Meanwhile, Back At Rocky

It was a spectacular Thursday morning in Rocky Mountain Natinonal Park. About 8 inches of fresh snow fell over Upper Beaver Meadows overnight. Calm winds, fresh snow and beautiful light over Ypsilon Mountain made for a postcard like scene just before sunrise. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F4 AF-S VR lens

With the fall color season now well in the rear view mirror in Rocky, we’ve officially entered the brown season. I don’t personally like using that term as I found this time of year to be beautiful in its own right.

Snow is back on the peaks, grasses are really more golden than brown, and access to much of the park is still fairly decent. There’s no denying the brown season is a transitional season, but the slower pace, smaller crowds are often welcome after the hectic summer season and fall crush of visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park.

One of the things photographers can look forward to during the brown season is the first decent snowstorms of the season. Snow has been falling in earnest in Rocky all week but a nice early season winter storm dropped nearly 8 inches of snow in the lower elevations of RMNP Wednesday into Thursday morning.

The weather forecast looked great for Thursday morning as the storm was predicted to move out of Rocky Mountain National Park early in the morning leaving partially cloudy skies and very light winds. Typically when these storms move out of Rocky, the backside of these storms come in with very high westerly winds. Not only are these winds a nuisance for photographers trying to keep their cameras steady on a tripod, but they tend to blow all the powdered snow from the pines and trees.

One can arrive the next morning in Rocky Mountain National Park after a winter snowstorm to find that other than fresh snow cover on the ground, much of the park (mountaintops and trees) look as they did prior to the snow falling. This storm had all the variables for winter like photography in Rocky looking good.

Rocky Mountain National Park looked spectacular when I arrived at 4:45 AM. Clouds covered the sky and light snow was still falling when I first arrived. The park roads were not plowed and about 8 to 10 inches of fresh snow covered the park roads depending on elevation. I headed out the yet to be closed Upper Beaver Meadows Road to wait for sunrise.

When I arrived it looked like sunrise was be clouded over. As is so often the case in Rocky, clouds hanging out before sunrise quickly begin to dissipate just before sunrise and its not uncommon to go from completely clouded over skies, to cloudless skies in short order and thats exactly how this morning panned out.

I hunkered down in Upper Beaver Meadows as it gives you one of the best views of Rocky’s peak from north to south. I could see the cloud cover was breaking quickly and I wanted to be in a location where I could quickly adapt my composition to adjust for the light and cloud cover. These beautiful snowy mornings are actually quite rare in Rocky Mountain National Park and I don’t like to miss out on the opportunity to photograph Rocky when conditions are perfect.

While I was able to eek out a couple of compositions before the clouds completely dissipated from the skies over RMNP, this image of Ypsilon Mountain from Upper Beaver Meadows just before sunrise was one of my favorite. The fog was clearing in front of Ypsilon Mountains iconic face just as the alpenglow was adding color to the landscape. Its hard to think of any mountain in Rocky Mountain National Park that received better lighting during the winter months or looks better with fresh snow than Ypsilon. In minutes the sun had risen and the fog and clouds were gone leaving only a few short moments to capture Rocky Mountain National Park draped in fresh snow.

Besides yesterday mornings beautiful conditions at sunrise in RMNP, one other item of importance occurred as well. The NPS closed Trail Ridge Road for the season yesterday. This storm, combined with what looks like more snow and winter conditions early next week put an end to another great season on Trail Ridge Road. If feels like just yesterday that Trail Ridge Road opened for the season. I’ll look forward to it reopening next May ushering in the unofficial start to the summer season in Rocky Mountain National Park.

An Autumn Morning In Harriman

A quick weekend trip back to New York to visit family allowed for me to sneak out one morning to photograph the autumn colors in Harriman State Park. A favorite location of mine when I lived in New York, Harriman State Park has some of the best autumn colors in lower New York while also being a beautiful location for landscape photography. This clear morning at Lake Kanawauke was beautiful as fog skirted over the surface of the lake. The fall colors in Harriman were spectacular as they so often are in the fall. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 70-200mm F4 AF-S VR lens

It’s always nice to get out of your comfort zone a little and go photograph a different location. In my case, I spend the majority of my time photographing Rocky Mountain National Park. I specialize in photographing Rocky Mountain National Park, lead workshops and tours in Rocky Mountain National Park, and consider it my favorite location to photograph. With that said, I get as excited as my clients do anytime I get a chance to head out to a different destination and photograph something a little different.

