Continuing to drive farther along FSR 250, checking out the scenery and possible campsites, I pulled off the road, when I saw this view of a red top mountain.
A Red Top Mountain. iPhone photograph.
I made a mental note of this location, hoping to return here again, when I had more time to shoot with my DSLR.
Shortly after taking this photo, I came to Stunner Campground at the intersection of FSR 250 and FSR 380. I was surprised to find that it was not only open, but free and no one else was there.
I pulled into the first campsite that just happened to be a level, pull through site that would be perfect for my son and DIL’s small camper trailer. This campsite came with a pair of hiking boots (image below). I then staked out the next campsite just a bit more down the loop for my vehicle.
Abandoned or Forgotten Boots. iPhone photograph.
Stunner Campground Campsite. iPhone photograph.
Just up the hillside, on one side of my campsite, were tailings from an old mine or exploratory mine.
A few other campers began to arrive in the campground a little later with a few staying and a few driving on.
Since I had plenty of time before my son arrived, I did a lot of walking in and around the campground, scouting for potential photographic opportunities.
Stunner Campground, Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado. iPhone photograph.
There were many large rocks and boulders scattered around the campground. The rocks usually had splotches of lichen growing on them in interesting patterns.
Lichen on Rock. iPhone photograph.Lichen on Rock. iPhone photograph.Lichen on Rock. iPhone photograph.
I worked my down towards the Alamosa River that ran beside the campground.
Mine Tailings and the Alamosa River at Stunner Campground. iPhone photograph.
The photo above was taken from atop mine tailings, looking down towards the river and across to a mountainside. Notice that there are patches of good fall color, but most of the trees are still green or just showing signs of changing.
The beetle killed evergreen trees really spoil the scenery now all around the Rocky Mountains, but there are trees that either are resistant or maybe just not yet attacked by the beetles.
The soil in this area is mineral rich, resulting in an orange-red color in the water, staining the rocks and anything else in the water. The water is acidic from the naturally occurring minerals and the mine tailing contribute even more to the natural elements in the water.
Mine Tailings above the Alamosa River. iPhone photograph.
There were numerous other indications of old mining operations around the campground and I even saw newish claim stakes in one location.
Stunner Campground View. iPhone photograph.
That little Aspen tree in the photo above really caught my eye, so I had to photograph it with a green evergreen tree as background. I tried other compositions and close up views, but this one is most pleasing to me.
Mineral stained driftwood along the Alamosa River. iPhone photograph.Alamosa River at Stunner Campground. iPhone photograph.
When my son arrived, he said the fall color in this area was the best he had seen on his trip from the Denver area and that there was much smoke from forest fires visible during most of the drive. There seemed to be little, if any indication of smoke in this area.
We drove around a little after they arrived to decide where to go for a morning shoot the next day.
This is open range country, so there were cows wandering around the forest. A small herd of cattle moved into the campground during the night, sleeping in the open, grassy meadow of the campground.
Early morning frost and curious cattle in Stunner Campground. iPhone photograph.
The darker spots in the grass of the photo above are places where the frost did not form, because an animal was laying there during the night.
At sometime during my second day in Colorado, my son and his wife decided that due to the smoke from numerous large forest fires in Colorado, it would be best to come south to meet me in the Rio Grande National Forest. So I needed to find a suitable campsite for all of us and scout the forest roads for potential photographic opportunities.
Thus Friday morning I continued to drive along Forest Service Road 250 and spurs off of FSR 250, looking for good campsites, stopping above Platoro Reservoir to shoot a few DSLR photos.
Rain had prevented an afternoon shoot with the DSLR the previous day and the rain chances were to go away overnight, so I got up before sunrise this morning to photograph the falls and portions of the Cumberland River in early morning light.
Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 10.0s, ISO 400, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
It was still overcast in the very early portion of the morning with a mist around the river area. Condensation fell upon me from the tree canopy at my first shooting area. I was the only one there and this is usually the case, when one gets out before daybreak. Most typical tourist are late risers and/or have breakfast before venturing out and about. We photography enthusiasts usually shoot first and eat later.
Initially, long shutter speeds were required due to the dim, very early, morning light; but this is exactly what I wanted, in order to get the silky look in the flowing water, creating the sense of motion.
