An Abstract End to Summer

The snow has largely disappeared from the alpine high country, save a few stray-grey patches here and there, or the odd “glacier” that is no longer truly a glacier (alas). The green of the tundra and the forest is fading. Brown and gold, the colors of autumn, are slowly creeping in to the grasses and will soon climb into the aspen. I even heard the bugle call of a bull elk yesterday. There will still be some hot summer days to come, but fall is nigh. The cycle continues.

I generally prefer the fall, winter and spring for high country photography as the weather conditions and the sky are often in turmoil and this makes for more interesting pictures–and experiences.

What can a photographer do, then, with a barren alpine landscape and a dirty old snowfield that still lingers on a cool north slope?

Well, how about turning it into something approaching an abstract…

Old Snow Abstract, #1. RMNP, Colorado, 2015