With my RMNP tour season winding down and snows starting to fall in the high country of Colorado, a quick jaunt back to New York State at the end of their fall color season is always fun. With my daughter out of school for a few days, we thought it would be a nice time to head back east and visit my 78 year old mother. While the purpose of the trip was to spend time with mom over the weekend, being a working photographer means sneaking out before everybody wakes up for the day and getting a short, but productive morning shoot in.

With only one morning to photograph before heading back to Colorado, I headed out to an old familiar and favorite haunt of mine. Harriman State Park, just across the Hudson River from where I grew up is an amazing location in fall. Lakes, streams and some of the best fall color anywhere near New York City makes Harriman State Park both a favorite of mine, and a location I can spend a few hours at in the field without missing time with the family.

While we were delayed in Denver, we landed on the backend of a large Northeaster that had just scooted up the coast. Even with all the wind and rain, most of the foliage in Harriman State Park still looked pretty good as of last weekend.

My one morning in Harriman State Park dawned clear and cool. No clouds in the skies, or overcast lighting to take advantage of the beautiful fall color but as is always the case, one just needs to adjust to the lighting and take what they are given. Luckily for me, there was some nice fog on many of the lakes of Harriman, and the strong winds from the day before had died downed.

I ended up at Lake Kanawauke at sunrise which is always a beautiful location. With about 2 hours to spare, I spend the morning in the Kanawauke area photographing the fog on the lake and the beautiful reds and oranges along the shoreline. We dont typically get foliage this colorful in Colorado so even a few hours in the field enjoying the classic east coast landscape draped in autumn colors was amazing.

Of course I could have spent hours photographing in and around Harriman State Park and Bear Mountain State Park but I had more important places to be. Leaving for the airport on Sunday morning, clouds and rain were moving in to the Hudson Valley. As I flew out over the Hudson River and looked down on Harriman State Park from high above, I wished I could have spent just one more morning in the beautiful overcast light and rain on the way that day. Hopefully, next year I’m able to spend a little more time enjoying New York, but its back to enjoying Colorado and Rocky Mountain National Park for me again.

Autumn And Ice

On the back end of our winter blast that hit Rocky Mountain National Park at the end of last week, fall color in the park is mostly done now. For photographers willing to search for some of the smaller scenes and vignettes in the nooks and crannies of RMNP, capturing the back end of the autum season is still possible. I found this menagerie of fall color frozen in a cascade along the slopes of Mount Wuh yesterday. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F4 S lens

It was fun while it lasted. Autumn was stunning this year in Rocky Mountain National Park. The elongated fall season that we experienced, with warm days and vibrant colors has mostly now come to an end. Thanks to an arctic blast which combined both wind and snow finding fall color in Rocky Mountain National Park has gotten a bit more difficult.

It’s still autumn in RMNP it’s just finding fall color to photograph takes quite a bit more work. For the most part almost all the deciduous plants have either dropped their leaves or they have turned brown from the cold temperatures. Some of the small ground plants still have some nice color but one is going to have to work a little harder on more intimate type scenes now to capture the back end of the fall season in Rocky.

With the exception of our blast of snow and cold last week, the weather is still fall like and spectacular in the park. Cool mornings that quickly warm once the sun rises are the norm. There are some icy spots on trails but for the most part one is able to access much of the park without having to pack a full compliment of winter gear.

After spending the morning in Moraine Park looking for some of the last vestiges of the elk rut, I headed up the Cub Lake trail to enjoy the beautiful conditions and investigate some of the nooks and crannies to see if there were any small patches of autumn color to be found.

While autumn color was mostly sparse along the cub lake trail, I did happen upon a small vignette that I just had to photograph. A small stream which runs down the side of Mount Wuh provided just what I was looking for.

The edges of the small cascade had frozen over. Aspen, mountain maples and narrow leaf cottonwood leaves had all recently fallen into the stream and become entombed in the recently formed ice. It’s rare enough to find all these leaves in such close proximity but the fact that I had variety combined with the contrasting warm colors of fall and the cool colors of the ice made me stop in my tracks and get the camera equipment out of the bag.

So while most of the fall color is now gone from Rocky Mountain National Park for the season, with some exploration and appreciation of some of the smaller vignettes of color that can be found in Rocky, one should be able to capture some of the more subtle fall scenes RMNP provides on the backend of the season.

Big Changes On The Way

As I write this, big changes are on the way to Rocky Mountain National Park. After a late, but elongated fall color season in the park, an October snowstorm with record low temperatures is settling in over Rocky. Yesterday, before the storm moved in over RMNP, I took advnatage of a beautiful day and spectacular sunrise to photograph what is likely to be the end of the fall color season. Sunrise over Longs Peak from Moraine Park yesterday morning was a jaw dropper and a great way to likely finish up on the autumn season. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F4 S lens

This autumn in Rocky was an unusual one. We got off to a very late start this season with many of the aspens remaining green long past the time they usually lose their leaves. A warm and dry late summer and early fall seemed to be the reason behind the late change in the foliage.

