There is a beautiful place on the western slope where the mountains end abruptly and drop right off into the valley, creating dramatic landscapes and amazing photos.  I headed up to the Grand Mesa with my friend in time to catch the sun setting over the ridge of the valley at a place called Land’s End.  The greens of the forest were being illuminated with the beautiful orange hue of the sun just as the rocks in front of me were.  The shadows were simultaneously being cast along the mountains and valley offering a great contrast to the orange and blue skies above.

Grand Mesa, CO

When I bought my camera in 2016 there were a few places that caught my eye to visit first, and I knew I needed to go shoot there.  The Crystal Mill was the first place on my list, and this was one of the first shots I ever took.  The fall leaves were in full bloom and the scene looked like it was something straight out of a movie.  The Crystal Mill was built as a wooden powerhouse in 1892 and was shut down with the mines in 1917.  Although it is no longer functional, it is still one of the most photographed locations in Colorado.

Crystal, CO

The winter can be a very fickle time to hike.  Some days you are meant to get to places, other days you are not.  The week prior to getting this shot I was on the ridge just before the hike up the frozen waterfalls of Sky Pond.  I felt the weather shifting and decided to pull back even though I was almost there.  Thankfully I did because a white out covered the entire mountain and chased off hikers shortly afterward.  A week later I made the same journey to the ridge that eluded me.  I took this shot while standing on the Lake of Glass.  The cathedral spires are absolutely mesmerizing up on this ridge and make the difficult journey through the forest completely worthwhile.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

The transition of the seasons can bring joy or sadness depending on the person you talk to.  Some people love the change such as myself, others are averse to it.  I was driving through the Colorado National Monument near sunset as it was overcast and raining on and off the whole time.  I got up near the ridge in the distance and started noticing the reflections in the road below.  I went over to snap this shot of the mountain reflecting on the ground below and relished in the fact that I finally learned to love dancing in the rain.

Colorado National Monument, CO

I went up to Longs Peak with the intention of hiking it for the first time.  Running off no sleep I realized it was not smart move to do so exhausted, so I slept a few hours in the car and decided to head up to Chasm Lake instead.  As I headed toward the break to the lake, I started noticing the clouds revealing and covering up the sunlight across the ridges.  The mountains were playing a harmonious game of lights and shadows which contrasted against the green field wonderfully right in front of me.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

We were running late getting to our hike because we had to make a pit stop for our favorite breakfast of choice:  donuts and breakfast burritos.  As we were coming into Marble the sun still hadn’t crested over the mountain yet.  We got out of the car to snap some shots of the lake as it looked like a clear sheet of glass on this particular morning.  The mist was coming off the lake and as I took a few shots I saw the sun start to eclipse over the peak.  The reflection was flawless as I noticed the sunburst shining right on the lake below me.  I took the snap just at the perfect moment to capture it cutting over the ridge, reflecting off the lake, while illuminating the trees and the house right over the lake.

Marble, CO

This waterfall plagued me for years.  I always noticed this beautiful moss filled waterfall as I passed it on the way to the lake, but I didn’t know how to properly capture it.  It was getting dark on our hike down from the lake, but I saw the waterfall and decided to set up a long exposure to capture it.  I was captivated by the way the water flowed in a multitude of directions while navigating its way between ice, trees, moss, and the ground below.  I finally satisfied my hearts desire to capture the essence of this majestic waterfall that had been tugging at me all that time.

Hanging Lake, CO

When I got my new camera a couple of years ago (replace “last year”),I was obsessed with capturing photos with it (as I always am).  I finally took the leap to go to a mirrorless camera and I couldn’t take enough photos.  We did the long hike up to Sky Pond and had already shot Loch Vale, but on the way back down the lake was magical.  The clouds and mountains were reflecting perfectly off the lake resembling something of a glass character.  The snow could still be seen hugging the ridges and I couldn’t have been happier to capture this beautiful moment.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Colorful Colorado is not just a catchy saying for our state, but a true depiction of the beauty you can find while you are here, as this sunset emulates perfectly.  I was watching the sunset from afar on a lake in Arvada when I zoomed in on the mountains to capture it up close.  The sun rays were splitting off the ridges wonderfully with the orange and purple hues dancing in the clouds.  Our sunsets can be absolutely breathtaking, mesmerizing, and infinitely different with the cloud formations, patterns, and colors of the sky. 

