Rocky Mountain Landscape Photography Day 1

Ever since I started down the photography path, I’ve wanted to see my work printed up big on the wall. Most of the photography work I have been doing lately portrait photography of other people and not quite what I had in mind to put on canvas. That I why I decided to take a trip up to the mountains for a few days with the sole purpose of taking amazing photos to be printed. While I was able to snap some great shots, the trip turned out to be much more than that. Licensing and digital prints of photos taken on this trip are available!

Photography is often done as a passion or a hobby, when it is your job, it is important to find ways to maintain your love for it and not let it become just another job that you hate. Taking a trip somewhere beautiful with no expectations and a bag full of camera gear is the best way to remind yourself of why you love taking photos.

I went up and stayed in a small cabin just outside of the mountain town Alma, CO for a week with the goal of taking some amazing landscape photos just as the Rocky Mountains were transitioning from fall to winter. I made no concrete plans for where I would go and what I would take pictures of beforehand which is the most important part. I wanted to just let the day unfold and go wherever felt right at the time.

My first day I stopped many times along I-70 on my drive into the mountains. It is hard not to pull over at every exit to take a quick photo as you pass one gorgeous snow-capped peak after another. At the top of Loveland Pass near A Basin, I stopped and hiked all the way to the tallest point. Part way up and took a picture looking down at both Keystone and Breckenridge Ski resorts.

This picture taught me the beauty of using a wide-angle lens then cropping into a wide aspect ratio. It allows you capture all of the landscape you want without including too much of the sky or foreground. I continued up and was able to get a good look at a portion of US Highway 6. Colorado roads have no sympathy for bad drivers, this road can be dangerous in a snowstorm.

I got up to the cabin to unpack my things and was already excited about the trip so far. I had gotten some great photos on the drive up! My next stop was an old, abandoned stamping mill that I knew and loved. I though that place would make for some great pictures, but in keeping with the theme of the trip I instead came across an absolutely beautiful view of Mt. Lincoln overlooking the Montgomery reservoir and ended up spending most of my time there. I stayed open to my plans changing and it resulted in some of the best pictures I got on the whole trip! It also was some of the most fun I have had taking pictures!

Photography can be a job, but don’t forget about why you love taking photos and always keep taking photos for yourself! Photos I took on this trip are available for licensing and purchase as prints.