Stunning Landscape photos captured

I recently returned from my first photo trip to Colorado, and I was blown away by what I saw. Timing of the trip was spot on, as the aspens were in full color — it looked like the trees were filled with golden tinsel as the breeze blew across the mountains.

The resulting images are simply amazing.

The first day

I arrived in South Fork, Colorado, about midnight with MTA ("My Trusty Assistant," aka my wife Yvette) and fellow photographer Tim Stanley and his wife Sue. We fell into our beds after a long 18 hours on the road, anxious to see what the area looked like.

My body was still on tournament time (I traveled 20 weeks this year working with Bassmaster shooting photos of their bass-fishing tournaments), so I still woke up at 4 a.m. I drank coffee and tried to be quiet until I saw sunlight outside the window.

I was stunned by the view when I walked behind the cabin, and quickly ran for the truck to grab my camera gear. The aspens were golden as far as I could see, and I had a wonderful foreground of the Rio Grande River.

My first image of the trip was the beautiful view of the Rio Grande River with the aspen-covered mountains in the background. It started the trip off right.

The rest of the crew were soon stirring, and eventually made their way to the edge of the river to gawk at the scenery. By midmorning, we were joined by our host James Eastham to chat about the coming week.

James, an amateur photographer, had a whole sheet of places to go. The agenda was set, and after a bit to eat, we headed out and drove up nearby Pool Table Mountain. The drive was stunning, offering our first close-up view of the aspens. Everywhere we looked was a postcard waiting to happen, so we stopped a lot. Maybe too much, according to MTA.

The day ended with a drive into quaint Creede and up Table Mountain.

A blur of activity

The following days were filled with driving through and shooting some amazing photos of the Rocky Mountains. Our cabin sat at 8,300 feet (which meant I had a bit of altitude sickness the first few days), and we ranged throughout the region hitting heights of more than 12,000 feet in our search for beautiful photos. One of the days was spent at the Great Sand Dunes National Park (amazing!), where I shot the really cool photo below (can you find the people?).

We spent time in cool little Lake City near Lake San Cristobal, and saw some beautiful waterfalls, rivers and wildlife along the way. We also crossed the Continental Divide and visited beautiful Pagosa Springs. 

And all along the way, we shot some just stunning photos. I've placed these beautiful images in my Colorado Collection, and I invite you to look through them. 

But be warned: They will make you want to load up and head to this amazing place!