Calm Before the Storm
Calm Before the Storm is a Colorado alpine wildlife print named for what was coming—not a thunderstorm, but the real storm of the season: the elk rut. This bull was still in velvet when I photographed him, but with a rack of antlers like that, you could feel the energy building. In a few weeks he’d be a force to be reckoned with, and I kept thinking about the chaos he was likely to stir once the breeding season began.
Images like this don’t happen by accident. It took me roughly twenty visits and a long hike into the high country each time—learning patterns, watching weather, returning again and again until the moment finally lined up. When it did, the scene was surprisingly quiet: an immense bull elk standing alone on the tundra, mountain valleys falling away behind him, snow still clinging to the slopes in the distance.
I never found him again after he shed his velvet, and I don’t know if he’s still out there—but I’d love to cross paths with him one more time.
If you’re looking for Colorado elk wall art or a bull elk fine art print with a calm, powerful presence, Calm Before the Storm brings that high-country stillness into a home or office.
