Brainard and Isabelle Lakes, July 2018

Mountain goats are always atop the list of wildlife I hope to photograph when visiting Colorado in the summer. Closely behind come moose, another animal I don't see in Texas. My go-to place and time for bull moose in the past has been Brainard Lake at sunrise. So stifling a groan I set another 4 a.m. alarm, won the argument with my objecting brain when it went off, and drove up to see what I could see.

No moose were visible in the willows when I arrived, so I stole a moment to shoot the soft sunrise colors over Brainard Lake.

I love how these rocks cast such long shadows when the sun is so low in the sky.

Moose, alas, eluded me.  A grazing mule deer buck was my consolation, for which I was not ungrateful.

No trip to Brainard Lake is complete without making the hike to Lake Isabelle.  It may be my very Front Range hike -- four miles roundtrip is a distance that gives you a workout without completely wearing you out, it's got just enough elevation gain to get the heart pumping, the mix of cascades and wildflowers along the trail are a visual treat, and the payoff at the end with the lake and peaks never disappoints.  And at this early hour I was even able to get a parking spot at the trailhead instead of having to walk the extra mile from Brainard Lake.

Did I mention the cascades?  I continue to be an unapologetic sucker for scenes with running water.

This view would be nowhere near as interesting without the wispy clouds in the sky.

Lake Isabelle itself provides a perfect opportunity for a panoramic.  So I took one.

The sun hadn't risen high enough to wash out the scene, so I just kept finding other spots along the south shore with interesting compositions and continued shooting.

I thought these gnarled trunks would be more compelling than they turned out to be.  Hey, not every swing is a home run.

Moving water in the foreground, snow-kissed peaks in the background?  That's a winning combo.

This picturesque runoff is like the gatekeeper for the lake.  The shadows from nearby trees were actually a little too distracting when I arrived, but had receded by the time I left to no longer compete with the view of the water.

I took the previous shot from atop this wooden bridge, then backed up to include the plank in this shot.  That simple shift of just a few feet results in an image that tells a completely different story.  Photography is like writing in that way -- being intentional about what you include and exclude is how you exert control over the narrative.  When trying to figure out which of my images I prefer, the decision typically comes down to which better reflects the story I'm trying to tell.

The moral of this story: Who needs moose? :)

Related Links:

• Brainard Lake: July 2014, Part I
• Brainard Lake: July 2014, Part II
• Brainard Lake: July 2015