art, landscape, nature, photography, random thought, travel, wildlife, writing

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Well, after 3 weeks and 4300 miles, I’m finally back home.

It was an epic road trip and I am so pleased with the work I had the chance to produce in 5 National Parks!

The first of which being, of course, Rocky Mountain National Park.

I spent 9 days exploring and photographing this phenomenally beautiful place. Most noted subjects of this park are the fast flowing creeks, abundant wildlife, and majestic peaks.

It was certainly a challenging experience; waking up before the sun to shoot all morning, hiking 10+ miles during the middle of the day (with 30 lbs of gear) to scout locations, and then shooting until after dark, going to bed and doing it all over again. Needless to say, I wasn’t getting a ton of sleep, and I lost a few pounds of excess belly :)

It was a ton of hard work, but it’s the kind of labor that I really live to do.

So, here are a handful of my favorite images from the first leg of my three week trip!

In the next week or two, I will post more images, videos, time-lapses, and as promised, equipment reviews…

Please feel free to ask any questions you may have, technical or aesthetic, leave comments/ feedback, but most of all, I hope you enjoy the beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park!

All images are available for commercial and editorial licensing through Tandem Stills + Motion. Prints of select images will be available soon!

all images and content © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2013

art, equipment review, landscape, nature, photography, random thought, travel, wildlife, writing

rocky mountain high | road-trip 2013

I have never been to Rock Mountain National Park. Yeah… seriously.

With all of the locations I drive to regularly in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, for some reason, I have never been.

It’s especially odd, now that I think of it, because of how (relatively) close and how stunningly beautiful I hear it is.

So, I’ve been planning to spend a week there at the end of June.

I will piggyback off a job I have in Telluride over the fourth, and a stock assignment in Big Bend National Park.

Adding in a few extra stops like Canyon de Chelley in Arizona, this thing has really turned into quite the road-trip…

To top it all off, Canon is sending me a few lenses to evaluate, which I will review here on the blog… check back to see me put some exciting lenses to the test!

I am really looking forward to spending some quality time in phenomenally beautiful Rocky Mountain NP with Canon’s long awaited 500mm f/4L II and 24mm f/1.4L II.

The closest I’ve been to RMNP was a backpacking trip a few friends and I took in 2008 to Indian Peaks Wilderness.

IPW is within Arapahoe National Forest and borders the southern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park.

I’ve been to a lot of beautiful places, but Indian Peaks Wilderness was certainly one of the most stunning.

And then of course… like an old friend waiting for a long overdue visit… Big Bend. Except for 2012, I have been at least once every year for the last 10+ years.

It’s a magical place. With a character and an energy like no other place I’ve been, it has the ability to soothe ones soul. It’s a perfect mixture of southwest desert and rugged mountains.

Along with the lenses, I will be testing out some new filters, new techniques, and I hope it will be a rejuvenating experience. And I want to share it with all of you…

So please, feel free to ask questions, give tips, make comments, and check back over the next several weeks for updates. I will be sharing some of the secrets and tricks of the trade!

Cheers!

— andrew

all images and content © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2013