Tag: Forest

Rio Grande National Forest, September 20, 2020, Part 1

My son and DIL left early this morning to drive back to their home in the Denver area, since both had to report back to work on Monday.  They would return the following Friday, so I would be on my own until then.

I set out driving on FSR 380, hoping to find another good campsite farther to the west and stopping at opportune times to shoot a few photographs.

My first stop this morning was at the end of FSR 243, where I had seen indications of waterfalls or large stream cascades on a creek that crosses at the end of this road.

Google Earth Screen Shot.

The image above is a screen shot taken from Google Earth of the end of FSR 243 and the stream, which a newer version of Google Earth labels Treasure Creek. There was a strong water flow along this stream at the time this satellite image was taken.  There was not so much water flowing, when I explored this area and maybe had the water flow been much less, when the satellite image was made, I might not have paid it much attention.

There is an official trail into a wilderness area that starts on the south side of the roadway, but no trail to the north, which is the way I wanted to explore.  There was a faint trace of a trail, created by hunters and their horses, on the northwestern edge of the creek. So I hiked along that side of the creek.  The climb was steep and not knowing what I would find, I decide to travel light with no camera gear and no backpack.  I took one small bottle of water, figuring I would not travel very far from my vehicle.

I soon saw that the creek would be picturesque in many places, but getting to the best vantage points for photographing the creek would be challenging due to the steepness of the gully in which the creek ran and numerous back and forth creek crossings, balancing on rocks and/or logs.  I decided that I should make many scouting iPhone photos to be sure I captured some of this scenery, since I soon convinced myself that coming back with heavy camera gear, a tripod and backpack might not be safe to do alone and might be more strenuous of an undertaking than I wanted to do.

Light dappled creek details. iPhone photograph.
Mountain Creek. iPhone photograph.
Mossy rocks and flowing water. iPhone photograph.
Rushing Creek and Mossy Rocks. iPhone photograph.
Small Waterfall Details. iPhone photograph.
Glimmering Water Abstract. iPhone photograph.

This stream presented so many compositional possibilities that I spent a considerable amount of time checking out many little details and points of interest along it.  I also extracted some of the flowing water details to make abstracts with the light refracting into rainbow like colors and other highlights.

An abstract of a portion of a small waterfall. iPhone photograph.

I made so many images along this stream that even presenting a selected subset of them will require multiple blog post to avoid overwhelming readers of this blog.

Colorful Moss on Rocks. iPhone photograph.

The moss covered rocks ranged from deep green to a golden yellow with the sunlight bring out the colors even in late morning; although, the iPhone does not handle strong light contrast well, so some portions of the images have blown out pixels.  One would have to be there in person to really appreciate the magical feeling created by the sound and color along this stream.

Creek Cascades. iPhone photograph.
Cascade and Mossy Rocks. iPhone photograph.

Along the ridge above the creek I found a few tree stumps or portions of fallen, weathered trees with interesting texture and patterns.

Weathered Tree Stump. iPhone photograph.
Weathered Tree Stump. iPhone photograph.

After working my way slowly along the creek for awhile, I saw a wispy waterfall in the distance.

Below the Falls. iPhone photograph.

Encouraged by this sight, I was determined to continue this journey for awhile longer.

More on that in subsequent posts.

Thanks for following and be safe,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, September 19, 2020

On Saturday, September 19, 2020 we photographed just off of a roadway not too far from Platoro Reservoir. I made a few shots with the reservoir and mountainside behind.  This one is my favorite:

Aspen, Platoro Reservoir and Mountain. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/400s, f/16, ISO 125.

It takes considerable thought making compositions within a forest.  Even though there is natural beauty all around, it is not as easy as one might think to make an interesting photograph with so much around that can be distracting or unappealing in an image and, after a while, one begins to think that the compositions are too common and repetitive.

Contrast. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/60s, f/16, ISO 100.

I found the contrast of the small evergreens among the tall, rugged Aspens interesting.

Fall Decor. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 800.
Fall Forest. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/400s, f/16, ISO 800.

And again I found boulders with fallen Aspen leaves decorating them in the forest.

Forest Boulders. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/16, ISO 100.
Aspens and Boulder. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 800.

Near the roadway I found a number of Aspens that had started growing horizontally, maybe from some early life damage, but that had turned to grow upward toward the sky.

Directional Correction. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/160s, f/16, ISO 400.

