November was a long but rewarding month. There was quite a bit of downtime near the beginning of the month however the final few weekends and some of the days in between were filled with stunning subjects, unreal conditions, and gorgeous photographs just waiting to be captured!

All but one set of these images was photographed on my new Nikon Z8. I got that camera this month as a replacement for my Fujifilm X-H2S and put it through it’s paces all month long! It’s been performing great so far – and I’m excited to see how it continues to perform throughout the year.

On the morning of Sunday November 9^th I was able to make my way up to the mountains and photograph the rising sun. There was no snow on the front range yet but the views were no less gorgeous for missing that snow.

I thoroughly enjoyed taking the pictures you see here. There was a mix of wide angle views and telephoto shots (this image being a zoomed in sub-section of the image above). The one lens I had (the Nikkor 24-120) performed phenomenally the whole time.

As I left the first location I noticed some lovely grass catching the sun across the way. I walked over and as I did I found two compositions – the first was very similar to one of my favorite images of 2024 – and the second was very similar to a shot I got in Grand Teton a few years prior (though the frost on the grass of that image I think adds a bit to it – it’s image number three here).

From here – I drove back down and as I did I stopped and pulled off to admire some trees and foliage lining the side of the road. I strolled around for a bit as I did taking a photograph of the foliage above us catching the light of the early morning sun. It’s similar to the shot of the foliage which opens the “Hello Colorado” section of Octobers article here.

This was a totally random evening – I did not expect to take any photos or see anything interesting. The sun had set early and I was at home. A friend messaged a group chat saying “If you’re in Denver and see this message – go look outside you can see the aurora”. I told Sophie, we hopped in my car and I drove us to an area I suspected would have a good view.

The views were good but many other people were there too! It was a wonderful sense of community. A bunch of random people who probably have fairly little in common in our day to day lives showing how much we have in common at our base instinct.

We all gathered together to see something spectacular unfold in front of us.

After photographing this area for a while we began to leave. As we were leaving, I wanted to snag one final image farther up the road and facing out towards the mountains. I’m glad that I stopped to take it – even if the image isn’t the sharpest it’s still one I’m glad to have captured. The movement in the aurora is on such full display here. I love the shot.

Later that week, I was looking to get out and stretch my legs so I went for a sunrise hike on a Friday before work began.

I went to a nearby park with my Z8 and did a hike, while the images were okay they weren’t the reason I was out. I was looking to get some exercise in and get some fresh air unplugged from a screen.

In that respect this hike was perfect. I had been metaphorically itchy from how sedentary I had been – so getting up and hiking to the summit of Mt. Zion was the perfect remedy.

Afterwards I made a quick coffee at home, edited some images and then began the day.

On the fourth Sunday of November I was in pursuit of snow once again. I’d been looking forward to (and for) snow more or less all month but hadn’t got any of it.

Finally Saturday the 22nd there was another window of opportunity at the same area from where I’d photographed the final picture in October’s post. But instead of going out and up towards the peak I summited that day I hiked out and up towards the snowfields I had seen the week prior.

Clouds were moving fast over the peaks I was hiking. I had seen stars on the drive in and I was hopeful for seeing the sun even a little bit this morning. As sun rise was happening the clouds caught the light in a vibrant show of color as you can see above and below.

As I hiked further up the mountains, I reached what I wanted to photograph, the grand snowfield. It was gorgeous – albeit a bit challenging. The snow was somewhat inconsistent and patchy. So I tried to use that to my advantage as an element of the composition (as I did in the below image). It worked well but I’d love to (and plan on) going back when there’s even more snow and snow-shoeing to that destination!

After I reached the ridge line I was content with the photographs I’d captured and the weather seemed like it was beginning to turn. I began making my way back down the trail and eventually went home. Little did I know how exceptional the snow would be the following weekend.

A walking trail that Sophie and I adore (it was our first sunrise location in Colorado) recently opened up an additional 1.5 mile extension. The morning of Thanksgiving we had time to kill so we went to the trailhead and took a nice long walk. It ended up being close to 4 miles total and along the way we watched the mighty Clear Creek river begin to freeze.

I love the gradient in the image on the left – from the warm tones near the top of the image getting cooler and cooler as we get closer and closer to the bottom of the river where the edges are beginning to freeze over.

Later that long weekend, Colorado was getting a gift! We had a generous heaping of snow coming our way! Wanting to make the most of it, Sophie and I went up to the mountains and did some hiking on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday Sophie and I went up together and begin a hike in the blizzard.

We were hopeful that treeline would help protect us from the snow that was falling all around us – and it did for quite some time – but eventually we began to reach exposure points on the trail – and as I was photographing the above image – the clouds in the distance began to part letting light in!

As you can see the wind was working against us comfort wise but in my favor photography wise! The snow was getting kicked up and blustering all around us – and the results are a wonderful bit of blue haze as the snow blew past and around us.

This next image is special and I can’t fully tell why. It’s a nice composition with a lovely subject but the thing that shocks me is the power line. I almost always hate when there is man-made structures in my landscape photographs but here for some strange reason I really do not mind whatsoever. In fact I think if I were to remove that part of the frame with Photoshop it would be a far weaker image.

Eventually we reached the point where we’d be turning around and there was one final snow drift I’d be photographing that day. The clouds rolling past in the back were well to compliment the dividing lines on the bottom of the image below.

As we made our way down the trail back towards the parking lot we passed this set of trees which I think work well as a subject. The light was beginning to flood the valley and I think this was the final image I was able to get of that subject before the light was too hot to balance well with the shadow of the mountainside we were hiking on.

On our way home we began driving through a thick bank of cloud which had been hanging low towards the peak we were driving over. I decided to pull off and investigate – and I’m thrilled with the results.

P.S. I’d love to (and plan on) returning to the scene of the image on the left when we get a deeper snow this year near us on the front-range. The image is great now – and the tree itself is glorious but if I could get similar conditions on the tree with a pure white foreground I think it would be exquisite.

The following day we were destined to cut a Christmas Tree! But to start we did a hike with some friends. While the cloud snubbed any hope of light the views themselves were still breathtaking and I’m glad to have learned about that hike – it’s one I intend to visit again once even more snow has fallen.

I managed to capture this alarmingly minimal scene of some stalks of grass breaking through the snow, It’s work reminiscent of one of my main photographic inspirations, Thomas Heaton’s.

Further on the trail after checking out the hut it was about time to finish the hike. We trekked out to the ledge overlooking the valley we’d hiked up and through where I got this striking panorama of the Western Range. It would be great to get to this point when the clouds are clear and a sunset is a strong possibility. The light would illuminate that range in a way I can’t help but feel excited about.

On the way home again we stopped at another park in a similar area to where we stopped the day prior. I was able to capture a few more images which showcased the frost well.