Chris Kayler Photography

These secretive, cute, alpine hares were surprisingly one of my favorite animals of the whole Colorado trip. Nope, no Elk or Bighorn Sheep for me … just the strange antics of these little guys. They live in boulder fields at or above treeline, and spend the entire short summer harvesting alpine grasses and storing them underneath rock ledges to dry out. During the winter, they stay awake and eat all of the grass that they have accumulated, at times supplementing it with lichens. I wish photos could do justice to the cuteness that is the Pika, but sadly they can’t

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The processing continues! This image is from the top of Mt. Evans, CO. We saw about 5 kids roaming around, never far from their parents. I thought the adults were great, but these kids brought it to a whole new level! The weather was really interesting up there - this relatively intense flurry passed through at about 4 PM in the afternoon, when it was about 40 degrees out. In July. During the following days, the summit received about 6 inches of snow!

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It’s been a while - sorry about that! Since getting home I’ve had a strong urge to relax a wee bit, and the idea of editing and processing my Colorado trip photos is a daunting one. No worries - I’m excited to do it and hope to get a good chunk done today. For now, this is one of my first newly processed images. This beautiful male Eared Grebe was found on a small prairie lake in northern Colorado. It is easily my favorite grebe I’ve had the chance to see so far.

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This image is from this morning, which was probably one of the most spectacular sunrises or sets of the whole trip. The whole sky lit up pink at one point. While I didn’t find this particular tarn with abundant wildflowers until after the sun had been up for a few minutes, I still liked the strong backlight and sun in the frame.

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*Processed on laptop.

It’s been too long since my last blog post … as we’ve had a bunch of unproductive days in a row. Between fixing the car, and now either altitude sickness, a sinus infection, or some combination of the two … I’ve been down and out in a hotel. Not fun! I’m feeling a bit better this morning though, and want to get back up to the mountains. This image of a Yellow-bellied Marmot is from earlier in the trip near the top of Mt. Evans. Love these guys!

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*Processed on laptop.

Here’s a neat little slot canyon from our long day in the desert yesterday. This section of Coyote Gulch is where the canyon is at one of its narrowest points. Being my first slot canyon, it was so great to experience the tight spaces, towering walls, and cool temperatures in contrast to the unrelenting desert heat. Off now to look for some snakes tonight!

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*Processed on laptop.

Quick post tonight as I must wake up in ~4 hours to head out for sunrise. Ugh! Today we spent all day hiking in 100F+ temperatures into slot canyons and in the desert in general. To call slot canyons amazing would be an understatement - I’m sure I’ll process one of those images sometime soon. For now, this image is from a large expanse of badlands near Factory Butte, Utah. I really liked the simple composition and overall blue tones of the post-sunset light.

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*Processed on laptop.

While waiting for our car to get fixed, we haven’t been missing any opportunities to photograph. With our rental car, we have been traveling around the Moab, Utah area, and just today have driven further south to the Escalante area. I think I had a very successful sunset tonight (and saw a Rattlesnake, too), but this image is from the previous night in Canyonlands National Park, as the sun dipped below a curtain of falling rain. Standing on the edge of this cliff with the warm desert winds blowing up from below was pretty special.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

*Processed on laptop.

We are currently in Moab, Utah with a wee bit o’ car troubles. Going to get a rental for a few days most likely. Luckily we should still be able to continue shooting, as the desert around here is really, really amazing, with lizards, cactus, and all sorts of cool sandstone formations. Going back in time a bit, this image is from Colorado at Great Sand Dunes National Park. The hike to the top of these 8,200 ft. tall dunes required a steep ~700 ft. climb, which was absolutely brutal in the deep sand and strong winds.

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*Processed on laptop.

We lucked out with some more good light today! As an intense 3 hour rain storm came to an end, this beautiful scene unfolded before me. Tomorrow we are likely heading to the deserts of Utah before coming back to the San Juans when the wildflowers are just a bit more in bloom.

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*Processed on laptop.

We’ve had some more great light recently, but keep messing it up by heading to the wrong locations while the light puts on shows in the opposite direction! Luckily, we have found some other stuff to shoot during the day. After photographing lupine flowers in a large field and heading back towards our sunset location, I spotted this big Mule Deer buck walking through the fields. We were able to get our long lenses on the camera and photograph him from the car window.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

*Processed on laptop.

The trip continues! We are in a bit of a lull weather-wise right now, with bright blue skies and cold temperatures … 29F last night. In hopes of some more monsoon weather tonight, we have been photographing Aspen and numerous blooming flowers near the town of Crested Butte. This image was photographed this morning in some intense backlit conditions. I really liked the contrast between the bright light and blue shadows.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

*Processed on laptop.

Quickie blog post from a Burger King parking lot. The trip has continued to be amazing, with great light and great adventure. My favorite part of the trip so far has been on the road to Mt. Evans, the highest paved road in North America at over 14,000 ft. At the top, a herd of very tame Mountain Goats can often be found and photographed as they hop from rock to rock looking for alpine grass and flowers to munch on. This male was found shortly after sunrise relaxing on a boulder at the edge of a large drop-off. Getting within feet of these big furry goats was such a thrill!

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*Processed on laptop.

The past 2 days have been amazing, with perhaps even 20 keepers over both of them. We’ve had amazing light, and have been able to photograph lots of wildlife such as Marmot, Mountain Goat, Bighorn Sheep, and two species of Prairie Dogs. This particular photograph, while not my favorite of those taken so far, was taken on a very nice morning in the prairies of northern Colorado. This particular little pool housed Eared Grebes, among other ducks, but I couldn’t help but take a photograph of the still waters and pink puffy clouds reflecting among them.

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com

*Processed on laptop.

After a grueling nonstop 30 hour journey from my doorstep in Northern Virginia, my friend Alex Mody and I arrived in the rockies of Colorado to be greeted by brewing storm clouds and spectacular light. After driving up into the Rocky Mountain National Park’s Trail Ridge Rd. we photographed Elk, Marmot, and no less than 3 seperate rainbows, followed by a decent sunset. I’d say day one of the trip was a success.

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*Processed on laptop.

Here’s another photo from one of my successful mornings at Great Falls National Park, Virginia. As the sky began to light up, I turned downriver to see this beautiful sight. I really liked the intense pinks and drifting fog. On a big side note, this may be my last post for a bit as I am busy preparing to leave on a 3 week photo adventure to Colorado and Utah this Wednesday. Excitement would be an understatement! I’ll try to post from the road.

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Going back in time a wee bit, this image is from my quick overnight sleep / sunrise shoot atop Blackrock Summit in Shenandoah National Park. I had two of my friends pose with their headlamps as the steam from the boiling water rose out of the pot.

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Continuing with the photographs from Great Falls National Park, here is, to me, an interesting behavior of one of the local herons as he attempted to walk and slide his way down a pretty slippery cliff face. It was funny to see him try to keep his balance.

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Here’s another one from my time spent at Great Falls National Park. This image was from the same morning as my previous post. Needless to say, I found it to be a pretty successful and exciting day. This heron stayed still just enough time for me to capture this long 1.6 second exposure amidst the churning waters.

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Some photographer friends of mine have been in town the past couple days so I have been hanging out at Great Falls National Park with them to photograph landscapes and herons. This morning I lucked out with a very nice sunrise, perhaps the nicest I’ve ever photographed from the main overlook. Many more landscapes and herons to come!

To order this print or purchase stock rights please contact me. To view additional photos for sale please visit my website at www.chriskaylerphotography.com