Natalie Ware takes in the sunset at Glendo State Park. (Aleah Ware/The Nature Conservancy of Wyoming)

While on a favorite trail at Glendo State Park one evening near sunset, aspiring photographer Aleah Ware could tell the sky was about to put on a dazzling display, she told WyoFile. Luckily, she had dragged along her favorite model: her sister Natalie.  

The image she captured — Natalie in silhouette gazing at the water — won first place in the “people” category of The Nature Conservancy of Wyoming’s 2021 “I Believe in Conservation” student photo contest. Ware, 18, who hails from Douglas, said there are several things she likes about the image. 

I love the clouds in this photo!” she wrote in an email. “I also am obsessed with sunsets and the way the colors came out was perfect. But I think my favorite part about it is my younger sister, Natalie, I think she is so beautiful and obviously born to be a model! Lol, I love her and it was so kind of her to come out with me to be my Guinea pig.”

The image also serves as a reminder of Wyoming’s special outdoor gems, she wrote. 

“I think this photo can inspire us to not take nature’s beauty for granted,” Ware wrote. 

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Katie Klingsporn reports on outdoor recreation, public lands, education and general news for WyoFile. She’s been a journalist and editor covering the American West for 20 years. Her freelance work has...

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