Colorado in October

I am so very behind on sharing things here. My old computer was struggling to edit photographs and share them as well. It was a pain to do and so I just avoided it. But, I recently purchased a beautiful new laptop, one that is powerful and fast, and so I am getting back on track with all my images finally.

In October, Scott and I went to Colorado to hear one of our climbing idols speak. We also made some time for climbing and camping in the mountains. It was a quick trip, but we had wonderful weather and were able to see some beautiful things.

Our first day was spent climbing in the Clear Creak Canyon, near Golden, Colorado. It was a stunning area, maybe even one of my favorites that we have climbed in. That night we camped in Guanella Pass, which is just past Georgetown, Colorado. We were the only ones camping out there (that we saw), and were able to find a stunningly beautiful and quite campsite in the subalpine forest. Our campsite was around 11,000 feet in elevation, which I felt the effects of when we woke up the next morning. There was snow on the ground, and the creek near by had lots of ice formed over it. It was a cold night for camping, but one of the most memorable ones for me.

 

The next day we woke up and tried to keep warm with tea and eggs and sausage. We had plans to try to hike Mt. Bierstadt (a 14,000 foot peak just up the pass) but when we woke up I was feeling the effects of the elevation (loss of appetite, headache), and we decided we just didn’t have the time or the provisions to do so. We ended up driving to the parking lot for the trail to the peak and explored some of the shorter trails from the same parking lot. After taking some photographs we went back to pack up our campsite, and I wandered around shooting some more in the frosty, late-morning light.

Scott, excited about being in the alpine air. Mt. Bierstadt is behind him.

Scott grabbed this one of me; I think it sums up my personality pretty well 🙂

The double exposure series of my feet continues.

Katie + Luke

Over Thanksgiving break (which was ages ago, I know) I was lucky enough to be able to get together with Luke and Katie to shoot their engagement photographs. I have been friends with Luke and Katie since 10th grade or so, and they have been dating for just about as long. These two are some of my favorite people, and so I was ecstatic when they asked if I would photograph them. We decided that our hometown of Stillwater, Minnesota would be the best location for our shoot, since it was where we did our growing up and where their relationship got its start. They are two of the most laid-back, easy-going people I know, and were complete naturals in front of the camera. I rarely had to direct them, and we spent the entire session laughing despite the bitter cold of the evening. We ended the session in a local coffee shop to warm up and thaw our fingers, though at that point we were mostly just catching up and laughing about the old days.

So, without further ado, meet the wonderful Luke and Katie!

365/366

*Friday, February 1
Friday I went to meet up with a fellow photographer and friend of a friend, Michael Strickland (be sure to check out his work, it is extraordinary), to explore around Lawrence a bit. I had never been there before, so he was kind enough to show me around a bit, and we did some location scouting for a self-portrait of mine. The sunset ended up being amazing, though we had to kind of rush to find a somewhat decent spot to shoot from.

More to come from our adventure in the next few days probably.

And I may edit this some more still, but I just wanted to get it posted.

342/366 – Railroad Ties

I drive past this stack of railroad ties almost daily and have wanted to photograph them since I got home before Christmas. Since I don’t have many more days in Minnesota I knew I needed to get out there soon, and the snow this morning was just the push I needed.

316/366 – Frost

*Friday, November 30

144/366 – Tea and Flowers

Hot tea and pretty flowers on a cool, nasty day.

66/366 – congested

I’m still feeling quite sick. I hadn’t emptied my trash for a few days and noticed the pile of kleenex in it and immediately had this image pop into my head.

19/366 – Frost

19/366 – Frost
Today was a horrible, horrible day. I was supposed to have a meeting for the first potential job opportunity I have had since I started looking, but my car wouldn’t start this morning because of the cold (30 below with the wind) so I had to call and cancel. Things just keep piling up and it is getting harder to stay positive these days.

One of the bright spots of my day despite everything: The stunning golden light this morning while I was getting ready. I’m glad I notice it before I discovered my car.

17/366 – Winter Experiments

This is what happens when you pour boiling water in 10 degrees (-6 with the wind). I had planned this little experiment a week or so ago when it was even colder, but ended up not having time. I was expecting the glass to crack, and so thought I would get one, quick shot at it. I was pleasantly surprised by the results I must say. No cracked glass, and the steam coming off each individual drop was awesome to me.

Shattered

I had the itch for a self-portrait for quite a few weeks, and finally had a chance yesterday to do one that I had sketched out a while ago.

For the most part it turned out how I had wanted it to. I do wish that there was more glass on my face, but it just kept sliding off. I plan on doing a sequel of sorts, and have figured out a way that should get the glass to stick, so hopefully I can get to that in the near future.

I am really drawn to the one with the eyes closed, but have heard from many that the prefer the opposite. So I am curious to hear, which one do you here on my blog prefer? I would love to hear some feedback!