From the iconic barn — where the fog submerged everything in a cold veil — I drove up the Yampa River Valley to my favorite barn. Things were getting brighter, but the fog remained stubborn and thick. By now, my coffee was gone, and it was tempting to return to the condo for more, but something palpable was in the air. The fog was going to bust wide open.
Just by the barn, I discovered a few clumps of lupine, their crisp leaves and candy-like blossoms at their most perfect.
By now my jean cuffs were soaked to the knee from walking through the tall heather, but I was genuinely loving every minute of this. It wasn’t just the freedom to wander and shoot images, but the conditions were exceptional, too. Any kind of photographer dreams of moments like this where all the elements converge in a beautiful way — light, shadow, color; nature, architecture, highway. Everything looked magical, and I had the whole scene to myself.
To photograph the lupine and grass pods, I crouched low and shot into the sun with two prime lenses — a 50mm f/1.8 and a 24mm f/1.4. With less glass than a zoom lens, I find the compositions simpler and less prone to nasty flares.
As I trudged through the thick grass back to the road, the burn off was beginning. Fog strands were peeling back and revealing a remarkable summer blue sky. A robin perched on a nearby fence post, swallows wheeled in the air eating mosquitos, and an occasional pickup truck drove by at 10 mph. Surely the drivers were savoring the remarkable moment, too, unwilling to do the posted 25 mph.
[...] time we go there, whether its in July, the dead of winter, or even mud season at the tail end of April, this wholesome little cow-town [...]