use real butter

Recipe: prosciutto-wrapped figs

Day four of NaBloWriMo and I haven’t flubbed it up yet!

I’m home at last, and while I love love love exploring the natural beauty of Colorado, I love even more how good it feels to be home. This was an excellent scouting trip – not much of a shooting trip. Jeremy kept telling me that he was sorry this road trip didn’t have much in the way of colors (or even leaves for that matter), but I kept replying, “It’s okay, I got a lot of good opportunities earlier in the week.” I suppose it’s hard to imagine how good it was just four days ago when all of the stands are gray and devoid of color now. Now I can finally sit down to do some serious processing. Beth sent me some of her pics from the shoot. We had such a good time.

hard not to smile when you catch the aspens at the right time (courtesy beth bartel)

We shot from sun up to sun down, in the heat and in the freezing cold, we clambered up steep forested slopes and ate a lot of dust on dirt backroads. I’ve learned a great deal about getting the shot over the past several years and I continue to learn with each season, with each time I press the shutter release. The process is becoming more and more rewarding. I hope you are enjoying some of these captures as well.

aspens seem to make their own light

caught just before the storms

waves of color

Before September became officially INSANE, I shot several recipes to tide urb over until my schedule eased up a little. I’m looking at these pictures and realizing that figs are most likely on their way out for most of us if not completely gone. That’s too bad, but just keep this in mind for whenever you can get your greedy little paws on some fresh figs again.

fresh figs are a gazillion times better than dried figs (i eat those too)

**Jump for more butter**

Today’s shoot was sobering in contrast to the exhausted elation of the trip earlier this week. The aspens have taken a serious beating from storms and so there wasn’t much to salvage. Still, despite the fact that the quality of the aspens wasn’t good enough for dedicated shooting, it was a spectacular sunny day with blue skies and gentle breezes that rustled the remaining leaves. We walked through one promising stand of mature aspens on a carpet of golden leaves. Fall is magical here. I told Beth on our last shooting trip that getting outside on a regular basis – into the splendor that is Colorado – makes me say over and over again, “I am so happy.”

kaweah was pretty happy

I had accepted early on that there weren’t many money shots to be had, so Jeremy and I turned the trip into recon for the next fall shoot. While one person might see naked, gray aspen trunks on a hillslope, I see a full green forest in summer, fiery yellows and oranges in fall. I keep thinking to myself that I’ve seen all of the most beautiful places in Colorado, only to discover more valleys full of aspen stands, more jagged mountains draped in snow, more lakes and streams reflecting the blue skies above, more sprawling skyscapes over healthy dark green pine forests to take your breath away. This place is my home. I’m falling in love all over again.

a place to unwind

A storm is blowing in as I type, so hopes of sunset shots were dashed for this evening. Actually, I don’t mind. It was nice to find a local coffee shop in town to chill out with Jeremy while we caught up with work. Driving another thousand miles this weekend gives us plenty of time to discuss future plans. Where to shoot in the coming year? Southern California beckons to me as does Washington, Oregon, Montana, Utah, and there is always Colorado. I’m feeling excited and energized. I’ll post more photos from the fall shoot (and recipes) when I get home on a network that doesn’t feel like squeezing blood from a turnip. Tonight’s adventure – to find decent Mexican food in Colorado: something that seems obvious, but is actually quite elusive.

I’m writing from my motel room and well, I was in this same motel just two nights ago. This time, however, I’m with Jeremy and Kaweah who are joining me for a weekend of shooting, hiking, and hopefully, decent fall colors. Kaweah couldn’t care less about the colors – she’s all about finding Dead Things. This year’s colors are substantially diminished compared to last year. That early season snow storm on the last day of summer and the subsequent wind storms haven’t helped either. In the north, the stands are dull and stripped bare. I think tomorrow might be the last good day of the season before another storm comes barreling through. As with life, as with everything – make the most of it.

aspens aren’t the only color in colorado

This is actually the first time in about three weeks that I get to spend quality time with Jeremy because we’ve both been traveling and very busy. Already, the 5+ hour drive was spent talking and catching up with one another. I love that kind of QT. Kaweah is snoring – she has one queen bed ALL TO HER FURRY SELF! Well, this post is a short one because the wireless in the motel is utter crap, we’re all nodding off, and NaBloWriMo will inevitably involve short, pointless (okay, I guess all of my posts are pointless) ramblings.

Have a great weekend. See you here tomorrow :)