Crested Butte Fall Panorama

Crested Butte Fall PanoramaPanoramic view over the town of Crested Butte, Colorado near the peak of fall colors.

Almost nine years ago, to the day, I photographed the peak of fall colors over Crested Butte, Colorado. Then I forgot about it!

This past week, while waiting for our leaves to color our forests enough to take pictures, I started updating my website. I don't do this very often because it's not as much fun as getting behind the camera and finding new scenes. It was worth the effort though. I found this 9-year-old photograph that I never shared with anyone. It hit me like a ton of bricks when I saw it. I was like..." where did this come from?"

I absolutely love that the blue sky offers such a color contrast with the warm autumn tones of the leaves and grass. I love the variety of the warm tones too. So many of our fall color photos only show one color. Yellow! I do wonder how other viewers feel about the view down Maroon Avenue. Does it add or subtract from the photo? I'm torn between enjoying its leading-line effect versus whether I could have filled that space with more foliage if I had stood 50 feet to my right.

So often in September, we can't even buy a cloud. I'm happy with the few I got flying around the peak.

I chose a panoramic format because the foreground and empty sky would dominate the scene and add nothing to the final result. I do this frequently. It's all about eliminating stuff that does not contribute to the image. I'm pretty inspired by the minimalist approach. While this photo is far from minimalist, the idea of eliminating superfluous space is a technique I try to use in every photograph.

Well, I hope you enjoy my lost and found photograph this week as the leaves around Crested Butte begin their annual show. "Crested Butte Fall Panorama" is now available on this website. I've moved all of my "fall color" Colorado photos to a single gallery so they're easier to find. Feel free to poke around and enjoy lots of fall photos from Colorado.