Water – Dan Bourque Photography

Archive by category "Water"

Dawn Breaking at the Bend

The morning sun bathes the rim of Horseshoe Bend in orange light as the Colorado River passes by in the shadows below.

Details: Horseshoe Bend is an icon of the American West, and like many places, its glory is really on display at sunset and sunrise. After spending an evening here to catch the sun setting behind the bend, I set out before dawn the next morning to catch the sunrise. It was amazing watching the first beams of light break the horizon and turn the Vermillion Cliffs in the background a beautiful bright orange. I love how the still water reflects the sliver of the bright edges of the rim.

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Last Light Over Horseshoe Bend

The last rays of the setting sun retreat behind the vermillion cliffs surrounding iconic Horseshoe Bend.

Details: Horseshoe Bend, part of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Arizona, is an iconic American landmark for good reason. The bend in the Colorado River 1,000 feet below is dramatic, the cliffs are steep and carved, and the color is simply sublime. A couple times a year, in early spring and fall, the sun sets directly down the peninsula in the center of the horseshoe, and if you catch it at the perfect moment, it douses the camera with a perfect diminished light that still allows the details of the canyon to shine through. I felt blessed to be there at just such a time!

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Teton Morning Mirror

The calm, shallow waters of String Lake reflect the morning light on Teewinot and the Teton Range.

Details: the long and shallow String Lake lies to the north of popular Jenny Lake. The waters are sheltered among the trees making it not only a great place to catch reflections of the jagged peaks but also a great place to find gnarled bits of driftwood among the granite rocks that surround the lake. This image was taken about an hour after sunrise when the eastern bank still lies in shadow.

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Portrait of Lower Falls of the Yellowstone

Morning light captures the green waters of the Yellowstone River cascading over the Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Details: The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River is perhaps the most beautiful and iconic scenic feature in Yellowstone National Park as tremendous volumes of water cascade hundreds of feet into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone whose rocks give the park its name. The canyon walls are steep, and the falls face just north of due east making late morning a perfect time to capture the brilliant white waters and mist of the falls.

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Reflections of Light and Shadow

Glassy waters of a beaver pond reflect playful morning clouds painting the Teton Range in light and shadow.

Details: This image is a good reminder of why patience is required in photography. I joined three other photographers at Schwabachers Landing in Grand Teton National Park to catch the first light on the Tetons. Conditions were iffy as a layer of clouds threatened to block the sunrise, and sure enough, we got just a few seconds of pink alpenglow before the range was engulfed in shadow. The other three photographers packed up an left, but I thought “just maybe” as the clouds were rapidly shifting. It took about 30 minutes of waiting, but the sun peeked through, and soon the clouds were providing this amazing display of light and shadow on Grand Teton.

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Grand Prismatic Sunset

The shallow ridged pools surrounding Grand Prismatic Spring reflect the sunset in Yellowstone National Park.

Details: Grand Prismatic Spring is one of the main attractions of Yellowstone National Park. While its amazing colors (including the turquoise reflected in the steam in this image) can only truly be seen from above, a ground-level view reveals the intricate details in the colorful shallow pools surrounding the main spring. Sunset adds another layer of light and shadow that really brings out the details.

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Giants and Still Waters

The craggy peaks of the Teton Range are reflected in the still alpine waters of Taggart Lake.

Details: Grand Teton National Park is full of wonderful alpine lakes, and the calm of morning makes for some incredible scenes of majestic mountains reflected on still waters surrounded by beautiful forest. Taggart Lake, on the southern side of the park, is one such body of water that can be reached by a hike that is well worth the effort on a still day like this beautiful clear day in August. The peaks from left to right are Nez Perce, Grand Teton and Teewinot.

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Majesty Unveiled

Morning mists part to reveal the Teton Range in all its glory reflected in still waters.

Details: The Teton Range in Wyoming is one of the most spectacular mountain ranges in North America. The peaks rise 7,000 feet above plains dotted with lakes big and small. This image of Grand Teton was captured from an inlet of Jackson Lake near Colter Bay in Grand Teton National Park just after dawn on a cool August morning. The prominent peak is Grand Teton with Teewinot to the left. The shoulder of Mount Moran climbs into the clouds on the right edge of the image. The lake water level was dropping, and just two days after this image was taken, this picture was no longer possible.

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Peaceful Morning on the Lake

Wispy clouds and wooded hills reflected in calm waters signal a beautiful start to a summer day in the Rockies.

Details: Colorado is full of beautiful little gems like this lake nestled in the Wet Mountains in the south central region of the state. While the Wet Mountains may lack some of the granite-topped grandeur of their taller cousins along the continental divide, they have a charm and an uncrowded peacefulness all their own. This image brings back clear memories of the coolness of the slight morning breeze and the promise of a day spent in nature’s beauty.

