We've updated this list as of 9/5/2014 to include new ratings and photographers. Updated 1/16/16 to remove non-Colorado photographers. Updated 9/20/17. Updated again 4/6/21. Updated and revised by new author on 12/30/22.
Colorado is an amazing place for photography.
The variety of scenes available to shoot are quite diverse and one could spend a lifetime shooting photos here and still not get a full collection of shots. The State has a huge variety of photographic subjects including color, culture, mountain vistas, desert scenery, forests, 14ers, lakes, cities and National Parks.
Last month, we set out to try to identify what we felt were the best photographers from Colorado that also shoot photos of Colorado scenes. We posed the question on Google Plus and received quite a few responses. We went through all of the responses and narrowed down the options to the top 14 photographers and have listed them here in the order that we feel they belong.
We made our choices based on three sets of criteria:
- How likely would we be to purchase a print from this artist?
- Based on their featured photos, what is the subjective technical difficulty in obtaining those shots?
- How likely would we attempt to emulate the shots that they obtained?
Here are the photographers and links to their website, in order:
1. Matt Payne
Foggy Fortress by Matt Payne.
Matt Payne has been an avid Colorado nature and landscape photographer since 2010. In 2012, he completed his goal of climbing all 53 mountains over 14,000 ft. in Colorado (known as the 14ers) and in 2018, he completed his goal of climbing the highest 100 mountains in Colorado (known as the Centennials). In 2022, he co-authored Climbing Colorado's San Juans, a climbing guidebook published by Colorado Mountain Press. Matt's work has improved significantly over the years and his dedication to photographing some of the most remote locations in Colorado is quite impressive.
2. Kane Englebert
Vestal Peak Sunrise by Kane Englebert.
Since 2008, when we began seriously taking photos while climbing Colorado's mountains, we envied and admired the work of Kane Englebert. His style, vision, and subject matter were all things we found quite incredible. Ever since, we have always strived to try to vision our own work after his. Kane sets the bar quite high for quality, realism, scenes, subjects and composition. He also happens to be a really friendly guy, willing to take time to give new photographers tips and compliments, as evidenced by his comments on a 14ers.com trip report of ours from long ago. Kane is just an all-around great landscape photographer and thus earns the number 2 spot on our list of the best landscape photographers of Colorado.
3. Jack Brauer
Wetterhorn Peak Wildflowers by Jack Brauer.
Jack Brauer's photos embody our own personal style of photography, which is - get up early, find an awesome mountain, climb it, and let the magic happen. The quality of photos that Jack takes are quite difficult to match in terms of composition, light and difficulty in achieving. For example, Jack has a photo on his site of Capitol Peak at sunrise. Just getting there by sunrise is a feat of its own. We think you'll agree that his photos are quite impressive. You can also check out Jack's blog, which is pretty incredible as well.
4. Jennifer Renwick
A Walk Through Autumn by Jennifer Renwick.
Jennifer Renwick is a Colorado landscape photographer who lives part-time in Denver, Colorado and travels the country in an RV with her partner David Kingham. Her landscape photography from Death Valley is especially incredible; however, she has some fantastic images from Colorado as well that will surely impress you.
5. Sarah Marino
Wilson Peak - by Sarah Marino.
Sarah Marino is a very impressive artist specializing in the Colorado West. Her work is quite astounding. It is clear through the expression of her work that she has a real connection to the natural world and has an immense amount of creative vision and talent. Indeed, her work is marvelous and we envy her ability to capture some of Colorado's more incredible areas. Especially impressive though, is Sarah's work in the desert of the West. Check out her site and be ready to stay awhile!
6. Ron Coscorossa
Purple Dawn - a classic Colorado mountain and wildflower scene from Ron Coscorossa.
Ron Coscorossa is the partner of Sarah Marino. They live in Ridgway, Colorado and specialize in small scenes in nature. We have always appreciated Ron's subtle processing style and his incredible use of patterns and shapes to create incredible landscape photographs.
