Tony's Takes Photography

Wildlife, landscape and weather photography

Storms over the Collegiate Peaks

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Thunderstorms roll over the Collegiate Peaks and toward Buena Vista, Colorado below. (© Tony’s Takes)
Thunderstorms roll over the Collegiate Peaks and toward Buena Vista, Colorado below. (© Tony’s Takes)

I am back from some much needed R & R in San Isabel National Forest overlooking Buena Vista, Colorado. I didn’t take many pics as family and relaxation were higher priorities but the skies in many of the evenings demanded attention.

This one from this past Friday. Mount Princeton is front and center. If I am not mistaken, Mount Yale is the tallest peak to the right then moving back left of Princeton, Mount Antero and Mount Shavano are the two most prominent on that side.

No matter their names, the view was awesome! Oh, and believe it or not, the next night we had snow!

Icicles pop against the blue sky

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Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Coming home from work the other day I noticed we had a bunch of icicles hanging from the gutters on our front porch.

Most were the ‘run of the mill’ type – long and skinny. However, there were a few hanging from a downspout that had some crazy cool shapes to them for some reason. Best of all, the corner where they were at was bathed in the late afternoon light which made them really pop against those gorgeous Colorado skies.

Closing down the lens to f/16 helped to create a starburst effect on some of them. Kind of a fun, easy photo opportunity and a reminder that sometimes the coolest pics can be had right in your backyard.

Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Icicles shine against a deep blue sky in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Solitary reflections in black and white

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A bare tree in the fog is reflected on the surface of a pond at St Vrain State Park in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A bare tree in the fog is reflected on the surface of a pond at St Vrain State Park in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Solitary reflections in black and white. Jumping back to almost exactly one year ago today. Thick fog had settled in on the St Vrain River in northern Colorado and spotting wildlife became pretty much impossible. It did however create some very cool scenes like this one, taken in St. Vrain State Park.

Foggy summer morning back-road

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Taken a couple of weeks ago at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. You’ve likely seen me pictures I have posted of this same spot in the past. It is really quite picturesque with those trees looming large over the road. On this day, we had some early morning fog, something we don’t really see very often here in Colorado with as dry as it normally is. This however came on a day following a good bit of rain helping to give rise to the fog.

A foggy road in Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. (© Tony’s Takes)
A foggy road in Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. (© Tony’s Takes)

Black and white portrait of a spring snowfall

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Finally! Colorado was extraordinarily dry in the winter and has been thus far in spring too. Last night and this morning we received some much needed rain and a bit of snow. The moisture is very welcome to help with the drought but also made me happy because it made for some pretty pictures this morning.

Black and white image of a wet road and snow-covered trees in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Black and white image of a wet road and snow-covered trees in Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Monochrome snow-covered trees

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A cold and wintry day on the Colorado plains yesterday. The weather seemed to have most of the critters holed up and hiding but, thankfully, Mother Nature provided some nice scenes to take pictures of. With the mercury at 15 degrees and light snow falling, these trees stood out in the middle of nowhere wearing their coat of white. As there wasn’t much color anyway, I converted the image to black and white which seemed to work well. Available here.

Black and white image of snow and frost covered trees on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)
Black and white image of snow and frost covered trees on the Colorado plains. (© Tony’s Takes)

A mighty cold winter scene along the Colorado Front Range

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A taste of the Arctic for us today as cold air refused to move out and left us with some pretty darned cold temperatures. The so-called “high” temperature at my house not far from here was 11 degrees. That does not make this photographer want to venture far from his truck to say the least!

This image was taken at Barr Lake State Park as light snow fell in the late morning and clung to the trees. I did walk around some, but it didn’t take long before my fingers were telling me I better get inside the warmth! 😉

Hoar frost and snow coat the landscape at Colorado's Barr Lake State Park. (© Tony’s Takes)
Hoar frost and snow coat the landscape at Colorado’s Barr Lake State Park. (© Tony’s Takes)

Tumbleweeds endure icy conditions

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To say it was a bit cold Saturday morning on the plains would be an understatement and these ice-covered tumbleweeds provide evidence. A cold north wind had blown them across the lake onto the shore and the splashing waves had provided the moisture. Throw in temperatures to the low 20s and wind chill temperatures far below that and you can understand why it was pretty miserable at this spot that morning. Taken in Morgan County, Colorado.

Ice coats a tumblewood along the shore of Jackson Lake State Park, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
Ice coats a tumblewood along the shore of Jackson Lake State Park, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)

Dense fog envelops powerlines and the road

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A very interesting – and pretty – morning of ??weather? here in northeastern ??Colorado?. Temperatures were in the single digits and a hoar frost had covered everything in white. Also thrown in the mix was dense ??fog?, something we don’t get very often.

All of it came together for some nice pictures including this one on a dirt road. The fog had settled into a low lying area that the South Platte River meanders through and as it did, it seemed to swallow up everything going through it.

Dense fog in Adams County, Colorado envelops a rural road and massive powerlines. (© Tony’s Takes)
Dense fog in Adams County, Colorado envelops a rural road and massive powerlines. (© Tony’s Takes)

Sunrise colors hoar frost in pastel colors

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C O L D. That was the key word yesterday morning when I took this image along the South Platte River north of Denver.

The mercury was showing 1 degree above zero as the sun emerged from its slumber. With the warming light very slowly starting to spread, an amazing scene was unveiled with a thick hoar frost covering the foliage. Some of this frost stuck out an inch from the branches.

Crazy stuff and of course very, very beautiful. I snapped a few pics but then quickly retreated to the warmth of my truck. 😉

A thick hoar frost covers tree branches along the South Platte River north of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A thick hoar frost covers tree branches along the South Platte River north of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A thick hoar frost covers tree branches along the South Platte River north of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)
A thick hoar frost covers tree branches along the South Platte River north of Denver, Colorado. (© Tony’s Takes)