In route from the Ridgeway, Colorado area to the southeastern portion of Colorado, I stopped by North Clear Creek Falls. This is a popular place with tourists, maybe because it is easily accessible and just off of Colorado 149 between Gunnison and Lake City. There is a marker sign along CO 149 and a large parking lot with restrooms near the falls.
North Creek Waterfall, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 32mm (before crop), f/11, 1/60s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I photographed the falls from a number of view points, first from a distance perched on rocks away from the crowd, where I could get a downstream view of the falls.
Then I moved to the nearest view point along the fenced off area, keeping my distance from others and wearing a mask, since there were people coming and going in that area. Most people were wearing masks, but a few were not.
North Creek Waterfall, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm (before crop), f/22, 1/6s, ISO 31, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
It was mid day, but overcast, which was fortunate, since I did not have filters with me. Still I had to use a small aperture to get a slow enough shutter speed to get the silky smooth water effect.
I think these two photos are the best ones that I got of the falls. The heaviest flow is in the spring, due to snow melt; but the flow was good here even in July.
Backtracking along CO 141 from the Dolores River Overlook, after our lunch there, we found the dirt road, Y11, that we had seen below the overlook. We traveled in the canyon along the river for a while, checking out scenes along it.
There had been a uranium mine off of this road that was shut down a few years ago after a number of employees developed cancer due to the radiation exposure. We saw a number of signs posted on the fence along the roadside warning of radiation hazards in the area to the west of the fence. Needless to say, we did not try to cross that fence.
After a few miles, we found the information sign that we had seen from up above. The sign marked the location of a rebuilt section of a hanging flume. My son had noted the hanging flume marked on a map before we began this outing, but thought it would be seen from CO 141. If we had not taken this side trip, we would have missed this interesting piece of Colorado mining history.
A reconstructed portion of a hanging flume along the Dolores River, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
The only part of the original flume that remains are the supports mounted into the cliff face. This flume ran for a long distance and was an engineering marvel for the time it was built. Unfortunately, there is no surviving engineering information detailing its design or construction. More information can be found at hanging flume.org
A reconstructed portion of a hanging flume along the Dolores River, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.A reconstructed portion of a hanging flume along the Dolores River, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Remnants of supports for a hanging flume along the Dolores River, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
The last full day of our stay at Ridgway State Park, the weather report predicted a high chance of rain, so we decided it best to avoid the dirt 4WD roads and stick mostly to paved and/or well maintained gravel roads.
So from the city of Ridgeway, Colorado, we traveled CO 62 to CO 145 to CO 141, making a big loop back to US 50 near Delta, CO and back to US 550 at Montrose.
This route took us through some beautiful canyons along the San Miguel and Dolores Rivers.
We stopped for a picnic lunch at a newly made overlook of the Dolores River.
A lunch break overlooking the Dolores River, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.A dizzying view down onto the Dolores River. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.An overlook view of the Dolores River along CO 141. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/400s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.An overlook along the Delores River, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/500s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Colorado Wildlife. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm (before crop), f/11, 1/250s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I spotted a number of small lizards scampering around the rocks along the overlook. One even got aggressive with my son, charging at him as he briefly looked away. I guess that lizard thought his personal space was being violated.
A small Colorado inhabitant. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm (before crop), f/11, 1/320s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.A piece of weathered wood in a rock niche. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I’m always drawn to the twisted, weathered evergreen type trees that grow in these arid environments.
A weathered and twisted evergreen tree along CO 141. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
A close up of the lower trunk details of the tree above:
A weathered and twisted evergreen tree along CO 141. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Below our lunch site we could see a marker type sign beside the dirt road on the opposite side of the river. After lunch, we decided to backtrack to find that dirt road and check it out.
During one of our drives on US 550 between Ouray and Silverton, we noted an unmarked gravel road heading towards a mountainside, but it appeared to end after a short distance, so we initially ignored it. On a subsequent trip past it, we decided to check it out.
