September Splendor

08Oct16

Autumn comes and goes early in the mountains so I got right to it upon the first signs. There’s a lot of talk each fall about ‘peak’ color and I’ve come to the conclusion it’s difficult to pinpoint. There may be aspen groves of green, peak color and bare branches all in the same area. I do enjoy fall colors when there is still some green in the palette and that’s how September starts. The weather can be unpredictable here and later in the month snow came to the high elevations … creating snow-capped peaks and adding more beauty to the landscape. The nights are getting colder and as I write this we’ve had some windy days and a snow that reached the lower elevations. Fall color was too short this year but there are still some October images to come. Presented here are some September favorites.

‘Aspen Grove View’ © Denise Bush

‘River Along Autumn Ridge © Denise Bush

‘Grand Mesa View’ © Denise Bush
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‘Skyway View’ © Denise Bush
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‘Autumn On The Mesa’ © Denise Bush
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‘Autumn Palette’ © Denise Bush

‘Solid Gold’ © Denise Bush

‘Red Aspen’ © Denise Bush

‘The Road To Telluride’ © Denise Bush

‘Backlit Aspen Trail’ © Denise Bush
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‘Fall Highlights’ © Denise Bush

‘Sneffels In September’ © Denise Bush
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‘Study In Contrast, Mears Peak’ © Denise Bush

‘Turret Ridge In Autumn’ © Denise Bush

'September Snow At Chimney Rock' © Denise Bush

Filed under: Colorado, Landscape Photography | 51 Comments
Tags: aspen, autumn, Colorado, landscape, Ouray County, photograph, prints, ridgway, San Juan Mountains, Telluride

51 Responses to “September Splendor”

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1 rutakintome on October 8, 2016 said:

Just.Absolutely.Stunning. You are in such an amazing part of the world and you capture it beautifully!

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- 2 denisebushphoto on October 8, 2016 said:
  
  Oh geee … you are too kind. Thanks very much!
  
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3 Pat Worley on October 8, 2016 said:

Beautiful! I think my favorite is the “Backlit Aspen” I can’t wait to come visit!

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- 4 denisebushphoto on October 8, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks Pat. I think you will like it here! We will have to revisit what we talked about.
  
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5 crea2010 on October 8, 2016 said:

Awesome!

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- 6 denisebushphoto on October 8, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks for the visit … and thumbs up! 🙂
  
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7 eajackson on October 8, 2016 said:

September Snow at Chimney Rock gets my vote. Close second would have to be the Backlit Aspen Trail. Great shadows. The entire collection is outstanding.

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- 8 denisebushphoto on October 8, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks Buck! Debbie and I headed up to Chimney Rock after the snow. You know how far it is … the conditions made it a little sketchy.
  
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9 Eliza Waters on October 8, 2016 said:

Wow, Denise, you’ve outdone yourself again! These are stunning. Some look like paintings, Impressionist and pointillist. ‘Autumn on the Mesa’ and ‘Aspen Grove View’ are my favorites. Have a great weekend!

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- 10 denisebushphoto on October 9, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks Eliza. Thanks for letting me know your favorites. I am unsure how I feel about any of them! Too close I guess!
  
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  - 11 Eliza Waters on October 9, 2016 said:
    
    It’s hard to be objective about your own work – one is definitely too close!
12 lemonchronicle on October 8, 2016 said:

Beautiful, love the Autumn colors!

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- 13 denisebushphoto on October 9, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks very much for your visit and comment. Fall is my favorite time of year and I only wish it lasted longer.
  
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14 Joe perno on October 9, 2016 said:

My favorite is definitely Chimney Rock. A lot to choose from in this collection. They are all amazing, but for me it just stands out from the rest.

Great job Denise

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- 15 denisebushphoto on October 9, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks Joe. I always appreciate hearing from you. My friend and I went up to Chimney Rock right after a snow. It was concealed by clouds when we got there and when they lifted we saw that scene … it lasted about 5 seconds!
  
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16 Deb on October 9, 2016 said:

Beautiful Denise and some great memories!
Fall is absolutely magical!

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- 17 denisebushphoto on October 9, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks Deb … I so enjoyed sharing many of these locations with you and am looking forward to seeing your images. Great ‘ALPS’ memories indeed!
  
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18 JOAQUIN WHIT PHOTOGRAPHY on October 9, 2016 said:

Really nice job capturing fall in Colorado! Lucky you and thanks for sharing!

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- 19 denisebushphoto on October 9, 2016 said:
  
  Thank you! I do feel lucky to live here … especially in the Fall … maybe not so much in April when it is still snowing. If only Fall was longer and Winter shorter!
  
