Chatfield State Park, December 2019

The fresh snow that fell on Saturday of my Colorado visit was exactly what I had come to see. Fortunately, it came late enough in the day not to melt, and that beautiful blanket of white was certain to still be covering everything on Sunday morning. Even better, the clouds were forecast to move on and the skies would be clear. The only potential downside in the weather forecast? Bitter cold.

How cold?  My car said it was -2 degrees as I headed over to Chatfield State Park before sunrise.  The Canada Geese on this holding pond, as usual, didn't seem to notice.

Brutally cold conditions like this have a stark, severe beauty all their own.

I couldn't last long outside in the cold, and neither could my camera batteries.  I had to keep a spare battery in my pants pocket to swap out when the battery in the camera got too cold to give a charge.  And I had to regularly head back to my car, crank the heat all the way up, and hold my hands in front of the vents to restore feeling in my fingers.

Another photographer showed up and we chatted briefly.  She had no hat and no gloves.  I hope she didn't freeze to death, but I'm not ruling it out.  I don't remember seeing anything on the news, though.

I left the pond but didn't stray far from water, wanting to continue to incorporate reflections in my shots.

The rising sun was brightening things, but didn't really seem to be adding any warmth.

The snow that had frozen on the plants helps to drive home that calling the conditions "cold" really doesn't do them justice.

As much as I love shooting directly into the sun, I also wanted to take advantage of the great low-angle sidelight.

I found a vantage point I'd used nearly six years earlier in similar conditions.  The view didn't seem to have changed much.

I left the water only once -- when my eye caught sight of this isolated, frost-covered tree.

This was the winter I'd come to experience.  Dazzling beauty in air so cold every breath told you in no uncertain terms that you were alive.

While the geese didn't seem to mind the cold, they didn't seem in any hurry to get especially active, either.  I decided it was time I followed their example -- not by getting in the frigid water, but by heading back home for some rest.  So that's what I did, gratified that I'd gotten to experience Colorado's incomparable winter splendor once again.

Chatfield Sunrise: January 2018

Chatfield Reservoir had frozen over on my recent visit to Colorado, but it wasn't covered in snow. I thought that might provide an opportunity for some interesting sunrise scenery, so I once again braved some frigid temperatures and dragged myself out of bed an hour earlier than I do when I'm not on vacation to find out.

Initial returns while walking along the shore were promising.  Cracks on the lake's surface and broken pieces of ice provided some fun textures for the eye to take in.

A branch that had somehow found its way out onto the ice provided a strong focal point while I fussed with composition.  My glasses had fogged up from my breath being funneled up by my balaclava, then the condensation had promptly frozen.  So I was left with no choice but to take them off if I wanted to see anything.  I set them on the ground between the legs of my tripod despite a gnawing dread that I would accidentally step on them.  Spoiler alert: I didn't. :)

When the sun broke the horizon, I got some nice reflection off the ice that I'd been hoping for.

Someday I really want to go to Iceland and shoot -- among lots of other things -- chunks of icebergs that wash up on a black sand beach.  Here I had a chance to get a taste of what that might be like.

Three things I learned -- small chunks of ice like the ones here aren't terribly compelling, I need to get lower for a more interesting background, and ice on ice isn't as inspiring as ice on black sand.

I pivoted south along the beach to take in the warm golden hour light bathing the trees, then decided to pack up before my fingers froze and/or I stepped on my glasses.  Fortunately, neither of those things happened.  And I ended up with my best shots of the trip so far!

Chatfield State Park: December 2015

We'd planned on buying Zak a plane ticket to go back to Colorado over winter break to go snowboarding with some of his old friends. When Danelle reminded me that I had no plans for winter break, the one-person plan trip turned into a two-man road trip!

No sense wasting precious time or daylight, so it was up before dawn on our first day to shoot at my old stomping grounds of Chatfield State Park.

I tend to be hyper-focused on capturing the moment when the sun breaks the horizon -- either in the morning or evening -- and miss out on the beauty of twilight.  You typically start seeing color in the sky as much as an hour before sunrise or after sunset.  This time, I got it right.

Of course, that horizon-breaking moment still has its own special appeal.  With almost no clouds, I got creative with foreground elements to avoid having just a gradation of blue at the top of the image.

It was frigid that morning -- like, single-digit cold.  With relatively little moisture in the dry air the naked trees only had a small amount of frost on their branches.

Aside from a few magpies, I saw no wildlife to speak of.  They clearly had enough sense not to get up and about until things warmed up a little more.  Still, the stark winter landscape provided plenty of visual interest.  Getting close to some dormant rabbitbrush yielded an abstract sort of scene ...

... while backing up and zooming out resulted in more context.

One of my favorite tricks with a relatively bleak scene is to take the color completely out and let light and contrast do the heavy lifting.  I like the result of that approach here with the tree and frost.

I only spent about an hour out because I had to get Zak up to the mountains.  But given how long it had been since I'd experienced cold temperatures like those an hour was plenty.

More to come.  MUCH more!

