Maroon Bell Photo - Travel Photographers

I'v always wanted to get the photo of the famous Maroon Bell.  So we took a trip to Aspen and camped the night before near by.  To get the photo I wanted I would need to be at the lake before sunrise.  What I was hoping for was no wind on the lake.  I wanted to capture the mirror reflection of the mountain in the background.  At the same time I also wanted the early morning sun shining on the peaks of the mountains. 

When I arrived at the lake before sunrise there was already a line of photographers with tripods lining the shore.  This is a daily phenomena as photographers come from around the world to capture this amazing scene.  There was no wind when I set up.  As the ambient light began to show in the scene I took some shots of the lake with my tripod set on a fixed position.  The water was still and I got the reflective mirror like effect I wanted.  By the time the sunshine hit the mountain the wind was blowing enough to cause ripples in the water.  So no one could capture the combination of sunshine and still water reflecting the shining golden mountain in the background. I was able to combine two photos to capture the image shown below.

This is what the water looked like when the wind was blowing.

I took one more photo from a unique perspective below the beaver dam.

Trip to Creede, Colorado - Travel Photography

We spent a few days in Creede, Colorado with family.  It was early in June and still a little cold with snow on the mountains.  We hiked a few trails and drove down some dirt roads.  We had a great time around the camp fire.  Creede is an old mining town in southern Colorado.  It feels like you have went back in time when you walk down main street.  There are so many amazing views of the mountains.  We had a great time with our family relaxing.

We decided to take some self portraits and not wait until we're thin.

We took some self portraits and decided not to wait until we are thin.

Jackie and I took some self portraits while we were in Creede, Colorado.  We set up the tripod and I have a remote trigger release to snap the shutter on our camera.  This is something we rarely do.  We used to say let's wait until we're thin. We really don't like to see ourselves in photos but we know how important it is to share our lives for the sake of our family.  There was a time in my life when I would never have my picture taken because I hated to see myself in photos.  I would say I need to wait till I loose some weight.  When I saw myself in photos I would pick apart how I looked and obsess with how much weight I needed to shed.  

There was a change in my attitude with God's help and some hard circumstances.  I had to realize that everyday is a gift from God.  I found out that my family loves me.  No one in my family is looking at my photos thinking about how fat I am.  They see me as their dad and think of their love for me.  We know our family loves us and wants to see us at this point in time in our lives.  

Yes I want to loose weight and I am working on that, but I decided that I'm NOT going to let life escape without documenting what is going on in my life.  Life is a story and has a meaning.  It's amazing how short life is and it will be gone before we realize it.  I don't want to waste any of it ever.  

So maybe you can relate.  For some reason you may feel you're too fat or too ugly or whatever else you may think of your self.  You don't want to be in front of the camera.  Don't let that stop you.  Think about the people that love you.  They don't think about your looks or your weight when they see your photos.  Your loved ones see you and think about memories they have of you.

Let these fun self portraits encourage you to take some photos.  Maybe you want professional photos or maybe you just want to use your phone, that's ok too.  Take some selfies.  

With much love,

Warren
 

Colorado Vacation 2016

We spent 11 days in Colorado in June traveling from north to south.  We had a wedding in Breckinridge and decided to go early and stay a few more days after.  We visited our dad's cabin near Grand Lake.  We drove through the Rocky Mountain National Park to visit Estes Park.  We saw all kinds of wildlife, waterfalls, and amazing scenery.  

We spent time in Frisco, Breckinridge, Gunnison, Crested Butte, Ouray, Teluride, and Silverton.  We camped in KOA for two nights and camped out the last night we were there.