It’s been a bit slow here on the blog for the past few weeks. I’ve been itching to write and itching even more to get out with the camera and get some winter photography in. It’s just has happened yet as we continue to have one of the driest and warmest winter seasons on record. We have had plenty of wind but that’s a little more difficult to convey in photographs then inches of snow piled high on the ground and trees.

I’m hoping this is the first of a bunch of drought busing late winter/spring storms that can easily help to make up for the lack of snow. While the moisture is badly needed, getting some interesting winter conditions for us photographers would be the proverbial icing on the pine tree.

Winter finally made an appearance this past week in Rocky. We finally had some colder temperatures and even some snow to cover the ground. Winds have continued to remain a nuisance though, and lucking out on a ‘calm’ morning sunrise has been tricky.

Frankly, there has not been much in the way of opportunities to photograph the past few months. I’m always itching to get out in the field and shoot and a bad day in Rocky Mountain National Park is better than a good day pretty much anywhere on the planet so it never hurts to visit the park to see what opportunities may present themselves.

With about 2 inches of light snow and some frost and glaze on some of the trees, the willows, aspens and pines caught my eye just inside the park boundary in Beaver Meadows. Frosted barre aspen trees with snow covered Ponderosa Pines as a backdrop caught my eye just as the sun we lighting the crystalline aspen trees in the foreground. Finding color this time of year can be difficult but the combination of warm and cool hues made for some interesting compositions.

The winter willows mixed in with the aspen trees of Beaver Meadow add some nice contrast and color the otherwise cool blue scenes of mid winter. As we start to make our way into mid winter here in RMNP, lets hope we have lots of upcoming opportunities for snow and winter landscapes as its been a sparse season so far.

Windy, dry and warm are the three words that describe the winter Rocky has been having this year. Still no change in the weather pattern so its been more of the same in the park most mornings. Partially frozen streams, lots of brown grasses and mountains with dabs of snow. Not exactly how one would envision winter in Rocky Mountain National Park but you have to take the bad with the good at this point.

The 10 day forecast still shows more of the same in regards to the weather, but somewhere deep down, we have to hope this thing whipsaws back the other way and we get a really snowy and wet end to winter and spring and get things back on track. This is certainly one of the strangest Colorado winters I’ve photographer but I’m hoping I’ll look back on this season and chuckle if the weather pattern does indeed turn soon.

Until then, I’ll keep getting out and enjoy the one benefit we’ve had with all this windy, warm weather in RMNP, the colorful sunrise and sunsets. If you can find some shelter from the wind, we have really had some amazing colors in the sky to photograph. Weather its fire red skies from Lenticular clouds or neon pink skies from high cirrus clouds, the mornings and evenings have been stunning. You can only photograph the hand your dealt, but I’m hoping that next hand will have a lot more moisture soon.

It’s always interesting starting off a new calendar year as a photographer. You reflect on all you past travels and images from 2025 and are eager to improve on and expand your portfolio into 2026. I always have a ton of plans and ideas for what I want to photograph in the new year so I’m always itching to get out.

The post holiday hangover, parties, events and of course attending to business needs and other family obligations can make it easier said then done hitting the ground running as the year turns over. On top of that, the weather this time of year may also not cooperate and frankly it can be a difficult time to photograph in Rocky Mountain National Park. High winds, peaks covered in clouds and swirling snow squalls and lots of long shadows can challenge any photographer.

So while I make a few failed attempts, keep my eye on the weather and hope for one of those electric neon sunrises, it usually means waiting or missing out longer than you want. It took me nine days into 2026 but I finally captured my first image of 2026 on Friday.

A little light snow over Rocky on Thursday, something we are desperately in need of coated the landscape Friday morning. Clouds over Colorado’s high plains blocked the early morning sunrise but some nice dappled light broke through about 15 minutes after sunrise. Ypsilon Mountain and the Mummy Range had clouds hugging their ridge lines and vertical faces but there was just enough light and clarity to make for an acceptable image.

With the high winds quickly picking up and about to strip the trees of the remaining snow, some beautiful warm sunlight broke through and illuminated the Mummy Range and Ypsilon Mountain. 2026 is now off and running and I cant wait to see what this year has in store.

It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been able to get out and photograph sunrise Rocky on a Christmas morning. As anyone with young children can attest, Christmas morning usually starts around 4:00 am with the children’s sleepless anticipation of what Santa placed under the tree resulting in a pile on in Mom and Dad’s bedrooms with pleading to wakeup.

The high wire act of wrapping presents, setting them under the tree just after the kids go to bed and getting a little bit of sleep on Christmas Eve are all part of the fun of being a parent. While it can be a crazy time, it goes by much too quickly. Before you know it, you little angels turn into cranky teenagers who are happy to sleep in all morning. While you miss those precious early years, for the first time in fifteen years, I could head out in the morning and into RMNP for sunrise on Christmas morning.

