“Rocky Mountain high”

John Denver

In this Photo Essay I decided I wanted to tell the story of the song “Rocky Mountain High” by John Denver of the beauty and freeness of Colorado.  I choose this story and location as my family and I traveled to Steamboat Colorado for my spring break. I have grown up visiting my grandparents in Colorado so I would say that my family definitely has a keen appreciation for all it has to offer.

My goal in each image was to translate the message of the song into a photograph.  The song tells a story that notably begins with, “He was born in the summer of his 27th year, coming home to a place he’d never been before, He left yesterday behind him, you might say he was born again, You might say he found a key for every door”.  This was a big inspiration for my photography, channeling this feeling of rebirth and refreshment all resulting from the beauty and wonder of the Colorado wilderness. He then goes on to poetically name all the distinctly beautiful natural aspects of Colorado, “cathedral mountains”, “silver clouds”, “The serenity of a clear blue mountain lake”.  He creates this story of the wonder of Colorado leading a man to find himself and the euphoric feeling a sort of “high” as he repeats “Rocky Mountain high”.

Because the song highlights the natural beauty of Colorado, I tried to keep my props, set, lighting, costumes, ect as neutral as possible as to not distract from the scenery.  However I did employ some tacts in order to emphasize the emotions of the characters represented. Such as the use of colorful tops and jackets to highlight the facial emotions of the characters.  Additionally in the first couple of photographs I utilized snow shoes, and a beer to communicate the feeling of satisfaction as he relaxes and marvels at Colorado’s natural beauty. I additionally used skis in two of the photographs as this is perhaps the most popular activity in Colorado where people are able to appreciate the wilderness from an inside perspective instead of an outside perspective as you move amongst the trees and wildlife.  I used all natural lighting in these photographs as to again, let the beauty of the environment speak for itself. Additionally flash would have been unnecessary as the brightness of the snow amplified the lighting in the photographs. I also did minimal editing of these photographs, I wanted to keep them as natural as possible and allow them to speak for themselves. The only editing I engaged in was of slight contrasting. Lastly for my actors, I utilized my family members as opposed to strangers as not only were they more compliant with my vision but also have a true appreciation for the wonder of the Colorado landscape.