During my May 2025 trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, I set up near Moraine Park with my infrared-converted camera to capture a different side of the Rockies. From this vantage point, the rugged ridges funnel the eye toward the heart of the Continental Divide, framed by drifting clouds that carried the last breath of winter.
What infrared does here is transform the familiar into the surreal. The meadows and pines, glowing with that signature silvery light, look almost as though they’ve been dusted with frost, even in spring. Against this brightness, the dark stone faces of the mountains rise like sentinels, their snowfields blending into the luminous IR glow of the forest below.
The lone tree in the meadow has always caught my eye when I’ve walked this valley — in infrared, it becomes even more symbolic: a quiet anchor in the middle of vastness, dwarfed by scale yet standing apart.
What I love most about this photograph is the contrast in moods: the dreamlike brilliance of the landscape against the weight of storm clouds rolling overhead. It’s both otherworldly and deeply rooted in place — a reminder that the Rockies are never just one thing, but always a balance of extremes.
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