The stone is older than the word for old. A new Nature Made essay on Garden of the Gods, southern Illinois — geology, the Shawnee, Emerson, and one small figure on the rock. Garden of the Gods https://blueribbonteam.com/blog/2026/04/06/garden-of-the-gods/ #NatureMade #GardenOfTheGods #ShawneeNationalForest #Illinois

#Colorado #GardenOfTheGods #nature

Telephoto landscape at Garden of the Gods, Colorado, USA (January 2026) #Colorado #GardenoftheGods #sidelight #Americanwest #mountains #rock #mountains #hiking #winter #nature #landscape #telephoto #scenicsnature #outdoors #Fujifilm #FujifilmXT5 #Tamron

I hadn't visited Garden of the Gods before about 2 weeks ago, and while I had certainly seen images from there before, I remembered the photos being of very similar scenes over and over (wider-angle shots). While I didn't go out of my way to study photos (in order to preserve the experience as fresh), I was pretty sure I hadn't seen this exact image before. Shot at 233 mm, I tried to select a small scene for which the intense backlight would actually work. I found this lone ponderosa pine on a sandstone rock fin, mountains looming behind. - Garden of the Gods, Colorado, USA #Colorado #GardenoftheGods #backlight #Americanwest #mountains #rock #tree #hiking #winter #nature #landscape #scenicsnature #outdoors #Fujifilm #FujifilmXT5

I wasn't able to shoot at all during sunrise while in the Colorado Springs area (which is the time to shoot if you want golden hour light - you lose the sun over the mountains before golden hour starts in the evening), but I got some decent sidelight while at Garden of the Gods, where I spent several hours and hiked from early afternoon until after sunset. - Garden of the Gods, Colorado, USA #Colorado #GardenoftheGods #sidelight #Americanwest #mountains #rock #mountains #hiking #winter #nature #landscape #scenicsnature #outdoors #Fujifilm #FujifilmXT5 #Tamron

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO #colorado #coloradosprings #gardenofthegods #hiking #nature

View from my comfy chair in my hotel room
#GardenOfTheGods
#relaxation #QuietContentment