Summer Vibes

A perfect sunrise at Bierdstadt Lake is just about the best way you can start your day in Rocky Mountain National Park. After a snowy winter and spring, Rocky is quickly thawing out and summer conditions are rapidly approaching. I’ve photographed many spectacular sunrises at Bierdstadt Lake in my 22 years of photographing the park, but this one from last week was one of the best. Technical Details: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 24-70mm F 2.8 S lens

It’s June in Rocky Mountain National Park and that means the arrival of summer is right on our doorstep. Trail Ridge Road is now open for the season and the much needed snow that we were blessed with its starting to melt quickly in the higher elevations of RMNP. Best of all the lakes and streams with the exception of only the highest are thawing out and open.

It’s hard to find a better subject to photograph than snow covered mountains reflecting on the calm surface of a pristine mountain lake. When I take clients out in the field, this is what they request and hope to photograph more than any other subject in the park. Of course for this to work you need a few factors to work in your favor.

First you need there to be little to no wind. That in itself can be a difficult task in Rocky Mountain National Park. Secondly, you need some nice light at sunrise or sunset. This is probably the most consistent variable in RMNP as we get lots of clear and sunny days. Lastly, you need some clouds. Not only do the clouds add interest to the landscape and add dimensionality, they often add color.

With June now here, landscapes of mountain reflecting in water are once again back on the table in Rocky Mountain National Park. Last week, I made the short hike up to Bierstadt Lake for sunrise. Bierstadt Lake had one of my favorite views of the continental divide in all of Rocky Mountain National Park. Its just a spectacular location to photograph a sunrise.

When all three variables come together, you have what I call the Rocky trifecta. Well the Rocky trifecta work out just right for me on this particular morning last week. The wind was calm at Bierdstadt, clouds hung over Otis, Hallett, Flattop and Notchtop and the lighting was otherworldly. Even the Mallards that hang out at Bierdstadt and have a propensity for swimming around in your reflection and foreground right at sunrise only made a few appearances before heading off to the other side of the lake.

Overall, I cant think of a much better way to start a morning in Rocky Mountain National Park than this particular one at Bierdstadt last week. I’ve photographed many sunrise at Bierdstadt Lake over the past 22 years, but this ranks up there as one of the best. While this sunrise was awesome, I’m eagerly looking forward to many more spectacular ones this season as we move into summer.

You Dont See That Everyday

One of the reasons I can never get enough of Rocky Mountain National Park is that every visit to the park is different. Every experience is different and you really never know what your are going to end up photographing and experiencing. I was surprised to find this pod of American White Pelicans resting on the banks of the Big Thompson River in Moraine Park earlier this week. Our latest late season spring snowstorm likely caused these birds to put down in Moraine until the storm passed. While these birds probably did a number on the trout in the Big Thompson, it was awesome photographing them with the backdrop of all our recent fresh snow. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F 2.8 S lens

One of the things I love most about spending so much time in Rocky Mountain National Park is that no matter how many times I visit, I always see, find or experience something completely new. It’s why my mantra has always been you just have to be out in the park as much as you can be as a photographer. No matter what you think you may see, or how you believe the conditions or atmospherics will unfold, you will likely be off the mark.

Being wrong can lead to being pleasantly surprised as long as you just remember to keep pushing, keep heading out even when it looks like things wont break like you want. Earlier in the week I had another experience that just reinforces the need to ‘get out there’.

Winter just wont give up the ghost this season, and earlier in the week the park had snow dumped on it from another late spring barnstormer. While I’m looking forward to warmer days and summertime conditions in RMNP, I cant ever pass up the opportunity to photography Rocky when its covered in the white stuff.

With this latest storm clearing, I headed up to the park hoping to catch something good. I had another photographer friend in town who wanted to get out to shoot, and to be honest if he had not been in town I may have passed on heading out this particular morning as it looked like the clouds and storm would have cleared out.

When I got into to Rocky and performed my usual due diligence, things did indeed look less than promising. While the trees and landscape were covered with beautiful, paste like spring snow, the skies were pretty much clear. There was some fog around Lake Estes and Lumpy Ridge and I thought that might make for an interesting opportunity, I noticed Moraine Park appeared to have a low hanging layer of ground fog over the Big Thompson River.

