Blog

This coming Saturday, (October 19, 2024) at 10am I will be holding my annual clearance sale at my gallery in Estes Park. At this sale, I sell pieces at a greatly reduced price to create space for new images...

I recently launched a new YouTube channel about Rocky Mountain National Park. It is designed to provide vital visitor information and education enabling park visitors to have an even better experience...

On September 1, 2023, Rocky Trail Press released the second edition of its award-winning book Wild Light, by author and photographer Erik Stensland that showcases the beauty and wonder of Rocky Mountain National Park...

Rocky Trail Press (Erik's publishing company) is thrilled to share the news that they have won the award for Travel Book of the Year at the prestigious Benjamin Franklin Awards. The awards, organized by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), honor the best of independent publishing in the United States...

This morning I am pleased to announce that my book Whispers in the Wilderness is now available as an audio book. This book will calm the soul and help you refocus on the things that are truly important...

There's a lot happening that we want to share with you from our biggest spring sale ever, to a new audio book, information about what's happening in Rocky Mountain National Park, a new calendar, new photos, and more...

I recently had an interview with the Rocky Mountain Channel. In this interview they dive into my background and into my personal life. If you want a little peek behind the scene, then be sure and give this some time...

For many years I've been a big fan of my friend James Disney, an incredible painter with a deep knowledge of every nook and cranny of Rocky Mountain National Park and an even deeper love for this place...

For the last couple of months, I've been working hard on a new project and I'm excited to finally let you know about it. This morning I launched a new website designed to assist people wanting to visit Rocky Mountain National Park...

Last week, the annual gathering of the Independent Book Publishers Association, which represents over 4,000 publishers, took place in Orlando. For this year's Benjamin Franklin book awards there were over 1,900 books reviewed...

Today is Earth Day, the day that the whole world celebrates the natural world. I'm grateful that there is a day like this when we can stop and recognize how much we need the natural world and also how much it needs us...

“We’re going to tear it down at the end of the season.”

So said the owner of 203 Park Lane in February 2007, after offering me the space for the coming summer. The previous summer, I had begun showing my work through other stores in Estes Park...

I've been pretty quiet on here lately as I've been working on a few different projects. They are now nearing completion and being sent to press.

The first of these is The Photographer's Guide to Rocky Mountain National Park...

This pandemic has hit all of us hard in so many different ways that I would never have predicted. One of the impacts we're facing as a business is in regards to shipping our products to customers...

Many of you have visited my gallery space in Grand Lake at Studio 8369. Well, I'm very sad to report that the gallery will be closing at the end of this week (Friday September 24). The gallery has been doing really well, but our dear friends Keith and Laura who run it are moving to Seattle...

Writing The Journey Beyond was a very stretching experience. I so wanted to ensure that this book would address the challenges being faced in our society, but in a way that was meaningful and healing...

Three years ago I launched a book that was very different from any I had written before, a book filled not only with photographs but also with my own musings on reconnecting with nature and our deepest selves...

2020 has been a year that none of us will probably ever forget. The pandemic lead to weeks where nearly all of us stayed at home, where we had to learn new and difficult ways of relating to one another, a stop to most of our travel and changes in nearly every aspect of life...

On Thursday September 10th, the Colorado Independent Publishers Association held its 26th award ceremony and gave out its CIPA EVVY awards. Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: The Essential Guide was awarded first place in the Outdoor and Travel category...

During the Covid-19 lock-down I took some time to answer questions sent in via Facebook about a wide range of topics. There were so many questions that I broke them down into three separate videos. The first one addresses hiking related questions on topics such as encountering wildlife, my favorite hikes, mileage covered each year, etc...

My gallery staff have been pushing me for a quite a while to put together a little post on what my life is actually like as they get so many questions about it. People are constantly saying that I have the world's best job, though in truth most of those who say that know little of what it actually entails...

This summer to comply with the health regulations of the State of Colorado, Larimer County and Estes Park, we have implemented a number of changes that will help to keep our staff and guests as safe as possible...

Estes Park photographer and author Erik Stensland says his photography was “an attempt to figure out how to get paid to hike.” That career decision has earned Stensland another award. His 2019 book “Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: The Essential Guide” was recognized as Best Travel Book of the Year by the Independent Book Publishers Association at their 32nd annual award ceremony...

I am thrilled to announce that on Friday May 8th, Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: The Essential Guide was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Award for best travel book of 2020. The Benjamin Franklin Awards recognize the very best in independent publishing in the United States and is run by the Independent Book Publishers Association...