After driving a short distance, not being able to see the road ahead and concerned there might not be a place to turn around on the narrow road, we decide it might be best to park at a wider spot in the road and walk ahead. We did not have to walk far to the end of this road, but it was mostly uphill. Fortunately, it was not very steep.
We passed a small, cascading mountain stream, which crossed the roadway.
A small waterfall just off of US 550 in Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Even though this was not a big stream, it was attractive and captivating as most such streams tend to be.
The road ended at what appeared to be a minor mine exploratory site. A mountain stream with a long section of it visible going up the mountain side ran past the site. I made a number of images shooting down onto the stream nearest the roadway, but I could not get any attractive compositions that way.
Scrambling down rocky ledges away from the roadway and up the stream, gave better views of the stream and the wildflowers along the stream edge.
Mountain stream cascades and wildflowers. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
The photo above is an example of including too much in an image. The stream acts as a leading line, but there is no center of interest in this photo. My eye goes to the most prominent part of the cascade in the lower left; but when my eye follows the stream towards the upper right, I do not see anything of great impact. I was zoomed in as much as possible with the 24-70mm lens, so I could not isolate anything any better from my view point. I could try cropping this image on portions of the image and maybe make a more interesting one; but the composition cannot be changed via cropping. Getting closer to a portion of the stream might have been the only way to get an impactful image here.
In the distance I could see a waterfall. I think the image below is better, but the waterfall in the upper right is maybe too distant to have real weight. Still I think this image has some intrigue, making one want to know more about what is in the distance down the stream.
A mountain stream with cascades and waterfalls. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/25s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
It was beginning to rain lightly and we were not wearing rain gear, so we decided to head back to the vehicle and save exploring along this stream up to the waterfall for another time. It began raining harder as we walked along. I put my hat over my camera to protect it, which resulted in my getting more wet. Fortunately, it was not a Texas type rainstorm.
During our July, 2020 stay in Ridgway State Park, Colorado, after our early morning photo shoots, my son drove us around the area, exploring 4WD roads and other Colorado State and County Roads.
I captured some of the local scenery with either my DSLR or my mobile phone camera. I will share a few of these photographs in several blog posts.
There are numerous 4WD roads and county roads that can be accessed from US 550, aka The Million Dollar Highway, which is a treat in itself to drive.
An abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.An abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 26mm, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
This area is rich in minerals with many old, abandoned mine sites, as well as modern mining operations.
An old mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
My son posed an interesting question while walking around the mine site shown in the images above, “Did the miners who worked here enjoy the beauty of this setting or were their lives so hard that they did not appreciate this scenery”?
I think some, at least, would have admired the local beauty, while maybe others just wanted to be drinking in a saloon and enjoying other delights of a more populous area.
Remnants of an old wheel at an abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Abandoned mine site near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 62mm, f/16, 1/250s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
We stopped to enjoy our picnic style lunch at the site of these last two images.
A lone tree on mine tailings near Silverton, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 45mm, f/16, 1/320s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
We were all immediately drawn to the lone evergreen tree standing near the top of a large mound of mine tailing. This image, was selected for Flickr’s Explore page, the day it was posted, much to my surprise, as I was not too keen on this photograph, waffling about whether to crop it more severely to remove some of the bottom, making the tree more prominent. After lunch, I even tried shooting this again with my phone camera, as I kept thinking none of my photographs were capturing this well and the story told by my photograph would not be clear.
On the mountainside across the road from our lunch site was a beautiful, long waterfall. We were too far away to get a photograph of that fall. Even my 400mm lens, if I had had it with me, would not have been sufficient to get a suitable close up shot of that waterfall and one might have to cross private property to approach that mountainside. I will try to remember that waterfall and maybe try to get nearer to it on a subsequent visit.
After one of our morning photo shoots in Yankee Boy Basin, we decided to check out Governor Basin, which is accessed via a 4WD road off of the road to Yankee Boy Basin.