As I later discovered, it was not unusual to find such curved shapes in the Aspen trunks.  I’m sure there must be a logical explanation for this unusual growth pattern.

I spotted a small shimmering Aspen tree that really stood out against the darker surroundings.  I included the small tree as a highlight in a wide angle image.  When reviewing that photograph, I decided to crop the image, making it more apparent that the small tree was the primary object of interest .

Shimmering Aspen. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 400.

I made a few close up images of the yellow Aspen leaves late in the day.  I had brought only a wide angle lens on this shoot.  The wide angle close ups always include much more than I wanted in the images, so I cropped them during editing to pick out the portions that I was trying to capture.

Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/125s, f/4, ISO 400.
Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/320s, f/2.8, ISO 400.

It was late in the day and the sun was rapidly sinking in the sky, but I managed to get a few images with weak back light, then a few more with dispersed light. The three presented here are the ones that I like best.

Aspen Leaves. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/640s, f/2.8, ISO 400.

More later,

Ken

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 18, 2020, Part 2

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.

Much more on this trip to follow,

Ken

 

Rio Grande National Forest, Colorado, September 18, 2020, Part 1

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.

Platoro Reservoir. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/8s, f/11, ISO 64.

Much snow fell in this area during the early fall storm with much remaining on the mountain peaks and a few patches in shady, lower elevations.

Fall Rocks. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, 1/15s, f/16, ISO 64.

Walking up a hillside, I found large boulders with colorful lichen interspersed with the Aspens.

Scared. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/3s, f/16, ISO 64.

Aspen tree trunks often have interesting features, but this one, adjacent to one group of boulders, had a major scar.

Forest Boulders. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, 1/3s, f/16, ISO 64.

Another view of two large, lichen covered boulders in the Aspen grove is above.

My main task today was to find another campsite, so I soon moved on to continue that search.

More later,

Ken

 

 

Williams Creek Trail, Colorado, July 2020

During my second day at Teal, after reserving my site for another night, I drove further up the road to Cimarrona Campground.

Just past Teal Campground, I stopped to photograph an old ranch building in a valley below the mountain side to the east.

Scene adjacent to Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 1250, 80-400mm @ 80mm. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Modules.

Continuing to Cimarrona, I found this campground is significantly different than Teal.  Here there were Aspen trees, rather than Ponderosa Pines, the campsites seemed to be closer together and the campground more confined by the Aspens.  There were no good views from this campground, but I expect it would be quite nice in the fall, when the Aspens turn their golden yellow.

I continued on to Palisades (the horse campground) Campground at the end of forest service road 640.  There is a parking area in this campground for Williams Creek Trailhead.  Williams Creek trail goes far up into the mountains, eventually connecting to the Continental Divide Trail.

During my trip planning, I had noted the possibility of finding waterfalls along Williams Creek, which feeds into the Williams Creek Reservoir.  In viewing the trail via Google Earth, I could see that, while I might see falls or cascades from the trail, the view would probably be from so far away, that it would be impossible to get good photos of falls or the creek from the trail.  There appeared to be some possibility of walking along the creek for some distance; but eventually it looked impossible or difficult to follow the creek to the possible falls.

I decided to hike up the trail to check it out.  I could tell from the map that the trail was fairly steep in some places and I did not want to carry a heavy load, so I did not take my DSLR and heavy camera gear.  I did wear my Camelbak with a full water reservoir, a few snacks and items that would be useful in case of inclement weather or an unexpected event.

Gnarly Fallen Tree Trunk. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

This fallen tree trunk was so twisted that I had to take time to photograph it along the way up the trail.

A typical view along Williams Creek Trail. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

This is a typical view of the trail.  It was much steeper in some places and flatter or downhill in others; but the trail was mostly uphill.  I could hear the creek flowing in the distance much of the time, but not see it very often.

A view from Williams Creek Trail, Palisades Campground, Colorado. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

I finally got to a place where I could see one of the features that I had spotted via Google Earth.  I was correct in surmising that the trail was so far above the creek that it would be impossible to get a good photo of the falls or cascades from the trail.  In the photo above the little white areas in the lower left are cascades or small falls in the creek.

While at this point another hiker came down the trail and said this was the best view point for this feature.  He said there was another view a short distance up the trail, but it was not as good.  I hiked up to check out that view and found that he was correct.  So I came back here and zoomed in on the creek with my iPhone.

