I began my late day photography in the Rio Grande National Forest by walking briefly through the forest near my campsite before crossing FSR 380 into the forest on the opposite side of the roadway.
The first image here is a shot down FSR 380, just past my campsite. It is obvious from this image that there are some Aspens in peak fall color, while many others are just beginning to show signs of changing from green to yellow.
Aspens tend to grow straight and tall, self pruning as they gain height, but some grow in strange ways, such as this one on the right side in the image above, with the loop at top, where it turns sideways.
Aspen trunks have always fascinated me. They are usually tall, slender and grayish-white with hints of green and sometimes other colors, with smooth to rough trunks with dark black marks, where limbs have fallen off as the trees matures.
A forest is also a good place to get a starburst effect; but I think the one in the image above is too large and distracting. A smaller aperture would have given a smaller, sharper starburst.
Leaves and Trunks. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 400.Signatures. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/100s, f/11, ISO 800.
I do not know what made the curved traces on the two trees in this image, but they are remarkably like data plots that I interpreted as a part of my work before my retirement. I posted this image on LinkedIn, where I knew others would see those traces as I did, and as of this writing it has received 15,275 views, 252 likes and 56 comments.
Under the Canopy. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, 1/100s, f/11, ISO 800.
The small Aspens in full color beneath the much taller ones were eye-catching.
Under and Over. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, 1/160s, f/11, ISO 800.Leaning into Fall. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 60mm, 1/200s, f/11, ISO 800.Aspen Sky. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, 1/500s, f/11, ISO 400.
A skyward view beneath the tall Aspens can be awesome, especially if the Aspens are in full fall color, with the yellow leaves set against a blue sky. There is a full range of color in the images here, since “peak” color is not yet here.
Even without the peak color, the aspen trunks with green and yellow foliage and scattered evergreens beneath them provide beautiful fall forest scenes.
After my sunrise shoot and breakfast, I went back out with my 80-400mm lens mounted on my D850 to shoot wildflowers. I shot handheld, so I used a fast shutter speed and continuous (burst) mode in an effort to get shots with the best focus, as the flowers moved in the breeze and my unsteady hands added to the movement.
Wildflower with Ant. Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/640s, f/5.6, ISO 640, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
One of the interesting things about shooting this way, is that one never knows exactly what one will get as a result. Later when reviewing and editing the photos one might discover some small details that were not obvious, when shooting from a distance with a big, non-macro, lens. Wildflowers almost always have numerous insect in or on them.
I discovered a translucent spider in one of my shots, but it was not good enough to present. Big disappointment, that spider looked really cool.
Fairy Trumpet Wildflower, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 400, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
These red trumpet like flowers come out of a bud that is a contrasting purple with a deeper purple at its base.
Wildflower, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/640s, f/5.6, ISO 500, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Wildflower, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 400, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
There was a heavy dew this morning, but I found capturing the sunlight sparkling in the dew drops was quite difficult with my big lens. But the flower above with the dew drops looks a bit like some creature with one drop looking like an eye.
Wildflower, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/250s, f/5.6, ISO 200, 80-400mm at 300mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Some flowers were obviously past their prime.
Leaves, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 800, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
These curly, fuzzy, reddish leaves were on low growing plants and difficult to get a good close up of. I had to crop in very closely to get this image.
Wildflower, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/6400s, f/5.6, ISO 640, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Fairy Trumpet Wildflowers, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/640s, f/5.6, ISO 500, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Wildflower, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
I shot many images of the plant above, initially of those just coming out of the ground without the cone flower pod at the top of an eventually tall plant. The leaves of these are very fuzzy, and with the many early morning dew drops, all of the images look out of focus; although, I’m sure not all of them could have been out of focus. Nonetheless, I am refraining from posting most of those fuzzy looking images. Those yellow bulb like features eventually develop into yellow flowers, but I did not get good images of those.
Wildflowers, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/500s, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
I really like these tall stalks with the many blue to purple flowers with the green to red stems. It appears that ants like these, too.
Wildflowers, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/640s, f/6.3, ISO 1000, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Spent Wildflower Trio, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/400s, f/5.6, ISO 400, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Wildflowers, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 640, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Thistle, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/800s, f/6.3, ISO 1250, 80-400mm at 400mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Thistles always make good subjects for wildflower photos with their long stems and variations in physical features as they develop beautiful purple flowers then fade away.
Thistles, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/500s, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 80-400mm at 80mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Thistle Progression, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/320s, f/5.6, ISO 400, 80-400mm at 220mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Thistle Flower, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/320s, f/5.6, ISO 400, 80-400mm at 220mm (before crop). Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
The upside and downside to photographing wildflowers is that there are infinitely many ways to capture them and maybe posts on such subjects get a bit long and monotonous.
Note that I have not identified most of these flowers. Not that I did not try for awhile. It is just too frustrating to do so. I’ve yet to find a good online wildflower reference that is easy to use. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the images and you can ignore my blathering about them.