Boulder, CO

The Kenosha Pass is one of the busiest places to catch glimpses of the fall in Colorado.  The pass is filled with people trying to capture the essence of fall and the hills that are seemingly on fire with the yellows and oranges of the fall leaves.  As we were passing through, we decided to stop and take some fall pictures.  I came to the edge of the forest and saw the sun setting in the background of the other mountain while the leaves in front were captivating my gaze.  I loved the stark difference of the two scenes and thought they interplayed wonderfully together. 

Kenosha Pass, CO

I was traveling through Silverton to find a frozen waterfall when I looked over and saw this beautiful scene off the side of the road.  This shot encapsulated the transition of winter into spring wonderfully.  As the temperatures start to rise toward the spring, the snow thaws, and the rivers begin to run wild with the additional water.  The serenity of this scene was breathtaking:  the faint trickle of water flowing down the stream, the wind gently blowing through the trees, and clouds dancing in the background all played in harmony for a wonderful Colorado winter moment.

Silverton, CO

The Grand Mesa is home to over 200 lakes and is one of the largest flat-top mesas in the world.  On my first trip through the area I was enamored with the intermingling of trees, wildflowers, and lakes.  The area is very flat unlike so much of the mountainous terrain that covers a vast area of the state.  When I passed by this lake, I knew I had to stop.  The contrast of the pink wildflowers with the green of the plants and trees and blues of the lake and sky made it mesmerizing to take in. 

Grand Mesa, CO

I got to the trail just as the sun was coming over the mountains and I knew I was racing against the clock of sunrise.  I rushed through the forest to capture a few waterfall shots leading up to Ouzel Falls.  By the time I reached the falls the sun was just cresting over the trees and about to instill some harsh light on the water.  I snapped a few shots before that happened and was able to capture the essence of one of my favorite falls in the state.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

The beauty of Maroon Bells is hard to put into words, let alone in the fall.  The peaks are majestic and stick out from the forest at every angle.  The peaks look great from far away, but it isn’t until you get in close that you can fully appreciate them.  As we neared the lake, the reflection of the peak and fall colors started teetering between the water and the logs below.  Maroon Bells is definitely worth a visit but especially during the fall when it has the vibrancy of colors hugging its ridges.

Aspen-Snowmass Wilderness, CO

As I was driving out from a hike in Silverton, I started seeing the sunset through the ridges of the mountain.  The light was intense on the peaks and illuminated them in a beautiful hue of orange I could see in the distance.  I headed straight for a pull off that I had seen on the way in and was greeted with a sunset I had only dreamed of.  The skies were a mesmerizing intermingling of blues and purples while the orange hues were still clinging onto the ridges of the peaks.  The contrast of the winter snow against the colorful skies made for one of the most captivating sunsets I have been able to capture in the mountains.

Silverton, CO

Dream Lake is a quintessential Colorado hike and something I feel everyone should experience during a trip to this beautiful state.  I was taking some friends that were visiting up to Dream Lake on a day that seemed perfect.  When we finally arrived at the lake, I noticed the reflections in a way that I had never seen before.  I took this shot just as people were walking by on the right and left side of the frame to give added perspective of the beauty of this lake.  Dream Lake is a true gem of Colorado and should be immortalized as such.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

In September of 2019 I took the best lightning shot of my life after trying for a few months and I was determined to top it in 2020. The isolation we all experienced in 2020 changed all my plans but it oddly drove me toward more isolation on the eastern plains. I was headed home to Denver after chasing some bolts about 6 hours prior when I saw lightning striking out east. I chased this storm about an hour east of Denver before I could capture this shot.

Watkins, CO

As we were headed back from a beautiful hike, we decided to stop one more time to snag some photos in the forest of yellow aspens.  It was easy to get mesmerized by the sun cutting through the trees while illuminating the individual Aspen leaves on the trees.  As I walked around to take some more photos, I looked down to set up my tripod and noticed the dew sitting on the leaves of the ground.  I zoomed in and took this photo of the water laying wonderfully on the top of the leaf and the sun cutting through trees, while the shade offered the perfect contrast to the scene.  Sometimes we are lucky enough to find the subtle beauty in the world around us if we are willing to slow down to see it.

