My work explores and documents the emotion of light over the landscape. I spend countless hours visiting (and re-visiting) places in the Rocky Mountains (particularly in Colorado) and the Desert Southwest, waiting for the perfect moment when the light, sky, weather conditions, and seasons conjoin into a magical still-life at the time the shutter is released.

Photography expresses my love of the natural world—with considerable effort in both the field and lab, I create images bordering on the impossible without resorting to digital manipulation beyond traditional darkroom techniques. These unique qualities come from capturing superb detail using unique Large Format cameras that yield amazing brilliance and clarity when printed to any size. Standing in front of my work is like looking out a window into an unreal world of color, shape, feeling and frozen time. This gives the viewer an unforgettable experience.

Dave Rodenbaugh is a native of Colorado with over 18 years of photographic experience, starting with his experiences in traditional black and white darkroom work in photojournalism and fine art. He is largely self-taught but has been fortunate to have a couple of good teachers over the years to advance his craft to the level you see today.

Dave has travelled extensively throughout the American West and Southwest but his favorite places remain in his home state of Colorado and the neighboring states of Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona.

Dave's photographic influences include the stunning work of Ansel Adams, which inspired him to pursue relentless perfection in his images, both technically and aesthetically. Jerry Uelsmann's work taught him to look at things in ways no one else ever has. Other color photographers guided his artistic sense for light and composition, including Galen Rowell, Tom Till and Art Wolfe. He has studied under the skillful instruction of Tony Litschewski, a master large-format photographer, and Dee Crouch, a noted photojournalist and fine-art photographer whose work was published in, amongst other things, National Geographic. Dave is always asking himself the question, "Would this image be good enough for Ansel to print?"

Dave started his love of the outdoors through family camping trips and fishing outings with his father, and then moving on to high adventure experiences in Boy Scouts and Explorers. In college, he rediscovered his love of the wilderness with friends and has been backpacking, mountain biking and hiking as voraciously as his schedule allows ever since.

Dave lives in Lakewood, CO with his wife, dog and three cats, who, with the exception of the cats (those lazy twerps!), frequently accompany him on the trail.