Morning photo: Colorado wildflowers

Summit County abloom with color

Colorado wildflowers Clematis peudoalpina

Clematis pseudoalpina, Rocky Mountain clematis along the Tenderfoot Trail.

FRISCO —For the past few days I’ve been posting landscape-level views of the incredible wildflower display that’s under way at the lower elevations of Summit County, so I thought it would be fun to zoom in a little bit and show some of these characters closeup. I found more than few beauties, some right out in the open along the trail, and others a bit more reclusive in small pockets of good habitat. Get out and enjoy the show while you can, because they aren’t going to last forever! (more…)

Morning photo: Gore Range glow

A little trek in the Lower Blue

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Alpenglow.

FRISCO —Made it back down to the Lower Blue Saturday evening to check the light at the other end of the day after shooting some sunrise shots about a week ago. A partial overcast partially foiled my plan to get the last rays of light illuminating the flowers, but I still had fun working with a 300 mm telephoto to shot some Gore Range peak portraits, and with the iPhone to try and coax some additional color from the scene. Check out our FineArt America gallery for more Summit County landscape. (more…)

Morning photo: Morning light

The earlybird …

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And if your way should falter
Along this stony pass
It’s just a moment
This time will pass
~ U2, Stuck in a Moment

FRISCO —You have to get up pretty early to catch the sunrise these days. This set was all taken around 6 a.m. in the Lower Blue, so I left the house at about 5:30 to catch those first rays, but it was definitely worth it. I’m not sure how the high elevation flowers will be this year, but if the spring season is any indication, it should be an amazing summer for wildflowers, something we barely dreamed was possible just a few weeks ago. (more…)

Morning photo: Waves

Seashore thrills …

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A gentle Gulf of Mexico breaker rolls ashore under a setting sun.

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Living in the small side-house to the barn-like fog signal building at Pt. Montara, California gave me a deep appreciation of ocean waves.

FRISCO — In the early 1980s I lived at the Pt. Montara Lighthouse, about 20 miles south of San Francisco. While we renovated the Victorian lighthouse keeper’s quarters, I stayed in the watchroom of the fog signal building, just 10 yards from the edge of a bluff overlooking a rocky headland that juts far into the Pacific. As it turned out, the first winter I lived there was a big El Niño year. Endless storms crashed ashore from November through May, coating my oceanfront window with salt spray and, at times, making the cliffs shake. It’s hard to describe the size and scope of these breakers, but if you’ve seen the movie “Chasing Mavericks,” it’ll give you an idea of the 30- to 40-foot walls of water that were commonplace that year. I already was a big fan of waves before that, but the experience gave me a whole new appreciation for the power of the sea. I don’t have any digital images of that winter, but I probably do have some old slides tucked away in a shoebox. I was tempted to try and find them, but I’ll save that for another time. (more…)

Morning photo: Eyecandy III

Technicolor …

Alpenglow on Guyot and Baldy.

Alpenglow on Guyot and Baldy.

FRISCO —Every now and then I get to post a short set of images that don’t really need a lot of verbiage …

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Gore Range, morning light.

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Morning photo: Flower power!

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Some early morning iPhone wildflower magic along the Ptarmigan Trail in Summit County.

FRISCO — Plentiful moisture in April and May has spurred a bumper crop of early season wildflowers in Summit County, especially in the often-dry shale slopes along the foothills of the Gore and Williams Fork ranges. These areas are very dependent on seasonal moisture — last year, after a record-early spring melt, there was hardly a flower to be found, but the arrowleaf balsamroot and lupines are certainly making up for lost time this spring! These are all iPhone shots. (more…)

Morning photo: Mountain meadows

A trip down the Lower Blue …

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Lupines and arrowleaf balsamroot in the Williams Fork Range.

FRISCO — An early morning hike into the foothills of the Williams Fork Range, north of Silverthorne yielded a few decent photos in challenging, high-contrast light conditions. I also struggle a bit with composition as I grappled with the wide-open landscape. While colors are stunning, I often found myself looking at the viewfinder and seeing a lot of dead space in the center of the image. Without a defined subject, I looked for strong lines, formed either by the shape of the land or by the pattern of early morning light and shadows. I’m also struggling a bit with focus in some scenes, trying to get a really sharp focus, so I just pulled a fixed focal length lens out of an old camera bag to try it out on some wildflower scenes the next few days (more…)

Morning photo: Amazing day

Sunrise to sunset …

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Buffalo Mountain reflected in a pond along the edge of Dillon Reservoir.

FRISCO — It started out like a normal Saturday, with an early morning dog walk along Dillon Reservoir, where I watched water flowing in reverse, filling small tributaries, as the rising water level trickled into long-dry crevices along the shore. I really recommend taking a walk out to one of the shallow areas because it’s really quite fascinating to watch the water come up. A little later, after dropping the kids on the Silverthorne side, I noticed the splashes of yellow on the bluffs above the Blue River, realizing all of a sudden that it is peak wildflower season on some of the sunnier lower-elevation slopes. So I made a mid-day trip down to Boulder Creek — not the best light to shoot flowers and mountains, but I gave it my best and scouted out some spots for early Sunday morning. And in the evening, yet another unforgettable sunset over the Gore Range … If you like these snapshots, be sure to visit our online FineArt America gallery with a great selection of Summit County landscapes. (more…)

Morning photo: Full-on spring!

High country comes alive

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An iPhone panorama shot from the Tenderfoot Trail.

FRISCO — The high country is coming alive with the sights and sounds of spring, including a sustained runoff that’s music to my ears. Even smaller creeks like North Tenmile are raging and in the shallower parts of Dillon Resevoir, especially on the west side, near Frisco, you can visibly watch as water trickles back into the dimples and pools that were drained dry last year. On the surrounding hillsides, the wildflowers are really starting to pop, with big cushions of pink and white phlox already in full bloom and purple lupines just starting to show. Get out and enjoy this weekend! (more…)

Morning photo: Glass!

Now you see it …

The glass-covered Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

The glass roof of the Kogod Courtyard at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. casts pleasing shadows on afternoon museum visitors.

FRISCO —It took me just a little longer than normal to scrounge up a set of pics for this week’s #FriFotos Twitter chat. The Summit Voice photo archives are extensive, but so many of the images are nature-themed that I had to dig deep. In the end, I came up with a nice set that highlights glass at its best, in architecture, especially, to bring natural light to public spaces like galleries, airports and train station — or to hold a few ounces of a tasty brew.

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