Going back up to the walkway/trail along the river after my first stop, I noted that there were other view points that I had not explored the day before, so I continued to those other areas, checking views from the trail as I walked along.
Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 38mm, f/16, 2.0s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Eventually, the overcast began to burn away and there was some good early morning sunlight, which as expected fell on the opposite side of the river. The waterfall was mostly in shadow in the very early morning; but I think I got good images anyway and the low light intensity made it easy to get the slower shutter speeds that I wanted to use.
I continued to drag the shutter (use longer than required shutter speed) a little, even though as the light brightened, I could have adjusted the aperture and/or the ISO to freeze the water motion. I prefer the silky look in the flowing water; although, there are some who object to this as creating an unreal (not as our eyes see it) image.
Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 35mm, f/16, 1.3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 31mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Cumberland Falls in Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 56mm, f/16, 0.8s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
As the light advanced and I was satisfied that I had acquired the images that I wanted of the falls, I walked down by the river just below the parking lot, shooting several photographs of the river above the falls. By this time a few scattered visitors began to show up.
Cumberland River and Reflections. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Cumberland River and Reflections. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 38mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Cumberland River. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
As a reminder, clicking upon an image will open it in Flickr, where the image will look better than in this post.
Thanks for following and I hope you enjoy the photographs,
The last night camping along Owl Creek Pass Road was the coldest night I experienced on this trip. When I awoke in the pre-dawn hours the temperature inside the Sportsmobile was 45 degrees F. I turned on the furnace to bring the temperature up to a more pleasant 55 degF, as I dressed and prepared coffee. As I was preparing to leave the campsite for the final day of photography, I noted a patch of frost on the inside of the windshield and a bit of frost on the exterior. The frost quickly disappeared after starting the van and putting the heater setting on defrost.
I drove on Owl Creek Pass Road towards Silver Jack Reservoir and pulled into a wide pull out just before a cattle guard just south of an access road to Silver Jack Reservoir. This area was a mile or so further north of the area where I had shot the morning before. I gathered my gear, including knit hat and gloves, since it was still a bit frosty prior to sunrise. I walked down a slope in a pasture towards the broad drainage into Silver Jack Reservoir, looking for a good vantage point from which to shoot the mountainside to the west, dodging cow patties as I went along.
A frosty cow pie. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I set up the tripod and camera in a place where I thought the view was best and one that allowed me to move around a bit, if necessary, then waited for the sunrise, choosing initial compositions and taking a few test shots.
The sky was clear, much different than the previous morning. I made a number of photos, as the morning light moved from the top of the mountainside downward towards the drainage, from a couple of slightly different vantage points.
A fall scene off of Owl Creek Pass Road near Silver Jack Reservoir, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe LR and Skylum Luminar 2018.An early morning fall scene near Silver Jack Reservoir, Owl Creek Pass Road, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The compositions from my chosen location were a bit limited. It was difficult to avoid the foreground clutter, with the 24-70mm lens that I had elected to use this morning, and many of the shots looked so similar or otherwise just did not turn out as I wanted, that I am posting only a couple that I liked best. I chose to shoot with the 24-70mm, since I was rather sure that the 14-24mm wide angle lens, that I had used the previous morning, would be too wide for what I wanted to shoot today. It is possible that the 80-400mm lens might have been a better choice in this location for shooting beyond the foreground clutter and I certainly could have gotten some good shots of the mountain peaks with that big lens.
Finished shooting here, I drove north on Owl Creek Pass Road, exploring the area and looking for favorable places to maybe get mid-morning shots of the colorful Aspens. I walked around in an Aspen forest, shooting with the wide angle 14-24mm, which I found to be a bit difficult to work with in the woods. Nearly all of the shots that I had high hopes for, turned out poorly, but I do like the one below with the long shadows cast by the trees.
Fall forest shadows. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 15mm, f/11, 1/100s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
After shooting in the forest, I continued driving along Owl Creek Road, enjoying the great fall day and the scenery, stopping occasionally to shoot with my iPhone.