My buddy Robert and I decided we would hang in Moraine Park and hopefully the ground fog would stick around and give us some decent atmospherics to photograph with all the fresh snow. As luck would have it, the ground fog did stick around long enough to make for some nice landscapes. Even better, Longs Peak had a string of clouds trailing over the top of it adding a little excitement.

While I thought about passing this particular morning in Rocky as I figured most of the clouds would have cleared the park, having a freind in town persuaded me to head up. I would have been pleased enough capturing this view of Longs Peak from Moraine Park with fresh snow, a few clouds and this beautiful low hanging ground fog over the Big Thompson. Finding the pelicans was just icing on the cake at this point. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F 2.8 S lens
After capturing a nice image of Longs Peak covered in fresh snow with ground fog settling just below the south lateral moraine in Moraine Park, I was feeling pretty good when out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw the snow moving along the banks of the Big Thompson down below me.

Doing a quick double take, I realized that the snow was not indeed moving but that a pod of American White Pelicans had hunkered down along the banks of the Big Thompson to wait out this latest storm before heading east, down towards the plains. While I’ve seen pelicans on Lake Estes and Grand Lake, I cant recall ever seeing them in Rocky proper before.

Getting over the initial excitement of seeing this pod of pelicans in Moraine Park, I was able to get some nice shots of the birds as they started moving around and coming to life. On top of finding the birds, the snow covered landscape and ground fog clearing only made for an even more amazing experience this morning in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Once again, my well worn mantra of ‘just go’ let me experience something new and exciting I had not expected to see and photograph. Who knows if photographing White Pelicans along the banks of the Big Thompson will be the highlight of this spring, but I’ll certainly be spending as much time as I can hoping to have more of just these kind of mornings in RMNP.

This Is May?

One of the best sunrises I’ve photographed from Bierdstadt Lake happened on Tuesday morning. While many people think of May as spring, thats not really the case in the high country of Rocky Mountain National Park. May offers opportunities for the adventurous photographer to capture some great winter landscapes without all the difficulty that one typically finds in the middle of winter. With Bierstadt Lake still frozen over, its hard to beat this sunrise unfolding over Otis, Hallett and Flattop Mountain. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F 2.8 S lens
Most photographers when thinking about May, think of green landscapes, flowering trees and warmer weather. Thats true for many areas of the United States this time of year, but for Rocky Mountain National Park, reality is quite a bit different.

While hints of spring, greening grasses and warming temperatures can be seen starting to emerge in the lower elevations of Rocky Mountain National Park, May in much of RMNP feels an awful lot like March or April.

Tuesday morning was a good example of the reality of spring in Rocky. Heavy wet snow starting falling on Sunday and continued right through Monday in the park. The snow struggled to accumulate at the lower elevations but above 8500 ft it was as much winter in Rocky as it was the middle of spring.

While I’m ready for summer in the high country, these late spring snowstorms in Rocky offer some of the best opportunities for landscape photographers. While access and travel can be tricky this time of year, often these warmer late spring storms end up with a lot of melting, especially on pavement and roads in the park. If it was the middle of winter, Bear Lake Road might be closed after a storm like this, but this time of year there were only a few areas of pavement in Rocky where the snow actually stuck,

The same is also mostly true for cross country travel on trails in Rocky this time of year. The heavier wet snow compacts on the trail and with snowshoes or micro spikes, one can usually get around without the need for skis.

I took the opportunity to head up to Bierstadt Lake this time around and see if I could catch the sunrise over the continental divide as the storm was clearing. While I trudged up the Bierstadt Moraine in 6 to 7 inches of fresh snow, I was hoping some of Bierstadt Lake might be open for a reflection with clouds and fog to boot.

Arriving at the west end of Bierstadt Lake first, my wish for open water was quickly squelched. Even still Bierstadt Lake looked awesome. Heavy wet snow was pasted over the pines lining the lake. Fog was starting to clear just as the sun rose and within a few minutes of arriving at Bierstadt I could make out a hazy Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain.

