The Garden Of The Gods park is a Colorado Springs treasure. The land was gifted to the city in 1909 by the children of Charles Elliot Perkins, completing a legacy of public access to this natural wonderland. Of course, the park’s attraction are the fascinating sandstone monoliths resulting from the uplifted sedimentary deposits of an ancient, inland sea. It has drawn visitors for thousands of years, with archaelogical evidence from as early as 1330 BC. Petroglyphs have been found in the park that are typical of the early Utes who once called the Pikes Peak region their home.
For the photographer, there’s a little bit of magic at sunrise, when the rocks become illuminated and radient in the warm morning light. Early morning compositions are also facilitated by the front range mountains on the western horizon, including Pikes Peak. Late day photography is certainly profitable too, though looming mountains on the western horizon limit some of the atmospheric qualities of sunset lighting. There is also a surprising abundance and variety of wildlife and plant life. Geologically, the park is an in your face kind of experience and does surely inform and inspire one’s photographic endeavors.
