Monday, July 9, 2012

Go West XXVI - Hollywood Dreams

Fence and Meadow, San Juan Mountains, Colorado  © Doug Hickok  All Rights Reserved


A long wooden fence boarders this montane meadow near Mt. Sneffels Wilderness in the San Juan Mountains. This scene shows a distinctive Colorado character, with its timber wood fence, green aspen groves, dark subalpine forests, white rocky peaks, and cinematic blue sky.

Not far from here are the towns of Telluride and Ridgway. These two towns were originally settled in support of mining operations... for gold, but also zinc, lead and copper. Oddly enough they both also have a Hollywood connection.

In Telluride in 1889, Butch Cassidy (of the infamous Wild Bunch gang of outlaws) robbed his first bank. You may remember his character being glamorized by the dashing actor Paul Newman in the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

In Ridgway and the surrounding area, John Wayne's classic western movie True Grit was filmed, with eye-patch and all. Dennis Weaver made his home in Ridgway. This award winning actor played a roll in the long-running western TV series Gunsmoke.

So it is not surprising I made my attempt here at Hollywood stardom by showing off my horse riding skills, my lassoing skills, 
my whooping and hollering skills, my walking bow-legged-with-spurs-on skills, and my talking like a cowboy skills. But alas, Becky gave me a sharp poke in the ribs, waking me up from my daydreaming skills.

26 comments:

  1. The image is pristine Colorado, Doug, and from a great POV. But I had to laugh when Becky poked you in the ribs. I had no clue this is where those great movies were filmed. No wonder.

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  2. Great composition. I like the way the logs give tho photograph depth. The colour is amazing. Great contrast of green to blue. Top shot.

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  3. The framing is also excellent and magnificent mountains, I like it

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  4. Unbelievable landscape Doug! Simply beautiful! Quite similar like the Alps in Europe. Take care!
    Greetings, Miklos

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  5. those mountains could be the inspiration for the pyramids. magnificent.

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  6. Such beautiful country and interesting about the Hollywood connections in the area. No wonder you were enjoying living a dream Doug. Great capture.

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  7. Again, your foreground placement brings out the best.

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  8. Nice work man, good eye with those lines! Sweet color in this too.

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  9. Wow, in one of my next posts you will see the same form of fence, made of bamboo:)

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  10. A beautiful image with spectacular colors.

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  11. excellent framing, composition and colors

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  12. After a month of rain, the vivid colours and utter clarity make me realise what I'm missing...ah well! Lovely shot, I particularly like the fence - and the way that you've included it in the composition.

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  13. Ha ha... Okay, I am still waiting the right scene.
    Where's the rolling tumbleweed, Cowboy?
    Hang on, are you Cowboy or Yakboy?
    Oh boy, I am so confused...

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  14. Il y a une lumière extraordinaire aux États Unis qui donne un cachet particulier aux photos,j'imagine facilement Butch Cassidy et Sundance Kid galoper ici.

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  15. that is one beautiful landscape!

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  16. Excellent use of the fence as foreground/lead-in to the glorious mountain landscape.

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  17. That's a fantastic landscape ... and my idea of Paradise!

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  18. there's only one way to say that a picture is beautiful .... "is beautiful"

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  19. Wow, I mean wow! Gorgeous image Doug and who could blame you for channeling some western film greats on seeing this?

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  20. 100 per cent colorado for sure ... though usually seen with golden aspen in fall! i love this summer scene just as much ... and i appreciate the info that comes with this image! scenery like this just lends itself to shooting westerns ...

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  21. this is definitely gorgeous, great post! :)

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  22. Beautiful, just beautiful! And what an artistic fence!
    Have a nice day.

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