The Colorado autumn season is one of the most spectacular things to witness and this year the fall color was off the hook! We started the workshop off with a sunrise shoot of the famous Dallas Divide. There were a lot of clouds in the morning so we did not get direct light on the scene but were later rewarded with some dramatic telephoto shots of the peaks wrapped in clouds. We then headed down a country road to photograph a beautiful vista and some incredible aspen textures.

For the second portion of our first day together I took our group to a hidden waterfall high in the mountains. The group shot the scene in freshly fallen snow. So far the workshop was off to a great start! The images were just incredible! After the waterfall, we headed back down the mountain to catch the sunset of the Dallas Divide from a distance. It was a great day!

Day 2

The following morning we returned to the Dallas divide in hopes of some direct light at sunrise, and luck was in our favor when we witnessed the mountains light up with yellow and gold foliage in the foreground. It was beautiful! After our perfect sunrise, I took the group to a very unique grove of Aspen trees that is a little bit off the beaten path. Heading back the way we came, we stopped at a roadside vista to capture some beautiful dappled light on the distant mountains. And because we like to chase the light, we took a detour to a little-known lake that had fantastic fall foliage in the background. On our way back towards town, we stopped at the Dallas Divide one last time since the clouds were looking so good. And after some much-needed lunch, conditions were looking so good that we decided to stay out all day!

After lunch, we headed up a winding pass to photograph some of the area’s best aspen groves and iconic peaks. We spent the rest of the day up there until we ran out of light and had to head back to the hotel for some much-deserved rest. We were all excited about the great images we captured.

Day 3

The final day of the workshop was reserved for a couple of hours of post-processing. I ran the group through a couple of scenarios including object removal and basic image workflow. Seeing all the great images captured by the group was really cool! All in all, this is one of my personal favorite workshops, and I can’t wait to get back next year!

Until next time,

Mike and the rest of the Aperture Academy family

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