The Crested Butte Wildflower Festival Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the winner of the
2014 Wildflower Festival’s Poster Contest is Wayne Collins! Wayne and his wife Leslie are half-time residents of Crested Butte and The Woodlands, Texas. Wayne took this
beautiful photo from the 401 Trail north of Gothic on July 13, 2013. The Board selected his image because of its diverse wildflower display, the interesting flow of energy, light, and colors between the mountain peaks and clouds, and its local signature featuring Gothic Mountain and Mt. Crested Butte.
Wayne’s interest in nature photography started back in the 1980′s. Retirement and a course taught by John Fielder at one of the Wildflower Festivals in the 90′s sealed the deal, and he has been honing his eye and technical skills ever since. His career with Texas Instruments and Compaq Computer led him all over the world-from China to Patagonia-but he insists that his favorite locations for shooting are stateside: in our National Parks and the Crested Butte area. “Yellowstone in the winter is just amazing, especially since the animals are moving slower and tolerate us a little more”, he says. The Crested Butte area offers wonderful opportunities in the summer, fall and winter.
“High Dynamic Range” (HDR) is a relatively new photography tool that allows an image to be captured in a way closer to how our eyes would naturally process it. The technical advancements in photography made possible by digital equipment and processing techniques are exciting to Wayne, a self-described amateur. “Photography is getting closer to capturing images in ways that are very similar to how our eyes see things. We see all of the tremendous variations in light and color with our eyes, but it’s relatively recent that photography can approach this capability”, he states. For the image he shot for the 2014 poster, he combined several panoramic shots into a single image using HDR.
We all have a story about what brought us to Crested Butte. For Wayne, it was a pop-up camper and a road trip in the 70′s. Wayne and Leslie’s love affair with the place kept blossoming, and 20+ years later led them to build their house in Trappers Crossing. They now share their time between Crested Butte and Texas.
Wayne will be
signing his poster at the Wildflower Happy Hour at next summer’s Festival, July 7-13 – so Save the Date! The poster makes a perfect holiday gift, costs $20, and is available at the Crested Butte Heritage Museum, Handworks, Pema Dawa, Rijks Family Gallery, Gunnison Gallery ,and
right here in the Blossom Boutique >>
