What do you want to shot in the summer?
Unless otherwise stated these tour options can be part of a 4, 6, or 8 hour trip.
Don't see the option you want, we can customize a trip just for you.
Sunrise
NOTE: Sunrises in the summer are often really great. About 70%-80% of the mornings we get great color in the mountains, clear blue skies, very few clouds, and just a bit of wind.
Dream Lake Sunrise (4 hour tour) Easy to Medium Hike - Sunrise at Dream Lake is one of the best 1 mile hike photo spots in the park, and it produces some fantastic photos. This tour requires a start of 1 hour and 30 minutes before sunrise. It is an easy hike for fit individuals, medium for folks from lower elevations and are not as active. This trip takes about 3 hours round trip with a few great side trips like Nymph Lake, a cascading stream, and some nice reflecting pools (best in June and early July). With the last hour we can head up to Emerald Lake or focus on marco, small mammal wildlife, or other landscape options like Moraine Park or Sprague Lake.
Dream Lake Sunrise and Lake Haiyaha (6 hour tour) Medium Hike - Like the tour option above we photograph Dream Lake at sunrise with the 1 hour and 30 minute before sunrise start. It is an easy hike for fit individuals, medium for folks from lower elevations and are not as active. After sunrise we can photograph the cascade below Dream Lake to produce the silky water effect. Then head up the additional 1 mile to Lake Haiyaha and Chaos Creek for great reflection shots and amazingly giant rocks.
Sprague Lake Sunrise - Sprague Lake offers a great mountain range reflecting in a subalpine lake. Some mornings you can get great reflections, and the wide view offers a good number of compositions. This destination requires a start time 45 minutes before sunrise. Because it is only about 25 minutes from Estes Park this starting destination can be part of a 4, 6, or 8 hour tour, and from here we can focus on more landscapes, macros and flower shots, or wildlife.
Moraine Park Sunrise - Moraine Park offers a great view of the mountains with the Big Thompson River running through a grassy meadow. This is a drive up location which requires a start of 30 minutes before sunrise.
Tundra Sunrise - Sunrise is amazing anywhere in the park, but sunrise on the tundra can be breath taking, literally. It could be 40 degrees in the morning. But you can watch as the mountains come to life with the warm pinks and orange light of sunrise. This option requires a 1 hour and 15 minute start before sunrise.
Sunset
NOTE: Sunsets in Rocky are not as reliable as sunrise. The standard summer weather pattern is blue skies in the morning with building clouds and a potential thunder storm in the afternoon. Generally right before sunset the clouds break, but there are a number of nights that the clouds never break. June sunsets are more reliable then July and August.
Evening Mountain Lake - This end of the tour option ends with an easy to get to mountain lake with great mountain scenery.
Tundra Sunset - Sunset on the tundra can be amazing but also very cold. Shot from locations Ansel Adams shot and from others even more spectacular.
Flower Fields
Rocky sometimes offers amazing wildflower fields with vibrant colors and mountains in the background. Some years are better than others, depending on how much rain we get.
Gold Banners & Locoweed in June
Alpine Sunflowers in July
Subalpine Flowers in late July and August
Waterfalls
Waterfall shots are best during cloudy weather, just after sunrise still in the shade, or before sunset. Often waterfall shots are the consolation prize for a cloudy day. The park offers a number of great falls.
Waterfalls of Wild Basin (6 or 8 hour tour) Medium - Wild Basin is just that, Wild, with a number of great waterfalls. This option is a 4-6 mile round trip hike, and is best when we have cloudy weather. I would generally only recommend this option as a Plan B when the weather prevents the more grand landscape options.
Fall River Flowers and Chasm Falls - Fall River Road in summer offers plenty of great individual flower shots for marco fans, and Chasm Falls. Available for any length tour from July - August. We wrap up driving down Trail Ridge so wildlife and more scenery awaits the downhill journey.
Wildlife
Wildlife shooting in the summer months offers a lot of variety.
Baby Animals - June and July, best 1st two weeks of June - Find baby elk, moose, and mule deer roaming the park. Best early and late in the day.
Elk in velvet - June and July - Elk will sometime be within easy photographible distances as they finish grazing for the morning. By early summer their racks are impressive. Though not always predictable but great when it occurs, best in the early morning.
Elk loosing velvet - August 10th-15th - With some luck we can find bulls in the process of loosing their velvet. This is highly dependent on weather and luck that they are close enough to get a shot.
Pikas and Marmots - Good all summer, Pikas are best in July and early August, the Marmots are best mid July through August but we see them every day throughout the summer.
Moose - (6 or 8 hour tour only) -One of the major targets, we find them regularly but can be challenging at times to get good photos. We mostly find cows and calves, but sometimes we do find bulls. This tour takes some patience to get the shots, and requires at least 3 hours of drive time round trip.
Coyotes and Small Mammals - Late July and August is a great time to photograph small mammals and coyotes as they are still very active, often feeding on berry bushes. They can be seen all summer however.
Beavers - Evenings Only - There is a local Beaver colony that is quite easy to get to and can produce some great shots as the light fades.
Macro
Alpine Flowers - Mid June to July - The alpine flowers offer a great subject for macro photography with vibrant colors and great shapes and patterns. The downside is its often windy and chilly to down right cold up there. But worth it.
Flowers in general - The entire summer has a constant march of amazing flowers to shot. June, July, and early August have the most diversity.
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