A previous post referred to the areas that we scouted during our second day at Cold Springs Campground, looking for potential places for more sunset and sunrise photo shoots. This post will present a few of the iPhone shots taken during that scouting with some comments.
A dead tree near Smith Lake Trail, Routt National Forest, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This striking looking dead tree trunk, spotted along the Smith Lake Trail, looks like a good photographic subject, but it was so tall one would have to have a really wide field of view of shoot upwards from near its base to fully capture it. We never got around to trying to shoot this properly.
A wilderness boundary marker along Smith Lake Trail. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Efex Pro 4.
This boundary marker has nothing to do with photography, I just thought it interesting to see this marker. Someone, wondering around in the forest, not hiking along a trail, would never know when entering or leaving a designated wilderness area.
Smith Lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
This view of a mountainside with Smith Lake in the foreground, suggested that early morning light would make this a good place for a sunrise shoot.
Smith Lake Panorama. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A panoramic view of Smith Lake and the mountain in the background, suggests possible multiple compositional possibilities.
Columbines and fallen tree. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
I found this batch of Columbines down the slope from the roadway south of the campground. (Click on the photo to view on Flickr).
Approaching storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Looking up the hillside south of the campground, it was apparent that it was time to return to the camp before getting caught in a storm. However, after getting to the Sportsmobile, I did take a chance and try to shoot at a field of Columbines, but I had to beat a hasty retreat again as the storm came in.
Near the end of the storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
As the storm began to subside, a double rainbow appeared to the east of the campsite. The complete semicircle rainbow was visible at one time, but I could not get a shot of it with my iPhone. One can see sunlight from the west striking the mountainside in the lower left, so as long as the storm clouds, which were moving westward, did not obscure the sunset, we would get good after the storm light.
Possible good indication for sunset light after the storm. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
A fuller view of the sun lite mountainside south east of the campsite as the storm passed, gave us some hope of getting sunset light on the mountainside.
A subsequent post will cover the actual sunset shoot after the storm.
To avoid possible monotonous posts, I’ve decided to mix up things a bit. I still have a week’s worth of photos from a May visit to the northern area of the Bisti Wilderness, but since I’ve had many consecutive posts about Bisti, I will now intersperse posts about other areas with the Bisti posts. This means getting posts out of the heretofore chronological order. I hope this will keep followers from being overly bored and will not result in confusion due to the lack of timeline continuity. This is the first such out of chronological order post.
In July, 2019 I traveled to my oldest son’s place north of Denver, Colorado and we set out the following day for a week of camping and photography in the northwestern portion of the state.
Our first destination was Cold Springs Campground in the Routt National Forest adjacent to the Flat Tops Wilderness, named for the Flat Top Mountains of the Rocky Mountain Range.
When we arrived at the campground, there was only one spot left in the first come, first serve campground. Even though it was not the most sought after camping spot for most, it was actually a good spot for us and the Sportsmobile, since it was fairly level, easy to pull into and out of and had full sun exposure, which was perfect for utilizing the solar panels for maintaining the battery charge. The spot was closest to the roadway, so we got some dust from passing traffic, which tended to travel faster than the speed limit, but the dust was minimal and not a real problem.
The Sportsmobile in Cold Springs Campground July 2019. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
Since all other campers or those looking for an empty spot had to pass our location on the way into and out of the campground, we had several people asking about our camping vehicle and taking photos of it. One couple even stopped beside us in their vehicle, as we hiked along the roadway towards the reservoir, after they had seen us around the Sportsmobile. They asked questions about the vehicle and seemed interested in looking into acquiring one, making a note of the Sportsmobile name.
The biggest problems at this campsite at this time of the year were the mosquitoes and other swarming insects, which swarmed us every time we were outside for any length of time. This is typical of forested mountain areas in the summer, especially those near water and there was a small lake adjacent to the campground fed by a mountain stream cascading into it on the north end of the campground. We used lots of insect repellant, still it was difficult to concentrate with so many mosquitos and/or other insects buzzing about. I also had to edit out a number of mosquitos from some images. There might be others hidden in the image details that I did not see, when editing.
There were fairly abundant wildflowers in the area, especially around the wetter areas near the streams.
