One trip around the sun.
Everyone's journey looks different.
Look around and we're the
only people here right now.
Molly McCormick completes her
yearly trek in Colorado. It's
unbelievable. We're all Four Seasons are
picture perfect. Ohh.
Look at that view cliche.
Yeah but when you're a wildlife
photographer like Molly and these
are the views and that and this over
here that is a big beautiful animal.
It's hard like they to
resist the cheese. Have
a lot of stories to tell if your eyes
that sounded really hippie dippie but.
Yeah, spring. I mean,
it essentially means life, rebirth,
giving the world a new taste of.
Mother Nature.
I really like capturing kind
of the haze over there at the
time of year when Colorado wakes
up and there's light is great.
Molly subjects start their day early.
She joins right in.
I love this guy's face,
but never too close.
Don't try to pet a bison,
wouldn't suggest it.
If it's going to disturb the animal,
if it's going to upset the
animal and it's a great shot,
I just won't get it because it's not worth.
Doing that to a species.
The Rocky Mountain Arsenal
National Wildlife Refuge is minutes
from Denver having a morning
chat but a wild world away.
It's a nice reminder of how spoiled I
am to live in Colorado. Spoiled because
spring is when a picture is worth $1000.
You know, shy they are.
Is that not the killer singing,
overseeing malley's not subtle about
her love for foxes?
That's my fox.
The signs are everywhere.
His name is Todd.
Do you know where that name is from?
Blame the fox and the hound.
And I remember
specifically when I was younger,
watching that movie, being like,
I want to go out and hang out with foxes.
One day, Disney destiny manifested.
And they're gonna get super excited.
Yay. What's my secret?
Fox spot somewhere in Colorado?
She keeps this spot on the down
low for a reason. So many species
are deteriorating before our eyes
and it's purely because of humans.
I'm a firm believer that
if you respect the animal,
it'll respect you and you'll have a
better opportunity of viewing it.
There's literally no place
you can go in Colorado that's
not gorgeous during the summer.
In this area by Mount Evans
is known for mountain goats,
big orange sheep, tourists.
Solitude might be hard to find
on the side of Mount Evans.
Really tiny one up there.
Wildlife is not
they're not shy.
It's a little pick up.
Around the time spring turned to summer,
Molly made a move too.
I quit my job to become a full
time photographer.
You know, I was working in the
customer service industry and I
think I just couldn't do it anymore.
Not everyone's that
friendly. Nowadays animals
behave is just posing while
people, that one person was
like 5 feet away from that go.
I leave an angry note on their car.
Molly believes conservation
and creativity can coexist.
I just like to give animal space.
I mean, this is their environment
and I'm I'm crashing it.
This is their home, and here is mollies.
This is my adult house.
This is my I mean, look at this countertop.
When she's not out with her camera,
I always go back to the foxes.
Molly hangs out with some other wild animals,
our dogs who own us and her work.
It's definitely my most popular shot.
It's my most purchased print as well.
Her photos, pay the bills,
and so much more.
I got sober August 15th, 2015.
And when I got out of treatment,
I was thinking.
Well, what am I gonna do now?
What am what do I do if
I'm not going to the bar?
So she picked up a camera.
I was replacing the the unhealthy
habits with photography.
My biggest accomplishment as
of now is National Geographic.
And the cool thing about this
one is that it's it's right in
the fold out and I'd never would
have been able to reach those
accomplishments if I didn't get sober.
She loves the path she's on,
but a piece of Molly's.
Art is missing some photos of my mom and I.
She got diagnosed with lung cancer at
1st and it was stage one and they found
that the lung cancer had come back
and it had metastasized into her bone.
This is our very last photo
together January 28th, 2019.
Photos help Molly remember,
this is me, this is my mom,
and then this is my partner, Bianca.
Photography helps her heal.
There's nowhere that I feel
closer to her than being outside
in nature and doing photography.
You know, people always say the New
year is the time to set intentions.
So I think balls are really good
one because you can actually go
outside and see the changes.
Fall marches straight out of summer
in Rocky Mountain National Park.
It's cool that you get to live.
And that we get to live in a state
where you can see that full cycle.
Molly feels the change.
The elk do too. So the whole point
of the elk rights mating season.
Listen that bugle. Their one goal is to.
Keep their ladies in line and
the bugle is just one of I think
it's one of the coolest sounds.
It's all Tinder.
But the females are
not swiping, they're just forced to swipe.
Joking aside, Molly's mission is serious.
I really just want people to look at my
photos and help me along with other wildlife
conservationists just taking the next step
forward to protect these species.
Because that's my passion
and, you know, do it for
the things that I've lost.
My mom was my biggest fan, you know?
Every time I see an animal,
I'm like, thanks, Mom.
I think one of the really cool
things about shooting in the
winter in Colorado is you can
see the snow capped mountains.
We are looking for bald Eagles
and we see them. They're just
significantly far away. Winter
can be cruel, Dang it.
And this day, they're here.
It's true. They're just. Shy.
No lens is long enough to capture
what the heck's going on out there.
This is part of being a
wildlife photographer.
I rarely get disappointed because I
can't obviously control Mother Nature.
They do their eagle thing.
It's pretty spectacular.
While Molly does hers some white tailed deer.
I think they're just going
for a little drink.
Oh, and you know what, actually,
behind them are a bunch
more bald Eagles and boom,
God, they're huge.
The animal Whisperer
does it again. That is so cool.
It is cool to see that.
Winter eventually melts into spring,
spring blooms into summer, and on and on.
Yeah, I think we're fortunate
to have all Four Seasons here.
Molly's just thrilled to take the ride.
Oh, see, that's the shot.