The fog quickly cleared just as the sun lit the peaks but some great clouds hovered and moved over Otis, Hallett and Flattop. It was just about as perfect a winter morning as there could be. Of course it was actually spring but whose counting.

Regardless, be ready for a few more coating of snow on the higher elevations of Rocky Mountain National Park before we put this winter season to rest. Trail Ridge Road should be opening in only a few short weeks and summer will be here before we know it. Even so, be ready for a few more of these spectacular ‘spring’ mornings in RMNP.

The Snow Just Keeps Falling

The snow just keeps falling and falling this April in Rocky Mountain National Park. Of course this is great for our park that not only needs all the moisture it can get, but to spruce up the landscape for photographers looking to capture some remaining winter scenes in the park. Saturday morning was spectacular as our latest snowstorm moved out of the Colorado Front Range right at sunrise. Here is the view looking east from Many Parks Curve as the clouds lifted and snow moved out past Deer Mountain and Lumpy Ridge. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F 2.8 S lens

Just a quick update here on what is turning out to be a very wintry and snowy month of April in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s seems like we have been getting snow just about every other day this month with more inbound today and tonight.

It continues to be a great time to head up to Rocky to capture some winter imagery and mother nature has been cooperating with both fresh snow and lots of good atmospherics, clouds and fog as these storms move in and out of RMNP.

Saturday morning in the park was another good opportunity as our latest spring snowstorm moved out of the park right as the sun was rising. Estes Park and elevations below 9000 ft were pretty much cloaked in clouds and fog. I did as I almost always do in these cases and tried to get up above the cloud layer before sunrise.

Being in a little less ambitious mode on Saturday morning I headed up to Many Parks Curve hoping I could get high enough to be above the cloud layer. It’s always a gamble and on mornings like this you would love to be able to be in three of four locations all at once.

When I first arrived at Many Parks Curve along Trail Ridge it was still socked in with fog. Having spent years chasing conditions like this I know that these cloud layers and inversions act almost like waves in the ocean. While they often seem still, they are usually moving in and out, up and down slowly. Find a location near the cloud layer and wait and there’s a good chance the clouds will at least open up and clear out long enough for you to capture some dramatic imagery.

Here is a classic view of Rocky Mountain National Park’s tallest mountain as the clouds parted ways and revealed a snow covered Longs Peak mixed in clouds and sun. It’s hard not to walk away with a big smile on your face after spending a morning photographing RMNP in beautiful conditions like those on Saturday morning. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F 2.8 S lens
While waiting for sunrise, I quickly spied the massive hulk of Longs Peak through the clouds. I could also now see the stars above me so I had a good feeling I was right on the edge of the cloud layer.

As sunrise approached, first the Mummy Range revealed itself, than 14,259 ft Longs Peak and finally areas to the east of Rocky Mountain National Park started opening up with Deer Mountain and parts of Lumpy Ridge dipping in and out of the fog as the warm sunlight exposed the snow covered landscape of RMNP.

Mornings like Saturday are some of my favorite. I never know exactly what I’m going to photograph, but harbor excitement the entire time knowing that if things just break right I’m going to have some awesome conditions. Thats exactly what happened this Saturday in Rocky and maybe with a little luck there will be a few more before April turns into May.

Get Your Winter Photography On Now!

April in Rocky Mountain National Park is just about as good as any month to make great winter photographs of the landscapes of Rocky. While many of you are dreaming of summer, Rocky tends to get lots of snow in April making for great opportunities for photographers. This week into next week looks to be very interesting in regards to the weather. Milder conditions, great light, and good access make April a great month in RMNP. I photographed this scene of Otis, Hallett Peak and Flattop Mountain along Glacier Creek yesterday morning after lots of fresh snow fell on the park. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F 2.8 S lens

In many parts of the country right now spring is in full bloom. Grasses are greening up, trees are budding out or already have leaves and freezing temperatures and snow are quickly becoming a distant memory. What does this portend for landscape photographers?. Maybe you want to take a trip out to the desert, find some wildflowers or warm weather. I’d be right there with you but if you want to photograph Rocky Mountain National Park in it’s winter glory, April is just about one of the best months of the year to do it.

