landscape

Hiking Longs Peak

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Hello again, everyone! I'm still completely buried under photographs, but slowly and surely I am getting through them, and will hopefully be caught up some day soon.

Not long before I moved out to Denver myself (well over a month ago at this point), I came out for an interview, as well as to visit Scott. That weekend, we spontaneously decided to drive to Rocky Mountain National Park in order to hike up part of Longs Peak. We had no intention of getting to the summit that day, as we had a pretty lazy and slow start to the day, and instead just wanted to get up to see The Diamond. 

It ended up being a perfect day for a hike; just warm enough, light winds, and without the typical afternoon storm. It was cloudy when we first started our hike, but when we were within view of The Diamond the clouds broke, creating some incredible light for us. 

Next up: a break from images of mountains, with a flashback to my time as a nanny. Expect lots more mountain posts after that, though!

Have a happy Monday!

Konza Prairie Biological Station

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My time in Manhattan is quickly coming to an end. That means that I am trying to make sure to spend time with friends before I leave, along with spending time in some of my favorite places in the area. Last week I went on a hike through the Konza Prairie with my good friend, Liz. It was absurdly humid out that day, making for a hot and sweaty hike, despite its short length. The humidity did help to provide some amazing clouds and light on the hills, however. 

This is by far the greenest I have seen the area at this time of the year, in the three years that I have lived here. Kansas is definitely putting on a good show for my last summer here.  

The start of the moving process begins tonight! Scott and I will be headed to Denver in the morning to move him out, along with most of my belongings. I was able to get the last two posts written/scheduled ahead of time, though I don't currently have the next ones ready to go. So, things will likely be quiet the next week or so (unless I get some unexpected downtime). 

With that, don't forget to hit the "Subscribe" button on the left, and feel free to share via the links below. Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Ferguson Farm

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Last weekend Scott and I went to visit his parents on their farm. We were only there for one night, though we were treated to some amazing clouds and light that evening. Walking around the farm to photograph on evenings like this is absolutely soothing; it calms me and rejuvenates me. The quiet and solitude of the area are often times just what I need.

I also took some self-portraits on the same evening, which I will be sharing on Wednesday. Be sure to hit the "Subscribe" link on the left to keep up to date, and feel free to share this post via the link below!

Have a wonderful Monday!

Rushing Waters

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Just over a month ago, (yikes I am behind on sharing images) Scott and I went fishing at Rocky Ford State Fishing Area, just outside of Manhattan. It was an absolutely perfect evening. Perfect temperatures, stunning light, and a nice flow of water over some mini rapids. It could not have been any better. 

It was so perfect, I didn't even cast out a line once. I was in heaven just wandering around taking photographs. The light hitting the water was like a dream, and I couldn't get enough of it.

Scott, of course, was very focused on fishing. Luckily he doesn't seem to mind when I follow him around snapping photographs; which I do a lot. 

With the heat and humidity setting in here in Kansas, I find myself longing for this day. Between the light breeze, warm, golden sun, and cool water I couldn't ask for anything more. This is my type of perfect. 

This week has been a bit busy, so I'm unfortunately a day off on my normal posting schedule. Friday I am handling a garage sale, though I will try to get the next Flashback Friday up despite that. I hope everyone enjoyed the golden light and beautiful water as much as I did! Have a wonderful end to your week!

Farm Pond Fishing

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I mentioned it in one of the last posts, but prepare yourselves for lots of fishing images. This is the second post of the unofficial fishing series, with many more on the way.

This particular time we went to one of my favorite fishing spots in the Manhattan area. We haven't caught much here, other than some really tiny bass, so in terms of fishing it isn't the greatest (at least it hasn't been for us). But, it is beautiful. The pond is located outside of Manhattan on ranch land, and is stocked and made available to the public by the land owner. It is nestled into some rolling hills, away from the traffic noise, which is tough to escape in Manhattan it seems. We have yet to see another person fishing there as well, so it is sort of like our own private fishing hole.

This time of year is my favorite time of year in Kansas, since it is one of the brief windows where the landscape is extremely green here. We've had a wonderfully rainy, cool spring, so things are extra green, and it seems to be greener later than I remember it being the past few years. This area was filled with dandelions gone to seed and other wildflowers when we were there, so I gave up fishing and just wandered taking photographs. 

One of the great things about our fishing adventures is that we are generally out right when the light is at its best. That low, richly golden sunshine makes everything look spectacular. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! Check back on Wednesday for another round of images! 

Spring Break (Day 3)

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Day three of our trip was, at least in some ways, a bit of a bust. We had originally planned on hiking up to Bridalveil Falls in Telluride; Scott had climbed it the last time we were in Colorado and he wanted to check it out again and show the rest of us just how incredible it is. Unfortunately, due to the warm weather, the avalanche danger was pretty high (a guy we talked to said he had already seen one that morning), so we opted to make it a very short hike. I was still able to get some pictures of the area that I'm happy with, and also grabbed some portraits that I'm really happy with.

(On a side note, make sure to click on the panoramic images to view them in their (almost) full glory via the Lightbox.)

Taking portraits in situations like these, in some sort of adventure setting, are some of my favorite images to get. Landscapes are wonderful and all (and, as you noticed, I shoot bunches of them), but a big part of what makes these trips so awesome is the people that I go with. It doesn't hurt that the people I tend to go on trips with are extremely laid back about me taking photographs of them, and are rather goofy and quite entertaining. Photographing people in a genuine and spontaneous way, as they go about their business, almost always gives me images that I'm proud of. The story telling aspect of photography is something essential for me, and is something that I'm hoping to push in the future. 

Images of our final day of this trip are up next. Be on the lookout for those to see some more climbing based photographs!