33 » Back with a (cozy) vengeance

Hey sweater-clad friends,

My name is Alex and you're reading Stillnotes, a photo newsletter you subscribed to, likely a while ago, about life seen through the still image. I share notes on stills, if you will.

Throw on your coziest oversized sweater, grab a coffee, and lets chat through a crisp fall morning photo outing.

The above image was taken Monday morning this week. I am still on a high from it. Fall is peaking right now in the Colorado mountains, it's an incredible foliage year with more reds than I've ever seen here, and my first sunrise out in a long time paid off in spades. This is one of my favorite images I've captured in a long time.

A few technical details: It's a 5 shot panorama taken on my 70-200. Vertical images sweeping across the range, stitched together in Lightroom with a simple edit to start. I'm really happy with just about everything here, the small ridge of trees in the lower left foreground providing depth, the distinct line of light across the mountains, and the clouds providing a dense but colorful ceiling. I punched up the shadows to give a little space for the immense amount of aspens below the peaks, but didn't go full HDR. I'm constantly torn between the HDR look that seems to be popular in landscape and my typical lean which is more towards natural film-esque looks.

I loaded up Scout around 6am and headed to the trailhead, just a 20 minute drive away. A rushed but otherwise peaceful hike up brought us to a large clearing on a plateau overlooking all of the eastern Gore Range and north towards Ute pass. This time of year is a blessing and a curse in terms of sunrise timing. Later sunrise means easier wake ups, but I miss the long summer days and late sunsets. This is the best time of year in Colorado, so I'm enjoying the short few weeks this lasts.

I frantically shot as the light hit, then fed Scout his breakfast and relaxed once the sun got lost in the cloud layer and the light disappeared. This time post-shoot is always interesting when you're out in the field. I was flying on how amazing the morning was, worried I'd messed something up technically in my rush, and finally stepping back to take it all in and breathe. Some might say that frantic shooting portion during the good light ruins your personal experience, but thats not how I feel. It's a rush. It's a moment you hope for coming together requiring fast execution.

I took some time to explore the area, including some groves I want to come back and shoot at sunset. Then I headed back down to the trailhead, getting home in plenty of time for my morning meetings.

A few more shots from the morning (caption links to expand and view larger):

I hope 2025 has been treating you well. Keep it cozy, and I'll be back soon with more.

—Al