The Scenic Beauty of RMNP Landscapes
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Estes Park is blessed with several amazing landscape photographers. First and foremost, Erik Stensland comes to mind. Visiting Erik’s Images of RMNP gallery in downtown Estes Park, you will find the wonders of nature speaking to you. His talents draw you in with the beauty of color and light.
I have primarily been a wildlife photographer, but as my interests grow, I have wanted to improve my skills of scenic photography. Thus, I thought of talented RMNPhotographer friend Tami Roberts whose landscapes I have always admired. For a day, Tami guided me through RMNP, so I could see through her exceptional scenic photography perspective.
Before sunrise, Tami guided me to Sprague Lake. As we arrived and began our walk along the lake trail, she pointed at the sunrise. I mentioned that it was pretty cloudy, and she encouraged me to give it time. “The morning light can surprise you,” she told me.
Then, I was surprised. Not by the sun bursting through the clouds or the light reflecting in the lake, but by a large cow moose on the edge of the water. She was feeding, lifting her head as water pours over her muzzle. Being a wildlife photographer, I was captivated. Time and again, her head came up from the dark morning waters as aqua grass drooled from her mouth like Sweet Basilico Cafe’s rich, saucy, and wonderful spaghetti.
As I captured image after moose image, Tami finally interrupted me. “Look at the sky.”
There before me, the morning light had transformed into a plethora of colors. Greens highlighted the grasses along the lake’s edge. The sky transitions from blue to white fluffy clouds to bright yellow as the sun peeked through the clouds, all of it reflecting in the lake. It was magnificent, and my focus turned from the hungry cow moose to the incredible colors of Sprague Lake and the landscape before me.
Tami had been right. The morning light can surprise you.
I have captured many sunrise images at Sprague Lake, one with clear sky and a moose in the foreground. Others have included an incredible spectrum of sky colors that double in their reflection on the water. But the image I took that morning with Tami was different. I had moved a hundred feet down the trail from my typical location, captured a hint of trees along the photo’s right edge, and included the rusty needles of a long dead pine tree in the foreground.
I thought the trees, alive and dead, might distract from the sunrise. Instead, the colors and framing added to the highlights of the image. It was a Sprague Lake image I had not visualized until that moment.
As we traveled the park, Tami took time to point out the leading lines and potential framing. I tried to gain the perspective of the horizontal lines and their impact on the rule of thirds. Up and down, I thought of the left, center, and right and the top, middle and bottom of the images. I considered where to put the subjects of interest in one of the quadrants.
Doing so, I saw my surroundings differently, creating engaging and pleasing compositions in my mind.
I compared this perspective to the landscapes I’d previously taken. There was the alpenglow on Hallett Peak reflecting in Dream Lake, similar morning light on Longs Peak with a winter setting of the split rail fence along Devil’s Gulch Road, yellow wildflowers in the foreground of the continental divide, leading lines of fall colors along Bear Lake Road, and the walking bridge at the Alluvial Fan guiding the eyes through Endo Valley.
In my mind, I asked myself, “When taking such images, what would Tami do?” As we drove up Old Fall River Road, she explained what she was looking for using the road as the leading line. With that, I could see the spires jetting up from the mountain top, light brightening their points with a golden yellow. It was a perspective I had not imagined before, my mind previously focused on the trees and potential movement of wildlife.
Suddenly, I was thinking of other mentors of scenic photography. Hillary Bralove’s incredible Utah images of vivid crimson, terracotta, and orange-pink sandstone. Darlene Bushue’s many amazing captures of Chapel on the Rock, Saint Catherine of Siena Chapel, near Allenspark, and Dawn Wilson’s night photography images in RMNP. All extremely talented photographers in both wildlife and scenic photography.
Tami and so many other skilled photographers have inspired me to do more with scenic and landscape images. Luckily, incredible visuals is something RMNP offers the opportunity to capture each and every day.
