on the frosty grass with the dawn sunlight illuminating the area, he made for a very worthy subject. It’s safe to say that this big boy is one of my favorite Elk photographs from this past Autumn.

"Hall Of The Mountain King" -  Located outside of Estes Park, St. Malo's Cathedral (some call it St. Katherine's) has always given me wonderful images. Heck I have several in my gallery here already. However this Fall was different in that there was fog! We don't get a lot of fog here in Colorado and I raced over here to get the shot. So thick I could barely see the chapel. I love this place, it looks like something out of Lord Of The Rings or a Gothic novel.

"As If" - Sometimes you just have to laugh at the expressions of wildlife. This was one of those and I was literally cracking up while photographing this Mourning Dove. What a display of attitude as if to say "No, you won't photograph me today! Nope!"

While storm chasing on the eastern plains of Colorado this past spring, we happened upon this scene. I imagine that these Horses are quite used to this sort of weather out here where the afternoons showcase some of the most violent weather on earth. It was pretty amazing really to see them all standing out here in ranch land backed up by a severe thunderstorm that was heading towards them. It certainly made for quite the dramatic scene and one needless to say I had to photograph it.