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Mirroring Heaven

Pastel hues of a brilliant summer sunset are reflected in a tranquil Rocky Mountain pool.

Details: Colorado is not known for large bodies of water, so reflections are generally captured in small, intimate settings like this one shot in Mueller State Park. While this image captures the amazing color and clouds, what you’re missing is the soft and small sights and sounds of life amidst the aspens and pines–dragonflies buzzing through the grass, tiny fish snapping at the surface, and a beautiful mule deer doe that wandered into the scene just a few minutes after this picture was snapped. This is why I love this place.

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Elfin Stream

A lively mountain stream cascades through granite boulders at sunset in the Wet Mountains of Colorado.

Details: Despite its small appearance, this is actually the St Charles River, just a few miles from its headwaters in the San Isabel National Forest. A wet spring has left the water high even in August when this photo was taken. I wish I could capture the sound along with this photo as it was truly refreshing!

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Lights Over the Lake

The Milky Way stands nearly vertical above Lake Isabel in southern Colorado as lights along the shore illuminate stands of aspen trees.

Details: sometimes a shot turns out very different than you had hoped but ends up being even better than you’d pictured it. In this case, I trekked to the shores of Lake Isabel in the Wet Mountains of Colorado to catch a brilliant sky and hopefully a brilliant reflection in the lake’s waters. Unfortunately, a thunderstorm behind me brought enough wind to erase any reflections of stars, but a well-timed vehicle moving up the forest service road on the far side of the lake provided some interesting “light painting” of the aspen groves along the shores.

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Stepping Stones

Granite boulders form stepping stones into the perfect reflection of dramatic clouds at sunset in central Colorado.

Details: storms and perfect reflections don’t often mix because of the wind, but this peaceful summer evening near Monument, Colorado proved to be a worthy exception.

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Storm Over Sylvan Lake

Summer storm clouds threaten to erase a perfect reflection of the granite shores of Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Details: Sylvan Lake, situated in the Needles area of the Black Hills in Custer State Park, is an amazing and picturesque place. Summer brings storms, though, and this one was brewing early. Thankfully the wind held off for another 10 minutes before creating waves and erasing this scene.

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Legion Lake Reflections

Formations of granite reflecting the light of the setting sun are themselves reflected in the calm waters of Legion Lake in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Details: Custer State Park is THE most beautiful state park I’ve ever visited. In addition to wonderful rolling hills full of wildlife, the park encompasses the “Needles”, an area of majestic granite spires springing from the Black Hills. Legion Lake lies in the middle of Custer State Park on the edge of the Needles, and if you can find a time when the wind is calm, you’re rewarded with amazing reflection scenes like this one.

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Rocky Mountain Refreshing

Cascades tumble down over granite covered slopes just a few miles from the continental divide in central Colorado.

Details: these cascades belong to the Roaring Fork River between the town of Aspen, Colorado and the continental divide. At this point, the Roaring Fork is but a small mountain stream, but within a few miles, it will join with similar streams to form a larger body of water flowing down from Aspen and finally into the Colorado River. I wish I could reproduce the sound in an image because the green, cool water coupled with the sounds of splashing made for a refreshing treat on a sunny summer day.

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Sunset on the South Fork

A sunset of pink clouds is reflected off the smooth water and stones of the South Fork of the Rio Grande in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

Details: even where it meets the main body of the Rio Grande, the South Fork is little more than a swiftly moving stream. This scene was captured near the town of South Fork at a spot where the river runs wide, shallow and mostly calm, especially where the stones that line the banks create still pools just made for reflections like these.

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Bells in Summer

Aspens from winter avalanches frame a perfect reflection of Colorado’s Maroon Bells in mid-summer.

Details: the Maroon Bells, two dramatic 14,000 foot peaks in the Sawatch Range, are an icon of the Colorado Rockies. They are most often photographed at sunrise when the waters are perfectly still, but by mid-morning, the reflections are often destroyed by mountain winds. This unique morning offered not only brilliant blue skies but the rare stillness to capture the Bells in full sunlight with a clear reflection across the entire lake. This scene was erased just 10 minutes later as the winds once again returned.

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Mysterious Canyon

Twisted walls of ice-carved granite draw a narrow stream into their mysterious depths.

Details: this area in the Sawatch Range near Aspen, Colorado is known as “the Grottos.” Even in July, huge blocks of ice can be found at the bottom of the narrow trench giving a clue as to how this slot of a canyon was formed. An overcast day was the perfect complement to this otherworldly scene.

