Colorado Photo Journey - A Wedding in the Wilderness

This summer, I took a trip with my family to Red Feather Lakes near Ft. Collins, Colorado.  Our final destination was Beaver Creek Meadows Resort.  Our purpose for the journey was to attend a wedding at this beautiful Colorado location.

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE.

Beaver Creek Meadows Resort is tucked amidst the beautiful Colorado mountains.  This is one of many HDR photos I took here in Colorado.  If you're asking yourself, "what is HDR?" i've written an article to explain it.

During the first hours there we were greeted by a bright rainbow.

Unfortunately, the Pine Beetles (or something similar) made their presence known.  The trees that are red in color suffer from the infestation.  From what I hear, it's been a very big problem in Colorado.

Beaver Creek Meadow has a stream that runs through it and plenty of vegetation, including these beautiful flowers, surrounding it.

This HDR shot captures the booming clouds behind the trees.

You'll definitely want to enlarge this picture (click on it) to see the horses in the middle.

The Resort has a couple of ponds with some pretty active fish.  You can see the ripples of one that just jumped (right part of the frame.)

As I took pictures throughout several days, I kept seeing the same lonely duck which is swimming toward the horses in this shot.

My wife, Meaghan, and I hit the road to catch some scenic shots.

We found this lake that had a really interesting tree that towered over the front of the lake.

We found yet another lake, but the real bummer was that I couldn't get close to the shore since it must have been private property.  The fences were literally 10 feet tall with barbed wire on top, so I had to get on the top of a hill just off the road to get a shot of this.

Here's another shot of the lodge from across the water.

With this HDR shot, I was able to capture the interesting sky behind the lodge during the evening.

One of Colorado's iconic symbols is the Aspen, and I must say, these trees are mighty tall!

The resort has a really neat bridge that overpasses the pond.

Here's another look at the bridge from another angle.  I didn't notice the bird in flight until I processed this photo.  Do you see it? You might need to click on the image to enlarge it.

Meaghan and I took our son AJ out to explore the scene.

I think AJ was pretty happy about it!

I'm pretty obsessed about sunsets.  After taking some sunrise photos this trip, I may have to pursue them more aggressively from now on.  I marvel at morning light. It just makes everything glow.  This is an HDR shot.

Here's another HDR sunrise photo which includes the lodge to the left.  It was a pretty breathtaking view from our window of the lodge I must say.

And, I figured I might as well get another HDR photo of the other side of the pond. I just love those rays coming off the sun and hitting the trees!

This is one of those shots that I obsessed about.  It took me quite awhile to finally compile the different exposures required for it.  The position of the sun was key so that it could hide behind the bridge and cast light on the stream coming at me.  It took quite a bit of processing work, but I'm glad this one turned out the way I had envisioned it.

The morning sun made the colors of the scene warm and rich.

Another angle reveals the lodge and the tents that were used for wedding events.

Here's a panoramic shot comprised of 7 different shots together.

That morning there was not a single soul around...and I came across this mysterious bike.

The sun shot its rays through the trees.

The lonely duck made an appearance once again.

The rose petals revealed the special wedding from the previous night.

The next day I had to catch another sunrise!

The lonely duck decided to visit the horses again.

I wandered around to view the huge Colorado Aspens again.

Humingbirds, from what I hear, are pretty common throughout the area.  I'm used to seeing hummingbirds half this size in South Dakota...they are certainly a fantastic photo opportunity.

HDR processing allowed me to process this photo to include the sun flare, yet retain details in the landscape.  A normal one-shot exposure would not allow this detail.

This is another photograph that was extremely challenging, and one which required many different exposures to capture the cascading waterfall and the bright sunlit sky.  Processing photos like this is a true challenge I really enjoy.

Whaddya know....the lonely duck is back again;-)  This time I was able to capture a great HDR shot so the beautiful blue break in the clouds could be seen in the sky beyond the leaning tree.

The next morning, we left the resort early in the morning and we were welcomed with an outstanding sunrise...i couldn't have asked for more.  Our wonderful driver, Keith, pulled over so I could take these next several shots.  This one is an HDR shot of our path.

I marveled at the way the breaks in the clouds spread out the rays across the mountains.

This was a panaromic shot of the Colorado mountains...this was comprised using 10 photos...I wish you could see the actual size....it's HUGE!

And finally, this HDR shot of the beautiful Colorado sunrise left a lasting impression on all of us for sure.  I was so excited to be in front of this breathtaking scene.  It was yet another way this trip made me truly understand that I should pay more attention to sunrise photos and not just sunset photos!

Beaver Creek Meadows Resort near Red Feather Lakes is certainly a beautiful place and a great place to have a wedding and relax!