Solar Eclipse Seen from Boulder, Colorado

Fortunately the clouds broke last night and we were able to get a glimpse of the solar eclipse from Boulder, Colorado. My wife and I watched it from the top of the parking structure at Boulder Comminity Hospital on Foothills. That turned out to be a great vantage point and we even had a little awning to keep the cameras dry when a small cloudburst rain moved through. I shot a few photos with a supertelephoto lens on my D7000 using the LiveView feature so I didn’t damage my eyes (looking straight at the sun through a 500mm lens is not a good idea).

We rigged a pinhole camera out of my Tachihara 4×5 view camera with some gaffer tape and aluminum foil. It worked really well for viewing, but I didn’t take any photos with it.

Tachihara with Pinhole Rig

Trail Ridge Road Sign

Trail Ridge Road, the highest continuous stretch of highway in the United States, opened on Monday. This was the earliest the road has been opened in a decade. There is still lingering snow, but absolutely nothing like last year.

Trail Ridge Road, May 15th, 2012

I spent much of April photographing bighorn sheep. This photo is my favorite and happens to be one of the very last shots I took of this animal before he left the area. I really like his proud pose on top of the rock and the way the boulders and bushes lead into the background. It really shows the essence of this ram and his habitat.

I’ve never been satisfied with any of my Bighorn Sheep photos. All of my shots come with a disclaimer like “this would have been a great shot if only the ram had bigger horns” or “if only he wasn’t wearing a radio collar”.

Last weekend my wife and I were on our way up to the high country to continue our search for porcupines. Suddenly, she exclaims “sheep! I mean goats! no, no sheep!!!”. I instinctively dive my truck into the next pullout with binoculars, cameras, and lens caps flying everywhere. Sure enough, just 100 yards up the hillside is a flock of a dozen or more Bighorns. Not only are they free of the radio collars and eartags often seen on the flocks along the I-70 corridor, but there are several mature rams with beautiful curled horns.

I spent the next couple of hours observing them and photographing them. As they worked their way down the hillside grazing on fresh greens I was able to capture some of my favorite Bighorn photos ever.

Bighorn Sheep (click to enlarge)

I came across this pair of ferrunginous hawks osprey nesting on a platform just outside of Boulder (click images to view larger).

Update: I’ll admit I’m not much for bird identification and I originally thought these were Ferrunginous Hawks – oops!

I spent quite a bit of time observing and photographing beavers last summer and one of those photos appears on the cover of a publication from the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Illinois called The Conservationist.

Here is a link to the current issue where you can see my photo and check out the inside for a nice article on beavers.

Bull Moose Grazing in Sprague Lake

I was super excited to see a moose at Sprague Lake yesterday in Rocky Mountain National Park. I’d just finished shooting sunrise at Dream Lake with my large format camera and was chatting with another photographer who mentioned he’d seen a moose just yesterday. Now, I’d been hearing chatter about a moose at Sprague Lake, and even hiked around the lake a couple of times in recent weeks to see if I’d find him, but hadn’t had any luck. Yesterday, though, he was hanging out on the west end of the lake happily munching on the grass and vegetation growing near the inlet.

It is always a thrill to see a moose, especaially a handsome bull like this guy. I’m thinking he still has some growing to do before he reaches full size, but even a young bull is a very imposing animal. The subspecies of moose that we have here in Colorado is the Shiras Moose (Alces alces shirasi), so they are going to run a bit smaller than their Alaskan cousins, but don’t get too comfortable around them! A bull moose in rut, or a cow with a calf can be a most dangerous animal to encounter.

In Rocky Mountain National Park it seems that the moose have been expanding their territory further and further east in recent years. I am excited to see them thriving in Colorado and hopefully we’ll all be seeing more of this awesome animal!

The exhibition Colorado: Everything but Aspens has concluded at Anthology Fine Art in Denver. I’m extremely pleased that my photo of the Petit Grepon was awarded the people’s choice award! Thank you to everyone who voted for my photos, and to the great folks at Anthology for making it all happen.

For those who didn’t make it to the gallery, I exhibited four pieces in this exhibition, which was themed around photos taken outdoors in Colorado that do not contain an aspen tree.

Longs Peak from Forest Canyon Overlook
The Petit Grepon and Cathedral Spires
Hallett Peak from Dream Lake
Eldorado Canyon Sunrise

Thank you again to everyone for your votes and support, it means a lot to me!

Longs Peak from the Forest Canyon Overlook, Rocky Mountain National Park

My original plan was to shoot a panorama of the divide from Sprague Lake. Plans changed once I reached Bear Lake Road only to find the entire valley socked in with fog and drizzle. My gut told me that these clouds were low hanging, and if I could just get high enough I might pop out of them. Since Trail Ridge Road just opened this week, I figured it was worth a shot. Sure enough, the extra drive to the Forest Canyon Overlook paid off when the sun rose.

If you find yourself in Rocky Mountain National Park on a foggy day, try going higher!

Two different shots from the same location on the same morning. In the first shot, the warm dawn light is illuminating the clouds. In the second, it has begun to warm up the snow on the Indian Peaks.

Indian Peaks Panorama #1

Indian Peaks Panorama #2

Which is your favorite?