ASPENS – Portfolio Number One – Along the Henson Creek Road, west of Lake City, Colorado. Photograph taken 1997. Aspen trees with their white bark have always been good subjects for black and white photography. What attracted me to this particular group of aspens was the dappled light and the intersecting lines of smaller trees converging toward the central subject. Aspen groves are known to be the largest living single organisms on earth. What appear to be individual trees are in fact connected via their common root system.
NEIGHBORS – Portfolio Number One – Eastern slope of the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, near Westcliffe, Colorado. Photograph taken 1997. This image represents the first photograph taken for this portfolio and one of my earliest black and white works, having worked in color for many years. Autumn in the Rocky Mountains offers cool, crisp mornings and mild days. One morning I returned to an area that I had scouted the previous day. The tonal patterns of the valley floor led my eyes to the majestic Sange de Cristo Mountains. I noticed the interplay between valley and mountain, mountain and sky, and man to his environment.
SHADOWS OF THE ANASAZI – Portfolio Number One – Square Tower House Ruin, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. Photograph taken 1997. Occupied from 1070 to 1300. I first saw this group of cliff dwellings late one September morning. The cliff dwelling contained some seventy rooms and seven kivas. In front of the remaining four-story tower there was a three story structure with a two story structure in front of it. These are believed to be “domestic rooms”. I was taken by the sense of abandonment some 700 years ago. The light so cool and shadows so cold. The ancient structure reflected the centuries of stillness.
A STILL LIFE WITH ROSE – Portfolio Number One – Photograph taken 1998. This rare still life is simply a tribute to my deceased parents. I used both red and polarizing filters. The stage was created using a dark green towel draped over a chair covering two books. I composed and created what I hope is a simple yet elegant tribute to the memory of the two people who most influenced my life. To the best of my knowledge the pitcher had been in our family since 1870; the rose was from my mother’s coffin. We often fail to tell those closest to us how much we love and value them. Some how I hope this image will resonate through time.
THE COMING STORM – Portfolio Number One – Gunnison Basin, west of Gunnison, Colorado. Photograph taken 1997. Sometimes you just get lucky. Right place, right time. I had been working in the area that morning and had stopped for lunch. Afterwards I had looked up at the oncoming storm. The clouds were parting over my subject creating a natural spotlight effect. I quickly focused my attention on the unfolding scene and exposed. This is an image that in many ways exemplifies the western spirit of individualism, combined with a 19th century romanticized view of the American West. I knew I had just experienced a once in a lifetime opportunity.
OVER THE TOP – Portfolio Number One – Wilson Peak, 14,017 ft. in the San Miguel Mountains near Ophir, Colorado. Photograph taken 1997. Southwest Colorado offers many photographic opportunities. This photograph was taken early one autumn afternoon. With Wilson Peak silhouetted against large cumulus clouds rising up from the southwest, I set about framing this timeless scene. I used the tree branch at the lower right to give tonal balance with the dark shoulder at the left side. The branch also repeated the general shape of the peaks forming Wilson Peak. Creating balance by using design elements is critical to composition.
WINDS OF CHANGE – Portfolio Number One – Northern Wet Mountain Valley, Colorado. Photograph taken 1997. Running some ninety miles north to south, the Wet Mountain Valley lies between the Wet Mountains to the east and the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains to the west. Every one likes old barns, and these old horse barns with steeples intact caught my eye. The horses atop the weather vanes, one black, one white due to the sun’s reflection, were an added plus. One vane indicates North, South the other East, West. These deteriorating barns create a sense of western history and of the pioneering spirit needed to coexist with the land.