Williams Creek as seen from far above on Williams Creek Trail. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

This is the result and not very satisfying.  I cannot even judge the scale of these water features from this distance or this photo.  This feature on the creek is not the best one that I spotted on Google Earth, but it was evident that it would not be possible to get to the better possible falls or even get a good view from this trail.

It had been cloudy all the time I was hiking and I could hear thunder far in the distance.  The thunder finally got loud enough that I knew it was time to head back down the trail.  Since it was mostly downhill on the way back, it took much less time to hike back to the parking lot in Palisades Campground than it did to hike up.

Approaching Storm. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

One can see the heavy clouds of the coming storm in the photo above.  I made it back down to my vehicle and back to my campsite just before it began to rain lightly.  I’m sure it was raining heavier in the higher elevations.

I’m still hoping to get good sunset light this evening at Teal Campground.

Stay tuned to see how that worked out,

Ken

 

Teal Campground, Colorado, July, 2020

Teal Campground, north of Pagosa Springs, Colorado is nestled among tall ponderosa pines on the west side of Williams Creek Reservoir.  The drive into the campground is long and, after the pavement ends, is on forest service roads, the conditions of which are highly variable.  During my visit, some sections were relatively good, while most sections were rocky, bouncy, pot holed and washboarded.

The setting for the campground is attractive with good views of mountains across the reservoir and in other directions.  The campsites are available on first come basis and a fee is required.  With my National Parks Senior Pass, I only paid $11/night.  A number of campers were already there, but I was fortunate to find a perfect site for my Sportsmobile.

Teal Campground Campsite. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

There are a couple of other campsites just up the road and I was uncertain about whether I wanted to stay here or in one of the other two campgrounds.  Before I paid for my site, I walked around and found the camp host in his pickup truck talking to other campers.  He was very adamant that no smoking was allowed in any outdoors area nor in his “very clean” restrooms.  Fortunately, I am not a smoker and I did not want to use the restrooms during the pandemic anyway.  The host told me that the other campsites usually had vacancies, unless Teal was full, but one site, Palisades, at the end of the road, was only for those with horses.

I decided to stay at Teal for at least one night and check out the other sites and Williams Creek hiking trail from Palisades the next day.

After lunch, I set out to check out the area for possible photo locations, testing compositions with my iPhone.

Contours. Teal Campground, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Some of the big pines had interesting features, but the one above is my favorite.

The Fallen. Teal Campground Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

The ground under the pines was covered with fallen needles and pine cones.  I thought the stray section of old rusty barb wire among these made for an interesting photo.

Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I found a number of boulders scattered around in the grassy area near the reservoir that might make good foreground objects at sunset.

Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

It was an increasingly cloudy afternoon and I began to think that there would be no golden hour at sunset today.

Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I think I found some good possible compositions and the clouds will be great to have.  Now I just need to have golden hour light to make these better.

Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Aren’t those clouds magnificent?

Wildflowers in Teal Campground, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

There were numerous varieties of wildflowers around the open grassy area surrounding the campground, too.

Now I just need to have an early dinner, prepare my DSLR gear and wait for sunset.

Until then,

Ken

 

 

 

Cumberland Falls State Park, Kentucky – September 2019

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,

Ken

Cumberland Falls, September 2019 – Scouting Photos

At the end of our stay in the Liberty, Kentucky area, we decided to modify our plans and make a stop over at Cumberland Falls State Resort, Kentucky.  We were only a couple of hours away and the online literature made this look like an interesting place to see.

It was much too early in the fall for the best fall color here, but our schedule dictated that we be here now.  I went out late in the day of our arrival, primarily to scout, but I put my camera in our vehicle trunk just in case I decided conditions merited DSLR photographs.

Scouting along the river just above the falls,  I noted a sign that prohibited one from going any further along the river above the falls, much to my dismay.  I knew I could safely get closer to the top of the falls, but I heeded the sign.  The top edge of falls are frequently not very interesting to photograph anyway.

Cumberland Falls. iPhone photograph with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

This is a tourist attraction and there are railings set up at various view points with warnings not to cross the rails, which of course I really wanted to do, since I was sure I could get better compositions beyond the rails, exercising caution not to fall off of a cliff in the process.  Nevertheless, I heeded the prohibitions.

Cumberland Falls. iPhone photograph with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

As usual in the afternoon hours, there were numerous visitors out and about, with one group being escorted by a young park ranger.  This time of the year there were not large crowds of visitors, as there are in the summer months.  In fact most of the visitors were older people with no children.  There were a few younger people, who either had no kids or only pre-school kids.

