Colorado has had a good number of wildfires this season but nothing as bad as what areas to our west have seen. As fires rage in California, Montana, British Columbia and Alberta, their smoke has been a near constant presence this summer.

This makes for some crazy, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets but of course I would prefer not to have them as a result of the fires. Nevertheless, it does make some good photo ops such as this rising sun taken yesterday morning in Weld County. The ring was caused by the polarizer filter on my lens.

We have had our share of wildfires here in Colorado but nothing like what California and western Canada have been seeing. Smoke from blazes in those areas backed into eastern Colorado overnight last night creating this somewhat eerie scene this morning. It was pretty but of course the reason for it is not so great.

Down below, the sunrise was obscured by clouds. This morning I was at about 10,000 feet allowing a clearer view – kind of. While there were no clouds directly above, some were along the horizon as was smoke from wildfires in the region. The smell of the smoke was quite strong but the red sun made for a bit of a surreal scene and was kind of cool. Taken in Arapaho National Forest.

It’s not often the sun is red and when it is, it usually comes from wildfires. Such was the case this morning as smoke from the 416 Fire in southwestern Colorado stretched to the Front Range. Certainly it is sad to see forests burn and we certainly wish it wasn’t happening but it does make for some pretty views.

While daytime temperatures in northeastern Colorado were relatively mild yesterday, as the sun was coming up it was a bone-chilling 7 degrees. I really did not want to get out of my toasty, warm truck but as I saw this scene unfolding I had no choice.

A notable lack of clouds had me thinking the sunrise was going to be a dud but I was soon proven wrong. The golden orb coming up over the horizon bathed the water of Jackson Lake State Park in orange and the hint of fog / steam coming off the lake looked ethereal.

Since there weren’t any clouds above to highlight I opted for a panoramic crop of this one and think it came out pretty nice.

“Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in morning, sailor’s warning.” I can’t help but think of that old saying this evening – I am a sailor after all. 😉

The sunrise on the Colorado Front Range this morning was amazing as always. Those gorgeous colored clouds and sky coupled with the frozen pond below were awesome.

However, Mother Nature is apparently set to deliver a potent storm on us tonight and tomorrow so I am of course, taking warning.

This was on an extremely cold December morning on Colorado’s Great Plains. I was at Jackson Lake State Park primarily in search of eagles but as the sun began to crest the horizon and cast its golden light, I couldn’t help but divert and capture the scene.

A light frost had coated the grass helping to make it really shimmer. I then used a bit of a photographic ‘trick’ then allowed me to turn that rising sun into a bursting light.

This really is a cool technique and very easy for those that want to try. Simply stop your shot down as much as possible – something like f/22. The result is the ‘starburst’ effect you see here. It works best if the sun is somewhat obscured like through grass or leaves on a tree.

More of my landscape images here.