Heart of Colorado
Hi friends,
Another late night edit. Too many thoughts and feelings to keep inside so once again I throw myself into binge editing instead of sleeping. In a physical sense I'm sure sleeping would benefit me more but denying myself the outlet of creativity might be a more serious issue ha.
The evening I took this picture was a few weeks ago coming home from my younger sister spontaneous wedding hidden away in the heart of National Forests near Leadville Colorado. It was a beautiful and simple affair. Strictly family, a simple ceremony took place in a grove of aspens. My sister wore a wreath of wild flowers in her hair and the sky was overcast and cloudy with the wind running its fingers through her hair and over her dress. It was all so lovely.
We left late in the evening as the sun was setting. Coming up over this road I didn't even have to ask my husband to pull over. He just did. Because he knows my heart all too well. Despite being absolutely exhausted from the beautiful all day affair, this lonely stretch of Colorado road had to be captured for my memories.
Coming back home it has taken me up til now to finally edit. I admittedly put allllll of my emotions into my edits. And this image pulls me into all sorts of directions. As I announced in my last image (I think it was or the one before) me and my family are moving from Colorado next month. With that being said my baby sister and her family just left Colorado as well to start their adventure in WV. My parents have retired and are committed to their new life of RV life full time and have many plans for travel this summer. I said my goodbyes to them both last week as I prepare to leave on my own journey. This past weekend was another few days of goodbyes as I said goodbyes to my younger sister and brother - the last ones remaining in Colorado. My heart hurts. I hate change. I know that change is good and this one especially is necessary for my family. I repeat this to myself daily. But dammit, why is it so emotional? Staring at my computer tonight and editing this road took me back to the hundreds of times we drove through Colorado roads on the search for an adventure. I remember a turning point in my photography journey was about two years ago when watching a photographer on Youtube. He had just returned from Iceland and was going through a gallery of jaw dropping images.I felt an absolute pang of jealousy shoot through me. I remember thinking, If I could travel like that, I could get really good shots too. As if he read my mind the photographer began to speak about how harmful that type of thinking is. That we should never limit ourselves to thinking that our talents are limited to our locations. I began to realize how ridiculous I was being especially for living in Colorado. I made it a goal to embrace where I was planted and explore every inch of Colorado's beautiful land. I get a lot of comments here and on Instagram from people who mention how nice it must be to live in such a beautiful place. It's glorious, I love Colorado! But I didn't truly love and appreciate Colorado til that point. Exploring means driving sometimes 2, 4 and even 6 hour drives on a search for the soul of Colorado. I don't believe I've even touched the surface but I believe that I've given it my best. And I feel like this road captures that journey. If there were a real road leading into the heart of Colorado I think it looks like this ;)
It's 2:00 am so I will end this. Thank you for reading <3
xx
Much love always,
Rachel
Heart of Colorado
Hi friends,
Another late night edit. Too many thoughts and feelings to keep inside so once again I throw myself into binge editing instead of sleeping. In a physical sense I'm sure sleeping would benefit me more but denying myself the outlet of creativity might be a more serious issue ha.
The evening I took this picture was a few weeks ago coming home from my younger sister spontaneous wedding hidden away in the heart of National Forests near Leadville Colorado. It was a beautiful and simple affair. Strictly family, a simple ceremony took place in a grove of aspens. My sister wore a wreath of wild flowers in her hair and the sky was overcast and cloudy with the wind running its fingers through her hair and over her dress. It was all so lovely.
We left late in the evening as the sun was setting. Coming up over this road I didn't even have to ask my husband to pull over. He just did. Because he knows my heart all too well. Despite being absolutely exhausted from the beautiful all day affair, this lonely stretch of Colorado road had to be captured for my memories.
Coming back home it has taken me up til now to finally edit. I admittedly put allllll of my emotions into my edits. And this image pulls me into all sorts of directions. As I announced in my last image (I think it was or the one before) me and my family are moving from Colorado next month. With that being said my baby sister and her family just left Colorado as well to start their adventure in WV. My parents have retired and are committed to their new life of RV life full time and have many plans for travel this summer. I said my goodbyes to them both last week as I prepare to leave on my own journey. This past weekend was another few days of goodbyes as I said goodbyes to my younger sister and brother - the last ones remaining in Colorado. My heart hurts. I hate change. I know that change is good and this one especially is necessary for my family. I repeat this to myself daily. But dammit, why is it so emotional? Staring at my computer tonight and editing this road took me back to the hundreds of times we drove through Colorado roads on the search for an adventure. I remember a turning point in my photography journey was about two years ago when watching a photographer on Youtube. He had just returned from Iceland and was going through a gallery of jaw dropping images.I felt an absolute pang of jealousy shoot through me. I remember thinking, If I could travel like that, I could get really good shots too. As if he read my mind the photographer began to speak about how harmful that type of thinking is. That we should never limit ourselves to thinking that our talents are limited to our locations. I began to realize how ridiculous I was being especially for living in Colorado. I made it a goal to embrace where I was planted and explore every inch of Colorado's beautiful land. I get a lot of comments here and on Instagram from people who mention how nice it must be to live in such a beautiful place. It's glorious, I love Colorado! But I didn't truly love and appreciate Colorado til that point. Exploring means driving sometimes 2, 4 and even 6 hour drives on a search for the soul of Colorado. I don't believe I've even touched the surface but I believe that I've given it my best. And I feel like this road captures that journey. If there were a real road leading into the heart of Colorado I think it looks like this ;)
It's 2:00 am so I will end this. Thank you for reading <3
xx
Much love always,
Rachel