I did a lot of the driving from Montrose to Telluride, Colorado—our final destination—but I asked my wife to take over part of the trip so I could snap some fall color on the way. The distance is relatively short, 65 miles, and it took less than one and a half hours.

The terrain was more varied than expected. Of course, we went through mountainous areas as well as wide-open plains.

I took a lot of pictures, but I rejected most of them. Many were degraded from excessive reflection off the windows. Then, we had less-than-ideal compositions, and some scenes were downright boring photographically. I picked this image, one of a few I really liked. We have the wonderful yellows, well balanced on both sides, mixing in with the evergreens. We have mountains in the distance and a good blue sky. Finally, we have a curved road forming a leading line.

I think it makes for a solid landscape, but this comes from someone who doesn’t shoot much nature.

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