Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 24, 2020, Part 3

After my morning shoot near my campsite, I drove westerly along FSR 380.  There were several possible campsites that I had noted from passing through this route earlier in the week.  I drove past the first couple of sites to a large open unrestricted camping area that seemed to be popular with hunters.  There were maybe a few places in that site that might have worked, but it was hilly, uneven, partially muddy and crowded with hunters.  So I backtracked to the only other suitable site in a utility right of way.

Rio Grande National Forest Campsite. iPhone photograph.

There was plenty of room here for my vehicle and my son and DIL’s vehicle and trailer.  They were planning to meet me here tomorrow.  So I put out a couple of cones to mark an area for them, to discourage any other campers or hunters from moving in.

The view from the Sportsmobile awning window. iPhone photograph.

As I was mounting my solar panels on the top of my vehicle, a cowboy on horseback, herding a couple of cows, approached from a little side road into the forest.  He stopped to ask if I had seen any cattle nearby.  When I said no, he then asked if I was a hunter. When I told him I was here only for photography, he told me about one of his relatives that was a professional photographer who traveled around the world making photographs.

After the cowboy moved on, I noted a few passing vehicles slow to look over my campsite, then move on.  Sometime later a pickup truck pulled up next to me, the driver asking if I was staying or leaving.  He was a hunter looking for a campsite for he and his son, who was to meet him later.  We chatted for awhile, then he went a short distance down the side road and set up his camp there.  He stopped by again sometime later to chat again and his son happened to drive up as he was there.  They soon moved on to their campsite and I did not see them again.

Late in the afternoon, I took my camera into the woods to explore the area.

Forest Shadows. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-24mm @ 14mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 200

I had some difficult getting good images during this outing.  Part of this might have been due to my thinking that my photographs in the forest were becoming too much alike and in trying to do something different, I was just not very successful.  When I got around to reviewing my images from this afternoon, I initially passed over nearly all of them, considering them not worthy of processing.  Later, I decided to revisit those images, taking a closer look at each.  I still rejected most of them, but I salvaged a few mediocre ones.

Forest Light, Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @24mm, 1/125s, f/11, ISO 200.
In the Forest, Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @24mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 200.
In the Forest, Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @14mm (before crop), 1/125s, f/11, ISO 200.
Fallen Aspen leaves on old mossy log.

Until next time,

Ken

 

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