spring break

Spring Break (Day 4)

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Our final day in Colorado was spent on rock. We climbed most of the day, soaking up the sunshine and our last of the mountain air for a bit. 

The morning started out a bit brisk, as the cliffs around us blocked the sun for quite a while. Despite the lack of sun in the morning, the area we were in all day (The Pool Wall, Alcove Area) offered some really nice, mostly easy climbing. It was a great place to just hunker down and set up camp for the day as we worked our way through some routes. 

Eventually the sun did creep down into our little area, and quickly warmed us up. For the rest of the day we were climbing in t-shirts, which was a bit unexpected for March. It was a welcome treat though, especially on our last day. However, it did make leaving that much more difficult.

Scott was able to go into teacher mode that afternoon (something he is extremely good at), and taught both the other guys some new tricks/techniques. As usual with climbing, I think everyone came away with something new learned, either a skill or just something about themselves (as in my case). That is one of the things about climbing that I absolutely love; every time I climb I learn something. It may not be something monumental or significantly life changing, but I almost always walk away at the end of the day with a fresh perspective on something. 

This post officially wraps up the spring break series for now, unfortunately (at least unfortunately for me). I still have film I need to send off and develop/scan, so more images may be coming down the road. But, for the time being, there will be no more beautiful mountains featured here on my blog. I do have some projects in the works (or at least planned), so be sure to check back soon to see what I'm up to!

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! 

Spring Break (Day Two)

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Day two in Colorado was another morning spent relaxing while the guys got some ice climbing in. It was a drizzly morning, which created some dreamy atmospheric haze over the mountains most of the day. The dreary day also produced some of that nice, soft light as well, which is a nice change of pace from the near constant sun in Kansas. I wandered around outside the house a bit more, and while the drizzle fell on me I became obsessed with some of the trees behind the house and fell even more in love with this area. 

I also pulled out the film cameras that morning, and grabbed some shots with three different types of film (if I remember correctly). I still need to send the negatives out to be processed, but below you can see the two Polaroids I took on this particular day. For those of you who don't know me well, I am rather obsessed with circles (my thesis show was entirely circular work). So, when I saw that the Impossible Project just released a film pack with circular frames, I jumped at the chance to buy them. And shooting them in the mountains was not one bit disappointing. 

Stay tuned for day three coming soon, featuring epic clouds and stunning mountain views. 

Spring Break (Day One)

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We recently had our spring break at KSU, and a small group of friends and I headed out to the Ouray area for the week. The plan was to do some ice climbing, but it had been so warm (and was very warm while we were there), that the ice was nearly non-existent. The guys managed to go ice climbing in the morning for the first two days we were there, which meant that I had some time to lounge and relax (which was rather glorious). 

We had found an incredible Airbnb rental for our vacation, and both of those mornings while the guys were out on the ice, I photographed a bunch just from the front porch of the house we were staying at. The view was absolutely stunning, and I couldn't resist taking pictures every time the clouds on the mountains spread out in front of me changed. 

On the night of our first full day we were treated to some jaw dropping light and clouds. At one point Scott told me to look outside because of the color on the hills next to the setting sun, and so I ran outside with my camera in hand. I was not disappointed. The light looked like a painting. My friend Brendan was outside playing his guitar, and the light on him was some of the most incredible I have seen. (I'm lucky to hang out with people that don't pay much attention when I start snapping pictures of them randomly.)  

Just as the light faded on Brendan, I turned around to see that a rainbow had formed, and I raced to get a decent angle before it went away. It was absolute perfection.

As the sun continued to set, the light was thrown up onto the clouds creating a stark contrast in color. I was blown away, and stayed out snapping away until the last bit of sun dipped below the mountains. Needless to say it was a great end to our first day there. 

Day two will be coming soon, so be sure to check back to see more images from this magical place!