Mountain Stream and Wildflowers. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 40mm, f/16, 1/15s, ISO 800Mountain Stream and Wildflowers. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 30mm, f/11, 1/15s, ISO 320
I tried to use higher ISO to get faster shutter speeds to freeze the flowers, but with limited success, since I still wanted to have a slow enough shutter speed to get a silky effect on the flowing water.
There is a small reservoir, maybe a half a mile up the road, where the roadway ends. We hiked to the reservoir to check it and the area to the south of the roadway, looking for suitable areas for photographic interest.
We also explored around the small lake adjacent to the campground, determining that we could do sunrise photos on the east side of the lake.
A Gnarly Tree Stump in the forest near Cold Springs Campground, Routt National Forest, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
At sunset, we got good light, after the afternoon clouds opened, shooting south of the roadway.
One of the Flat Top Mountains in the Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64One of the Flat Top Mountains in the Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/50s, ISO 800One of the Flat Top Mountains in the Routt National Forest, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 31mm, f/8, 1/8s, ISO 400Routt NF, CO, Near Coldsprings Campground. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm at 38mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 400.
The bands of color in the sky of this photo are in the raw file. I thought this was not normal and would not have included this photo, but my son convinced me that this is not the abnormal banding sometimes seen in digital photos. He thinks there are just layers of clouds that are separating the colors in this manner and I can see some layering in the atmosphere. It just looks so unusual to me, so I am still not fully accepting that this is normal coloration.
Stay tuned for more about our Colorado experience and resulting photographs.
The third stop in my 2019 Spring road trip was Bandelier National Monument in northern New Mexico. This was mainly a convenient place to overnight on this trip, but I was, also, curious about this area. The camping area here is really nice with good restroom facilities, but no showers. The camp sites tend to be rather close to each other, but during my visit the area was almost empty with only a few scattered campers. This being my first visit, I stopped to chat with the camp site host, whom I spotted as I drove on an exploratory trip around one of the loops, all of which were open, even though the official website said some might not be open during the off season. The camp host suggested that I drive around, pick out several sites that I liked, then go to the self check in kiosk on the roadway just prior to the first loop. I did so, picking out a site with no one near it, but near a restroom. Most of the parking sites seemed to be at least slightly sloped, but not so much that it was uncomfortable, so I did not feel the need to try leveling my vehicle.
After setting up and having a late lunch, I headed out to the visitor center, which I arrived at just after the 5PM closing time, so I did not get inside there. There are a number of trails near the visitor center, so I picked up a trail guide outside the visitor entrance and decided to take a quick hike along the main trail.
Prior to this visit, there had been much snow in the area and the website said some trails were snowy and icy, so I brought along ice crampons for my hiking footwear. However, the snow and ice were all gone while I was there, so I still have new, unused crampons. I had received a weather notification of another spring storm heading this way with heavy snowfall expected over some areas.
Recent flooding had closed some areas and trails, all of which sounded more interesting than those that were open.
For landscape photography, I did not find this area of great interest, at least not on this visit. This is a beautiful forested (mostly evergreens) area, but a bit enclosed and confining for my inclinations. On my short hurried hike, I did not bother taking my DSLR and other gear, since I had no idea about what to expect.
Native American Ruins along the Main Trail in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are interesting Native American ruins here, so there is much of historical and archeological interest.
Kiva remains, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.A Kiva and entrance, Bandelier NM. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.Ladder access into a Native American Cave Shelter in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
One is allowed to enter into any of the ancient dwelling with the ladders provided. The ladders are not ancient, of course.
An interior view of a Native American cave shelter, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
The ceilings of the cave dwellings are blackened by fires used by the ancient dwellers. There were remnants of log elements protruding from the ceiling in some of the caves with a few charred by fire. These do not appear to have been necessary for roofs, so I’m guessing they were used for other purposes, maybe for hanging pots for cooking or storage. There is probably more information about these dwellings on the park website.
Native American Cave Shelter, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There were quite a few caves carved into the volcanic rock of the cliffside along the main trail.
Ruins as seen from the main trail along the cliff face, Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone Photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are interesting rock shapes along the cliff side trail and good views of the ruins on the valley floor.
Native American ruins along a cliff face in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 4.