A scene in one of the Silver Jack camp grounds that are run by the forest service. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A side road off of Owl Creek Pass Road, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A mid-morning fall scene along Owl Creek Pass Road, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Along the roadway, I encountered a lone cow that stood in the middle of the road, staring at me. I stopped to wait for it to move along. As it continued to look at me, I picked up the iPhone with the intention of getting a photo of it. As soon as I did this, it turned and started to walk away down the road. I followed, slowly. Eventually, it moved to the edge of the roadway and I pulled up beside it, stopped and it stared up at me. Again I picked up the iPhone, aimed it at the cow and it immediately turned and walked away. Again it stopped in the middle of the road to stare back at me. Again I started to shoot it with the iPhone and again it began to walk away. I can only surmise that it was a camera shy cow. I really wanted a shot into its eyes as it stared, but I only got shots of it walking away.
The camera shy cow. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Owl Creek Pass Road near Silver Jack Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Aspens in fall color and evergreens along Owl Creek Pass Road, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I began to make my way along Owl Creek Pass Road towards highway 550 and Ridgway, where I would spend the night in Ridgway State Park before heading to Bisti in New Mexico the following morning.
Along the way, I was hailed by someone driving a jeep coming up the road in the opposite direction. I stopped to see what was going on, thinking that they might be wanting to warn me about road conditions ahead. It turned out to be the couple that had visited my first campsite (the ones that wanted to use my campsite the following day). They easily recognized my vehicle since it was the only one like it in the area and they just wanted to chat. We only had time for a brief conversation, since other vehicles began to accumulate behind them. I also had conversations with others (campers, tourist, photographers, hunters) that I encountered at various locations in this area. It is always interesting to learn about others and their backgrounds, experiences, etc. and surprising how many times we find people with similar backgrounds, who are familiar with seemingly unusual places we or our family members have lived.
Future posts will cover the couple of days that I spent shooting in the Bisti Wilderness area in New Mexico, which is becoming one of my favorite places for photography.
After the previous post, I realized that I had forgotten to include a few iPhone photos of my final campsite along Owl Creek Pass Road. So this is just a brief post to add those photos. Thanks for your indulgence.
The final campsite along Owl Creek Pass Road, Colorado. Fall 2018, iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A panorama at the last campsite along Owl Creek Pass Road, Colorado. Fall 2018, iPhone photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Panorama of last campsite along Owl Creek Pass Road, Colorado, Fall 2018. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe LR and Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
After early and mid-morning photos on day 3 along Owl Creek Pass Road, I drove around exploring other areas and spur roads off of the main forest road, looking for another suitable campsite that would put me near a place for sunset photos. Many of the best campsites were already taken and I ended up across the creek from my first night’s campsite, where I saw a couple of hunters breaking camp. I pulled into the site, struck up a conversation with the hunters, the younger one a chemical engineer from Missouri and son-in law of the older one from Arkansas. The older hunter has been coming to this area since the 1970s. They had been elk hunting, unsuccessfully; but they had an antler shed, which they offered to me. Having no desire for the shed, I left it at the campsite for someone else to find. After they finished loading their considerable camping and hunting equipment, including an OHV, onto a trailer and into their pickup trucks, they headed out and I moved into the flattest area of the site. This campsite was very open and it was a sunny day, so I put out the solar panels and allowed them to charge the Sportsmobile batteries, until about an hour before sunset, then I packed those away, since I did not want to pack them up after dark and I expected it would be dark soon after my sunset shots.
The views from this site were very similar to those on my first night and first morning of camping, but with more trees and the creek between me and the mountainside. I walked around the area and down along the creek, looking for suitable places from which to shoot, then had a sandwich, potato chips and Gatorade for dinner, while waiting for the late afternoon light.
The photos from this site were so similar to those from the first day of shooting and with more clutter in the foreground, that I initially thought about not including any in this blog; but as I looked at them a second time, I thought some might look better, if converted to monotone or edited with one of my other image editors, in addition to Lightroom adjustments to the raw images. So I did just that, experimenting with Nik Silver Effects Pro and Color Effects 4 and Skylum Luminar 2018 software.
The photos posted here are also posted to Flickr (just click on an image), where the images will be sharper and brighter than in this post.
