New Year's Eve in Crested Butte

I just got back from a great trip to Crested Butte, CO and I realized that I hadn't written in my blog for a long time so this is me changing that, along with a few words of advice. 

My good friend Rick Louie texted me asking if I'd like to go to Gunnison or Crested Butte...tomorrow. This was on the 29th of December which was  some extreme short notice but after checking my calendar I texted him back saying that I was down to go. We met up on the 30th at 3:30pm and we were off to Crested Butte. We checked into the motel and grabbed a bite to eat at the Brick Oven Pizza in downtown Crested Butte, which as always was awesome. They even had The Abyss from Deschutes on tap, which I haven't seen but a few times. 

The great thing about going to Crested Butte is the familiarity, I know the area very well and love visiting because I always seem to get new appreciation for the landscape, the people, and the town. I lived in the Gunnison/CB area for almost 9 years and every time I mentally kick myself for not taking advantage of photo opportunities better, the Gunnison River valley is home to some world class views and because I was so familiar with the views I thought "oh, I'm sure everything gets that photo" so I didn't take those "postcard" shots. 

For example, the photo below is one that I had literally dozens of opportunities to take while I lived in the area but for some strange reason I shrugged it off. Photography continually evolves, styles change and my craft matures but still, it's almost comical when I visit. 

Rick and I woke up at about 6am and were out the door at 6:30 to go up to CB to get a photo of freshly fallen snow on the town in blue hour. It turns out, that we missed blue hour but we hit the jackpot with the clearing clouds from the snowstorm that rolled into the valley the previous night. Empty streets, beautiful scenery, fresh snow, and clearing clouds. Another example of how bad weather makes for great photos. Get out and take photos of your hometown, current city, and everything else in between because you won't know how good you have it until you're gone. 

Canon 5D Mk. III - 24-105mm f/4L lens, 6 sec., ISO 100, f/16, 24mm

Canon 5D Mk. III - 24-105mm f/4L lens, 2 sec., ISO 100, f/16, 75mm

Camp 4 Coffee - A Crested Butte institution