With fall color kicking off this year around the third week of September in the highest elevations, and with the warm and mild weather sticking around, the color remained very good in many parts of Rocky Mountain National Park into the second week of October. Normally, one would be looking for the last remnants of autumn gold in RMNP during the second week of October while lamenting on how quickly the season turns.

Furthermore, with the late start to fall, warm weather and lack of any early season snowstorms or cold through the second week of October, the fall color both hung on late but also remained colorful and vibrant. With the elongated fall, both the trees and the underbrush stuck around long enough so that they peaked simultaneously. Many years in RMNP, the timing with the understory and the tree canopy will occur at different times.

All in all its been an amazing fall color season in Rocky Mountain National Park and one of the more colorful but unusual ones I can remember in my twenty-one years of photographing in the park.

As of today, October 10th you can more or less stick a fork in the fall color season. While its still autumn and there are still going to be some great opportunities for landscape photography and wildlife photography in the next few months, a powerful and cold weather system has moved over the park.

While snow falling in Rocky Mountain National Park during October is nothing unusual, this front is going to pack some record low cold temperatures with it. Lows are expected to be in the single digits tonight, through Friday morning.

Normally, I would expect some of the foliage in Rocky to make it through an early season snowstorm. While there are still some trees that have yet to even turn and remain green, the single digit temperatures coming in on the back end of this front will more than likely put an end to the fall color season. Hopefully I’m wrong, but I’m going to guess that the foliage that remains in Rocky after this system moved through is going to turn brown on the account of the extremely cold early season temperatures.

I expect to be photographing some winter like scenes tomorrow morning in RMNP, but yesterday I spent as much time as I could taking advantage of one last day of peak fall color in the park. In fitting fashion, sunrise was stellar over the park. So while there is a bit of melancholy associated with the end of the fall color season, warmer weather is supposed to return to the area by the weekend and there still plenty of great opportunities for photographers before winter formally settles into Rocky.

Autumn’s Homestrech

The fall color in Rocky Mountain National Park is still looking great even with the first week of October behind us. I shot this image on the Bierstadt Moraine yesterday and color on Bierstadt is still looking great. Snow and very cold temperatures are moving in Thursday so I would expect these next few days to be autumn crescendo in RMNP. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F4 S

The fall color in Rocky Mountain National is still looking pretty good for the first week of October. We continue to experience a later than usual season with everything running about a week or so behind.

Winds late last week through parts of the weekends certainly did a number on the leaves at or near peak around the Bear Lake area and Hidden Valley but overall everything is still looking pretty good in areas below Bear Lake.

On a typical year in Rocky, I would expect almost all of the autumn color to be down or past peak in the higher elevations like Bear Lake, Bierstadt Moraine, Boulder Brook, Hidden Valley etc. Even lower elevations like Moraine Park and Horseshoe Park would be passing peak most years by this time though as always there are patches here and there that will hang on longer than others.

I expect the fall color to look pretty good through Wednesday of this week. After Wednesday all bets are off as it looks like Rocky Mountain National Park will get hit by an early season snowstorm combined with record cold temperatures on Thursday and Friday.

While there may be some interesting opportunities with the combination of snow and remaining fall color, I would expect whatever color makes it through Thursday and Friday is going to turn brown and fall from the hard freeze.

My advice at this point is if you want to photograph the remaining fall color in Rocky Mountain National Park, it would be best to get out there in the next 3 days and enjoy the end of what has been an awesome fall color season in RMNP albeit a late one. Don’t overlook the interesting opportunities that may present themselves on Thursday and Friday, just don’t forget to bring the winter coat and gloves.

Autumn Morning At Bear Lake

It was hard to beat the rainbow of fall colors on display yesterday morning at Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Autumn continues to run behind schedule in RMNP and here we stand at Bear Lake on October 3rd, right at peak. This is easily a week behind what I would consider typical timing for autumn peak color at Bear Lake. Expect Rocky to have great color in locations through the middle of next week. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F4 s lens

Here we sit on October 4th in Rocky Mountain National Park with fall still in full swing. A mild and moderate fall continues and theres been lots of warm days with the nights getting cooler. With only one small dusting of snow above 12,000 ft since the autumn season started in RMNP, the autumn color in the park has taken its sweet time turning over.