After a feast or famine week or so with no new snow, mild weather and really not a whole lot of interesting subjects to photograph in RMNP as we transition between seasons, the weather this week into next week has shifted decidedly wintry. We seem to have put the weather machine in reverse and entered late February or early March based on the current weather in Rocky Mountain National Park but in reality, this is quite normal. April is typically the 2nd or 3rd snowiest month of the year in RMNP so its a good time if one is looking for winter images of Rocky.

It’s hard to believe that Trail Ridge Road is likely to open in another four to six weeks which signals the unofficial start of summer in Rocky Mountain National Park, but judging by this weeks weather it’s hard to picture oneself driving at 12,000 ft on Trail Ridge in just over a month or so.

April not only see’s a lot of snow in Rocky, but its a good month to photograph the landscape covered in fresh powder for a couple of reasons. First off, April tends to be more mild temperature wise than the middle winter months. This makes it more manageable to get out in the elements without feeling like you will loose fingers and toes to the gold. Dont get me wrong, April can be plenty cold, especially at or near timberline but often it is more mild with temperatures moderating much more quickly during the day.

Another great reason to photograph winter landscapes in RMNP in April is that water at the lower elevations of Rocky will begin to thaw out. Below 9500 ft or so one will be able to find open water and moving streams again as the warmer and longer days of April melts it’s icy grip. This was the scene along Fall River in Horseshoe Park on Tuesday morning. Fall River was flowing freely as the snow fell from our latest storm in Rocky. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F 2.8 S lens
Secondly, the high moisture content of the snow in April means that it sticks to just about everything. Like cake batter, the heavy wet snow of April with cover the trees, pine needles and ground making for dramatic and clean looking photographs. High winds, which are common as weather systems exit the park tend to blow the dry and light snow right off the trees and landscape in the middle of winter.

Speaking of wind, this is a third reason why photographing winter landscapes in RMNP is great in April. These springs storm tend to move more slowly and hang over the region for longer periods during the spring months. This means not only larger amounts of snow, but it also means less violent swings in the weather and much calmer winds in between the ebbs and lows of these springs storms.

Water is also starting to flow again come April. Moderating temperatures means that streams and ponds below 9500 ft will start to break free from ice. Small openings may start to form in some of the higher alpine lakes, though I would only really expect this is we have a really warm streak. Even still, waterfalls at lower elevations as well as streams will allow for reflections or strong composition lines in one’s photographs. This is a good time to remind people to be careful around all water this time of year as the ice can be both unstable, and water that is moving is not only frigid, but moving very fast. A simple mistake around water this time of year can be fatal.

One more example of the type of conditions and lighting one can expect to find in Rocky Mountain National Park in April. Here Taylor Peak and the Sharkstooth are in the process of being covered back up with fog from the upslope flow just after sunrise. Keep your telephoto lens handy so you can capture the quickly changing conditions around you in the park. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F 2.8 S lens
Traveling around the park is a little easier as well. Snow tends to melt on the roads during the day and pull offs and parking lots with the exception of monster blizzards tend to be clear and free of snow sooner than the middle of winter when the radiant effect of the sun is not nearly as powerful as it is now.

Lastly, the most important part of all photography is light. The light in Rocky Mountain National Park in April is some of the most conducive to photography on the east side of RMNP as it is all year. As the sun swings farther and farther to the north as we approach the summer solstice the lighting becomes optimal for some of Rocky’s best locations. The northeast facing peaks around Bear Lake and Glacier Gorge are now getting beautiful lighting again. These are popular locations all year, but for photographers, the lighting will be best in the Bear Lake corridor between now and September.

So there is a quick run down of the current status of Rocky Mountain National Park in the middle of April. If you love snow and you love to photograph in winter, April is as good a time as any to come visit Estes Park and RMNP.

March On Out

Hard to believe its already the last day of March and April 1st, baseball opening day will be here with us as soon as tomorrow. March 2021 in Rocky Mountain National Park was a great month. Lots of great opportunities to photograph snowy landscapes like this one I took of Otis Peak, Hallet Peak and Flattop Mountain from across Beaver Mountain and Mount Wuh after a light dusting of new snow. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 S lens

Hard to believe its the last day of March. I never know what to expect this time of year other than to expect there to be some interesting weather. Typically there is a lot of snow in March in Rocky Mountain National Park but last year that was not the case. We also tend to see a few days that are more summer/spring like than winter like. The kind of days that get you excited for the summer season which is quickly nearing.

