Fall in Colorado is one of the most beautiful times of year and the San Juan mountains offer some incredible backdrops for landscape photographers. This year’s fall foliage was some of the best I’ve ever seen there. The first sunrise shoot of the workshop was an iconic vista of the Dallas Divide. Once the sun rose, we headed to another vista for a few quick shots before shooting an old GMC pickup truck. In the afternoon we headed back out to capture some side-lit aspens along a dirt road. We found a really great grove that needed diffused light so we waited about a half an hour for a few clouds to cover the sun so we could get the perfect shot. We ended the evening with a classic view of Mount Sneffels.

The second morning of the trip we shot Mount Wilson in early light before heading over to another incredible grove of Aspen trees that had very unique curvy trunks. We finished off our morning with some beautiful reflections in a small lake. In the afternoon I took the group to a new area that we had not visited yet where we decided to photograph… You guessed it. More aspen trees, but that was not all. We also photographed an iconic mountain in the last light of the day.

The last morning of the trip we chose to photograph a pristine lake with glass like water and tons of aspen trees. The frosty morning produced a beautiful layer of fog and was a great way to end the trip.

Until next time,

Mike and the rest of the Aperture Academy family

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