The beauty of the mountains, the colors, the night, and the changing of seasons is a pinnacle of life in Colorado. Seeing it through the camera of Lars Leber and making it into a visage of both time and timelessness is an art.
Photographer Lars Leber was drawn from his native Germany by the lure of the Colorado landscape, bathing in its snowy textures, dark sky brilliance, and the sheer scale of its magnificence.
“I like the mountains. We used to go skiing in Austria and always liked them.” After moving to Colorado Springs, where he worked initially for a tech company, Leber’s photography, which had always been a hobby, became a focus. “It changed quite a bit for me because I was used to taking photos any time of the day without too much planning. You walk through a city. You take some photos. You’re at the beach. You take some photos.”
But then he moved to Colorado Springs, his perception altered.
Inspiration from a Mentor
He credits fellow photographer John Fielder. He had seen pictures of beautiful Colorado mountain lakes that Fielder had taken “and I [thought], ‘What do I need to do to get to these?’” This led to Leber taking up hiking, fishing, and eventually backpacking, all because of photography “and these were things I hadn’t really done before.”
In a way, Leber’s journey was fulfilled days before this interview when he traveled to a lake near Telluride with his fiancée and his daughter to take some photographs. Three cars pulled up and it was a photo workshop led by Fielder himself.
Leber mentioned to Fielder how he was inspired by his photographs and had even sent one of Fielder’s books to his parents in Germany. Fielder shared that he used to travel with his kids as well when he photographed so there was an element of parallel paths.
Leber started his Facebook photo page at the end of 2012, “very casually, just to post my photos. But eventually, I got so many people following me there. And I got maybe a little bit obsessed with taking photos. I mean, I had a full-time job, and I took photos before work and after work. And then at night, I worked on the processing of the images trying to learn more.”
In terms of planning photographs, Leber finds that, over time, it comes down to instinct and observation. “You look outside a lot, so you kind of see if anything forms. Then I often check three to four weather apps every day just to keep updated on the forecast.”
Sadly, he says, the weather apps don’t always have the same forecast. Webcams offer him a clearer look at the weather. “So, like in Springs, for example, there’s a webcam on top of Pikes Peak. So, you can access that and kind of see if there is actually clouds coming up from the west or how things are looking in a variety of locations.”
Returning to Favorite Locations
Leber recently moved to Salida, which is more rural than the Springs, but he is always up to exploring – though he loves returning to tried-and-true places. “There are always certain places that I go back to every year, like American Basin with the Columbines.”
On each longer trip, he says he tries to check out at least one new area, “like one dirt road I haven’t taken before, or a hiking trail I haven’t done. It doesn’t always work out but eventually, you kind of get more go-to spots and you increase your chances for success.”
Leber admits flowers are not always great in each location every year. He mentions one area near Ridgeway with all creek paths. “I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I was just driving by there and saw a turnoff on that particular trip. It was just such a pretty scenic drive that I’ve been back every year since.”
The allure of Colorado photography mostly resounds for Leber in the seasons, especially the fall. “The part that I like the most which doesn’t happen all the time is when you have snow mixed in with the fall colors. That’s why I went out yesterday last minute. A friend showed me a photo of the fresh snow with the fall colors. So, I had to go!”
Focused Approach & Challenges for Lars Leber
Photos of Dark Sky elements sometimes mixed with the setting or rising of the sun is another specialty of Leber but requires a sense of logistics. Dark Sky refers to a place where one can see the Milky Way often, at times, with the naked eye. It is however a boon to photographers with a creative bent and time lapse shutter speeds which allows them to capture amazing images.
“You have to keep in mind that, with the Milky Way there are certain times of the year where you can actually see the core. It kind of starts in March where you can see the core out east when it sets just before sunrise. You do have to get up pretty early,” Leber explains. “And then during the summer, the core moves more to the south and it will be more in the middle of the night, like at midnight, for example. And then at the end of the season in September, the core sets in the west right after sunset.”
It is not a calling for the meek of heart. “For me, it was a challenge just get up early because I’m not a morning person. I’m better at that now. Otherwise, when you stand out there for like six hours or so during the night, you just have to kind of get used to the cold, so, of course, you buy some good clothes. Coffee helps, too.”
It is also a love that he has started to pass on to both his fiancée as well as his daughter, who is now 4. “She mentions the Milky Way all the time. She’s excited when she sees photos of it and she likes to look at it at night too. When we moved at the beginning of August up to Salida, I found an old point-and-shoot camera and it was still working. So, I handed it to her and she’s started taking photos now too which is kind of interesting to me. She has already taken several hundred photos with it. It’s nice to see her perspective as well.”
[…] final recommendation is the Lars Leber 2022 Colorado Calendar. We featured this local photographer earlier this month because we are huge fans of his work. Who wouldn’t love staring at his […]