March 2021 in RMNP will be remembered as a month which was a great improvement from March 2020. For one, we saw a lot more moisture and snow in March 2021 in Rocky than we did in 2020, but also for the fact that Rocky Mountain National Park was closed for much of March 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So overall March 2021 was a pretty good month in Rocky. Lots of moisture, a handful of good snowstorms and some pretty good conditions for landscape photographers to work in. If I have any thing to complain about wrapping up this month, its that the exit timing of many of the March storms was a little off in that sunrise was often obscured or blocked by clouds when the most dramatic light would have occurred.

Looking back up at Thatchtop Mountain, The Sharkstooth and Taylor Peak from Upper Beaver Meadows, the 2nd to last day of March 2021 brought with it some light snow and good atmospherics to photograph the beautiful landscapes of RMNP. I’m hoping April 2021 will have just as many opportunities to photograph the changing landscape of Rocky as we move slow forward to my favorite season of summer in RMNP. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 S lens
On a positive note, many of the March storms saw the clearing occur shortly after sunrise and allowing for decent light, combined with still interesting atmospherics to photograph the snow covered landscape of Rocky Mountain National Park in. As your typical obsessed landscape photographer, I can always find one small issue here and there with the light, timing, amount of snow that I would liked to have seen occur differently but as my wife tells me, I cant get frustrated about things I have not control over.

It was a good month. March 2021 has me exited for April which also typically offers lots of opportunities to photograph more snowy landscapes in what is usually more moderate winter conditions. Some of our first wildflowers should also be sprouting under the base of Ponderosa trees soon (Pasque Flowers). Streams and even some of the lakes may start to see ice off as well in areas where the water is moving. Lots of dynamism to come from RMNP in the next month and as we hurdle towards summer its easy to stay motivated and excited for next visit to Rocky.

March Is Roaring

March this year in Rocky Mountain National Park has really been living up to its expectations as what is typically our wettest month of the year. After a slow start to March, it seems that one weather system after another has moved across the Front Range of Colorado and dumped snow on the region. This has been a boon for winter landscape photography. Earlier this week, I was able to capture Ypsilon Mountain getting some gap light as sunsrise broke in RMNP over snowy landscape. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 S lens

March came in like a gentle lamb but its certainly going out like a roaring lion. After an early start to March in Rocky Mountain National Park that looked a lot like it was going to be a dud of month snow wise, things changed fast. In the words of Ron Burgundy from the movie Anchor Man ‘That escalated quickly’.

Shoveling snow from the driveway may get old, but getting out in the field after a spring snow never does. Photography tour and workshop clients looking for winter images often ask me when the best time to photograph Rocky Mountain National Park is during the winter. My response is the best time for winter photography in Rocky is the spring months of March, April and May with a sprinkling of late September or early October when we usually get one of our first tastes of snowfall.

The unsettled weather patterns of spring, along with milder temperatures makes this time of year one of the best of winter like landscapes of RMNP. With the first week of March being mild, one weather impulse after another has been moving through the park. Seems like every other day or so the weather has been changing and snow has been falling on Rocky.

This our great to help make up for the deficit in moisture and water we have been experiencing since early last summer and its great for kicking the late winter photography doldrums and adding a little spark and excitement to expeditions out in the park.

Its hard not to love the drama and mood that is created this time of year in RMNP as storms move in and out of the mountains. Here 14,259 ft Longs Peak is seen playing peekaboo with the clouds as the sunrise illuminates the Diamond and summit of Longs Peak while the lower portions of Rocky Mountain National Park remain covered in shadow and fog. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 S lens
Not every weather impulse of snowstorms timing over Rocky Mountain National Park makes it ideal for photography, but its always worth taking the chance and making sure you’re in Rocky when the sun rises.

One thing I find about shooting landscapes in RMNP this time of year is that even during some of the strongest winter storms that move through, there are often breaks and pauses in the systems that allow for the sun to make a brief appearance or a dramatic sunrise to break before the snow picks back up again. Inversions and fog also seem to be more commonplace this time of year as well which helps to add to that subtle drama and mystery we all seek in our landscape photography.

