Shot of the Month 2026
“Depth” - January 2026
20mm 1/125sec f/5.0 ISO 80
I captured “Depth” almost entirely by luck while hiking on a frozen lake in Rocky Mountain National Park with my parents over the 2025 Christmas holiday. I was playing with some camera motion shots that DID NOT turn out where I was spinning my camera with a slower shutter speed to try and create a spiraling Star Wars hyperspace effect. “Depth” was the result of a test shot where I was checking my camera settings more than anything and no camera motion was involved.
What I liked about this image was the layers that were present without the help of digital processing or fancy camera techniques (exposure stacking specifically). On the top layer (closest to the camera and most visible at the top of the image) there’s a layer of more liquid looking ice, maybe from where I had knelt just a minute or so prior. A layer deeper looked like rising air bubbles, caught in motion by freezing water on their way to rejoin the atmosphere. Finally, at the deepest layer, there were some larger air bubbles that looked like gigantic blueberries! Those blueberries were the inspiration for the color tone of the whole image - I wanted to emphasize their shape and texture, so I color-graded the whole image with purple and blue hues while making the blacks super deep.
“Don’t Eat Our Babies” - February 2026
600mm 1/1600sec f/6.3 ISO 400
I was sitting on the couch in the living room watching the Olympics when Staci came in and proclaimed there was a Bald Eagle flying around outside the apartment! I thought that was really neat, but also that there was zero chance of my seeing it since they’re something of a rarity in our area. It turned out I was wrong! A few minutes later I saw the eagle as it dove for cover behind some townhomes across from my apartment building. Then I noticed a lone Red-tailed Hawk had landed on the roof of my apartment building. I promptly ran to get my camera and hurriedly threw my big telephoto on so I could hopefully get some decent shots from our balcony. I got a few frames of the lone hawk staring in the direction of the fleeing eagle then, out of nowhere, a second hawk landed next to the first. I can only assume the pair of hawks is a mated pair and that they had just driven the eagle off from their nest which is on a cell tower a mile or so away from my apartment. The moment this shot occurred was when the smaller of the two hawks (the male?) took off towards its nest - I can only assume it saw the eagle flying in that direction and it was ready to get back in the fight. It was such a treat to be able to witness nature’s drama from my home.
“Color Explosion” - March 2026
40mm 1/125sec f/9.0 ISO 400
Why I picked this shot for my March Shot of the Month is simple: the color blast of orange, pink and yellow was incredible to witness from the top of a mountain near the front range. It was my first time shooting on a 40mm prime lens too and that is stretching me creatively in wonderful ways. This month was a difficult choice for the top shot as weekly hikes have started back up with daylight savings time starting.
“Outside the Comfort Zone” - April 2026
44mm 1/325sec f/10 ISO 160
This month’s photo “Outside the Comfort Zone”, features (from right to left) my wife Staci, our friend Kevin, and his dog Luna as we attempted our earliest backpacking journey in Colorado to date! As if that wasn’t getting us uncomfortable enough, I vlogged the trip in addition to my usual still photography. This trip was a special one. We attempted this section of trail last summer (2025) and got skunked by wildfire smoke wreaking havoc on the air quality. Naturally I want to get this section done as a high priority this season as a result. As you might see in the video though… things did not go according to plan. If you have ever wanted to see what goes into my photos or just some incredible Colorado scenery, check out the video.
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