Aspen-Snowmass Wilderness, CO

As I was coming up the ridge to Loch Vale, I started noticing the light hitting the mountains in unique ways.  When I finally traversed through the forest, I looked straight across at Sharktooth Mountain and was instantly mesmerized.  The light was reflecting off the frozen lake while hitting the granite of the mountain perfectly, illuminating the front of the ridges and interplaying with the shadows being cast adjacently.  The clouds were sitting low on the ridge while also adding some cover for the peaks in the background, adding to the mysticism of the scene.  The monstrous scale of peaks can be hard to capture in images and I felt I was able to achieve that for the first time in this picture.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

In the spring of 2018, I had just purchased my second camera and took it out with my friends to shoot in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  We made our way through the park shooting at each area we could until we found ourselves on the final ridge to catch the sunset.  It was raining all around us, creating rainbows on one side while the sun was interplaying beautifully with the clouds on the other.  We were catching the sunset eclipse over the ridge when we looked over and saw this gorgeous scene.  It was easy to see why the “Grand Canyon of Colorado” is touted as a magical landscape in the state.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

I didn’t capture my first lightning shot until 2019, but once I did, I was hooked.  I was sitting in a brewery one night with a friend when I started tracking the lightning behind him as we talked.  As the lightning got closer to Sloans lake, I knew the reflection there would be phenomenal, so I rushed home to grab my camera.  I got back to the park set up my camera and took the shot only to realize that my memory card was still in my computer at home.  I rushed back home, back to the park, and finally snapped the best lightning photo I have captured to date.  The power of perseverance can never be understated.  I could not have asked for a better reflection of the lightning bolt from this storm while also framing the Denver skyline off to the far left.

Denver, CO

Sunrises in Colorado National Monument on the western slope are wonderful to witness.  As the sun starts to crest over the mountain it begins to illuminate the sandstone and foliage in a multitude of ways.  I started on the west side of the park and headed east hoping to catch different angles of the sun coming over the ridge.  I took a few good shots until I came to this ridge that instantly stopped me in my tracks.  The sun was bouncing off the sandstone in captivating ways just before it got too harsh to capture. 

Colorado National Monument, CO

Thomas Dambo builds wooden trolls all over the world with his team using recycled products to inspire people to be mindful of overconsumption through his artwork.  Isak Heartstone was built in Breckenridge in 2018 but faced controversy due to the volume of people it brought to the neighborhood he was built in.  He was dismantled in 2019 and brought back to life in another, less populated area of town in which I had to seek him out to take this shot.  Isak has a special place in the Colorado wilderness and brings joy and awareness to the beauty of recycled products to all that visit him.  A special thanks to Thomas Dambo for the use of his beautiful sculpture, more information about his trolls can be found on ThomasDambo.com.

Breckenridge, CO

My buddy and I met through photography a while back and we finally decided to meet and go shoot together.  We were on the trek up to Lone Eagle Peak when he kept stopping to take photos of the flowers in the fields.  I normally turn and burn on hikes, but he started showing me some of the macro shots he was taking, and he got me interested in them.  I slowed down long enough to take some shots of the rain drops on the flowers and this one struck me instantly.  I never took the time to slow down and appreciate the beauty of life up close, but this shot instantly captivated me. As the saying goes, don’t forget to stop and smell the roses, or put another way, don’t forget to stop and look at the raindrops on flowers.

Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO

During the summer of 2020 we joined a group at The Lockwood Foundation to help a beautiful human named Zara climb her first 14,000-foot peak which happened to be Mount Elbert, the highest in the state of Colorado. Being a paraplegic that suffers from Cerebral Palsy, she needed help getting to the top of the mountain in her modified wheelchair made specifically for this endeavor. There were about 70 of us and the night before we made it to basecamp just below treeline. When my buddy set up his tent I looked over and saw it aligned perfectly with the milky way so I took this shot to commemorate the experience and capture what it is like to camp under the lights of a Colorado summer.

Mount Elbert, CO

If there is one thing Colorado is known for it is the beautiful sunsets, we are fortunate enough to see year-round.  I have become pretty good at spotting these early on, so on the way back from the mountains I stopped at one of my favorite spots in Denver to catch the sunset:  Sloans Lake.  The leaves of fall were starting to fall off trees and the early snow was hugging against the rocks on the shoreline of the lake.  The ice was starting to form, slowly turning water into its solid state while the liquid reached the shores, allowing the clouds to reflect the beauty of the sky down below.  The sky offered up its typical vibrant blues and purples that contrasted perfectly with the orange and yellow hues brushing against the Rocky Mountains.   