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20 Ken Curtis on October 9, 2016 said:

Wonderful images, Denise. Ya done real good! I just got back from Utah and there was still lots of color during the first week of October.

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- 21 denisebushphoto on October 9, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks Ken. I saw on FB that you were in Utah and am looking forward to seeing what you captured! I am going back to Moab for 4 days later this month.
  
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22 Isabel F. Bernaldo de Quirós on October 9, 2016 said:

Your photos are wonderful, all landscapes are very, very beautiful. Congratulations!

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- 23 denisebushphoto on October 9, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks very much once again!!!
  
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24 Angela Moyer on October 9, 2016 said:

Beautiful Denise!

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- 25 denisebushphoto on October 9, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks Angie. I tried to get out as much as possible!
  
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26 Mary on October 10, 2016 said:

Gorgeous, love this time of year – your photographs are perfect.

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- 27 denisebushphoto on October 10, 2016 said:
  
  Thank you Mary … found a little more color out there today!
  
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28 kyle on October 10, 2016 said:

These are beautiful! Amazing captures!

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- 29 denisebushphoto on October 12, 2016 said:
  
  Thank you for the visit & comment Kyle!
  
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30 Ted Harper on October 11, 2016 said:

You did it again.Beautiful photo’s. They make you feel as though your right there looking at all the wonder of nature. Well done.

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- 31 denisebushphoto on October 12, 2016 said:
  
  Hey Ted! Great to hear from you … Thank you!
  
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32 Inger on October 16, 2016 said:

What a gorgeous photo series, I just love the fall foliage! And with the snow covered mountains in the back it is even more beautiful giving more depth into the photos. What a magnificent scenery:)

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- 33 denisebushphoto on October 16, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks so much. I have more coming from October … just need time to process!
  
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  - 34 Inger on October 16, 2016 said:
    
    I know that feeling – sometimes it takes more time organising and processing than actually taking the photos:) Looking forward to them!
35 rangewriter on October 16, 2016 said:

These are all so beautiful that I can’t pick a fav. You are right about “peak” color. It seems that the color often comes in waves and arrives at different places at different times. There are so many micro climates and micro environments in the mountains that the changes vary greatly.

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- 36 denisebushphoto on October 16, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks for the visit & comment Linda. I think it was a beautiful fall. We still have a bit of color … especially in the cottonwoods.
  
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37 FablesandCoffee on October 23, 2016 said:

Lovely series! I’m bit gutted that I missed these colors on my most recent trip through CO, but these motivate me to make another visit next year 🙂

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- 38 denisebushphoto on October 23, 2016 said:
  
  Thank you! I hope the colors are as good next year as they were this year!
  
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39 Bill Florin on October 23, 2016 said:

You do beautiful work.

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- 40 denisebushphoto on October 24, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks so much Bill … I appreciate the visit and nice comment. I will have more fall images from Colorado posted soon!
  
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41 Rich Lewis on October 25, 2016 said:

What an amazing set of photographs. From the peaceful to the dramatic. All of them created with compositions that invite you in to wander around and get lost in them. Remind me to bring a compass when I visit here.

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- 42 denisebushphoto on October 29, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks very much Rich! Yes, bring your compass … people get lost here all the time!
  
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43 circadianreflections on October 25, 2016 said:

Oh my gosh the images are all so beautiful! I especially liked your cloud capped mountain peak images.

We didn’t get many red aspens this year. I don’t think it got cold enough before the wind and rain came along and hurried the season along this year.
Thanks for sharing your images! They’re lovely!

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- 44 denisebushphoto on October 29, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks Deborah! It was a short season but very beautiful. There were lot of orange and orange-red aspens near Silverton this year. I’ll have images from October posted very soon.
  
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  - 45 circadianreflections on October 30, 2016 said:
    
    Looking forward to seeing your Oct. images. Fall was short here too.
    
    It’s pouring today and has been rainy, and drizzly for a few days. The Almanac predicted a long cold winter…it may be right!
  - 46 denisebushphoto on October 30, 2016 said:
    
    I posted my October images yesterday (‘So Long October’) … if you click on the Denise Bush’s Photo Blog at the top it will bring you back to the latest.
    
    Last year we had record snow here so I am hoping for a little bit of a break, even though I do like the snow.
47 bayphotosbydonna on November 4, 2016 said:

Stunningly beautiful!

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- 48 denisebushphoto on November 4, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks for the visit and comment! 😀
  
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49 kjrenner on November 13, 2016 said:

Absolutely beautiful! Impossible to pick a favorite!

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- 50 denisebushphoto on November 13, 2016 said:
  
  Thanks very much Karen. I appreciate the visit and nice comment!
  
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51 thentherestwo.com on March 2, 2017 said:

Simply Gorgeous!

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