Erik Stensland Photography

09/07/2026

This morning, I woke up dark and early as I typically do and checked the satellite imagery as well as multiple forecasts for Rocky Mountain National Park. It looked pretty clear that the clouds were gathering in the east and that there would be no nice sunrise this morning. So I decided to not go out as I had planned. As you can see from the attached we**am image from the Alpine Visitor Center, it was a spectacular sunrise this morning. Even though I do this professionally, I don’t always get it right.

Well, in other news, this morning I released my latest video. If you’re interested, check it out.

09/04/2026

Early in the morning, I was perched up high on a mountain ridge in Rocky Mountain National Park waiting for the sun to crest the horizon. I was looking to the west watching for the light to illuminate the western mountains but nothing was happening. I turned and looked to the south and was amazed to see those mountains glowing in brilliant orange with beams of light coming down from the clouds above. It was stunning. I wasn't prepared to photograph in that direction and so didn't have much to work with in the foreground. I quickly hurried to find some sort of a composition to photograph before the sun went behind the clouds and the light faded to the flat gray of a cloudy day.

I'm someone who likes to have everything well planned and organized, but the natural world doesn't work that way. It is constantly upsetting my carefully laid plans as it ignores my wishes and does its own thing. Sometimes that means I hike ten or twenty miles without bringing home a photo, and sometimes I encounter things that are completely different and sometimes even better than what I had envisioned. Either way, it continues to teach me to let go of my own expectations and plans and find the joy and wonder in whatever I encounter in our beautiful world.

09/03/2026

The other morning I was out in the tundra here in Rocky Mountain National Park at sunrise and there was some really gorgeous and unusual light creating a soft yellow hue on Longs Peak as the clouds drifted over the mountain. It was a wonderful start to the day.

Since we learned of the death of Wendell Berry earlier this week, I've been re-reading some of my favorite poems of his. Here's a well-known one of his that often speaks to me. What is your favorite WB poem?

"When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."
-Wendell Berry

09/01/2026

We lost an important voice in our world today. Wendell Barry died today at age 92. If you aren’t familiar with him, it’s worth taking time to read some of his work.

Friends, in celebration of the good life and good work of Bill Moye...

09/01/2026

Welcome to September everyone! It is autumn up in the tundra in Rocky Mountain National Park as the alpine avens turn dark red and the hues of the grasses transitions from green to various shades of yellow and brown. This is one of my favorite times of year to spend way up high. (Be sure and view this photo at full size.)

08/31/2026

This is from a recent early morning at a high mountain lake in Rocky Mountain National Park.

My latest video is now available on YouTube. This time I'm comparing the campgrounds of Rocky Mountain National Park to help you prepare to make your reservations for next year. If you want to stay in one of the campgrounds along Bear Lake Road, I recommend booking exactly 6 months in advance to ensure you get a spot.

08/29/2026

I hope you all have a good weekend. This is Longs Peak in Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday morning, as seen from Chasm Junction on the way to Chasm Lake, just as the sun crested the horizon with its warm light.

08/26/2026

A peaceful late summer morning high up in the tundra of Rocky Mountain National Park. If you get up there now, you'll find that autumn is arriving and the alpine avens are beginning to turn deep red. It's beautiful up there!

08/24/2026

Last week I spent sunrise at a lake high above tree line in Rocky Mountain National Park. Just before the sun rose, it let out bright and colorful rays into the dark sky. I'm not sure what causes this, but it was very pretty. It was also a reminder to me that darkness is unable to overcome even the most gentle light.

08/21/2026

The other evening I had to hide out in the trees for about an hour as a thunderstorm passed over. As the sun set, it was still raining and a small herd of bull elk were grazing on a hillside nearby. It was one of those magical fleeting moments in Rocky Mountain National Park that are out there waiting to be experienced.

By the way, my latest YouTube video was just released. It’s about the hike to Black Lake. Go have a watch.