Denver, CO

The hike to Sky Pond is never an easy one, let alone in the winter.  There is a trail that cuts through the ridge that only exists in the winter because it is a waterfall in the summer.  The trail is exhausting to snowshoe and a little past halfway up the climb to Loch Vale lies a rock in the middle of the path, which is a great reminder that you are almost there.  I stopped to catch a breather on this beautiful morning, stopped, looked up, and saw the beauty of this scene.  The light reflecting off the clouds, rocks, and snow lent wonderfully to this winter scene and reminded me of the beauty that awaited me right beyond my line of sight over the ridge.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Before I started photography, I was usually only concerned with getting to the destination of my hike and not thinking about the journey of getting there.  After I got to Diamond Lake, I hiked around a bit and headed back to the car.  Along the way I noticed wildflowers in the fields where I was hiking out from.  I got down low and took one of my first pictures of wildflowers.  I loved getting up close and seeing the magnitude of difference between the wildflowers in the foreground and trees and mountains of the background.  This is one of the experiences that opened my eyes to the possibilities of photography and capturing different elements of nature.  

Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO

When we were hiking into Rocky Mountain, I noticed a beautiful river as we made our way up the hill.  I didn’t think anything of it until we were headed back down from the hike.  The beautiful Alpenglow was starting to permeate its way through the trees and illuminated the forest in wonderful cotton candy skies.  We rushed back to the river we had crossed only hours before to capture the colorful sky against the translucent flow of the river.  The two combined to make another serene Colorado sunset.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

I had never been to Aspen for the fall until 2019.  The colors of all the Aspens changing around us throughout the forest made it very hard to focus on any one aspect of all the beauty surrounding us.  As we continued through the woods we came to an area of the trail where the leaves started to scatter on the forest floor.  The peaks could be seen in the distance with the lights and shadows dancing on them.  The yellow leaves lead us to the lake we were hiking to just beyond the forest and helped captivate us to continue down the yellow leaf road.

Aspen-Snowmass Wilderness, CO

When I was in graduate school in California, my dad’s friend Butch would take us all over the Sierra Nevada’s to hike. These were formative hikes for me as he lived his life in a way that I aspired to. He traveled, experienced the world and different cultures, and had an infectious personality that everyone gravitated towards. Unfortunately, Butch lost his battle with cancer just prior to this photo. I went hiking in Boulder the day he passed in his honor and I decided to come back up to the same ridge I visited that day. I was having a hard time conceptualizing life, death, meaning, and living a purposeful life until this moment. Butch helped me in many ways in the wilderness and life, not the least of which being that we should live life to the fullest every single day because tomorrow is not promised.

Boulder, CO

Lone Eagle Peak is one of the most recognizable and distinctive peaks in Colorado.  The 15-mile round trip journey can be daunting for any day hiker, but it is one that is completely worth the trip.  The skies always fluctuate but we were fortunate to get clear ones on this day which helped reveal the trees and rocks contained in Mirror Lake below. 

Indian Peaks Wilderness, CO

One of my first hikes in my life was to Ypsilon Lake with my Uncle Mike in 2004.  He instilled a love and passion for the outdoors for me that helped carry me through my dark days with depression.  After he lost his battle with cancer in 2017, I started doing a hike every year in his honor, which was Ypsilon Lake last year.  On the way to the lake, we found a small pond that had perfectly still water and reflected everything around it wonderfully.  I always feel his presence with me in the mountains but on this day I did more than ever.  An enormous piece of myself and my nature photography is and always be an extension of my Uncle Mike and the love for the outdoors he gave me.     

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Fall is a beautiful time in Colorado.  The air starts to develop a crisp character that has just enough cold to give you chills.  The leaves and grass start to change from green to yellow and orange depending on the foliage in the area.  I took this shot as the rise of fall was in full swing at the red rocks.  The Red hue of the rocks is a beautiful contradiction to the greens and yellows below and the blues above in the sky.

Littleton, CO

I went hiking for the first time in over a month after battling a bout with pneumonia. I was struggling to make it to Black Lake which was a ten-mile round-trip snowshoe up to 10,500 feet. As I was coming along one of the final ridges to get to the lake, I looked up and finally saw the beauty that was right in front of me. I stopped and captured this moment as a reminder of the beauty of struggle, perseverance, and ultimately achieving goals that have been set.

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO