Here are the last of the Colorado photos I will be posting. They were taken at different times during my great vacation in Colorado this July. Scroll down through the next five posts to see all of the images I have chosen to display and read about some of the photographic highlights. (To get back to the beginning click at the top on ‘Denise Bush’s Photo Blog’.) Comments at the end of the pictures in each post welcome!
On my last day I set out to Crested Butte for a shoot on my own. It was drizzling a bit but I was optimistic that it would be perfect by the time I reached my spot. The sky was dark when I arrived and when the sun finally did appear, it was high enough in the sky that the scenes already seemed too harsh. I went to a spot where the wildflowers grow among the aspen trees and shot but in looking at my results think it was just too contrasty.
I was concentrating more on scenery but when I found a rare, pink lupine in the shade, I attached my macro lens and captured the detail in the flower as well as some lingering rain drops. On the way back to Gunnison I stopped to take a picture of a log barn I had been eying all week.
Later that day we enjoyed a scenic drive to Altmont and dined in Crested Butte. There was a terrible thunder storm, with huge lightning bolts and hail that accumulated in piles like snow. It lasted about 20 minutes then the sun came out again. On the way back to the Mesa RV Resort there was a beautiful, full rainbow with a faint double rainbow. The lens I had with me only went to 28mm wide and I could not fit the whole rainbow in the frame.
Once back in Gunnison, my sister Gaile and I decided to run down to Blue Mesa Lake for sunset. To the west it was uneventful with barely any color in the sky. The sky look somewhat interesting to the north so I decided it might be worth battling a few mosquitos for the shots below.
One afternoon we took a drive to Lake City, another quaint western town with shops and ice cream! We strolled along the main drag soaking in the ambiance. I stopped to take a few shots in a cool community wildflower garden. Lake City has a very small population that grows an incredible percentage in the summer. Fishing, rafting and horseback riding are popular activities of vacationers. On the way back we searched for wildlife and spotted several Mule Deer. At one spot there were 5 males laying down in a field and all we could see at first were their antlers sticking up out of the tall grass.
One afternoon my sister, Gaile, my Dad and I drove in the opposite direction of Crested Butte, past Blue Mesa Lake to the Black Canyon and then on to ‘The Swiss Alps of the US’, Ouray. The Black Canyon brought back memories of a trip my husband (then boyfriend) and I took a trip out west after college graduation. We hiked down to the bottom of the canyon through one of crevices you see pictured below. It was scary and the water was cold when we finally got there. This time we didn’t stay long since my Dad wanted to get to Ouray and back before dinner. The trip to the high elevation of Ouray took us on some very high, winding roads … with no guard rails! It was a larger small town surrounded by tall mountains. In the winter they can only get out going south on the road.
Here are a few of the many photos shot near Crested Butte. The area is especially green this year because of the unusual amount of rain they have been getting. On the morning of the 10th my sister, Sandy and I got up extra early to meet Allan Ivy, owner of the Mesa RV Resort and photographer extraordinaire. A woman named Rodine who has a permanent vacation place at the resort came too. We went to Gothic Mountain and watched the sun slowly bath the scene in warm light. I ran into Joe Rossbach there which was only a semi-surprise since we had discussed our trips with one another beforehand. After the mountain was fully bathed in sunlight Allan, Rodine, Sandy and I ventured down the mountain, stopping to take some shots of wildflower hills and the winding Gunnison River. From there we went into the town of Crested Butte and walked around for a street shoot. (I will show a couple of those in an upcoming post.)
A favorite stopping spot became a horseback riding stable where my sisters and Dad went for a trail ride. I didn’t go because of my allergies to horses but visited from afar 3 times to shoot them being rounded up, grazing or on a trail ride.
I spent my summer vacation in Colorado! (From July 7th – 13th.) I met my sister, Gaile at the airport and we rented a car and drove to Gunnison where we would be staying in a cabin at the Mesa RV Resort. There we met up with my folks who were staying in their big RV along with my sister Sandy. It was a great mix of time spent with my family and camera.
Our first day out the girls drove to Crested Butte, about an hour away. Crested Butte is the Wildflower Capitol of the US and host to the Wildflower Festival held July 6th – 12th. (We timed it just right!) It’s a quaint western town with shops, restaurants, attractive little houses and lots of wildflowers. I liked the way the western facades looked against the backdrop of Crested Butte Mountain.
Stay tuned! Scenic photos and more about the trip to come!
Denise Bush's Photo Blog 