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Showing posts from January, 2017

Cold Mountain - A Harsh Wilderness

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Bergen Peak is a cold mountain It’s a frigid morning in Evergreen, Colorado and Bergen Peak forms a dark backdrop, brooding over a lonely meadow. A strange ambiance engulfs the landscape as morning light struggles to leak through the dense atmosphere. Plastered with a coating of fresh snow, the pine trees are glittering white against the windswept grassland. After the frigid sunrise, lemon-colored clouds swirl ominously across the northern sky. Ascending the icy slopes is a cautious endeavor achieved during the morning’s daybreak silence. The perilous trail leads seductively into a wonderfully crystallized forest. I have great reverence for the harsh wilderness and I mostly enjoy being out in the thick of this dour season but today I can’t stop shivering as I gaze quietly upon that cold mountain. A frigid morning in Evergreen Brooding over a lonely meadow A strange ambiance engulfs the landscape The pine trees are glittering white Yellow clouds swirl ...

Evergreen Mountain Summit - Watercolor

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Evergreen Mountain Summit It’s an early-summer morning at the summit of Evergreen Mountain and the thin air is clear and crisp. The strokes of pure color brushed loosely onto the page are confined by the black ink that traces the mountain landscape. The yellow foreground is a jumble of rocks and tundra, gleaming gold in the bright sunlight. Clinging to the treacherous top, a limber pine is a textured tree with needled branches that splay into the brilliant, blue sky. Across the valley below, Mount Evans Wilderness recedes into the distance through layers of pale green. Strung out across the skyline, a row of mighty peaks are still shimmering white with tons of packed snow. Currently steeped in the depths of a dark-blue season, only our memories can summon the warmth of those sweet, summer days. With each new dawn, the light is lasting just a little bit longer offering hope that soon we’ll be enjoying nature moments just like this.

Hubbard Mesa - A Surprising Spectacle

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Hubbard Mesa at Rifle, Colorado I’ve travelled all over the backroads of Colorado searching for beautiful places to photograph. Earlier this winter, I stumbled upon a remarkable area that really caught my attention. If you head north out of Rifle, you’ll discover a unique landscape distinguished by enchanting sunsets. My experience below the staggered mesas of that region was nothing short of surreal. After a gray day shrouded in mist, the clouds began to recede and the sun started to set. Warm tones mingled with cool tones, resulting in a broad spectrum of colorful twilight. The muddy desert floor was decorated with patches of piñon pine and splashes of blue sagebrush. Up above, the dark peaks were laced with stripes of white snow. As the curtain of darkness continued to descend, shafts of filtered light permeated the wide valley. The moist atmosphere hung over the canyon, washing it to a glossy sheen. I was lucky to be rewarded with such a surprising spectacle after wa...

Dugout Creek - Before and After the Storm

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Dugout Creek, Nebraska On the day before the storm, the December weather was unusually warm. Dugout Creek meandered slowly through a golden pasture of prairie grassland. By late afternoon, the sprawling sandhills were saturated with yellow sunshine. Along the curvy creek bank, a barren forest of twisted trees was glowing orange in the last light. Just when it was beginning to look like a yellow Christmas, the sky turned ominous, temperatures dropped and a terrible blizzard ensued. The old homestead appeared divine while cloaked in the western Nebraska whiteout. Morning after the storm and the place was covered with deep snow. The cold water creek was crystal clear as it faithfully reflected a broken blue sky. After a surprising delay, winter has finally arrived on the Great Plains. The past year has been an unpredictable barrage of challenges and change so it’s nice to see that maybe things are starting to get back to normal. The weather was unusually warm The cre...