7. Todd Caudle
Jagged Mountain Reflection - by Todd Caudle.
Todd Caudle is best known for his work on the annual Colorado Mountain Club calendar. His work is quite excellent and worth checking out. He often takes very unique shots of Colorado's 14ers, and I greatly appreciate that. Getting to some of the spots he takes shots from requires quite a bit of effort, and the reward is obvious in his work.
8. Erik Stensland
Bear Finally - by Erik Stensland.
Erik's gallery is focused on Rocky Mountain National Park, which I think is a superb idea. The park is full of amazing features and locations, so what a great place to get a full gallery of! Erik's shots should be greatly appreciated by photographers and collector's alike. The locations he is shooting from and the conditions he strives to photograph are rare in nature. Additionally, Erik blends the intelligent use of fancy equipment (filters) with the natural beauty of the Park, and that is a really refreshing thing to see.
9. Glenn Randall
Sunrise from the Summit of Snowmass Mountain - by Glenn Randall.
Glenn Randall is a well-known landscape photographer based out of Boulder, Colorado. The first time we checked out his work on his website, we knew we found a real gem of a site. Glenn has a whole section dedicated to getting photos from the top of 14ers at sunrise. This is one of our personal passions as well, and we know from personal experience that it is no small feat to execute these shots the way in which Glenn has. You should really check out his work, it is quite splendid indeed!
10. Brent Doerzman
Capitol Peak - by Brent Doerzman.
At first we could not find much information on the web about Brent Doerzman; however, when it was recommended to us that we should check out his work, we were immediately impressed by the large collection of autumn photos taken from various locations across Colorado. Brent clearly has a gift for finding wonderfully scenic locations and capturing the best images possible from amazing viewpoints. Brent's website is laid out much like a collection of trips, and each trip we've gone to view seems like it has several great shots in it. Notably, most of his work was created on 4x5 film! Check out his work, you won't be disappointed.
11. Scott Bacon
Mount Sneffels Wilderness - by Scott Bacon.
Scott Bacon is actually a full-time software engineer; however, his photographs of Colorado are quite stunning and worth checking out. Scott's techniques are very classic and his execution is nearly flawless. He visits and shoots locations that are vintage Colorado and is able to capture moments at those locations that are breathtaking. Take a look at his gallery and you will also be impressed by his work.
12. Mike Berenson
Wonders Of The Night by Mike Berenson.
It is no secret that one of our obsessions is night photography - and there are few better at Colorado night photography than Mike Berenson. We had the pleasure to meet Mike when both of us had work showing in the Denver Photo Art Gallery. Mike is not only a class act but also one of the most generous and forthcoming guys when it comes to photography knowledge. If you have the opportunity to take one of his night photography workshops, don't hesitate! His work and knowledge is nearly unparalleled. Mike's night photography shooting and post-processing techniques are constantly pushing the boundaries and the results are proof that he takes a great deal of pride in his work.
13. Grant Collier
Milky Way over Pawnee Buttes - by Grant Collier.
We are a huge fan of Grant's work, especially his night-time shots, including the above panoramic image of the Milky Way. Taking such photographs requires timely execution and a great deal of forethought to pull of the shot. Grant resides in Lakewood, Colorado and his work has been featured on CNN.com, NBC, CBS, WB2, UPN, The Special Reserve Collection, America's Scenic Drives, the Mammoth Book series, the Cube Book series, the Denver Post, and the cover of the Rocky Mountain News.
14. Nate Zeman
Glow - Chimney Rock by Nate Zeman.
We had personally never heard of Nate Zeman before inquiring on Google Plus about Colorado Photographers. When he was recommended, we went to his site and was quite impressed by the high quality of photography that we found there. Nate's work reminds me a lot of Kane Englebert's and I was most intrigued by his fall photo collection. Nate's work is quite outstanding. The scenes he captures are from vantages that most people will never see, which is why we picked him for this list.
That concludes our listing of the best landscape photographers of Colorado.