Colorado Photographer / Author / Wildlife Advocate | Steven W. Krull
Renowned Colorado wildlife photographer and author advocating for our wild living legacy
The holidays are behind us, and I'm getting back into my photography routine. This weeks adventure took me to Eleven Mile Canyon, in search of our bald eagle pairs. Unfortunately I was only able to capture one sighting, but a new winter storm has arrived in the area, and I was able to capture a few ghostly images of the snowy landscape.
The plan was to write a monthly newsletter, and I think I actually did get a couple written before the whole plan was derailed by events. Somehow through all the trauma, I managed to keep shooting, but recently noticed that none of those images had been uploaded to my fine art website, or to my stock agencies. No newsletters had been written and I had actually put little thought into my photography since the trees began changing colors in the high country in September. But now the skies have cleared over my life and it's time to get back to work!
On a rare occasion people do come to visit me, and often it's because they want to climb the Manitou Incline. There may come a day when my old legs will no longer carry me up the 2700 rugged steps over the old cog railway that takes one to 8500 feet in elevation in just one mile of near verticle climbing, but on this day I was willing to give it one more try. Even though the previous sentence may have set a record for word count, last weekend's climb to the summit did not 😦
Many mornings as I sip my coffee, I try to think of locations where I might find new adventure and capture amazing scenes that I haven't yet experienced. Most of the time nothing comes to mind, and I just head out to my nearby trail for some exercise. However, I'm also often astonished at the surprising experiences I encounter there.
I love this time of year in the canyon. Young wildlife is past the newborn stage and are just now experiencing the joy of their new legs and wings. Young osprey are especially excited about their newfound powers and unlike their more mature parents, they spend much of their day in flight. They don't realize it yet, but their games are preparing them for a 4000 mile journey that will begin in about a month.
A sure sign of the advancing season is the arrival of juvenile osprey to the canyon. Each spring our osprey nesting pair returns to mate and raise a new family of chicks. They travel thousands of miles from their winter vacation to meet at the same nest and greet their lifelong partner for the joyous event. As August nears, their young gain stength and skill and finally take flight in a burst of energy, hope and a bit courage too I imagine.
It was supposed to be a regular photo trip to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge. However as it has been so many times this summer, photography in the Refuge was a stunning failure. Birds we have seen in abundance the last few summers are strangely absent. The coyotes were sleeping and the bison nowhere to be found. That's when it began... our short road trip was extended.
I'm always glad when the Independence Day holiday is in the rear view mirror. Some of the summertime tourist furor dies down, and I can finally get into a warm weather routine. The animals too, seem to sense the change in pace and begin to settle in to some kind of predictable balance.
There's nothing like a piece of new gear to jump start waning interest in an old hobby, and my new Garmin 22x GPS handheld should do the trick. Back in the day, before blogging and vlogging were even a thing, and social media wasn't an idea yet, I was posting trail reports on my website.
It's been a while since I have done a YouTube video, but im happy to share some nice footage of the Three Amigos, my favorite alpine deer herd!
Colorado Photographer / Author / Wildlife Advocate | Steven W. Krull 