Fall in Southwest Colorado

Fall is my favorite season in Colorado and the southwest region of the state is my favorite area in Colorado. Put the two together and it’s, like, really my favorite. Or maybe my favorite-squared? Sorry, I’ll stop.

Seriously, though, southwest Colorado has everything I want for fall photography. Of course, there are the aspen trees, but also big mountains, remnants of mining, and red-colored mountains that pop against both the yellow aspens and blue skies.

There is a ton of hiking, but also enough scenic drives* that you never have to leave the road to get great views. If the weather turns, you have several small towns – Ouray, Silverton, Ridgway, and others – to retreat to for food and coffee.

This year I was in the area for maybe only 48 hours, but took as many photos as I sometimes do on trips of a week or more. I couldn’t help but share more than usual today.

*Here is a short movie clip of the drive from this trip, taken from my dashcam and lightly edited via WeVideo. I think I’ll be sticking with photography rather than videography, but it’s a fun toy on long road trips. 

Fall in Northern New Mexico

As part of the same trip where I had my good fortune with the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad, we also had good luck with the scenery and weather on most of drive. That is, if you don’t count the brief snow, rain, and too-close-for-comfort lightning strike. 

With any landscape photography, it’s helpful to keep expectations low. Weather, light, and just luck have big parts to play in any outing. I had viewed this detour as scouting for a future trip in a future year, so expectations were low for actual photographing, but it turns out they could have been sky high and I still likely would have been excited about how it all came together.