Adventure

Milford Lake

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One of my favorite aspects about the outdoor pursuits I participate in, things like fishing and climbing, is simply where those activities bring me. It isn't necessarily about the actual activity (even though I do enjoy those), but through each sport I am brought to absolutely beautiful locations.

This time was no different. At the beginning of May, Scott and I decided to try out a new fishing location, venturing out to Milford Lake. It was a beautiful day with wonderful, almost summer like temperatures. We spent the afternoon wading around in the water trying to catch some fish. As per the usual we didn't catch a thing. For me though, getting my feet wet in the cool water with the warm, spring sun coming down on me was enough to make it a perfect afternoon. 

Also as usual, I mostly just wandered around near Scott, snapping away. The water was extremely clear, and shallow for quite a ways out so I was able to just hover and follow as he moved around the shore. The water temperature was surprisingly warm, and wading around in the water reminded me of being home in Minnesota during the summer. 

I had a smile plastered on my face the entire afternoon. Even though neither of us had even a bite on our hooks, the weather, the water, and the company made things perfect, despite the lack of fish. 

I have reached the end of the fishing posts (for now at least). Scott is busy preparing for his PhD dissertation, and I am busy working, so fishing has taken a back seat for the time being. I haven't had a chance to get out and photograph much lately, but I'm hoping that changes soon. 

Have a happy start to your week everyone!

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!

Dreary Fishing

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*I have been a bit MIA here the past week or so. Last week I celebrated my birthday, the commencement ceremony for my MFA, and left for a trip to Denver; all within three days! Between finishing up things for the semester, preparing for my parents' visit for graduation, and packing for my trip, blogging and editing photographs took a back seat. I'm still out in Denver, but had some downtime this afternoon and thought I would start to get caught up, at least slightly. Hopefully things will get back to normal next week!

A few weeks ago (I guess it's been nearly a month at this point), Scott and I celebrated two years together! We had decided to go fishing and have a picnic, but unfortunately the weather wasn't exactly ideal. It was a chilly, windy, and drizzly day. The picnic ended up taking place in Scott's car, while we shivered from being out in the wind, and we didn't get so much as a bite while fishing. A less than ideal afternoon, but I love spending time with this man no matter what it involves. 

I realized while we were out there that I hadn't created an in-camera multiple exposures since shooting for my thesis work back in January, and so I decided to try one just for fun. It ended up turning out better than expected, and I kind of adore this image now.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

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 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 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!

Colorado Roadtrip

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I had expected things to slow down and ease up after finishing my thesis stuff, but boy was I wrong. The past few weeks have been a bit crazy, and have included lots of grading/teaching related things, rewriting my thesis paper (which is now over 30 pages long), lots of art department obligations, and a trip to Colorado. 

The Colorado trip was an absolute highlight. Scott and I went out to Ouray, Colorado over Valentine's weekend, so that he could take part in a weekend long, mountaineering seminar of sorts. Since he was out climbing all day on our first and last day there, I was able to relax and explore Ouray a little bit. I didn't photograph nearly as much as I normally would, in part because I needed a mental break from photography. In fact, the first day in Ouray I didn't take a single photograph. I used my film camera more than my digital as well, so hopefully some of those will turn out and I will be able to share them after getting the film developed. 

I know I say this about a lot of places, but I completely fell in love with Ouray during our short stay. As soon as we began the trip home I started to plan our next trip in my head. The town is filled with old, Victorian style homes, and lots of cool little shops. There isn't a chain restaurant or store in town in fact. They are completely surrounded by mountains, and so no matter where you are in Ouray there are great views to be had. One of our nights there we stayed at a hotel that had its own hot spring pool, and we spent the evening relaxing in the hot spring as snow gently fell around us, clouds rolled over the surrounding peaks, and the late evening light made everything glow. It was absolute perfection and I won't soon forget it.

Enough of me rambling though, and on to the photographs...

These last images were all taken on our drive back to Kansas. Many were just shot out the window as we drove, though there were also a handful of times that Scott was kind enough to pull over (and in fact, he did so without prompting more than once). We passed through some stunning areas, and had some rather incredible conditions while going through a section of higher mountains. It made going back to Kansas even more difficult. 

Because Scott and I both loved the area so much, we have actually decided to head back out their for our spring break in a week. So, many more images of this incredible area will be showing up here soon!

Christmas in Spearfish (Part 5)

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I am finally nearing the end of these Christmas posts! Only one more after this, and then I will have to find something else to entertain you all with. 

Due to the forecasted bitter cold, we decided that Sunday would be our last chance to climb. After Sunday the temperature was supposed to (and did) drop significantly, with highs in the single digits; not exactly pleasant climbing conditions in my opinion.

