Curved Aspens, San Miguel County, Colorado, USA

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On my trip to Colorado with some friends to capture some fall color, we searched for and eventually found these curved aspens close to a country road winding up a mountain near Ophir.

According to my reading, the pronounced curves of these aspen trees are the result of “soil creep” from winter avalanches, causing the soil to shift. As the trees grow, they develop curves in their quest to reach sunlight. What I found fascinating were the adjacent aspens and elsewhere on our trip with completely straight trunks. Clearly, this is not a common occurrence.

On this day, we had cloudy skies and light rain, which actually worked to our advantage to reduce contrast and increase colour saturation. Fortunately, we had the place to ourselves and took our time to capture various compositions of these strange, comically curved trees.

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Patrick

I am an Oregon native who has been taking pictures on and off since high school decades ago. Eventually, I went to medical school and practised internal medicine for 30 years. Due to a series of life events, I became more serious about photography circa 2001. It was my primary creative outlet while I continued to work as a physician. Now that I am retired from medicine, I have much more time to pursue my passion. My wife and I are lucky enough to live in the great Pacific Northwest, which offers an endless amount of photographic opportunities. That said, I have also been able to travel to some amazing places, and getting a keeper or two on these trips is always a goal.

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