Today is Earth Day, actually the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. This is a day that is relevant to all of us no matter what side of the political aisle we may lean towards. Probably now more than ever we recognize the value of sunshine and clean air, trees and flowers and untamed wilderness...

For a couple of weeks our books will not be available on Amazon. This is because we are in the process of handing over our book sales to Publishers Group West which will be handling our book sales throughout North America...

I hope that this newsletter finds you and your family all healthy and well in this unusual situation that we find ourselves in. This was probably not the spring that most of us imagined when we first entered 2020...

If you are like me, it is hard to spend so much time inside. I feel the pull of nature and long to get out to hike through the woods and ski through the deep snow found at the higher elevations at this time of year...

In the publishing industry, the most prestigious award for a small publisher is a Benjamin Franklin Award. These are given out each year by the Independent Book Publishers Association. This year they had 1,700 entries...

Yesterday as I skied through the forest during a snowstorm I marveled at the deep stillness and silence. The only sound was the gentle falling of intricate flakes on my jacket. These tiny crystals, each unique but so small and seemingly insignificant, somehow transformed the world with each passing hour...

What's it like to photograph Rocky Mountain National Park during the winter season?

As we all know, winter in the mountains can be incredibly beautiful. There's something joyful about fluffy white snow and blue skies...

I thought some of you might enjoy taking a peek behind the curtain to see what it's like writing a book. It certainly isn't glamorous or exciting. Instead it is often quite scary. This seems to especially be the case when you know that the first volume was so well received...

Listen, can you hear it? The autumn grasses rustle as they gently sway in the breeze. Shh! Do you hear that gentle whooshing sound? Can you hear it increases in volume and then decreases only to increase again, incessantly like the waves of the sea? That’s the wind moving through the forest...

Day after day and year after year I post images of our incredible natural world. I celebrate its beauty and its power to lead us into healing and wholeness. Yet if I limit myself to merely posting photos while watching silently as our environment is swallowed up for the sake of "the economy" then perhaps my love of nature is only an illusion...

With over 300 miles of hiking trails, it's no wonder that Rocky Mountain National Park saw a record-breaking 4,590,493 visitors in 2018. Colorado's famous protected lands are home to 124 named peaks at 8,789 feet or higher, part of The Continental Divide and an abundance species of mammals, birds, fish and plants...

I was asked by one of my staff members, who helps run one of our social networking sites, to write up a little description of one of my days. The challenge is that they vary so greatly that none are quite the same...

In the annals of nature photography, Erik Stensland may someday be as synonymous with Rocky Mountain National Park, as Ansel Adams is with Yosemite...

Six hundred and eighteen days ago I embarked on a new project at the request of the Rocky Mountain Conservancy. They wanted a new hiking guide for Rocky Mountain National Park that would address the new realities of the Park with its rapidly growing number of visitors...

My heart sunk as I approached the meadow. This spot which for years had been the most fertile section of wildflowers, usually filled with a mixture of elephant head, scarlet and sulpher Indian paintbrush, pinnate-leaved daisies and arrowleaf senecio, was now just a field of gravel with a few sprouts of green struggling to poke through...

Some would call him lucky to spend so much time surrounded by Colorado's iconic peaks and valleys, but Estes Park photographer Erik Stensland said his career of capturing Rocky Mountain National Park comes with bad weather, early mornings and long treks...

In early December we held a pre-sale of my upcoming book, "Hiking Rocky Mountain National Park: The Essential Guide". The sale lasted just under two weeks and during that time we sold 667 copies! That will give me a real boost in helping to pay for the printing...

I was thrilled to learn that Backpacker Magazine came out with their list of the best gifts for hikers and my book, Whispers in the Wilderness was listed as one of the recommended items. You can see their other list of gifts here: https://www...

Over the years I've focused my photography primarily on creating large prints for homes and businesses. Later I started creating numerous publications with my images such as books, calendars and cards...

In the mailbox today was an award from the Colorado Independent Publisher's Association. It appears that my book, Whispers in the Wilderness won second place for Motivational & Inspirational books as part of their CIPA EVVY Book Awards...

In 2013 as I was writing my first coffee table book, Wild Light, I realized I would need to form my own publishing company. At the time I had no idea what direction it would take. I've now published six books, am in the process of preparing three others for publication and have produced a number of calendars and greeting cards as well...

