Fall has charmingly made its way into the Gunnison valley. Groves of golden Aspens, tall whimsical grasses, mountain backdrops, and the wide spectrum of color all compliment the deep green pines. While we don’t see the same color scheme as the east coast or Michigan, colorful Colorado is a treasure all of its own.

To Everything There Is A Season (Turn, Turn, Turn)

This is the first fall season (in the last 4 years I’ve lived here) that I have felt myself resisting the change of seasons. Normally, I embrace the passing of warmth and look forward to negative temps and 300+ inches of snow for the next 8 months. For some crazy reason I just wasn’t feeling to peachy about the thought of all of that fun mere months away.  That is until I went out exploring this weekend and was reminded of the beauty and impermanence of each season.

Be Here Now

There’s a breeze that blows instilling remembrance of my first winter days in Colorado. A state of suspended bliss, complete and total awe of the earth we live on. Over and over again I am invoked with those feelings, totally in awe of this life, of these experiences and of this place I live even with winter looming in the nights air. It can feel like such a rush to enjoy fall that it triggers minor anxiety as I ponder how fast all of life seems to move. Days like this when I don’t wish to be anywhere but where I am reminds me of the gift of the present. While it is common and surely useful at times to fantasize about the future or reminisce over the past, life is in the here and now. Moments make up our lifetime and in an instant a moment passes. Lets live em while we got em!

Things like the pumpkin spice rage starting in August doesn’t help either! Society especially seems to keep accelerating seasonal marketing by months at a time. Good news pumpkin spice can be enjoyed at all times of the year, no fall card required!

Colorful Colorado

Colorado lives up to its name in all seasons and I get particularly excited to show her off when I capture glimpses of her magnificence. Even when covered in white snow, the saturated blue sky, vibrant sunrises/sets, and the star filled night sky reveal year round luminance. It is difficult to take a bad shot of such a beautiful landscape but the increasing population of photographers persuades one to challenge the status quo or most frequented areas. Just check the hashtag #Colorado and you will be delighted by photographs of all kinds!

FAQS

I am often asked if I use filters, what editing software I use, and if I have a green screen (haha). I do not use filters over my photos, I have experimented with filters over my lens but have yet to publish those photos here and when I do I will certainly let you all know what I used but at this point it’s all an experiment!

As far as editing software goes I have none! I don’t have Photoshop or lightroom or even a freebie like snapseed (I believe that’s the name) although I have heard good things about them all. The only real editing I do is occasionally adjust lighting through the basic IPhoto application on my MacBook Pro. Editing is not my main draw, photography is.  I’ve just learned to use my camera on manual settings by shooting frequently and in many different settings. Even though I mostly share landscapes my growing portfolio is quite diverse but I love that I can pair adventure with landscape photography. The best way to get to know your camera is to mess with all her buttons! See what works and what doesn’t, what you like and what you don’t care for. Develop your style through play!

And no I do not have a green screen (lol) nor would I know what to do with one! I’m not really techy whatsoever, it takes me longer than it should to do most things on a computer and these scenes are all real life, nothing staged or manipulated. I know its hard to believe! I still quietly ask myself  “Is this real life” almost on a daily basis.

P.S.

((I love you.)) Well that too but I was over the moon with the shot above! I’ve got a few that framed up really nicely but this was my favorite. Last fall my husband captured something very similar but at a different location. With his inspiration I had to give it a try for myself. Look out for his shot in a future post!

Are you embracing or resisting the wake of a new season? Tell me below!

I was so excited to share these with you all I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them!

As always, thank you so much for joining me here!

I appreciate your continued support, interest, interactions and exchanges! You all rock!

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