Frankly, I have no issue with this as its been great being able to photograph much of Rocky’s fall color with my photography tour clients later into the season than is usual. The photo posted above from Bear Lake was taken on October 3rd. I would say Bear Lake is right at peak now or maybe a tad past. Typically, I anticipate photographing Bear Lake around the 22nd of September to take advantage of the best color. At nearly 9500 ft above sea level, Bear Lake is one of the first areas of Rocky Mountain National Park in which the aspens start to change.

Over a week past the anticipated timing of peak at Bear Lake and the colors look awesome still. Lower elevations of the park area really starting to come into their own as well now. About 50% of the Bierstadt Moraine has peaked and I would guess by the end of the weekend we should be looking as good as its going to get.

A caveat to all this is the forecast for the most part is calling for lots of clear skies and some windy days. I expect the wind forecast in the next few days to strip many of the leaves from the Bear Lake area but you can certainly expect to find fall colors well into next week. The early forecast for the end of the week in Rocky looks like we could see cooler temps and possibly some snow but expect good conditions with both the fall color as well as the elk rut through next week. See you out in the field!.

West Is Best

The west side of Rocky Mountain National Park is certainly where the most fall color can currently be found. This aspens near the south end of the Kawuneeche Valley are just about at peak right now. The east side of RMNP continues to improve but there should be lots of fall color on the east side showing up in the next two weeks or so. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm F4 S Lens

Quick fall color update for those interested in the current conditions in Rocky Mountain National Park as of yesterday. The title sums it up best at this point. The west side of Rocky Mountain National Park is defiantly has the best autumn colors. The Kawuneeche Valley, the aspen trees around the west entrance to RMNP and the area around Grand Lake are all looking very good right now. Lots of brilliant yellow, oranges and some nice reds to be found.

The east side of Rocky is still petering along at this point. As of yesterday, about 45-50% of the hillside above Bear Lake had started to turn. This area around Bear Lake should really start looking good by this weekend.

The Bierstadt Moraine at this point might at best have about 10% of it leaves starting to change. For the most part its all green with a few trees here and there that have turned. The Boulder Brook area is mostly green with some small areas here and there changing much like the Bierstadt Moraine. Glacier Gorge around Alberta Falls is starting to look very good and the aspens along Trail Ridge Road just above Hidden Valley are now at or near peak.

Overall, signs of autumn are becoming much more prevalent now in RMNP, but as it stands and if the weather pattern holds we should have some great fall color pushing into the next two weeks or so. If that holds, I would say that would mean we are running about a week behind the traditional fall color change. Regardless, the next few weeks in Rocky and many parts of Colorado should be both interesting and beautiful.

Pockets Of Fall Color

The start of the autumn season in Rocky Mountain Natiional Park this year has been slow to get going. A few cold nights and were starting to see some good color showing in pockets. I opted to photograph this small stand of golden aspen trees this morning along Trail Ridge Road at sunrise. I’d expect really good fall color conditions in RMNP by the end of the week into next week. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 24-70mm F4 S lens

Fall color change has been running behind in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s running so far behind that up until the last few days with few exceptions it was actually difficult finding even small pockets of fall color.

With a few cool nights over the weekend the leaves and color seemed to have picked up steamed and there are now some smaller pockets of decent color to be found in Rocky.

This morning I opted to pass on other locations to photograph this small stand of aspen trees along Trail Ridge Road above Many Parks Curve. It’s certainly not the most impressive stand of aspens in RMNP, but the color of this stand was one pretty nice and the sun was going to rise directly behind these aspen trees. Add in some clouds and I opted to pass on the grand scenics to photograph this small scene.

There are now some nice pockets of color on the west side of Rocky, some decent patches near Hidden Valley along Trail Ridge Road and aspens starting to change over in and around Bear Lake.

At the current pace, I would expect conditions to start to get really nice towards the end of the week into next week. The elk rut is also very active right now as well so although autumn may be a bit behind, the first day of fall today certainly felt every bit the part.

Charging Into Fall At RMNP

An Imperial Bull Elk charges across the meadow of Moraine Park in an attempt to run off two other large bull elk during the autumn rut in RMNP. While fall color is running behind schedule in Rocky Mountain National Park, the elk rut is ramping up nicely and offers photographers some great opportunities right now in RMNP. Technical Details: Nikon D850, Nikkor 500mm F4 AF-S VR G lens

Here it is September 20th and one would have to guess that signs of autumn must be all over Rocky Mountain National Park at this point in time. Usually by now, the Bear Lake area is nearing peak and good hints of color are showing along the Bierstadt Moraine. The elk are deep into the rut and the underbrush around Lake Helene and The Loch are now a striking yellow and red.

