We finally got the chance to camp at American Basin this summer which is located in the beautiful San Juan Mountains of Colorado. I was disappointed to arrive after dark the first evening without any time to scout for the coming sunrise shot. Let’s just say that I didn’t get very much sleep as I keep waking up thinking it was already dawn being repeatedly fooled by the near full moon’s brightness.

Well the morning finally came as I stumbled out to great it with open arms and camera ready. I quickly hurried up the trail like a fox scampering around looking for a meal. Where to setup as so many places looked inviting. I finally settled on a section near the roaring stream which had some beautiful paintbrush and various other flowers lining its bank.  Before I was ready, I was shocked to see that part of the distant peaks had suddenly become saturated from the first rays of the morning sun.

In near panic mode, I quickly finished my adjustments and began clicking away. Unfortunately, there were no clouds available but instead, a nice early glow that took some effort in post editing to capture. The scene before me was simply amazing as the highlighted peaks with the rushing water and beautiful wildflowers all came together making this the perfect Colorado experience.

While shooting, I noticed a person in a bright blue coat wondering around in front of me.  I never worry about someone being in my photo as photoshop easily takes care of this. Little did I know this mysterious person and I would become friends that day and even shared a hike to Sloan Lake which by the way is a beautiful alpine setting located at the base of American Peak. Before heading up the trial, we were all surprised to see a young cow moose bust through our camp which provided a very convenient photo op compliments of the beautiful wildflowers as the perfect backdrop.

Once again, the friendship gained while in the field was equal if not greater than the photographic experience…

Thank you for viewing my blog and I wish you all the best experiences in the field…

In the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado, the alpine wildflower season is nearing it’s peak. Most everyone has heard of Ice Lake Basin so I set out to capture what I thought would be a unique photo of this magnificent area. I just needed a location that had all the element and finding that spot wasn’t easy.

I finally found a steep unnamed peak to climb that would provide the arial view I was after.  After climbing and climbing, I was finally able to locate a beautiful cliff with many different species of wildflowers clinging to its face with the top grassy self providing the best opportunity.  The wind was blowing the wildflowers into a frenzy which made it difficult to freeze their motion without ramping up the ISO too much. The wind was blowing the wildflowers into a frenzy which made it difficult to freeze their motion without ramping up the ISO too much. It also made stabilizing the tripod and camera near impossible which resulted in a softer image.

After finally settling in on a location, I took a couple of deep breaths and suddenly realized that I was completely swallowed up by the immense scene of nature surrounding me.  The 360 view was breathtaking with included the roar of distant waterfalls cascading off the shear peaks. I soon realized that this was probably the closest to Heaven I would ever come on earth.

Now all I needed was a sunset to complete this experience. At around 8:30 pm it finally came but unfortunately it was a rather dull red series of horizontal bands but it was still beautiful so I shot my fill. As I was picking up my gear to head back, that familiar light switch effect suddenly occurred where the clouds developed into beautifully bright scalloped red bands making the scene quickly go from great to fantastic! I sat there well into darkness clicking away. As I carefully made my way back down the steep terrain, the smile on my face only widened as I reflected on the gorgeous scene that God had just blessed me with…

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