One of only two color photos chosen to post from this shoot. I’m not really enthralled by this composition and in particular the bland sky, but I think it might be the best of the color images that I captured during this shoot. I processed the raw image in Lightroom and Luminar 2018. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 46mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 160.This is the best sunset light that I saw on this feature. I might have brought out the colors in the foreground a bit more, but I wanted the emphasis to be on the rocks in the mountainside. Raw image processed in Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 160.I really wanted to see the cliff face in this image appear colorful in the setting sunlight, but it never got as much light on it as I wanted. At least, the color bands, shadows and highlight along the rock face add interest in this version. The trees in the foreground are colorful, with contrasting color and shapes, but just did not seem to work as well in the color image.This large cliff face was just south of my campsite. The rock is not colorful and the setting sun did not produce a colorful glow at any time as the sun went low on the horizon, so this and all the other color photos of this feature were bland. In this B&W conversion, I wanted to emphasize the rock along the edge and top of the mountainside, while keeping hints of the trees in fall color in the foreground. The sky was mostly bland, adding minimal interest, other than the cloud along the right side, so I made the sky go mostly dark, making the cliffside look as if it had been purposely light painted. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.Those of you who have viewed the photos from my first blog about this photo trip will recognize this feature. In this B&W version, I like the contrasts produced by variations in the tree foliage color and the shape of the trees in the foreground, as well as the highlight on the rock outcrops. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 160.This is a similar view to that in the above photo, with more sky, less of the trees in the foreground and more of the mountainside. The sky was bland, so I let it go black to emphasize the rock along the skyline, while retaining the hints of fall color in the deciduous trees. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/15s, ISO 64.The rock face in the original color photo is very colorful in the setting sunlight; but the foreground is distracting in the color photo. I have kept a hint of the foreground color in the trees in this image, while highlighting the rocks with its texture and shadows. I like the way the two tall evergreen trees appear to be pointing towards the rising moon and the diagonal lines formed by the tree lines and the jagged, horizontal line of the top of the mountainside, both converging near the rising moon. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 70mm, f/11, 1/15s, IDO 64.I was trying to capture the reflection of color in the sky in the branch of the creek near the center of this image, but it just did not fit well with the rest of the image. I like this B&W conversion with the fall color in the trees, showing up brightly against the dark evergreens. I do not like the tree along the left edge, but I could not find a pleasing composition of this scene that excluded that tree. There is also a halo effect, produced by the Nik Silver Effects Pro software, that is quite noticeable along the top of the peak on the right side of the image. I do not really like this effect; but I currently do not know how to eliminate it. I’m sure there must be a way to tone this down. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 30mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 160.
The opinions expressed about the images here are my subjective ones. I welcome your feedback, opinions and critiques, as I can always use those to improve my work.
After the early morning photo shoot, I continued along Owl Creek Pass Road, enjoying the fall scenery and looking for a place for mid-morning photography and some experimentation with PC (Perspective Control in Nikon terms) lenses, commonly referred to as tilt/shift lenses.
Tilt/Shift lenses are typically used in product and architectural photography. The shift allows one to make vertical objects, like buildings, look vertical, rather than tilted, as they do with ordinary lenses. The tilt function of the lenses allows one to get a deeper depth of field with a large aperture, rather than having to go to a small aperture for a deep DOF.
Within the past twelve months I purchased a couple of used PC lenses from local photographers. The lenses are quite expensive, if purchased new and not cheap, when a good used one is found. The first one that I purchased was a Nikon PC-E 24mm. The photographer that I acquired it from had used it for wedding photography, a surprising use of this lens, I thought; but one can get some special effects with it that makes for unique photographs.
The second tilt/shift lens that I acquired was an older Nikon PC85mm. The photographer from which I purchased it had used it for product photography. I had seen some interesting landscape photos taken with such a lens, so I wanted to experiment with one and not wanting to spend a fortune on a lens that I might not use often, I knew it would be more economical and practical to get a good used lens.
These lenses are all manual focus, which can be a challenge for us older folks as our eye sight becomes less sharp. The metering is also manual with PC lenses. The PC-E (E designating electronic) will meter with the lens in the non-tilt, non-shift mode, so the exposure needs to be determined prior to shifting or tilting or one might shoot test shots and adjust the exposure by trial and error. I found it best to estimate the exposure prior to tilting, shoot a test shot after tilting and tweak the exposure as appropriate.
