Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Family Trip - Yellowstone and Teton National Park

We spent a week in Yellowstone and Teton National Park with the family.  Just wanted to share some photography from the trip:


Yellowstone

An elk and her calf

The elk were super aggressive in the park.  This one got a little too close for comfort.



lower falls from Yellowstone National Park with rainbow photography
Lower Falls

Bison and bird


Grand Prismatic Spring


the Grand Prismatic Spring from above aerial view
The Grand Prismatic from above


Morning Glory Pool (Don't go swimming)


Pronghorn



Old Faithful


Old Faithful erupts


Yellowstone sky


Tower Falls







Grand Teton National Park




the snake river overlook panoramic photography where ansel adams took his famous shot
Snake River Overlook


Snake River Overlook B&W

Mormon Barn


Other Mormon Barn


Bison and Grand Teton in the national park at sunrise photography by aaron spong
Bison and Grand Teton


Teton Pano





Teton pano with fence


a perfect mirrored reflection of Mt. Moran with wildflowers from oxbow bend in grand teton national park
Oxbow Bend


Jackson Lake at sunset


photograph of the Grand Tetons from Jacksaon Lake
Cathedral Group from Jackson Lake





All included images and more are available as fine art prints Here

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Bald Eagle Colored Pencil - Work in Progress

My latest work in progress is a SUPER detailed drawing of a bald eagle catching a fish.  I wanted to take a break from the paintings and switch over to a medium I have much more control over.  I'm finding that the eagle is going to take a bit longer than expected.  Actually, this drawing is turning out to be quite painful.   All the small details in each individual feather!  What was I thinking?





A few months later, working on this about an hour or two at a time (because that's all I can do without going crazy!)  here is the finished drawing:


Bald Eagle Fishing


  I'm pretty pleased with it, but I think I'll switch to something less involved for my next project. 





Saturday, December 28, 2013

Quandary Peak - Winter 2013



Since Brad discovered the little snowflakes you can earn on your 14ers checklist, he's been knocking out the 14ers in calendar winter.  I had never stood on a 14er summit in winter officially, (though I've have hiked a few in winter conditions) so he asked me to join him on on of the easy ones.  It was an awesome day out on Quandary Peak near Breckenridge.

The hike started out fairly clear on a still day.  It's rare to have a windless afternoon this time of year so we were thankful.  As we approached treeline, we eventually found ourselves off route a bit.  We had to do some trail breaking with the snowshoes for a half mile or so until we gained the ridge again.  These "easy" peaks require more effort in the snow.

Hoosier Ridge from Quandary

Mt. Democrat at center

As we regained the ridge above treeline, the clouds started slowly moving in.  They would hover at the top of the mountains for the rest of the afternoon.


False summit


We met a couple other parties approaching the summit.





We had poor visibility on the summit, but being up that high in the clouds was an awesome feeling!



Summit marker

We made it back to the car around sunset and had some dinner in Breck.  Great hike, and I found that I'm horribly out of shape!