Water

Lost Lake Slough Autumn Reflection

Sloan Lake Morning

Sloan Lake, in American Basin of the San Juan Mountains, is one of the highest (12,920′) alpine lakes in Colorado. Starting at 3:00 am, we began the long ascent up to this lake by headlamp, hoping to watch the headwall mountains reflect in the lake at sunrise. I found these beautiful alpine sunflowers along the rocky shore shortly after sunrise and quickly composed this image. I real love the blues and yellows in the photo. In my mind's eye, the image conveys the peace of a mountain morning. Shortly after making this image, we ascended to the top of Handies Peak (14,048'), the first 14er we ever climbed. At that time in my life, it was a very important achievement, as I had a serious health scare the year before I was overcoming. In light of overcoming that obstacle, this image has always been one of my personal favorites and it has adorned my office wall ever since. This image was also featured in the Salon de Luz gallery show that included ten of my images.

Ice Lakes Morning

Autumn, Gates of the Valley

This is an image I made at Gates of the Valley in Yosemite National Park in fall of 2007. In latter part of the afternoon, the sun broke through some afternoon clouds, spotlighting this clump of yellowing grass in the Merced River. Yosemite was every bit the magical place I had always imagined.

Winter Blues

Later afternoon winter sun tickles the snow ridges in a Wisconsin farm field

Dream Lake Alpenglow

Lupine, Blue Lakes Basin

Lupine and other alpine flowers burst in a meadow along the steep trail between Lower Blue Lake and Middle Blue Lake. The stunning Blue Lakes Basin is in the Mt. Sneffels Wilderness near Ouray, Colorado. I departed from the trailhead at 2:00 a.m. to hike the 3.9 miles and 2,519’ feet to the upper lake for sunrise. This majestic section of the San Juan Mountains feels very much like the Cascades of the Pacific Northwest or the Canadian Rockies.

Mirrorview, Paradise Divide

Mt. Baldy reflects in Paradise Lake at sunset in the West Elk Mountains high above Crested Butte, Colorado. Paradise Divide is a high mountain shelf between three mountain basins. On a calm day, like this one, the lake acts a mirror of the surrounding mountains.

Rainbow, Comanche Point

Of Sun and Water

Study in Ice

Along the

Spectacle Lake Morning

I made this image yesterday morning, a short walk away from camp. After a long night of rain, I was hoping for a sunrise rainbow or fog around Spectable Lake. Unfortunately, the rain and clouds blocked the sun for most of the morning. However, for a brief moment, a golden beam of light broke through the cloudy skies on a distant mountain on the edge of the South San Juan Wilderness. Even on this rainy Sunday morning, sitting on the side of Spectacle Lake with a camera and a fly rod was as good a natural cathedral as any church in the world.

Island Blues

I made this image late on a stormy evening, when everything felt blue to me. I decided to make the focus of the image the island, centering in the frame and carefully excluding any sky from the image. As I worked the scene, a bald eagle soared by, across the surface of the water, on the hunt for a dinner. The next afternoon, I worked the shore of this lake, hoping for a rainbow. Instead I was nearly struck by lightning, the closest encounter I've ever had in my life and enough to send me tumbling under a tree and back into the truck.

Spirits of the Lake

In autumn, I made the short hike through intermittent fog to Clear Lake in the Cimarrons near Silverjack Reservoir. This area is in the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado. When I arrived at the lake, a small layer of fog held tight to the water, reflecting some cool light from distant clouds. The moment and scene gave me the feeling of ghostly spirits rising from the shallows of the lake to view the splendor of fall.

Autumn Reflections

On a foggy morning this fall, a stand of aspen stands above—and reflects in—the marshy and foggy Clear Lake in the Cimarrons near Silverjack Reservoir (Southwest Colorado). From sea to shining sea, this land is full of beauty worth experiencing, sharing, and protecting. In a country where others seek to divide us for their own gains, let the beauty of our common land—and of each other—prevail.