There are holes in the cliff face, where roof supports were originally installed. Some of the shallow alcoves along the cliff face contain paintings or petroglyphs.
After leaving the visitor center area, I went back past the camping area to a parking area at the Frey trail head and walked along the trail for awhile. The portion of the trail I walked along, just prior to sunset, was mostly through a thinly forested area. At a high point along this trail, there were good view of snow covered mountain peaks and I paused for awhile to see what the sunset would be like.
Sunset Clouds in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Skylum Luminar.A dramatic sunset sky in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Skylum Luminar.
On this brief exploratory hike, I only had my iPhone camera with me, so the quality of the sunset photos are limited, but at least give one a sense of the possibilities here.
None of the photos in this post are published on my Flickr page, since I do not consider them of sufficient quality for sharing there (not to say that I have not ever published some poor quality photos on Flickr).
I will be away for a few days, so the next post may be delayed.
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 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.
In the late afternoon of September 17, as I lounged around a picnic table near my campsite in Ridgway State Park, Colorado, a park attendant stopped by, checking the occupancy of the sites and made a comment about my only staying one night. I struck up a conversation with him and asked if he had gotten any information about fall colors along Owl Creek Pass Road. He said no, but he knew the colors were good along Dallas Divide (Colorado Route 62, aka San Juan Skyway) between Ridgway and Telluride. I immediately changed my plans for early the next morning. I had planned to drive up Owl Creek Pass road the next morning, but I knew to do so would cost me one morning of photography, since I had no specific destination on that road for an early morning shoot and I thought it unlikely that I would be able to find a good spot on that route before late in the morning. So I decided to get up early and drive the San Juan Skyway route, taking a chance that I would find some place to pull off to shoot fall color scenes as the sun was rising, then drive the Owl Creek Pass road afterwards.
I’m not sure that I found the best place to shoot near the Dallas Divide, but I began to see the fall colors appearing as the darkness gave way to the early morning light as I drove along San Juan Skyway early on the morning of September 18 and I found a pull out near what I thought might be a suitable place just a few minutes before sunrise.
A ranch scene along the San Juan Skyway, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64, edits in Lightroom and some sky polarization brushed in via Luminar software.
I used the fence line in this composition to lead into the Aspens in the background. I like the side lighting on the grasses, the fence and the shadows cast by the low angle, early morning light.
A ranch scene along the San Juan Skyway, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/20s, edits in Lightroom.
I used the side light on the foreground grasses as a lead in to the large gate framing the Aspens in the background. I suppose one could say that the ranch road leads into the photo, but it is subdued in shadows. I especially liked the side light highlighting the fence line and gate.
A roadside fall scene along the San Juan Skyway. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64, edits in Lightroom.
In the composition above, I liked the early morning highlights on the foreground grasses, the fence and gate and the way the fence line and tree line seem to converge near the gate.
A fall scene along a national forest access road off of the San Juan Skyway, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/15s, Lightroom edits.
Continuing along San Juan Skyway, I saw a number of national forest access roads and decided to explore one of them. I eventually stopped at one interesting looking spot and walked down an embankment into the edge of the forest. I could not go very far without trespassing, since there was a fence line that appeared to be electrified just a short distance from the roadway. I shot along and over that fence line. My main goal was to capture the backlit Aspens, which resulted in dark foregrounds that I had to bring out in Lightroom, but I did not want to overdo that adjustment, preferring to keep the shadows as a contrast to the bright background.
A fall scene along a national forest access road off of the San Juan Skyway, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 24mm, f/16, 1/40s, ISO 64, Sunday enhanced via Luminar software.
I’m always drawn to other photographers starburst effects, but I never have gotten a such an effect that I liked in my attempts. In these two shots I used Luminar software to add an artificial starburst effect over the real one.
A fall scene along a national forest access road off of the San Juan Skyway, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm at 14mm, f/16, 1/100s, ISO 64, starburst enhanced via Luminar software.
As a point of self criticism of these shots (and others, to be posted later), I might have gotten sharper images by raising the ISO and/or increasing the aperture to get a faster shutter speed to ensure that the foliage motion was frozen; but most of my attempts at that yielded otherwise poor results. I attempted to overcome this limitation by waiting for calm, prior to shooting, but there is nearly always some light breeze or residual motion in the foliage.