This would be a spectacular weekend to visit RMNP and take in all of the beauty of fall right?. Not so fast. While I would love to tell you that Rocky is currently covered in fall splendor, it actually looks a lot more like Labor Day right now than one’s typical impression of Rocky Mountain National Park is autumn.

Here’s an update on the fall color status of RMNP as it stands today. As far as color change goes when it comes to deciduous trees go there is little to report. It appears that we are at least a week behind historical fall color change in Rocky.

For example, there are only a handful of aspen trees that have started to change at Bear Lake. Normally, this weekend would be expected peak color at Bear Lake. There is almost no color change along the Bierstadt Moraine and only a few splashes of color around Glacier Gorge. Some of the River Birches in Moraine Park have started to change as have the smaller willows at higher elevations. With that said, there is still only minimal color change to report as of today.

The elk rut however, is well on its way. While many of the elk are still up in the higher, snowless elevations of the park, many are starting to fill into the meadows of Horseshoe Park and Moraine Park. As always, early mornings and late evenings when the temperatures cool, the elk become much more active and leave the shaded cover of the forest.

While fall is slowly showing up in Rocky Mountain National Park, a photographers best bet right now is to either delay their visit to RMNP a few days or figure on concentrating on photographing the elk and fall rut.

One last note regarding my RMNP Photography Tours. While I am nearly booked the next two weeks I do still have a few openings for Rocky Mountain National Park Photography tours. Shoot me an email and I’m happy to let you know if I have availability to help you photograph all the wonders of Rocky Mountain National Park. I have a few sporadic openings the next two weeks and more openings during the second and third weeks of October. Feel free to contact me and I’m happy to help with scheduling a photography tour or just giving a quick update on currnet conditions.

With fall running behind schedule, we should have great conditions for photography well into the middle of October. Looks like this year we will just need to excercise a little paitence waiting on mother nature to cooperate.

Summers Entering The Back Nine

It’s hard to believe but Summer is entering the tail end here in Rocky Mountain National Park. Though fall season is only a few short weeks away, I’m taking advantage of all the great access available in the higher elevations of Rocky such as these beatiful tarns which I photographed at sunrise on Tuesday morning. Technical Details: Nikon Z7, Nikkor 14-30mm F4 S lens

It’s been a beautiful week here on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park. There is a definite change in the air as late summer unfolds over the park. Subtle signs of the completion of summer and the entrance of autumn can be found if you know where to look.

The summer crowds and families have thinned out a bit during the mid week (weekends are still very busy). Elk can be heard starting to bugle in the meadows of the Kawuneeche Valley and up on the tundra though I would not say the elk rut has officially started as of yet.

Frost can be found on the grasses in the valley and low lying areas and the ground cover is changing color. This is also true of the alpine tundra above 11,000 ft where the short lived green grass is now quickly turning golden and auburn welcoming in fall at this highest elevations of RMNP.

The question most people have, and of course the one most photographers want to know is if there are any signs of fall color amongst the aspen trees of Rocky Mountain National Park as of yet.

There are in fact subtle signs of aspen trees starting to change color in some locations of Rocky. Some aspens above Hanging Valley near Trail Ridge Road are showing some golden leaves now as are some aspens roadside near Hidden Valley. No need to panic as this is typical for any given year and its not uncommon to find a few trees here and there changing color even as early as Labor Day weekend.

While I enjoy seeing the signs of autumn filter in RMNP, I’m still quite focused on working on adding to my portfolio of summer images of the park. The season in the high country is so short, that summer flies by in a blink of an eye each year and before you know it these beautiful and sacred places are covered over in snow and difficult if not impossible to access until next May or June depending on the winter.

We still have at least a month or so of good weather to look forward to. Sure, we could have a snowstorm or two mixed in but access to Rocky Mountain National Park’s higher elevations should be good for another 4-6 weeks.

With that in mind I headed out on the alpine tundra on Tuesday morning to photograph what was one of our best sunrises of the summer. Alpine tarns reflecting the beautiful colors of the sunrise combined with majestic mountains and thick summer grasses are some of my favorite subjects. These are also some of my favorite locations to spent time in during the summer months in Rocky.

Watching a late season summer sunrise unfold over the high landscapes of Rocky Mountain National Park and understanding how fleeting these moments are is both intoxicating and bittersweet. You never forget mornings like this one, while at the same time you understand well that summer is coming to a close and this precious moments in the park are fleeting as always.

One last note. I still have a few morning openings left for my Rocky Mountain National Park Photography tours this fall. As of this writing I still have the morning of 9/16,9/18,9/24, 10/2,10/3 and 10/4 open. If you are interested in any of those dates or dates before or after for a photography tour of Rocky Mountain National Park please contact me via email or phone.