Chatfield State Park, June 2015

First full day back in Colorado wasn't mainly for taking photos: It was for catching up with dear friends. But I still managed to squeeze in a few hours at Chatfield State Park. As much rain as we've had in Texas, they've had it nearly as bad here. The reservoir hit record levels back on June 17, and has only receded a couple of feet since then.

  No parking was going on in this parking lot.  But I saw some kayakers go through.

Lupine are in bloom, and the pollen sacs on this bumblebee seemed full to bursting.

I imagine the scene provides a bit of a glimpse of what the area will look like if the planned reallocation project moves forward, and the reservoir becomes used for storage in addition to its current flood mitigation role.

Not sure exactly what type of insect this green fly is.  But it looked striking on the thistle blossom.  The bright overcast conditions did provide nice light for these types of shots.

Another thistle was covered in ladybugs -- I counted at least 20.  Nothing like Zak and I saw a few years ago at Devil's Head Lookout Tower, but still interesting.

I'd never seen Slocum Cabin before today, or this ruined wagon that rests near it.

The bridge over the Platte River is just barely above water.  But the road just west of it is still submerged.  The waters are going to have go down another several feet before normal vehicle traffic will be possible again.

A nice little photo appetizer to start the visit!

Chatfield State Park: November 2014

Extreme weather often creates unique photo opportunities. So with the mercury hovering around a balmy five degrees this morning, I decided to head over to Chatfield State Park to see what I could see.

At my very first stop, an adult bald eagle flew right over my head and perched on a tree near the water.  I trudged closer to try and get a decent shot, but it left before I could get close enough.  This bird was also in the tree, and it also took off right as I started snapping.  I think it's a juvenile bald eagle, but I'll ask for some help from the good member of the Front Range Wildlife Photographers Facebook group.  It seems odd to me that raptors are more skittish than most of the birds they prey on.

EDIT: Luis A. Ramirez from the group concurs that it's an eagle.

I had more opportunities to shoot magpies today than normal.  They didn't seem any more abundant than usual -- they just weren't moving as much.

I'd never seen a bunch of birds look so cold.  But they certainly had valid reason.

As this flock of Canada Geese flew overhead, I could almost hear them saying, "We're clearly not far enough south.  KEEP FLYING!"

I spotted these waterfowl out of the corner of my eye driving over a bridge.  They clearly weren't your normal mallards, so I turned my car around, stopped at the closest parking area and trudged over to the water to shoot them.  Turns out they're skittish, too.  They flew off as I was bumbling my way through the vegetation near the shore, and this was the best shot I could muster.  I'll be looking for an ID for these, too.

EDIT: Carol Wade from the group says they're hooded mergansers.

And yet another ID needed.  I think it's some sort of hawk, but it was pretty big.

EDIT: Luis to the rescue again -- red-tailed hawk.

It's hard to take a picture of cold.  But that's what I was trying to do with this shot.  Dead trees, dead grass, patchy snow, grey skies and mist obscuring the background.  That's just how it felt.

This kestrel gave me a little something before also deciding it would prefer to be elsewhere and flying off.

These cascades near the border with South Platte Park never disappoint.  The mist coming off the water added a little something extra to a scene I always enjoy anyway.

I surprised myself by spending nearly three hours in the park.  Granted, most of that was in my car.  But my toes still haven't completely thawed out!

Chatfield State Park, October 2014

Photo outing Friday saw me stay really close to home -- just across Wadsworth to Chatfield State Park. I was hoping for birds -- owls, eagles, herons and such. But on a gorgeous Colorado fall day, there's no need for too specific of a wish list.  Just keep an open mind and open eyes, and the beauty will find you.

The first unexpected opportunity came from a pair of hot air balloons.  Not what I was looking for, but exactly what I meant about beauty finding you.

They seem to move slowly from a distance.  But when one glides right over you and you're shooting off a tripod, it does require pretty rapid recomposing.  I was happy to get some nice light as this one went by.

I thought I was having a relaxing morning.  This guy looks like he had me beat.

Nice low sunlight filtering through some turning trees.

I notice trails a lot more when they and the trees around them are covered in autumn leaves.

There was barely any breeze, so reflections off the water were lovely.

I saw quite a few northern flickers, which I didn't necessarily expect.  They didn't typically let me get close enough for a great shot, which was completely expected.

I did get my first western meadowlark shot ever, which was nice.  They were also a little too skittish for me to get as close as I'd like.

A flotilla of American Coots were heading toward open water.  Leisurely, but purposefully.

Some common blanketflower were in bloom.  Sort of amazing for mid-October.  Like the season's final act.

Seed pods still interest and impress me.  So much detail and beauty in something just intended as a vessel to give life to a new generation.

My major wildlife sighting for the day.  This little fellow sat frozen while I took his portrait.  I did some bushwhacking for a bit looking in the trees near the reservoir for owls or eagles, but came up empty.  Still, I saw foliage, reflections, birds, mammals and flowers all in one outing.  It just took an open mind and open eyes!