Thinking that a forest might be a suitable place for experimentation, I found a couple of places near Silver Jack Reservoir where I could walk into an Aspen forest just off of a roadway. A few of the test shots are posted below.
Experimenting with a tilt-shift lens, Nikon PC85mm. Note the line of focus in the upper third horizontal portion of the image with blurring to either side. Nikon D850, Nikon PC85mm, f5.6, 1/125s, ISO 64. Note the large aperture. It is possible to get a large depth of field with large apertures with tilt-shift lenses.
Many of the Aspen trees along the roadway into a parking area at Silver Jack Reservoir had initials or names, etc. carved into the trunks. I happened to note that the tree on the left of the above image had my initials on it. (No, I did not put them there). Your eyes are ok, the image is blurry except along a horizontal band in the upper 1/3 of the photo. The technique for getting such an image is to focus on a nearby subject, then tilt the lens to bring more distant subjects into focus. You will notice that the large f/5.6 aperture gives a good depth of field through a portion of the image.
Experimenting with a tilt-shift lens. Nikon D850, Nikon PC 85mm, f/8, 1/125s, ISO 64. Moving to smaller apertures gives a broader area of focus through the central portion of images.
The photo above is also taken with the PC 85mm, but with an f/8 aperture. Moving to a smaller apertures seems to widen the area of focus, as it increases the DOF.
A PC-E 24mm image in an Aspen forest. Nikon D850, Nikon PC-E 24mm, f/8, 1/125s, ISO 64.
The 24mm PC-E is a bit easier to work with than the PC 85mm. It seems to give more leeway in acquiring focus while tilting than does the PC85mm. In the above photo, I first focused on the rough bark on the tree on the left, then tilted the lens to increase the DOF. Tilting the lens also affects the near focus a bit, so that a portion of the near object goes out of focus as the more distant objects come into focus.
Nikon D850, PC-E 24mm, f/6.7, 1/125s, ISO 64.
The lower photo above is the same composition as the previous one, but with a larger aperture.
Nikon D850, Nikon PC-E 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 64.
The same composition as previously, but at f/11. I think the wider focus area is apparent. The lighting changed, as well as the aperture, so the exposure is a bit different.
Perhaps these are not the best images for illustrating the effects obtained by these lenses, but I’m thinking the tilt function can be useful for emphasizing certain aspects in an image, perhaps with a “tunnel” vision effect.
These lenses also rotate, so one can put the tilt and shift at various angles. So far, I’ve only experimented with vertical tilts; but I think tilting at various angles to the camera will be appropriate in some situations.
These lenses all are configured by the manufacturer with the tilt and shift at 90 degrees to each other; but, as I have learned in my research on these lenses, these can be easily reconfigured to have the tilt and shift aligned in the same direction, making it possible to keep vertical objects vertical, while also increasing the DOF with the tilt function. I have not yet tried this, but I am thinking that I might. One might pay Nikon or a professional camera shop to reconfigure a lens, but it is an easy do-it-yourself operation, just be careful with the E versions, since there is wiring within these lenses and one cannot rotate the lens parts more than 90 degrees or damage to the wiring is probable. Information on how to modify these lenses (Nikon and Canon) can be found via an online search. Here is one link that describes the procedure for Nikon PC lenses http://www.achim-sieger.de/en/axis-change-pc-e-nikkor-24mm/
The 24mm PC-E is a very sharp lens and can be used in a non-tilt, non-shift mode as an ordinary 24mm prime. While shooting with no tilt and no shift, I noted that occasional breezes shook loose leaves and I thought shooting them as they fell might make interesting photos and maybe brief time lapse videos. I could not use the built in time lapse function of the D850 very easily, since the breezes were not predictable, so I elected to just shoot a series of shots using the remote release, whenever the leaves began to fall. I did not even take time to set the camera to continuous mode, I just used the remote release to shoot as quickly as I could press the shutter release button. It is best to view the following photos and time lapse videos on a large screen, otherwise the falling leaves are not easily observed, in this very brief video. To make a longer video, would have taken much more time and many more shots and I did not think it worthwhile to expend that much effort to do so. (This video is also posted to my Flickr page).