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Windswept Beauties

A field of bright wildflowers stands against the elements above treeline in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

Details: Independence Pass crosses the North American continental divide at 12,000 feet just east of Aspen, Colorado. It’s only open four months of the year, but in the summer, it’s windswept heights offer spectacular views of the surrounding Sawatch Range, and wildflowers carpet the rocky alpine fields. The purple flowers here are “sky pilot” (polemonium viscosum) living among multiple varieties of yellow wildflowers which provide the perfect complement to the backdrop of deep blue Colorado sky.

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Reflections in the Stones

A granite formation glows golden in the fading sunlight as its reflection peeks serenely through the smooth stones of the South Fork of the Rio Grande River in Colorado.

Details: the town of South Fork, Colorado lies at the junction of the Rio Grande and its South Fork. This area is on the eastern edge of the rugged San Juan Mountains. Only miles from the continental divide, rivers here are more like shallow, swift running streams through narrow and beautiful valleys lined with forests and stunning rocks like this one caught just minutes before the sun set behind the adjacent mountainside.

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Fire Behind Eagle Mountain

A fiery sunset, reflected in a grassy pool, sets behind a rocky butte in central Colorado.

Details: there are many magical places in Colorado both big and small. One of my favorite small places is Spruce Mountain near Larkspur where a series of flat-top buttes spring up from the plains on the edge of the Front Range of the Colorado Rockies. Bodies of water aren’t that common in Colorado, but this calm pond, full from recent snow melt, provided the perfect vantage point to double the amazing sunset over the jutting promontory of a butte known by locals as “Eagle Mountain.”

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Monument Rock Reflections

A colorful sunset provides a perfect backdrop for reflections of Monument Rock in Colorado.

Details: sometimes we find hidden gems tucked away in nearby places. One of those places I discovered recently was Monument Rock on the eastern edge of Pike National Forest near Monument, Colorado. Despite the beautiful evening, I had the trail nearly to myself, and the experience was just as peaceful as this photo looks.

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Circle of Blossoms

Cherry Blossoms surround the serene waters of Washington D.C.’s tidal basin as the Washington Monument looks on.

Details: The cherry trees in Washington D.C. bloom for only a couple weeks each year at the end of March and early April. I was lucky enough to catch them in early April just as the blossoms were beginning to drop. Despite clouds and rain earlier in the day, the skies opened into sunshine just before sunset, and the shadows of the clouds danced on the Washington Monument as seen here.

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Potomac Peace

The sun sets behind a clearing storm over a peaceful and reflective Potomac River.

Details: The Potomac River, which divides Virginia from Maryland can be a very peaceful place even a few miles from downtown Washington, D.C. This image was captured from Piscataway Park, a National Park Service site on the Maryland side of the river. Conditions just an hour earlier were horrendous for photography with complete overcast and walls of rain, but this image is evidence that sticking it out through the bad weather sometimes (not always) yields the most spectacular results.

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Pier on the Potomac

Wispy evening clouds paint the skies above a calm Potomac River and the fishing pier at Piscataway Park.

Details: many things I love combined to get this image – water, sunset, and a National Park site. This pier, found in Piscataway Park (a National Park Service site in Maryland) is a popular fishing spot for locals, and the calmness of the water and big, open skies make it a great place for photographers as well. A storm had rained on me just an hour before, and photos seemed doubtful, but the skies began clearing just before sunset. Yet another chance to learn the lesson “just stick with it!”

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Alpenglow Reflections

A crystal clear pond reflects the first rays of sun on Sheep Mountain on a winter morning in the Colorado Rockies.

Details: a mild winter has left only a dusting of snow on the lower peaks, but it has also kept this pond from freezing and preserved a perfect reflection on this crisp morning. Sheep Mountain is normally the same color gray as the rock on the right side of the photo, but the alpenglow from the just risen sun has lit it up in brilliant orange.

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Peace at the Pond

A peaceful evening in late Spring as reflected in at beaver pond along the South Arkansas River in central Colorado.

Details: I love a good reflection, and the South Arkansas River near Salida, Colorado has several beaver ponds which calm the waters and lead to scenes like this. This shot was taken just before the sun went behind the mountains. This image actually a composite of five vertical shots to get more of the scene and the brilliant blue sky.

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Rocky Mountain Oasis

A tranquil alpine pond mirrors the morning sun as it warms jagged Rocky Mountain peaks in Colorado.

Details: an unseasonably warm winter has thawed this beautiful pond near Mount Princeton earlier than usual to make this photo possible in the minutes just after dawn. This area, called Spring Canyon, is nestled alongside Cottonwood Creek near Buena Vista, Colorado. The curved peak is on the north flank of Mount Princeton and is known as the Hook. The small circle in the top center is the moon, not far from setting in the west.

