Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 23, 2020, Part 4

I continued my stroll through the Rio Grande National Forest just off of US 380, hoping to get interesting photographs within the forest.

Near and Far. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 40mm, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 640.

I shot the image above with the near trees on one side of FSR 380 and the far trees on the far side of the roadway.  There was increasing cloudiness, which I hoped did not indicate a late day rain storm.

Aspen Trunks and Evergreens. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/3s, f/11, ISO 64.

One can find an infinite number of ways to shoot the Aspen trunks, which is both good and bad.  When is enough, enough?  And when do these images become so repetitive as to be boring?  Is there really anything unique in these images?

Falling. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 1000.

A few recently fallen trees broke up the vertical pattern of the tree trunks.

Bent and Broken. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 28mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 500.
Diverse Forest. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 31mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 500.
Trunk Line. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 1600.

Even within a dense forest, I noted that sometimes by standing in the right place, I could see an almost linear line of tree trunks.  Of course, I had to crop the wide angle view to show what caught my eye.

Early Fall Aspen Forest. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 1600.

As I worked my way around the edge of a high ridge in the forest, I began to find more fallen trees, which made various geometric patterns on or near the forest floor.

Standing and Fallen. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-24mm @ 70mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 1600.
Forest Floor. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 2000.

After few more minutes of walking from the end of the ridge I came to an opening in the forest along a steep slope with good views of forested mountainsides.  I could tell that the sun would drop below a mountain side before the golden hour, but the moving clouds resulted in highlights of the distant fall color as the shadows moved across the mountainsides.

Aspen Mountain Spotlight.  Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 29mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 400.

More later,

Ken