We only planned to spend a few minutes in the basin, since we wanted to get back down before the morning traffic, typically tour groups or people in rented jeeps traveling the 4WD roads in this area, complicated the drive back down the narrow roadway on the mountainside.
Consequently, I did not get out my DSLR and other camera gear. I walked around with my iPhone getting images of the general area and the many wildflowers in the meadow here.
A panoramic view in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.
There is an old mine site in this basin, along with a currently operating mine. The mine is on private property and off limits for visitors.
An old mine site in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.
I was not initially aware of the profusion of wildflowers here, until I walked away from our parking location on the roadway.
Columbines in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.
Initially, I only saw a few batches of wildflowers among the large boulders scattered around near our vehicle.
Western Yellow Paintbrush in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Chiming Bells in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Western Yellow Paintbrush in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.
As I walked further along the roadway, over a slight rise, I began to see large batches of wildflowers.
Wildflower Meadow in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Wildflowers in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Governor Basin Wildflower Meadow. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.
I’m not a wildflower expert, so I cannot guarantee that I’ve got the names of the wildflowers correct. In trying to identify the flowers via online information, I find that many of the sources have inadequate photos (small, too far away, low resolution), making it difficult to have complete confidence in the identification. There also appear to be hybrids of some of the flowers with variations in colors. I suppose I will have to acquire wildflower books to do a better job with this task. If readers note misidentified flowers, please let me know.
Rosy Paint Brush in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Rosy Paintbrush in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Wildflowers in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Paintbrush variations? Governor Basin Wildflowers. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Paintbrush variations? Governor Basin Wildflowers. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Wildflowers in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.
I got down low with my iPhone to get close ups of some of the wildflowers with the mountains in the background, focusing on the nearby flowers with the background out of focus. Since I only used my iPhone, I could squat down among the flowers and avoid trampling them, which I might have done had I used a tripod and DSLR.
Wildflowers in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Rosy Paintbrush in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.
Since the background was already blurry and not the focus of my images, I used a vignette blur or a lens vignette on some of the images to aid in directing the eye onto the subject matter.
Western Yellow Paintbrush in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Wildflowers in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Wildflowers in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Western Yellow Paintbrush in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Rosy Paintbrush in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Rosy Paintbrush and Chiming Bells in Governor Basin, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and/or DxO Nik software.Rosy Paint Brush and Chiming Bell Flowers in Governor Basin, Colorado.
I have used artistic license in the shooting and editing of these photos in an attempt to get striking images. I hope that I have not over done the editing and that viewers will enjoy these images.
I did not plan to have a part 4 in this series of posts on photography in Yankee Boy Basin. However, one of my photos that I posted to Flickr was selected for Flickr’s Explore page. Consequently, that photo got lots of attention with over 4600 views and 160+ favorites within a very short time interval.
Screen shot of my Flickr image that was selected for Flickr’s Explore Page, showing stats as of Aug. 23, 2020.
I do not pretend to know how Flickr chooses photos for its Explore page. I know many of the photos on the Explore pages are very good photos, while many others that I see there have little interest for me; but I suppose that is just a matter of individual preference and one’s most preferred photographic genre. In my case, I prefer landscape photography, while others may prefer people, animals, insects, macro, etc.
I do not think that this image is the best one that I made in Yankee Boy Basin, during this visit. As I pointed out in an earlier post, I think this image is the best of all the photographs that I made here in July, 2020:
Sunset light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Yet, this image has received much less attention than the one chosen for the Explore Page. This is understandable. While it is good to get the attention that a photo selected for Explore gets, I am concerned that there are so many other better photos that get less attention and that Flickr’s Explore photos might bias viewers opinion of such photos and the artistry of the photographers whose photos are selected. I also know that it is not possible for Flickr to add all of the great photos on Flickr to its Explore page nor it is it possible for a viewer to look through all of the photos posted to Flickr and select favorites from all of those. In the end, I hope that the photos chosen for the Explore page result in viewers deciding for themselves how well they like such images and whether the photographer is one that one wishes to follow and learn from.