The falling leaves are fairly easily seen in this cropped version (just above) of one of my images.
Look for very brief yellow spots within the video to see the falling leaves. If nothing else were moving, I might have made gotten leaf trail type images (similar to star trails); but if nothing else were moving, there would be no falling leaves, either.
I got feedback from one of my blog followers regarding the video format (mp4). Apparently, not everyone can view these formats. While I can convert an mp4 to an avi and other video formats, I cannot view an avi on my MAC computer, so I have no idea how the avi looks or even if it will work in this post. I tried to insert an avi into this post, but I’m rather sure that it would not be visible, so I removed it. At this time I have no solution for this problem.
I later used the PC-E 24mm to photograph at Bisti in New Mexico and I will post photos from that shoot in a later post. I’ve not yet had time to review those photos in detail, so I hope I have suitable ones to share from that shoot.
Arising early on September 20, after coffee and a light breakfast, I set out in the Sportsmobile to select an advantageous spot for early morning photos along Owl Creek Pass Road just a short distance from my campsite. I drove back and forth along one particular interval on the road, before picking what looked like a suitable place, gathered my selected gear for the morning shoot and set out across an open range pasture towards the drainage between the pasture and the mountains to the east.
It was a very cloudy morning, after a rainy night, but not completely overcast as most of the previous day had been and the rain was gone, so I had some hope of getting some early morning light highlighting the mountainsides nearby. It was a bit dicey, as all of the clouds were moving towards the light from the sun, which was still hidden behind a mountainside to the east of the roadway.
As I walked across the open range pasture, I recalled the statement credited to Ansel Adams, “the secret to getting a good photograph is knowing where to stand”. Photographers are always going to extremes to find the best place to stand and sometimes get into uncomfortable or precarious positions in doing so. This morning I noted that a corollary to Adam’s statement had to be “knowing where not to stand”, as I carefully selected each step to avoid the numerous cow patties in the pasture. There were so many that I had to be very careful, not only where I stepped, but where I set up the tripod to avoid sticking one of its legs into a cow patty.
I wandered around in the pasture, looking for various possibilities for suitable places from which to shoot. The broad drainage area between the mountainside to the west and the pasture to the east of it was filled with scrubby vegetation, which would make for a messy foreground, no matter where I stood with my 14-24mm wide angle lens. There was no time to scout any other area prior to sunrise, so I had to make the best of this area.
Pre-sunrise test shot. The clouds are adding drama to the sky, but might prevent early morning light on the mountainside. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64.The clouds moving to the east might totally obstruct the early morning sun rays. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 64.Pre-sunrise, early morning clouds and mist or campfire smoke in the valley. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64.It is getting close to sunrise and the clouds are still a major concern. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 64.Nice clouds, but I am becoming more concerned about getting good early morning light on the mountainside. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 64.Pre-sunrise. I kept seeing either mist rising or camp fire smoke wafting in the valley, but I was never ready to shoot, when it looked the best. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64.A crop of the previous shot, better showing the mist or campfire smoke in the valley.Surprise! Even with the heavy clouds, sunlight is beginning to highlight the mountainside! Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64.A crop of the previous shot.I’m liking the clouds thinning and the ribbon of light highlighting portions of the mountainside. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64.A crop of a photo very much the same as the previous one, leaving the dramatic sky and emphasizing the diagonal mountainside slope with the streak of light along it.Rotating to the left, I get this view with a thin ribbon of light along the mountainside. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/10s, ISO 64.A crop of the previous shot, emphasizing the clouds and the thin ribbon of light along the mountainside.With the light now highlighting the vegetation in the wash, I had to get a shot with the mud splattered Sportsmobile in the foreground. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 64.This is entirely about the clouds sweeping overhead. I just happened to note that the thinning clouds, revealing the blue sky background, made the sky look very attractive. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 640.
This was, perhaps not the best morning nor the best location for sunrise shots, but the views were quite good, even though I might not have captured the scenes as well as I would have liked.
Part 2 of this post will continue with mid-morning shots and experimentation with tilt/shift lenses.
