The Archives

September 2009

Colorado
Aspens Over Ouray
09.29.09 | Permalink | 5 Comments

Beautiful aspens in the rugged and remote eastern drainage of Corbett mountain, on the east end of the Sneffels Range.

Brilliant backlit aspens high above the town of Ouray, Colorado. Hayden Peak is in the background.
Colorado
Sunset on Sneffels Summit
09.27.09 | Permalink | 5 Comments

Mt. Sneffels shadow, Teakettle on the right, Cirque Mountain in the center.

With warm September temperatures and a gorgeous clear blue sky, yesterday afternoon I hiked up Mt. Sneffels to watch the sunset from the 14,156 ft. summit. Though I could have driven my truck to the upper trailhead, I decided to start from the lower trailhead because there was no hurry and I needed the exercise anyways. I hiked up to Blue Lakes Pass then took the southwestern ridge route to the summit, a fun scrambly route that I’d never done before. I relaxed for a couple hours up on top, had fun taking photos of the sunset and the post-sunset glow, then made my way down the standard route via headlamp and a quarter-moon.

This was the fourth time I’ve summited Sneffels, but it was the first time I’ve seen the sunset up there, and the first time I’ve hiked it without crampons and a springtime snowpack.

Here’s a link to some photos from a previous hike I did up Sneffels for the sunrise, via moonlight.
Colorado
Solar Ranch Sunset
09.23.09 | Permalink | 1 Comment

I was at my friends’ house for dinner last night in Ridgway, and the sunset was looking good so I walked out into a field in front of their house and took some photos. I didn’t really have much to work with out there except a little brush-filled ditch, and I’m not entirely convinced that this shot is a “keeper”; I do like the colors though! The Cimarron Range is lit up in the background.
Colorado
Fiery Sunset Over Ouray
09.21.09 | Permalink | 7 Comments

An awesome sunset over Ouray, Colorado this evening.
Colorado
Ladybugs & Black Seeds
09.21.09 | Permalink | 3 Comments

Lots of ladybugs on top of Bear Peak above Boulder, and lots of fun this weekend seeing my favorite Kiwi band the Black Seeds at the Fox in Boulder and the Gothic in Denver (so good we went for both shows).
Backpacking & Camping, Colorado
Lightning Overdose at Blue Lakes
09.13.09 | Permalink | 8 Comments

On Saturday I went on a quick overnight backpacking trip to Blue Lakes, under Mt. Sneffels. I’ve been to Blue Lakes before in May, with the peaks and lake smothered in snow, and I’ve been there in the summer, with the wildflower fields and lush green tundra. But I’ve never been there in September, and I was amazed at the beauty of the multicolored autumn tundra.

It was also great to get back up into the San Juans again after my last few weeks of laziness (and after my six weeks abroad before that). There’s something indescribable about these mountains that I just love so much. It’s hard to put my thumb on any one thing, it’s more just a feeling I get when I’m here. Perhaps I’ll try to explain this in some future rambling post.

After a fun evening of photography, I was then treated to an freakish all-night-long thunderstorm. The photo above is a stacked exposure of six shots, taken during five minutes at sunset. This same storm moved up into the mountains around my camp soon afterwards; imagine the nearly constant bolts like in this photo, but all around me in the high mountain basin! I didn’t sleep hardly a wink, but it certainly made for a memorable night!

>>See my photos and read more about the trip here.<<
Norway
Norway Gallery is Live!
09.10.09 | Permalink | 20 Comments

After an eternity waiting for my film to come back from the lab, and another eternity of scanning and processing the best shots, I’ve finally posted my gallery of Norway photos!

In the two weeks since I’ve been back home from Norway, I’ve taken the dive head-first back into work-mode, including the fun but tedious process of sorting and sifting through the thousands of photos I brought home. Believe it or not, getting back to work on the computer hasn’t been all that bad; in fact it’s been almost a welcome change after six weeks of pushing it in the mountains of Norway. I think I got my fill of hiking for while; in fact I haven’t even been hiking yet since I’ve been back in Colorado! No, so far I’ve been perfectly content to just be lazy and hang out with my friends again as much as possible.

Though I did a lot of hiking in Norway, I also had a lot of downtime, whether tentbound in the rain or driving endless hours on winding roads. The hiking and photography were no doubt amazing, but I often felt an overwhelming boredom and loneliness during those downtimes. Sometimes I felt like the trip was characterized more by the boredom and solitude than the joy of hiking and photographing the mountains there.

A funny thing has happened though, since I’ve been back. In my mind, all those stretches of boredom have been condensed into minor moments, while all the spectacular hikes and mountains and vistas I experienced are standing out as shining unforgettable memories. In fact now I can’t believe I did all the things I did while I was there. This might have been my best photo trip ever… in retrospect! As a good friend of mine has said, “Memories are like a fine wine; they just get better with age.”

As for the photography itself, I can say that Norway is one of the most photogenic places I’ve ever been. Not only are the mountains incredibly unique and full of character, but the weather was usually very dynamic. And of course the 24-hour light and long sunsets/sunrises are an absolute blast for hiking and photography. My photographic style already tends to heavily favor the “grand scenics” – the big landscape shots – and Norway offers more of that than I could handle. So you won’t see any artsy “intimates” in my gallery… I was too busy trying to fit the landscapes into my wideangle lenses!

Ok, enough rambling, check out my photos from Norway!
Videos
Ice in Morocco
09.09.09 | Permalink | 2 Comments

Here’s a sweet video by Andrew Stokes-Rees showing some awesome wintery mountains in Morocco.

Thanks to kQ (and SummitPost) for the tip.