Seeking more professional input on the image that I like best, I submitted it to a well known professional photographer, based in the northeast USA, who was offering a webinar for the purpose of suggesting compositional and editing advise on selected photos. He selected my photo along with a few others to critique. I had already recognized one of the items that he suggested, but for different reasons. He cropped the right hand side just to get the waterfall closer to the edge and remove some of the unnecessary portions of the image. I was concerned about the two little tree stumps on each side of the image, especially the one that protrudes from the lower right edge.
Additional editing notes.
I’ve cropped the re-edited image as shown by the outer blue rectangle. Initially, the critiquing photographer cropped the left edge similar to mine, but then restored that edge to its original, probably to keep more of the highlighted peaks and clouds on the left side.
The sky and the mountain peaks are the important items in this image. The professional photographer commented that the waterfall could not be seen completely. Unfortunately, there was no place that I could stand to get a full view of the waterfall without cutting out a significant portion of the stream, which is a critical leading line feature in my composition. The stream almost disappears between the bushes on the lower left and those on the opposite bank of the stream as it is. Tilting the camera down more would show more of the stream, where it runs off of the bottom edge, but would eliminate some of the sky, which I definitely wanted in the image. I was already at 14mm on my 14-24mm lens, so I had no more zoom out range to get a wider view.
He also lightened the stream and darkened the rocks and foliage along each side to make the stream more visible as a leading line. Additionally, he darkened the front most mountain side to emphasize the brightness of the upper part of the image. Then he reduced the temperature to cool the sky a little.
I’ve applied similar edits in my re-edited version, but I have been more conservative with my edits. So those edits may be so subtle as not to be readily noticeable, when comparing the two versions. In the end, I’m not sure that I see a significant difference, other than the cropping, between my initial edit and the re-edited image. I also tend to like warmer images over cooler images. Much in the editing of an image is based upon one’s preferences. I certainly see his point of bringing out the stream more. I have used that technique in edits to other images from this area, but maybe not to the extent that he might do.
Additionally, the professional photographer commented that making a grand scenic image presents problems of scale, which makes it difficult to simplify the image. He spent much less time critiquing my image and applying edits than he did for other images, which I take as an indication that my composition and initial editing was not too bad : >).
Here is my re-edited image:
I’ve cropped the original image and applied a few other subtle edits to this image.
Feedback from readers is always appreciated.
Best Wishes, Stay Well and Safe and Thanks for following,
I hope these post on photography in Yankee Boy Basin are not getting boring. Initially, I had only planned for two posts, but those got longer than I expected. This will be a short post with only a couple of photos to review.
These two images are from our last evening to shoot here. The weather report indicated a smallish chance for rain, so we thought we would get lucky and have a tremendously beautiful sky at sunset. It did not turn out that way. The sky was heavily overcast all around and it began to rain shortly after we got into position to shoot, so we cut our outing short.
An overcast evening in Yankee Boy Basin, Colorado.
The composition above, I thought at the time, was just a desperate attempt to get something, as it began to sprinkle, before we had to retreat. I had reservations about even spending time editing this image or showing it to anyone. After letting this one sit for awhile before editing it, I remembered why I made this image.
The tops of the yellowish-green vegetation, running diagonally from the bottom left corner, leads the eye to the dead, leaning tree trunk, which in turn points to the overcast, threatening sky, as if to say, “you better hurry and shoot now”. So, I think, this composition worked better than I expected, when I was hastily making this image.
Wildflowers, Mountains and Sky in an overcast evening in Yankee Boy Basin, Colorado.
This final image is again one that I still have reservations about. I’m trying to show the drama in the sky and soften it with the wildflowers in the foreground set below the rugged mountain peaks. The softness of the wildflowers is enhanced by motion, created by the wind and a slow shutter speed. This is usually not the kind of image I prefer. Often I would increase the ISO under these conditions to get a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion in the vegetation and in the clouds. If there had been some side lighting on the wildflowers this would have been a much more impactful image.
