Many high mountain areas in Colorado are full of fields of wildflowers during the summer. Many of these areas however are very challenging to access. The location in this photo is one of those areas. The trail on the way to this location has many posted signs regarding the necessity for a 4x4 and high clearance vehicle. The trail was indeed very rough and lived up to the warnings.

I made it most of the way and then encountered a very rocky and steep section. I gave the section a try and decided to hike up instead. So I hiked up to an alpine lake while enjoying the scenic splendor of the area. I ended up back at my vehicle way before my friend. So, I continued to photograph the sights near the parking area.

This one was on the edge of the very steep embankment. There were some large bunches of red Indian paintbrush wildflowers that I wanted to capture. However, they were just over and down the edge a few feet. I took some test shots of the area. I was using a tilt-shift prime lens at the time and that made it especially difficult to get the scene in focus. I had the camera settings where I wanted them and then held the camera down as far as I could reach without sliding down the rocky embankment. I put the camera on timer so I could hold it steady after pressing the shutter button. Thankfully I was able to hold the camera steady and didn’t slip down into the river 100 feet below.

I was only able to capture a few images, but I’m very happy with how this one turned out.