Cumberland Falls. iPhone photograph with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

It was an overcast afternoon and, even though earlier than I would normally shoot at sunset, it was obvious that there would be no sunset light this day.  So I decided to go back to my vehicle, get my camera gear and shoot anyway.  As I began to get out the camera gear, rain began.  I initially sat in the vehicle for a while, then decided to give up for the day.  Of course, by the time I drove back to our cottage, the rain had stopped.  At least I got a few iPhone images, just in case something happened to prevent me from returning in the morning, when the rain was predicted to have passed by.

Tomorrow I will try to get some long exposures of the waterfall for that silky flowing water effect.

Until then,

Ken

Vaughan Lake Sunrise – July 2019

I did not have to get up very early for a sunrise shoot at Vaughan Lake, since I only had to walk a short distance downhill towards the reservoir from our campsite.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64.

As the early morning light turned the trees a glowing red color, I used this narrow channel as a leading line through the marsh grass towards the hillside.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64.

I continued to work around the channel in the marsh grass, shooting as the light advanced down the hillside.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64.

The early morning sunlight really made the tops of the marsh grass stand out in these last two shots at the reservoir.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/8, 1/160s, ISO 1000.

As the sun went higher, I moved back towards the camping area to try a few shots across the wide swaths of grass and wildflowers between a roadway and the reservoir.

Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 500.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 500.
Vaughan Lake Campground Area, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 500.

Next stop on this trip will be Irish Canyon.

Until then,

Ken

 

July 2019 – Colorado – Vaughan Lake

After leaving Cold Sprints Campground in Routt National Forest we traveled to Vaughan Lake Campground.

Along the route we encountered a modern day cattle drive:

A modern day Cattle Drive. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

This is a through the windshield iPhone photo of one of the batches of cattle we drove by on our way to Vaughan Lake.  There were cowboys and a very young cowgirl on horse back, loosely guiding the animals down the roadway.  Mostly the cattle seemed to know where they were going.  Occasionally, we saw a cowboy moving a wandering animal back onto the route.  There are always a few independents in every herd!

We expected there to be many wildflowers in the Vaughan Lake camping area and we were not disappointed, although some were not yet in bloom, due to a late season following a very snowy winter.

There were many Columbines, my favorite Colorado wildflower, near our campsite.  Consequently, I have many photographs of Columbines to share and I will devote another blog post entirely to Columbines.

A Columbine at Vaughan Lake Campground. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO 400.
Fendler’s Waterleaf at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 220mm (before crop), f/11, 1/500s, ISO 1600.

I’ve tentatively identified the wildflower in the above image via an online wildflower site, but there is some uncertainty.  If any reader can dispute this identification, please let me know.

An unidentified wildflower at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/16, 1/500s, ISO 2000.

I could not determine the identity of the above wildflower.  It might by American Vetch.

Dandelion at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/8, 1/1250s, ISO 800.

There were numerous dandelions in the area.  I recall picking these as a child and blowing on the seed pods, dispersing the seeds.  This is a crop from a larger image, as are all of the wildflower photos posted here.

Silvery Lupine at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop), f/8, 1/500s, ISO 800.

I think this is Silvery Lupine, but there seem to be a number of variations and hybrids of this flower, so I can’t be sure of this identification.

A seed pod and sail at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 310mm (before crop), f/11, 1/800s, ISO 1600.

I was actually trying to get a shot of the orange bell like flower seen in the lower left of the above image; but I did not succeed in getting that flower in focus.  However, I did note that this leaf with what appears to be a seed hanging onto its sail was in focus, so I cropped this portion of the image.

I should add that I was hand holding my camera with the big 80-400mm lens, so it was a bit difficult to maintain focus on the intended subject.  Keep in mind that there was some wind motion in the flowers, a shallow depth of field in these shots and much unsteadiness of the camera and lens in my hands.  Readers might note the high ISO values that I had to use to get sufficiently high shutter speeds to freeze the motion.

An unidentified wildflower at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 360mm (before crop), f/8, 1/800s, ISO 1600.

Here is the orange flower that I was trying to shoot in the previous photo.  Here I managed to get the bottom bloom in focus.

Fendler’s Waterleaf at Vaughan Lake Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 80-400mm at 135mm (before crop), f/8, 1/640s, ISO 1600.

And finally, another Fendler’s Waterleaf.

I will have more on this area in subsequent blogs.  Until then,

Ken