tree & clouds

You know how sometimes you stumble across a spot and think that it just might make for an interesting photograph, if only… if only you could catch some beautiful light… if only the sky were more dramatic… if only you could return in spring or winter or fall or summer.

Well, I stumbled across this particular spot above the Doudy Draw Trail (just south of Boulder, Colorado) while I was looking for new ways to photograph the Flatirons. If you look to the north while standing on this hilltop, you do get a panoramic view of the Flatirons and you can also see into Eldorado Canyon to the west… but if you turn and look eastward, the vista you see in the image above presents itself.

While exploring the hilltop, I came across this tough little tree and the wonderful view of the rolling plains behind it, and I knew that under the right conditions I could come away with an attractive landscape photo.

I think the appeal of this scene for me is found in its simplicity. I find the wee gnarled tree, in its own solitary way, to be graceful & noble. I think the open, rolling plains behind the tree are enchanting, perhaps because they are so very different from the iconic Colorado landscape shots of rocky ridgelines and snowy mountaintops. Don’t get me wrong— the mountains here in Colorado are breathtaking and I enjoy being up among them, but the plains of eastern Colorado offer a different, more unfettered aesthetic. Maybe it’s just that big, big sky.

Anyway, after finding this spot, I found myself returning again and again, trying to catch some great clouds. I’m not sure why, but I just felt in my gut that what this scene needed to make a cool photo was some great clouds. In the past year, I’ve probably been back up to this hilltop five times (fortunately, the trail is only about twenty-five minutes away & then a short ten minute hike to this spot), but I never managed to catch a sky I was pleased with. Then this past Sunday, after church & lunch, I was sitting down to watch the hockey playoff game between Pittsburgh & Montreal (Let’s go, Pens!), but the dramatic clouds had been distracting me all day and I knew that if I didn’t grab camera & tripod and make a quick visit to “my tree” (as I’d come to think of it), I would regret it. So...

When I pulled into the parking lot at the trailhead, I knew this particular trip was going to be the one when my patience was rewarded. I huffed & puffed my way up the hillside, made my way over to the by-now familiar spot, and set up the shot. Tree to the right using the rule-of-thirds… make sure you get the rocks in the left side of the frame… set the auto-bracketing for the HDR… check the aperture… oh man, are those drops of rain I feel?!? You’ve got to be kidding me. Please, please, please, just hold off for three minutes.

Needless to say, the rain held off for those three minutes. In fact, I got off three different shots, then packed everything up and headed back to the car. About thirty seconds after I climbed in the Mini, it started to rain in earnest.

After waiting so long to get some cool shots at this spot, I'm very happy with the ones I came away with last Sunday. And I'm kinda proud of myself since this is really the first time I've staked out a spot for so long, waiting to get "the shot" I'd envisioned in my mind. I guess I'll have to find a new spot to obsess over now :-)

Thanks for reading about stuff I’ve photographed. ~Rich