As it stands of this writing, the unsettled pattern looks to continue through the end of March which is good news. We are getting close to setting some records for the wettest recorded March on history which is sure saying something considering it is typically the wettest month during the season here in Colorado. Heres to looking forward to another opportunity or two here in March and more of the same as we head into April in RMNP.

Stormed Out!

Well our big March snowstorm in Rocky Mountain National Park has moved on out leaving a heaping of fresh snow in its path. As I was just saying a few blog posts ago, too much snow is a bad thing for landscape photographers. Sometimes a few inches of fresh snow are better than the 2 foot plus of snow RMNP received during this past March blizzard. With so much snow falling, the NPS had to close nearly every road in the park in order to plow and keep visitors safe. The end result of this big storm is that when there was finally enough access to Rocky, it was quite limited. Yesterday was the first morning I was able to get back into the park. Being that it was St. Patricks Day and the mountains were covered in clouds and snow, I used the opportunity to photograph Horseshoe Park. Here the colors of the Irish can be seen with orange willows, white snow and green pines covered in fresh snow from the weekend storm. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 200-500mm F5.6 AF-S VR Lens

Well our big March blizzard came and went and in the process dropped over two feet of fresh snow on Rocky Mountain National Park. With a little less than half the month of March left, its possible that we will certainly have more snow though not quite as likely to have as much as this past storm.

As I just wrote about in the blog a few columns back, big snowstorms aren’t always conducive to landscape photography. I stated in the column that sometimes a few inches of the fresh white stuff is better than feet of snow falling and this latest storm was a case in point.

By the time the storm had cleared out on Monday morning, anywhere between 20 and 30+ inches of snow had fallen on the northern Front Range towns and foothills of Colorado. We had a spectacular sunrise down here in Erie as the Boulder Flatirons were covered in snow and clouds over the peaks turned pink along with the skies as the sun rose over the tundra like landscape.

Of course I was out all ready to photograph the said beautiful sunrise after the historic storm?, nope. Not because I did not want to head out but between shoveling through the four foot drifts on my driveway and the fact that all the side roads and streets had also not been touched by plows along with parking lots there was no way to get out to photograph the sunrise as the storm departed. There was just too much snow, too fast for the plow operators and maintenance people to keep up with. I was snowbound for the morning and had to watch this beautiful sunrise unfold from the confines of my office where I suffered from a serious case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

The same problem was occurring up the hill in Rocky Mountain National Park. While the mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park remained covered in clouds and snow flurries, the National Park Service closed access to Rocky Mountain National Park down on Sunday so that the plows could work safely.

A very small section of RMNP reopened by Tuesday afternoon on the east side of the park. US 36 to Deer Ridge Jct. and US 34 through Fall River entrance were open. All other areas were closed leaving only a very small section of the park that one could photograph. As of this writing on the morning of 3/18, Bear Lake Road is still closed and being plowed and the NPS is reporting there is 63 inches of new snow that has fallen at Bear Lake.

So while this was a great storm for precipitation which we desperately need in Rocky, it was a terrible storm if one wanted to photograph snowy landscapes or just gain access to the trail system and backcountry area. Good news is that Sunday through Tuesday of next week look unsettled and hopefully we have more snow, but not so much that roads and access are closed off making photography impossible.

Snow Inbound

March in Rocky Mountain National Park has been pretty queit so far. It’s typically one of our snowiest months and current forecasts are calling for the potential for a classic spring snowstorm to setup towards the end of the week. I’m looking forward to it as we could use some more snow and moisture in Rocky moving forward. So far this week its been mild as it was yesterday when I photographed this beautiful sunrise over Moraine Park. You can see the burn scar from the East Troublesome Fire in the lower middle portion of the image. A big snowstorm will only help to mitigate this potential moving towards our summer season. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F2.8 S lens

March has entered like lamb. If weather forecasts hold it looks like it will want to stick around like a lion for awhile here. Forecasts currently call for snow to begin towards the end of the week in Rocky Mountain National Park with the potential for heavy snows occurring through this weekend.