Please feel free to critique my images. Your feedback is always welcome.
This is a continuation of my photography effort in Yankee Boy Basin near Ouray, Colorado in July, 2020.
On a couple of our visits to this area, we drove past the waterfalls to try our luck with photographing variations in the local landscape. The images in this post are all from one morning’s shoot.
Pre-Sunrise light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
This first image is a long exposure made before sunrise, but it is evident that the mountain peaks are already getting some early morning light. Even though it was a calm morning, there may be some foliage motion apparent in the long exposure.
Sunrise light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
As the sun began to come up, I made a series of images, capturing the early morning golden light on the mountaintops, using the deep canyon, created by the many years of the stream flowing down the mountain side, with accompanying erosion, as a leading line into the image.
One of the subtle details that I like in these images is the shadow of another mountain peak that is superimposed upon the prominent, highlighted peak. I wish that I could say that I planned for this, but it was just an unexpected bonus.
Sunrise light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
I experimented with variations on this general composition, trying to determine the most satisfying one. For the one above, I moved past the tree that was on my left and rotated to the right to include the single tree on the right and more of the area along the right of the canyon. For the one below, I included a clump of rocks in the lower right and rotated to the left a little. I like this composition better than any of the previous ones.
Sunrise light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
The image below is a variation of the one above. I like this composition, too, but I still like the one above more, perhaps because the left side of the canyon stands out better in that image, as does the mountain peak at the top right, and the stream and canyon are leading more directly to that peak.
One might note that I edited out that dead tree limb in the lower left in the very first image in this post. I do not like that element in the other images, but removing it leaves some traces of the edit that might not be apparent to others that do not know that something was removed, but I know that the edit artifacts are there.
Sunrise light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/11, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
I moved back near my initial position to include the tree on the left in the image below. One can see a hint of the golden hour glow on the far left peak coming through the top of that tree. That effect looked better in real life than it does in this image.
Sunrise light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 0.5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
I’ve highlighted the rapids in the stream a little in the editing process to emphasis its function as a leading line. I could probably improve the canyon’s and stream’s leading line function by a little more lightening along those, but I think the dark red rock along the canyon wall is sufficient and I do not want to take too much of the viewers eye off of that highlighted mountain peak.
Moving even more downstream along the canyon, I used a large boulder as a foreground object.
Sunrise light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 2.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
To me, that boulder looks too close to the far wall of the canyon to be pleasing. I may take another look at the edit of this photo to see if I can create more separation here. The leading line of the far canyon wall with the trees along the top edge is still effective in this image, leading the eye to the highlighted peak at the top left. There is an additional leading line behind the trees, formed by another drainage, leading the eye up towards the highlighted peak near the center of the image. Maybe the greenery in that leading line could be lightened a little more to improve its function.
Sunrise light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 20mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
My initial impression as I composed the above image was that it was not very interesting. But now that I’ve had more time to think about why I selected this composition, I like it more and maybe even more than any of the other compositions from this shoot. I like the light and color variation across the image and the leading line of the stream at the bottom left, intersecting with the drainage that goes diagonally across the image to the highlighted peaks at the top right. Maybe a little more editing might emphasize the leading lines better and maybe I could create more depth to separate that boulder in the right corner from the canyon wall.
The sky is rather dull in all of the images from this shoot. Clouds might have made all of these images more striking, but we have to work with what we have, when we only get to visit such beautiful places infrequently.
Higher resolution images can be viewed on my Flickr page by clicking upon the images. The images also look much better, when viewed on a computer screen, rather than the tiny screen of a phone.
I photographed a number of times in Yankee Boy Basin, near Ouray, Colorado during my July, 2020 summer visit to Colorado. The main reason for returning to this area several times, is a simple one. It just happened to be the closest, most easily accessible place for scenic landscape photography from the state park where my son, his wife, and I were staying.