So for the first time in years, I settled on a nice ’S’ curve along the Big Thompson River in Moraine Park to photograph a Christmas sunrise in Rocky Mountain National Park. With the Big Thompson flowing freely and nearly free from any ice, I setup my camera and watched a spectacular late December sunrise unfold on the east side of Rocky. It may be one of the last sunrises I photograph in 2025, but it will be one of most memorable. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!.

It’s been a little quiet up here in Rocky Mountain National Park the past few weeks. We’ve been at a loss for snow the past few weeks but there are two other forces of nature that have been prevalent during this back end of the shoulder season. Those two items are the wind and spectacular sunrises.

While the wind has been relentless the past few weeks in RMNP, It has also helped create the perfect conditions for some jaw dropping sunrises many mornings. With a nice gap in the clouds to the east of Rocky, the winds have been creating beautiful lenticular clouds or wave clouds on the leeward side of the Front Range. This makes for the perfect setup with the pre-dawn through sunrise catching the underside of the lenticular clouds. This particular setup results in some of the most breathtaking color at sunrise as the sky over a period of nearly an hour before sunrise, right through sunrise goes from beautiful pastels, to fiery reds and explosive oranges.

If you haven’t photographed along the Front Range of Colorado or Rocky Mountain National Park, you probably think we just crank the saturation tool up to 100 in photoshop. Luckily for the photographers who have braved the nuisance winds that almost always accompany these lenticular clouds and beautiful sunrises, thats not required.

Overall, its always a little more difficult to get motivated during the brown season, especially with 50-60 mph winds. So far, this season has had the annoyance of high winds, but the beauty of some of the best sunrises all year in Rocky. I guess we all just have to remember that sometimes you have to take the good with the bad. Have fun out there and hopefully we start seeing some snow sooner rather than later.

Windy days and November skies seemed like a good title for this blog post as its reflective of what conditions photographers can expect to find right now in Rocky. Winter weather has been difficult to find so far this season but winter winds and the spectacular skies they create have remained consistent.

Trying to stay motivated during the shoulder or brown season in Rocky Mountain National Park is always a tad difficult. Frozen lakes and streams, brown grasses and really pesky high winds most mornings test even the most hardened photographers.

The saving grace this time of year and the thing that gets me out of bed early in the morning is the explosive and colorful skies we often see at sunrise. All those annoying high winds also create some of the coolest lenticular clouds in the skies over Rocky Mountain National Park. Trail Ridge Road might be closed, access to much of RMNP may be difficult but sunrises this time of year rarely disappoint.

So with a heaviness this holiday season can bring thinking of those who are no longer with us, getting out in the field and photographing these beautiful sunrises, wind be darned, is always healing. While I’ll always miss those friends and family members who are no longer able to join me to witness these spectacular November sunrises, they will always be on my mind when the skies explode with color and the November winds push hard on my back.

While we are waiting for winter to actually arrive in Rocky Mountain National Park, the mild and dry weather that has been prevalent most of the late fall has created some interesting opportunities and circumstances for photographers. Normally snow covered trails, still free of snow and great for hiking, lakes and streams flowing and open or mostly open, and even some subtle signs of fall remaining in a few sheltered nooks in Rocky.

It’s been fun and interesting to take advantage of what has been such a mild late fall in RMNP, but its also been a little strange. Late fall in Rocky is known for a couple of things. If we dont have snow, most everything is brown, we can have some of our most dramatic and brilliant sunrise and sunsets, and the wind really likes to turn it up a notch or two which is saying something in an already windy locale.

I was out at the end of last week hoping for a dramatic sunrise that didn’t materialize at Bear Lake. I was trying to take advantage of the combination of only a partially frozen Bear Lake and the possibility of a really fiery sunrise and dramatic sky. That didn’t materialize this one particular morning in the park, but it left me to wander around the shores of Bear Lake making images of the ice, grasses and changes all subtly and slowly taking place this year.

By the end of this week, major changes to the weather pattern appear on their way and our first really cold system of the year appears as if it will settle over RMNP. I would expect business as usual in the park shortly, so this late season walk around Bear Lake was an enjoyable change of pace. That being said, snow covered mountains and winter landscapes are going to be just as welcome to this photographer when they make their long due appearance shortly.

While the weather has been mild and dry, our typical late fall winds on the Front Range of Colorado have been fairly consistent. So while many of the lakes are ice free or still mostly free of ice on the surfaces, getting a windless morning has been difficult which of course makes catching a reflecting mountaintop in smooth water a challenge.

The rocky confines of Chaos Creek just west of Lake Haiyaha and Hallett Peak can be a good place to find some sheltered breaks and reflections if conditions warrant. The large boulders and rocks will keep the slowly moving stream and its many small pools and nooks calm enough to garner a reflection even on a breezy morning. So was the case on Monday morning when some high clouds caught the early morning glow over Hallett Peak as seen from Chaos Creek.

Who knows how much longer Rocky Mountain National Park will continue to defy late fall and old man winter, but until the weather pattern changes, I’m here for the Chaos and of course the reflections and memories of the summer season.