This is great news for Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park. February was a good month for moisture and to be able to compound it with a big snow dump in March would be great. March is typically our snowiest month, though in recent years March has actually underperformed. A good spring blizzard feels like a Colorado tradition and a right of passage that every new resident to the state or visitor to the state should experience.

A couple days of good heavy, wet snow followed by warm sunshine and a quick melt off is always welcome here even though many of us are getting the itch for summer and warmer weather to return to RMNP.

The snow and weather changing should help to present some good photography opportunities moving forward. Photographing the storm during and after should lead to some good potential winter images, but the moisture from these storms will help get the rivers flowing, the wildflowers blooming this summer and hopefully keep our fire damage down as we enter the warmer months.

Frankly, by this time of the season, as a photographer I think we are all just looking for some new opportunities to open up as we start to grow tired of the brown season in the lower elevations of RMNP.

Getting a big dump of snow is great, but as I stated in my blog post last week, 3 inches or 3 feet of snow does not really make much of a difference when it comes to actually photography. In fact, if we do get a big dump of snow (some forecasts are saying 2+ feet), it may be difficult or impossible to travel around the park and local roads.

So at this point we will just wait it out and see what develops in the coming week. We certainly will be getting snow in Rocky Mountain National Park, the only question is just how much, will travel be possible and will those westerly winds that follow these storms hold off long enough to give us a window or two to photograph the landscape before blowing the snow off the pines. All I can say at this point is stay tuned!.

In Like A Lion Or In Like A Lamb?

March is already here and 2021 is moving right along at a breakneck pace. Is March coming in like a Lamb or a Lion?. So far its been quiet but March is one of the best months to photograph winter landscapes in Rocky Mountain National Park. While I shot this image of Longs Peak from Hollowell Park last week, weather conditions and improved lighting as the sun moves north all make March a great month to photograph in RMNP. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F4 S Lens

I cant believe its already March. Winter is flying by and summer is tangible with it right on the horizon. March is an interesting month here in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s our snowiest month and one of the best time of the year to hunt for winter landscapes and fresh snow. You can get a taste of all four seasons in March but the one is more likely to get the full brunt of a winter powder dump in March than any other time of the year.

So far March 2021 in Rocky Mountain National Park has come in like a lamb. They early weather pattern looks fairly mild over the next week with a few chances for some light snow. We need the moisture here in Colorado and we have slowly been working our way back towards normalcy as winter winds down. Snowpack in Rocky is at about 90% of what it should be right now. Thats pretty decent considering how dry its been since the fall.

Even if we get some of our classic March blizzards and snow dumps we are still going to have a very difficult time getting our snowpack back to 100% for this season. Because March is our snowiest month, catching up to at or near 100% normal snowpack will be very difficult as we would need a lineup of large storms to really dump on the area in an above average pattern.

Still we can remain positive knowing we have made up some of the deficit and while I would say it’s likely we enter the summer months at a slight disadvantage, we should still be looking better than we were at the start of 2021.

More importantly, it’s a good time to plan a trip to RMNP if one is looking towards capturing winter landscape images. The storms this time of year tend to be packed full of moisture but they also tend to move out quickly which opens up opportunity for snow covered landscapes, fog and dramatic lighting if one’s in the right place at the right time.

One other benefit to capturing the snow covered landscapes this time of year in Rocky is that the lighting angles on the east side of the park are really improving. Many of the classic Rocky Mountain National Park landscapes have peaks that face north and east. As the sun rises further north on the horizon each morning as we head towards summer, the lighting gets better on the northeast face of Longs Peak, Hallett Peak, Taylor Peak and Notchtop.

Contrary to the middle of winter when the sun is rising at its southernmost point, these iconic locations will be getting nice frontal lighting now. In the middle of winter mountaintops such as Longs Peak and Hallett Peak will be mostly in shade or side lit when the sun rises leading to long shadows and often poor lighting.

Keep an eye on the weather and be prepared for just about anytime of weather this time of year. If you want winter landscapes to add to your photography portfolio, March and April are the months to circle your calendar and keep your winter gear tucked in the back of your vehicle. With a little luck we can improve the snowpack and our winter portfolios all in one shot. Good luck!.