The sunrise photo shoot on day two of this trip was mostly a disappointment. The features that I had hoped would get good sunrise light did not get sufficient illumination and those that did get light did not make really good subjects. With a big zoom, I was able to get only a couple of fair shots of a distant feature with colorful foliage in the foreground and middle ground.
Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm, f11, 1/80s (soft)Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm, f11, 1/160s (sharper, but no clouds).
I, also, tried shooting along the little creek behind my campsite, but the compositions were limited and not very appealing. There were some reflections of colorful trees in small portions of relatively still water, where I tried to get good images and even tried to get a number of images to focus stack, but I was not happy with any of those images.
The creek just to the west of my first campsite along Owl Creek Pass Road, Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 32mm, f16, 1/20s, 09192018.
Soon after breaking camp and beginning to scout for another site for late day shooting, it became very overcast with intermittent rain. I managed to get a few good shots of Courthouse Rock, standing in a light rain, shooting from the far side of the meadow, where the scene from True Grit (1969) of Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) and Lucky Ned Pepper (Robert Duval) charged at each other with guns blazing. I shot a sequence of photos here with clouds passing across the rock face. The shots vary from ones with nearly completely visible Courthouse Rock to ones with Courthouse Rock completely cloud enshrouded.
Court House Rock in the clouds. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 80mm, f11, 1/40s.Court House Rock with clouds. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 80mm, f11, 1/50s.
This looked like a good scene for time lapse movies, so I experimented with the built in time lapse feature of the Nikon D850, shooting short sequences of shots to convert into time lapse movies.
It may take a few moments for the videos to begin, so be patient after clicking one.
{This is open range cattle country and the meadow from which I shot Courthouse Rock was so covered with cow dung that I had to calculate each step to avoid it. I assume this was not the case during the shooting of the True Grit scene}.
I drove around quite a bit on this day, scouting locations for the next day’s shoot and looking for other places to shoot on a rainy, overcast day. I ended up going all the way back down to just before the start of forest road 858 to a campsite/view point from which the entire profile of Courthouse Mountain is visible. I had hoped to be able to shoot sunset photos from that view point, since I had seen a brilliantly lit sunset view of this profile from Ridgeway State Park, but obviously today was not going to be the day to do that. However, since I was there, I hiked up and over a ridge to the east of the parking area and made a few images with the big 80-400mm zoom. The images are not great, but here are a couple.
Court House Mountain from a view point along Owl Creek Pass Road on a rainy day. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 120mm, f11, 1/40s.Courthouse Rock shot from a view point along Owl Creek Pass Road on a rainy day. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 340mm, f11, 1/100s.
I did not find a campsite that really appealed to me more than the area near my first campsite. So I ended up setting up camp no more than maybe a half a mile from the first campsite. It rained off and on through the night and got fairly cold, but the temperature inside the van was still only down to about 50 degrees the next morning and I only switched on the furnace for a few minutes just after getting up, while preparing for day 3 along Owl Creek Pass Road, which will be the topic of the next post.
After shooting near Dallas Divide in the early morning of September 18, I stopped at a little coffee house in Ridgway for a cup of coffee and a breakfast taco, then topped off the fuel tank, since I planned to be in the mountains with no services for several days.
I then proceeded to Owl Creek Pass Road, aka County Road 8 and forest access road 858, when it enters the national forest. There are spur roads off of 858, along which are dispersed forest campsites. The campsites are free and available on a first come basis. The best sites are always popular, so it is best to find one before very late in the day. There are also several fee campgrounds near the Silvercreek Reservoir that are run by the National Forest Service. Those campsites are nestled in Aspens, have trash service, pit toilets and potable water available (no RV hookups at the campsites). There are also pit toilets near some of the dispersed camping areas.
Most of the dispersed campsites have fire pits constructed of local rocks and some even have free firewood stacked at the sites, which I did not take advantage of, not wanting to reek of smoke and having to tend to the fire late into an evening; even though, I would have really enjoyed a cheerful, crackling fire.
Free firewood at a campsite. (iPhone photo).
Owl Creek Pass Road is rated as an easy, maintained, 4-wheel drive road and usually drivable by an ordinary passenger vehicle. It is wide enough in most places for vehicles to pass and there are pull outs along the road, otherwise.
