Just because it starts snowing in Crested Butte in October and the Winter Solstice is just before Christmas doesn’t mean we can enjoy winter photography immediately. Snow as a subject is a very fickle thing. I, personally, like it white, fresh and deep. Only recently have those requirements been met here in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. El Nino years often mean scant snowfall in the central mountains. This year has been no exception.

But now…we have deep, white fresh snow for those winter photo ops. And blue skies too!

Paradise Divide in Winter

 So it’s time to get out there, get inspired and make some new images.

The Photographer’s Guild which meets now and then for coffee and conversation has been discussing creativity and marketing lately. This week we all decided to go out and photograph something we normally would not. Try a new subject, a different angle, a lens we haven’t used in a while, etc. It’s fun to try new things when there is nothing else really going on. It builds our confidence in solving problems when we’re busy and expands our “bag of tricks”. Can’t have too many “tricks”! So my personal challenge this week is to not photograph shadows on snow. That sometimes is the only thing I really see when I go out on crisp winter days. I know there’s more out there but I seem to have blinders on sometimes. Any ideas?

By the way, be sure to check out Mars in the East right after sunset. You can’t miss it. It’s the reddish big dot in the sky.

Later….

President’s Weekend has now come and gone officially welcoming spring to Crested Butte. Locals are contemplating their trips once the ski area closes and the weather has turned more toward squalls than storms. Spring storms usually bring wind as well. It’s my least-favorite weather phenomena. Growing up in Oklahoma can do that to a guy!

Winter Shadows 1

The change of weather patterns welcomes new photo opportunities to the high country as light and shadow are now changing almost constantly. The landscape takes on a frequently abstract play of texture and light. Capturing the ephemeral beauty takes patience, planning, persistence and luck. Chasing images this time of year is not always rewarding as the playful shadows and forms can quickly disappear into fog or a two-day dump.

Last weekend we got both. Saturday was snowy, warm and wet with poor photo opportunities. A good day to read a book in front of a fire! Not a good day to shoot the Snowboard Extremes! Sunday and Monday were sunny and warm; great days to be outdoors. Today, it’s snowing and windy again. So I’m at the computer…doing laundry…and figuring out how to drop photos into these pages and trying to become motivated to do these posts on a regular basis.

Ice God

That seems to be life though. As we used to hear on Saturday Night Live, ”if it’s not one thing, it’s another!”. So we push on and try to do the best we can with the cards we’re dealt, make the best of our opportunities and not get our undies in a bunch if we have to change our plans. Photography seems to be like that more often than not. We set out for a particular location to create a pre-visualized image and find ouselves shooting flowers instead of frogs and shadows instead of scenics. I guess the lesson for me is to not get too attached to the outcome. Just be happy to have this opportunity and this way of life. I think it’s a gift to be able to do what we do as photographers. Our profession opens lots of doors and provides us with plenty of opportunities to meet people, go places and see things many others don’t have. I guess it’s our responsibility and calling to share what we see with those folks so they get to have the experiences vicariously through our images. It’s a cool job!

Greetings from Crested Butte, Colorado. Fall colors are in full swing around the town with peak color probably a week or so out. Kebler Pass area has only just begun to see some of those beautiful yellow and gold aspens. Tonight is the annual Vinotok Parade and Grump burning. Hope you can make it!

I led a private tour this morning with Peanut Lake fog and frost being the early subject matter. Later in the morning we headed up Gunsight Pass Road a ways to catch a few of the backlit aspens. Not really peak color up there yet but the colors were still amazing. Bright yellow and gold against deep green. These early colors are promising a really beautiful fall here in the high Rocky Mountains. Come on up and see us. Let me know if you need specifics. It’s changing by the hour!