Rocky Mountain Landscape Photos Day 2

Day 2 of my photography getaway started off great. I had this idea for a picture of this wooden moose decoration that was in the cabin I was staying at. I pictured it sitting on the shelves under a lamp giving a small intimate feeling of coziness. I tried really hard to get it in the evening of my first day up, but it just was not happening. The lighting wasn’t right, and I was not happy with any of the images. So, I slept it off and woke up early the next day and spent about an hour setting up the photo just right. This included stuffing blankets behind the blinds to make it seem like nighttime, adding flash and a reflector to get the lighting on the moose just right, and take dozens of photos until I got what I wanted. I had so much fun creating this photo, even though it is nothing crazy, I will forever have the memory of what went into making it!

Next I thought I’d get some interior pictures of the cabin, showing off those cabin vibes and potentially starting my real-estate photography portfolio. I ended up with this great view of the couch and coffee table with all the ski equipment in the background that captured the feeling I was looking for.

Fun fact, a majority of the light you see here came from a flash, not the sun. But I did not stop here. I thought, “what if I add some little wooden animals to the scene?” Then, “oooh what about some other little knick-knacks?” Then, “this scene needs a cup of coffee to really drive home the coziness.” Many more random objects later, I had essentially created my own little I Spy scene.

I spent way too long creating this photo and don’t regret a single second of it! Later, I went on a hike to try and get some cool photos of the mountains at sunset. I hiked up really far and yet, some of the coolest photos I took were not taken anywhere near the top.

I got back to the cabin after the sun was down, so I started a fire. I had this plan to take a product photo of some whiskey from a distillery in the nearby town of Fairplay called Snitching Lady. The picture turned out awesome and they featured it on their social media page! I would love to get some product photography gigs down the road.

The inspiration for the last photos of the day came from staring into the fire for a long time, as one does. I think they speak for themselves.

This trip turned out to be very rewarding. I learned a lot about my own photography style and tips for many different types of photography. I did landscape photography, portrait photography, real-estate photography (kind of) product photography, and macro photography all in one trip! I think the most important lesson I took away from this trip is that I need to keep doing photography for myself. I get paid to take pictures of what other people want me to take pictures of, but sometimes the pictures need to be for myself!

Prints are available of all of the photos shown here (plus more from the trip). Feel free to reach out for more info, I’d love to hear from you!