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Moon Through the Looking Glass

The waning moon is perfectly reflected beside Rocky Mountain peaks glowing in the first light of morning.

Details: This pristine little pond lies below Cottonwood Pass just north of Mount Princeton in central Colorado in a place called Spring Canyon. Most years, there would be no reflection because this pond would still be frozen over in mid-March, but an unseasonably warm winter made this beautiful reflection possible. The peak in the background is a part of Mount Princeton called “the Hook,” which has a unique curved peak.

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Beach Bum at Sunset

A large piece of driftwood stands tall against a beautiful sunset over an empty beach along the Florida panhandle.

Details: Normally when I’m at the beach photographing, my focus is on the water, but on this outing, a large piece of driftwood caught my eye. This piece of wood had personality that begged to be a part of the composition. I love the way the setting sun illuminates just the edges of the wood.

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Autumn on Bluecat Lake

An October morning brings the reflections of blue skies and early autumn colors in the hills of southern Tennessee.

Details: This is one of those unplanned photos that you just fall into sometimes. While visiting my family in Tennessee, my dad took me and my boys out fishing, and on the way to our lake, we passed this gem, and luckily I’d brought my good camera. The guys were patient enough to wait while I ran down to the shore of Bluecat Lake to get this shot. Just 15 minutes later, this scene disappeared as the winds picked up and erased the amazing reflection.

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Autumn at Lost Pond

Golden autumn aspens reflected perfectly in an alpine pond in Colorado.

Details: Mueller State Park is one of my favorite places in central Colorado, especially in September when the aspens begin to change and the blue of the skies deepens. To capture this sublime scene and the full reflection in Lost Pond, I created this panorama from five different vertical shots. To see a vertical version of this scene, try here.

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Deep Blue Mirror

A quiet Rocky Mountain pond reflects a perfect autumn day in Colorado.

Details: The only thing better than the color of golden aspens and deep blue skies together is a reflection of golden aspens and deep blue skies! The waters of Lost Pond in Mueller State Park served as a perfect reflecting mirror on this pristine September morning in the Rockies.

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Twilight in Gothic Valley

The setting sun bathes 12,000 foot peaks in red above the lazy folds of the East River in Gothic Valley, Colorado.

Details: Gothic Valley, near Crested Butte, Colorado, is known for its wildflowers, but it has much more to offer including majestic mountain peaks and the East River winding its way through the middle. One of the things I wasn’t prepared for was the sound of this scene. The wind was still, and the valley completely calm except for the distinct sound of. . . mooing. The lower end of the valley is prime pastureland, and I could just make out the tiny dots across the river as they made their way back to the ranch.

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Red Flowers on Emerald Lake

Brilliant red indian paintbrush line the shores of aptly named Emerald Lake in central Colorado’s Gothic Valley.

Details: Gothic Valley north of Crested Butte, Colorado, is one of the most beautiful places in the state, especially in the summer when wildflowers are blooming. Emerald lake, with its tranquil green water, sits high in the valley at the base of 12,800 foot Mount Baldy (seen here on the right). It’s just below treeline at 10,450 feet, and while many flowers in the lower valley have faded, the flowers surrounding the lake were in full bloom this first day of August.

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Red Rocks and Ripples

Ripples on a pond make for wavy reflections of red rock formations in Red Rock Canyon, Colorado.

Details: Red Rock Canyon lies just south of Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs and shares the same red-rock ridges and formations. A rainy summer has kept this pond full which made for this idyllic and colorful July scene. I love the interplay between the deep blue skies, green trees and orange rocks in the background and foreground.

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Reflecting on the Galaxy

A brilliant Milky Way is reflected in the still waters of a high alpine lake in Colorado.

Details: It’s always fun when you get to combine two of your favorite photography themes, in this case, the Milky Way and a reflection. On this dark September night, I hiked around the waters of O’Haver Lake in the Sawatch Range of central Colorado. Lights from two campsites dot the far shore, but the Milky Way shone as bright as I’ve ever seen it. The reflection turned out to be tough to get as any light breeze would destroy it in a 30-second exposure. There weren’t any people on this side of the lake, but I can tell you the rustling noises behind me in the woods sure kept my attention! Bigfoot, is that you? . . .

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Walking Rocky Mountain Shores

Two brothers walk side by side along the shores of Lake Dillon deep in the Colorado Rockies.

Details: I’m a big fan of color, and I don’t often use black and white, but this scene seemed to beg for it. These are my two boys walking along the western shore of Lake Dillon near Breckenridge, Colorado on a cool but inviting day. I love how no matter where you look, the lines of the rocks, shores, mountains and trees all lead the eye to the two tiny figures in the middle. . . and I also love that it’s a picture of my boys!

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