Sleepin’ Ute Sunset
At first, your glimpse of a low, seemingly innocuous mountain range west of Cortez, Colorado, is not nearly as impressive as towering rockies north of Durango. Yet, one can see Sleeping Ute Mountain from a radius of 50 miles.
Sleeping Ute Mountain surveys lands inhabited between 600-1300 A.D. by some 200,000 Anasazi. These Anasazi were part of what's been called the Mesa Verde culture.
One view of Sleeping Ute Mountain is the center of this award discussion - Sleepin' Ute Sunset was captured in Mesa Verde National Park one evening coming out of the park where the road begins to wind back down to the valley. The day had been cold and blustery, with high winds. A stray glance in the rearview mirror showed us the incredible sunset which seemed to highlight ancient Anasazi spirits literally dancing around Sleeping Ute Mountain.
Quickly jumping out of the car, opening the trunk where camera gear was packed, retrieving the camera, bracing the camera against the open, buffeting rear deck lid, we captured this gorgeous panorama.

During judging, Sleepin’ Ute Sunset scored at 12/15 for 2nd place. The principal critique was 'I like the layered effect. Ideally, you should have a third foreground layer. Again, darken the image...' Later, he talked of cropping the upper sky.

Sleepin’ Ute Sunset
At first, your glimpse of a low, seemingly innocuous mountain range west of Cortez, Colorado, is not nearly as impressive as towering rockies north of Durango. Yet, one can see Sleeping Ute Mountain from a radius of 50 miles.
Sleeping Ute Mountain surveys lands inhabited between 600-1300 A.D. by some 200,000 Anasazi. These Anasazi were part of what's been called the Mesa Verde culture.
One view of Sleeping Ute Mountain is the center of this award discussion - Sleepin' Ute Sunset was captured in Mesa Verde National Park one evening coming out of the park where the road begins to wind back down to the valley. The day had been cold and blustery, with high winds. A stray glance in the rearview mirror showed us the incredible sunset which seemed to highlight ancient Anasazi spirits literally dancing around Sleeping Ute Mountain.
Quickly jumping out of the car, opening the trunk where camera gear was packed, retrieving the camera, bracing the camera against the open, buffeting rear deck lid, we captured this gorgeous panorama.

During judging, Sleepin’ Ute Sunset scored at 12/15 for 2nd place. The principal critique was 'I like the layered effect. Ideally, you should have a third foreground layer. Again, darken the image...' Later, he talked of cropping the upper sky.