Late day in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/22, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Navigating rocky, bouncy 4WD roads is required for access to many of the best places for landscape photography in this area and Yankee Boy Basin is one that my son felt most confident in being able to get to safely, early in the morning, then have time for other daytime exploration. In the evening, it was possible to photograph here at sunset and get back down the 4WD road before total darkness set in and we would get back to our campsites in time to get a reasonably good night’s sleep before getting up again in the early morning hours for a sunrise shoot.
There is a mountain stream with a number of waterfalls along it here. The middle two falls seem to be the most photogenic, so we spent much of our time in that area.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
To get the image above, I stood right up against the closest part of the waterfall on the right side of the photo, backing into a bush, shooting downstream at 14mm to get the waterfall on my right into the shot.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
There were wildflowers growing along the stream and I often included those in my images. The image above is made looking upstream at this waterfall, while standing in the edge of the stream bed. Even at 14mm from my position, I could only get a small portion of the waterfall in the photograph, while also including the wildflowers along the stream edge.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Standing a bit further back from the falls, on a rock ledge at the edge of the stream, I could get the entire waterfall in the image, while including the wildflowers and the rock outcrop on the right.
Late day in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Since I’ve photographed in this area a number of times, I tried not to duplicate compositions from other shoots, which is not easily avoided. It takes some work to avoid the most common compositions here. I had some reservations about the composition in the above image, thinking it is too complex, but I have gotten some positive feedback on it, so I guess it worked better than I anticipated.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
Readers will note the heavily overcast sky in most of these images. I always like to have clouds to give the sky more interest, but heavy overcast can limit or eliminate the “golden” hour light at sunrise and/or sunset.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
The image above is taken a few yards downstream from a waterfall, looking downstream at the mountainside in the distance. During one similar photo shoot one afternoon, there was a family of three or four (man, wife and one or two young boys) in the area. I kept trying to avoid them and had to wait several times as they walked into and out of my compositions. If you are a purist landscape photographer, you know we try to avoid people in our shots most of the time. Some tourists know this and try to minimize their interference with photographers, while others are totally unconcerned about walking directly in front of a photographer. While composing an image similar to the one above, something hit the graduated neutral density filter mounted on the front of my lens, startling me, and I immediately heard the father, standing above me on the stream’s bank, scolding one of the boys. It turned out that the boy was throwing rocks in an indiscriminate manner and it was one of those rocks that struck my camera. If not for the flexibility of the filter, it would have shattered rather than just get scratched. If not for the filter, the lens would have most likely had significant damage. Neither of the parents said a word to me about this event. I had expected one would have at least inquired about damage and apologized for the kid’s action, which might have resulted in an injury and/or significant camera gear damage. The scratches on the filter sometimes result in light streaks in my images. Fortunately, I had the filter and much of my more expensive camera gear insured via scheduled property on my homeowner’s insurance policy, so I recuperated much of the replacement cost of the filter.
Early morning in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2. Looking downstream at the base of a waterfall.
Yankee Boy Basin is popular with hikers and a good campsite for those that want to get the necessary early morning start on a hike up Mount Sneffels. Still we saw only a few people during our early morning and late day visits here.
It is common to get afternoon thunderstorms in the upper elevations of the Rocky Mountains, but during the time we were here, there were more than the usual storms. Some days were rainy for much of the day, which limited the time interval with our favorite light at sunrise and/or sunset. We had to sometimes cut short our photography time to avoid the rain and get back down the mountainside before getting caught in a storm.
Of all the photos that I shot here, the one below is my favorite.
Sunset light in Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Color Efex Pro 2.
This image has so much of what landscape photographers look for in an image, late day sunlight highlighting the mountain tops, light beams in the clouds, silky smooth, flowing water and a sinuous stream leading the eye from the waterfall into the image. More prominent wildflowers would have made this even better.
Since we visited here multiple times, there will be at least one more post of photos from this area. Please click on the images to view them in higher resolution on my Flickr page.
