Colorado: From the Side of the Road (on Film)
1/7
Some of the most beautiful sites I have seen have been from the side of the road. Whenever I am traveling by car, I will stop the car or ask the driver to stop to create the photo I see from inside the car. Usually, it is abrupt, but I know if I do not stop, I will think repeatedly about how the view I just saw will disappear from my mind and be gone forever. My Hasselblad is usually riding beside me, always ready to go.
While I was traveling through Colorado back in January, I was soaking in everything I was looking at. I made sure we would not be in a hurry to any particular destination, knowing that I would be pulling over on the side of the road whenever I wanted to. Sometimes, pulling over is not an option, like when winding through mountain roads. In those instances, the passenger is strongly encouraged to take videos for me (thank you, Rob).
This post is dedicated to my seven favorite side-of-the-road images created in Colorado in January 2023.
These images were created with a Hasselblad 500 CM on Kodak Portra 160.
2/7 Between Wheat Ridge and Buena Vista
After we landed in Denver, Rob and I picked up the rental car, ate dinner, and headed toward Alamosa. We crossed through the Rocky Mountains and headed South along the west side of the ridge. Somewhere between Wheat Ridge and Buena Vista, the sun and the moon were dancing for attention. It was a time when I was audibly screaming about how beautiful the scenery was. There were many times in this couple-hour drive that I wanted to pull over, but the winding mountain roads, strong winds blowing snow everywhere, and oh-so-freezy temperatures made me keep driving until we found ourselves on a long, straight, empty road alongside this ridge of the Rocky Mountains. As it was safe to pull over, I brought out the Hasselblad for the first couple of images from the trip. Also to note, this is officially the farthest west I have ever been and the first time I have seen the Rocky Mountains. It was a very exciting time for me.
3/7 Mosca
The next morning, we headed to the Great Sand Dunes National Park. The roads were surrounded by plains of dried grasses and melting snow. The area was empty, with not a soul in sight. This old house stood alone in a field with nothing inside. We can see right through the building. The simple geometry of the form made the lighting that hit it emphasize its straight edges and interior void. The deteriorating roof reflects the texture of the ground while the whispy clouds balance out the crispiness happening below.
4/7 Mosca
Not too far down the road from the last image, I stopped again for this view. I am not sure why I am drawn to this image so much. Maybe it is the color palette, the ripply mountains in the background, or the vertical poles sticking out of the ground that are not perfectly straight.
5/7 San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area
Before reaching the National Park, we passed a sign welcoming us to the San Luis Lakes State Wildlife Area. We pulled in to view the mostly dried lakes (or all dry; I don’t remember seeing any water). I appreciate this photo for its three quadrants: the foreground of crispy plants that look soft and have their winter warm color, the rigid, cool-toned, snow-capped Rocky Mountains, and the bright blue sky with thin, delicate clouds.
6/7 Blanca Peak from Alamosa
After the Great Sand Dunes, we headed south to New Mexico. We followed this ridge until it came to an end. I needed to pull over once again to document the views. Oh, so many views.
This image is of Blanca Peak from Alamosa. Blanca Peak stands tall at 14,350 feet. For those on the east coast, that’s over two times the height of the highest peak of the Blue Ridge Mountains (6,684 feet). After reading this post, take a minute to Google “Blanca Peak panorama.” It is truly massive.
7/7 Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs
When I travel, I try to choose a couple of things that I ensure we do, and then once I have done them, I search for extra fun things to fit in here and there. On the way back to Denver, we decided to drive on the East side of the Rocky Mountains for a different scenic route and found ourselves googling “must see in Colorado Springs.” Anyone from the Colorado area would definitely know what came up first on that list.
So, we changed our GPS to Garden of the Gods. This view was from the side of the road before we went down to the entrance. When I pulled over, I thought this was the whole thing until we realized there was a specific entrance road. Walking around the Garden of the Gods was a surreal experience.
Thank you for reading and supporting this small photographer’s journey! I hope you enjoyed this small look into what it is like to be me traveling in a car and maybe have a new appreciation for looking out of the window instead of at our phones.
If you want to purchase any of the images as prints, please email me at info@caseylee.photography.