WILD OASIS is the second piece in my genesis series “Bloom” - a collection of my best and most epic wildflower landscapes. The photographs in this collection were all captured within the same week during the healthiest bloom Colorado had seen in a while. Lupines are one of the most abundant wildflowers in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, and during a good bloom year, vast seas of vibrant pinks and purples spread across the landscape. The scene in this piece felt like it was straight from a dream, a mountain oasis amongst the towering peaks. I am no stranger to this lakeside vista, as I have visited it multiple times not only that week, but years previous. This was by far the most beautiful I’ve seen it. The vibrantly pink Lupines contrasting against the rich green vegetation, backdropped by a pronounced peak jutting into a burning sunset sky, transformed this landscape into something out of the Pangea era. Moments like these are why I obsess over my craft. It is an opportunity to escape the modern world and get lost in the wonders of our natural planet. This is my therapy.
Fun Fact: see those tall green stalky plants in the middle ground? Those are called Monument Plants, and they only bloom once during their lifetime, after which they die. It can take anywhere from 20-80 years for this event to happen, and the summer of 2019 was unlike anything the locals have seen. Up until they bloom, they spend their entire life as a short bushy plant close to the ground.