Since it had been a bit colder than the previous days we decided to head back to Bridal Veil Falls, hoping that the ice conditions had improved. We were not let down either. There were certain sections that still had the brittle, crusted over ice, but most of it was perfectly sticky and a blast to climb. At one point all three of us climbed to the top of the waterfall and walked down the creek that feeds it for a short ways. We once again had near perfect weather, with snow slowly falling the entire time we were climbing. I was giddy hiking around with my camera in snow that at times was up to my waist. It was a great last day of climbing, needless to say.

As mentioned earlier, I only have one post to go from this trip. I've been trying to stick to one post a week, but with my thesis show and defense rapidly approaching (I install my show one week from today, *gulp*) those photographs, which focus on my precious nephews, may have to stay hidden on my computer for a little longer. So, if I go quiet for a few weeks, just know that big things are happening and will be shared here once it is all over. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, and happy Monday!

Christmas in Spearfish (Part 4)

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The day after Christmas was another day spent climbing. We tried a different area first (Bridal Veil Falls), but the ice was rather terrible, which made for not very enjoyable climbing, and not the safest of conditions either. After Kyle attempted it, we decided to head back to where we went the first day since we knew the ice was decent there. However, instead of climbing a bunch with the guys, this time around I hiked up the canyon to get on top of the ridge. I walked around photographing the canyon and forest for some time, including some shots of Scott and Kyle climbing below me.

It was slowly snowing while I was up there, and I watched some low clouds roll over the hills in front of me. At one point I just sat in the snow with my camera on my lap and took it all in with a big grin on my face. There isn't much that makes me as happy as a snowy forest. The incredible quiet and simple beauty never fails to leave me in awe, no matter how often I experience it. 

Christmas in Spearfish (Part 2)

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Happy New Year everyone! I'm not one to do the standard year-in-review posts, but I will say that it was a year with lots of ups and downs, great adventures, and wonderful people. I already know big things are ahead in 2015, and am excited to see all that it holds. But for now, it is time for the second installment of photographs from our Spearfish adventure!

On Christmas Eve Scott and I went ice climbing with my brother, Kyle. I had been ice climbing with Kyle when I visited him two years ago, but Scott had never experienced it before, despite wanting to learn for some time. Needless to say, he was extremely excited to get out on some ice. We went to an area in Spearfish Canyon called 11th Hour Gulch, which is a very short walk up a narrow side canyon off of the road. It is an absolutely beautiful area, and is quite great for learning how to climb ice. 

We went back to this area after Christmas as well, since it is such an easy approach and the ice was pretty nice, so more pictures are to come. The next post will feature some adorable pictures of my nephews, and lots of snow, so be sure to check back in a few days. 

I hope everyone had a safe, and fun filled New Years! Happy 2015!

Colorado Part 2

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In order to keep the last post somewhat short I only posted about half the images from our trip to Colorado. We woke up on our last full day there to a beautiful morning overlooking the Twin Sisters. Scott's dream is to climb The Diamond so we camped both nights at the Longs Peak campground, and on our way into town that day we stopped at a lookout point to grab some images of the beast that is The Diamond. 

After a delicious (and leisurely) breakfast in Estes, we decided to hike to the base of a climb we wanted to do, with the tentative goal of trying to climb it. We got a late start that day though, and by the time we arrived at the base we wouldn't have had enough time to get through the climb before it was dark (and we did not have the provisions necessary to climb or hike back in the dark unfortunately). It was still a beautiful hike, and the route looked like an extremely fun one; and so, yet another climb has been added to our to-do list.

That evening we made our way back to camp and after eating dinner I set up my camera for a time-lapse of our tent. I grabbed a few stills as well since it is my goal to one day create a book of images from all the places we have camped, and I must say, the one after dark may be one of my favorite images that I have taken.  

The time-lapse is an extremely simple and short one, but I wanted something more than just a still image to document the evening there. 

The next day on our way home Scott wanted to stop again to get some more images of The Diamond, and take one last look at the mountain. It was a nice way of wrapping up our trip, and solidified for us that we need to climb it at some point.


Colorado

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I have meant to get a new post up for ages, but graduate school has kept me quite busy. This weekend Scott and I went to visit his parents, which generally means some pleasantly lazy days. Today is no exception, and I am taking advantage of the cold day by sitting in a big comfy chair while a fire roars in the fireplace next to me; perfect blogging conditions if you ask me.

Back in the middle of October (almost a month ago at this point, yikes) Scott and I went out to Colorado for a long weekend of climbing, hiking, camping, and a wedding thrown in as well. It was an incredible weekend, and as I slowly got around to editing the images I found myself feeling homesick for a place I have never lived.

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