Hiker at Finch Lake, RMNP

On August 23rd of 2017 the Rocky Mountain Conservancy asked if I would create a new hiking guide for Rocky Mountain National Park...

I'm pleased to announce that we are now taking registrations for my 2019 photography tour of Slovenia and Croatia. We'll be heading back to some of the most beautiful locations on this planet, just in time for peak autumn colors...

In mid-May I was contacted by Active Interest Media and asked if I would consider being a part of three commercials for Tamron Lenses. Since Tamron makes some pretty good glass I agreed. They let me test out the three lenses for about a week so that I could get comfortable with them...

The Images of RMNP gallery is blessed with an incredible team of people, marked by integrity, authenticity, and a passion for the well-being of others. We hope that you will stop by the gallery and get to know each of these remarkable people...

Beginning on June 1st we are resuming our First Friday Celebrations. On the first Friday of each month through the end of this year we join with the other galleries and studios in town to celebrate the arts...

The National Indie Excellence Awards awarded Erik Stensland's new book, "Whispers in the Wilderness" two of its top awards for independent publishing. It was given the top honor in the inspirational category and in the gift book category...

Yesterday, Denver's Fox 31 News came up to Estes Park and did a little story about me and my new book, "Whispers in the Wilderness". If you didn't catch it on the 5pm news you can watch it below.

http://kdvr...

The Estes Park News, one of the local papers to Estes Park, Colorado recently released a short article about Erik Stensland titled, "Book By Estes Park Author Recognized As Best Inspirational Book Of The Year...

We just learned that my book Whispers in the Wilderness won a silver medal in the Nautilus Book Awards in their Photography and the Arts category. The Nautilus Book Awards are in their 20th year...

I recently supplied the Ritz-Carlton in Aspen, Colorado with 127 of my prints. These were images of aspen trees and moose. For this job we supplied primarily smaller prints. I doubt I'll be heading out there any time soon, so if you visit let me know if you saw them...

Tomorrow, we celebrate 11 years since I opened the gallery in Estes Park. It has gone from just a dream to now having a well-known business, fabulous employees and so many encouraging supporters like you...

I was recently interviewed by Matt Payne on his podcast F-Stop Collaborate and Listen. This is my favorite photography podcast as Matt interviews some of the very best landscape photographers across the world and really gets at what motivates them and what lies behind their imagery...

(Note, this is not a partisan political post, but just the opposite. Please read to the end.)

I know that there are many who follow my daily posts who would consider themselves to be pro-life...

Estes Park, Colorado— Whispers in the Wilderness, a new book by local photographer and author Erik Stensland has been recognized as the best inspirational book of the year by the Independent Book Publishers Association at their 30th annual award ceremony last week in Austin, Texas...

To create a house, a road or a barn requires a very pragmatic, studied and linear approach. It requires research, mathematics and detailed drawings that are precisely followed. To do otherwise would be foolish because our physical world must be approached from a physical perspective using its laws and tools...

My life is found in solitude. By this I mean that it is only in solitude, stillness and silence that I have the opportunity to reflect, to take stock of my life and examine its direction, to consider my motivations and the deep longings hidden from view...

I was very honored to be interviewed for the 2018 edition of the Rocky Mountain Journal a publication by Active Interest Media that is designed for people planning to visit Rocky Mountain National Park...

When I share a photograph I’m trying to say so much more than, “Look at this”. My wish with every photo is:

• That you will hear a message of hope for our messed up world.

• That you will perceive the voice of beauty calling you into wholeness and health...

The latest issue of Colorado Life Magazine (December 2017) devotes a big section to life behind the scenes in Estes Park, Colorado. Most people who visit Estes Park know if from perspective of the visitor but this article takes a good look at what it is like to live in Estes Park...

I had a delightful conversation with Doug Fox, an amazing interviewer who worked for many years as a major news anchor in Dallas, Texas. He delved into my past life and adventures in the Balkans and then into my transition to becoming a photographer...

Colorado Public Radio did a 15 minute interview with me about my life as a photographer and about my upcoming book, "Whispers in the Wilderness". You can hear the interview, see some of the photos I shared with them and read a summary of the interview at this link:  https://www...

In November of 2015 I was out in Utah on a photography trip when I received a phone call from Backpacker Magazine. They were wanting to feature me in a commercial they were shooting for Casio Watches...

When reflecting on my conversation with Estes Park photographer Erik Stensland, owner of Images of Rocky Mountain National Park gallery, successful author and active member of the arts and business community, two words come to mind: Solitutde and Passion...