Originally published in The Mountain Connection, March 2004.

Living in Colorado, one becomes gradually aware of the tremendous contrasts in environment within the state. Plains, mountains, forest, and desert are all in close proximity to each other. In my photography I often look for ways to bring several environmental details together to create interest and dynamic tension.

Winter offers an opportunity to showcase such contrasts. I was at Red Rocks State Park recently after a snowstorm. I was struck by the starkness of the desert landscape at the very edge of the city. I also marveled at the color and variety of forms in the rock formations scattered across the park. And the new snow softened the hard edges and blended things together.

When a particular scene strikes us, the real challenge is trying to find the right position and framing to capture the scene and convey the mood or our emotional connection to a place.

In this case I was attracted to an imposing and colorful rock formation, with a mantle of snow at its feet. Then, I found a group of yuccas in the foreground. I wanted to create a contrast by bringing together the totally different shapes of the yucca and cliff. But I also wanted to connect them together so I carefully positioned my camera so that a line of yuccas naturally caught the viewer's eye and led the eye into the background and ultimately the cliff in the background.

The entire process of finding this scene, determining where I wanted to set up the camera, how to use the different elements in the scene to create the composition, and the technical aspects of aperture and shutter speed, all took a considerable amount of time to determine and then tweak to create the final image. Two things that photography and all art can teach us is to see more clearly to appreciate the beauty and detail around us, and to also have the patience to do all of the small detailed things to capture that image on film. These are two valuable lessons that we can carry with us every day.