There was road maintenance (new gravel and grading) work going on over the lower portion of the forest road during my visit, which caused very little delay; but I did have to follow a grader over one stretch during one day on the road and shared the roadway with dump trucks a couple of times.
The road can be washboarded, which was the worst condition, other than mud after a rain, that I encountered. Most of the worst washboarding was on county road 8 prior to getting to the forest road.
The drive itself is quite scenic along all of the forest road and along the spur roads, which I explored, scouting for a good campsite that would allow for late afternoon and maybe even early morning photos without having to drive to another location. I was fortunate to find a very nice, secluded site with great view from the site and good photo opportunities within short walking distances from the site.
Somewhere along Owl Creek Pass Road. As you can see, it was a bit hazy and partly cloudy and the Aspens are in mixed color change. (iPhone photo)Along the route, I could get glimpses of large patches of Aspens in full color. (iPhone photo)The sign at the top of Owl Creek Pass. I could tell by the colors here and elsewhere along the route that I should have plenty of fall color to photo and enjoy. (iPhone photo)
In fact my site was so good that a couple walked by as I was setting up the solar panels, came back by in a few minutes and hailed me. They asked how long I would be staying, since they wanted to bring friends up to camp and they said my site would be perfect. I told them that I anticipated only staying for the night and would then move on in search of another site. We chatted a bit. I learned that they had a place in Telluride and Tucson, Arizona, staying in Telluride in the summer and Arizona in the winter. They were intrigued by my camper vehicle, as most people are that see it, asking lots of questions about it.
A panoramic view near my first campsite (iPhone photo)
After setting up the solar panels, I walked around near my selected campsite shooting scouting photos with my iPhone mid to late afternoon, checking locations which I thought would have favorable sunlight near sunset with interesting features to photograph.
This fence line blocked off an area near my first campsite to keep campers out so that damage caused by vehicles as seen in the lower right of this photo could be healed. (iPhone photo).A wide angle view of the mountain side to the east of my first campsite. These features looked like they might get good sunset rays. And the clouds would add interest to the sky, if they were still around at sunset. (iPhone photo)I think this craggy rock wall with the shadows within it would look awesome at sunset, but I was a bit concerned about the angle of the sunlight on these at sunset. (iPhone photo)Another view of that craggy rock wall. (iPhone photo)Another wide angle view of the mountainside to my east from a different view point. (iPhone photo)A zoomed in view of a prominent feature on the mountain side east of my campsite with a variety of fall color. This should be a prime candidate for sunset photos, especially if the clouds hang around. (iPhone photo)A view of the most prominent feature of the mountain side to my east, framed by trees. (iPhone photo)Another view with slightly different framing. (iPhone photo).If the light holds until near sunset that peak is looking better for sunset photos. (iPhone photo)Those clouds are awesome, but I hope the clouds do not block the sunset rays or it becomes completely overcast at sunset. (iPhone photo)The clouds are definitely putting some features in their shadows at this time. (iPhone photo)Another view of the prominent mountainside feature with colorful foreground trees. (iPhone photo)This photo was shot from the clear area just to the west of my first campsite. It is a great view from a campsite. (iPhone photo)A view of the creek just to the west of my first campsite. Those peaks in the background might get good light at sunset and maybe I could shoot along the creek at sunrise. (iPhone photo).A natural, early Christmas Tree? Sitting in my camp chair, about an hour and a half prior to sunset, having a quick sandwich, I noticed that the very top of this evergreen tree was lit up like a Christmas Tree star ornament. (iPhone photo)
All of the photos in this post are via an iPhone. I will follow up later with DSLR photos made at sunset at this location.
On the topic of iPhone and/or point and shoot cameras, one of my former work colleagues, an avid photographer and photographic mentor, has recently posted articles on National Parks Traveler about shooting with point and shoot cameras, including phone cameras. [Check out her webpage, you will like what you see and may not want to come back to my site afterwards : > )]. I sometimes forget that I have a fairly good point and shoot camera (iPhone) in my pocket; but I have been trying to get into the habit of using it more often to capture scenes for scouting, reminders and documentation, when getting out the DSLR is not practical.
Thanks for following and don’t forget to comment and/or critique the photos or blog writing.
