Aspens and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspens and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. This small, remote pond had a beautiful stand of aspens growing next to it. The trunks remind me of a baleen whale’s teeth.

As I said in this recent post, I had many opportunities to photograph aspens as part of a larger landscape this fall. But of course I photographed more intimate scenes as well, and I’ve included a selection of smaller-scale aspen photographs from Colorado here. Some of these images actually encompass a large geographic area, but I made the somewhat arbitrary distinction of defining an intimate landscape as anything that didn’t include sky.

On our first autumn visit to Colorado last year we split our time between the Kebler Pass/McClure Pass area and the San Juan Mountains. This year we spent the whole time in the San Juans, which allowed us to get to know this area better. There’s always something to be said for that. As you become more familiar with a place, you discover some of the lesser-known locations. You also start to learn the weather patterns, and know where to go at sunrise or sunset when there might be interesting clouds.

One of the things I looked for this year was aspens next to water. This can be surprisingly hard to find in Colorado, because there are few natural lakes at the elevations where aspens grow. But we did find some small, pretty, manmade lakes surrounded by aspens, and I’ve included a few images from those spots here.

This was, by all accounts, a mediocre autumn in Colorado. It certainly wasn’t as good as last year, but there are so many aspens in the state that there’s bound to be good color somewhere. We had no complaints.

— Michael Frye

Aspen-covered hillsides, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspen-covered hillsides, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. Clouds created beautiful dappled light on these hillsides, but required patience to wait for the sun to hit the right spots.

Aspen-covered hillside, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspen-covered hillside, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. Some great patterns on a hillside near Silver Jack reservoir.

Backlit aspens and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Backlit aspens and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. As the sun rose over a ridge, it created some beautiful backlight on these aspens.

Aspens and maple, San Juan Mountains, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspens and maple, San Juan Mountains, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. I loved the soft backlight on this maple underneath an aspen canopy near Ouray.

Aspens and pond, San Juan Mountains, CO, USA

Aspens and pond, San Juan Mountains, Colorado. A sky full of puffy clouds caused the sun to go in and out, so I waited for a moment when the background trees would be in the shade, with the foreground aspens lit by the sun.

Aspen trunks near Telluride, CO, USA

Aspen trunks near Telluride, Colorado. We found this striking group of trunks near Telluride, with perfect, soft sidelight emphasizing the rounded forms.

Sunlight on aspens, Umcompahgre NF, CO, USA

Sunlight on aspens, Umcompahgre NF, Colorado. I made this image just before capturing the rainbow photograph from that previous post. Sun breaking underneath the thundercloud created dramatic contrast.

Aspens and a snow-covered mountainside, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspens and a snow-covered mountainside, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. I liked the juxtaposition of the aspens in front of the snow-covered slopes.

Aspens, firs, and reflections, Woods Lake, Uncompahgre NF, CO, USA

Aspens, firs, and reflections, Uncompahgre NF, Colorado. Just more Colorado aspens next to a beautiful lake.

Related Posts: Autumn Landscapes; Processing Autumn Landscapes; Colorado Color; From Eclipse to Aspens

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Michael Frye is a professional photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He is the author or principal photographer of The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite, Yosemite Meditations, Yosemite Meditations for Women, Yosemite Meditations for Adventurers, and Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters. He has also written three eBooks: Light & Land: Landscapes in the Digital Darkroom, Exposure for Outdoor Photography, and Landscapes in Lightroom: The Essential Step-by-Step Guide. Michael has written numerous magazine articles on the art and technique of photography, and his images have been published in over thirty countries around the world. Michael has lived either in or near Yosemite National Park since 1983, currently residing just outside the park in Mariposa, California.