Porphyry Basin, Colorado is accessed via a narrow, steep 4WD road off of US550 between Ouray and Silverton.
My oldest son drove us up the road to the basin in July, 2020. On the way up the mountainside, we passed a canvas tent with a stove pipe jutting from the top. It was obvious that someone had set up that tent for a long term camp. Upon arriving at the end of the 4WD road at an old mine site, it became apparent who was living in that heavy duty tent. First we saw a large flock of sheep spread across the high mountain meadow, then a horse staked out nearby the roadway, two sheep dogs, and a lone shepherd watching over the sheep.
Sheep, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 50mm (before crop), f/11, 1/200s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.Sheep, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm (before crop), f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.Sheep, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/16, 1/80s, ISO 250. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
We wandered around the old mine site with its collapsed wooden structure and other scattered debris, being careful to not step on old rusty nails or other potentially harmful items lying around on the ground.
K Marks The Spot, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
The basin is beautiful with an abundance of wildflowers, a mountain stream and a waterfall. It was bright daylight so I hand held my Nikon D850, shooting with a fast shutter speed to freeze the motion of the flowers. It was too bright to get a long exposure of the waterfall for that silky, flowing water effect.
Wildflowers and Waterfall, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/320s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.Waterfall, Stream and Sheep in Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/200s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.Waterfall and Stream, Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/200s, ISO 320. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.Waterfall and Stream in Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/250s, ISO 500. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.An iPhone image of wildflowers in Porphyry Basin, Colorado. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Nik Color Effects Pro 4.
Higher resolution images can be viewed on my Flickr page by clicking on the images in this post.
On the morning of our third day in Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, my oldest son and I returned to the Yampa River and the nearby grassy meadow for our final photography shoot before packing up and heading back to Denver.
Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 19mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
We again went onto the bar in the river channel just east of the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers to shoot in the pre-sunrise and sunrise light.
Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 0.5s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I made compositions similar to those of the previous day’s sunset shoot, capturing the morning sky, the canyon walls and reflections of those in the river.
Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Clouds moved across the sky as the light changed. I shot towards the east and the rising sun, then made a few images toward the west.
Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 8s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I turned again to the east and north as the sky and clouds became brighter, which created more contrast in the images and brighter reflections in the river.
Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
As the sun rose behind the canyon walls, the clouds became brighter and more colorful.
Yampa River Morning, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/16, 1/4s, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
After shooting in the river channel, we climbed back onto the meadow and made more images as the morning light advanced across the sky. The moon transited across the sky to the south as we shot.
Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 0.4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Today, rather than using rocks in the meadow as foreground objects, I put tall clumps of grass in the foreground.
Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Shooting with the wide angle lens results in distortion, some of which can be taken out, but not all of it. Note how the rock outcrop on the right side of this image appears to be tilted in towards the middle of the image. Trying to take out this tilt with the tools in Adobe Lightroom will affect the rest of the image in an undesirable manner.
Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
There were a few scattered thistles in this meadow and I used one as a foreground object.
Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
The first of the sunrise rays began to show up on the top of the large rock outcrop on the east side of the meadow
Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/125s, ISO 1250, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
and a little later on the rock outcrop on the west side.
Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16 1/125s, ISO 1250, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
We were fortunate to have scattered clouds this morning to add interest to the sky.
Echo Park Morning, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/125s, ISO 1250, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
This wraps up the highlights of my July 2019 Colorado road trip,
My son and I return to the area near our sunrise shoot and go down a steep bank into the river channel, crossing a narrow, mucky interval near the bank, balancing on a narrow, short tree branch and rocks, avoiding as much mud and water as possible, trying not to fall, wading through shallow water on the edge of a broad bar, before getting onto the dry portion of the rocky bar in the river channel. We are just east of the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers. The river is broad and maybe not deep, but we do not test the waters; even though, there is a large driftwood tree on the bar on the opposite side that would make a great foreground object.
Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/13s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The river surface provides good reflections of the canyon walls, as we make numerous photos, while waiting for the sunset light. The river and a good portion of the canyon walls are already in shadow. A high wall to the west, will prevent full sunset light illumination of the entire canyon walls; but we expect golden light on the upper portion of these walls.
Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I experiment with different compositions with the 14-24mm lens at various focal lengths, while waiting for the golden hour. I use a 3 stop, soft, graduated neutral density filter to balance the exposure of the sky and the river.
Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 17mm, f/16, 1/25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The first of the golden hour rays are apparent in the image below and the light is already far up the canyon walls.
Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I make a series of images as the light changes in its move up the walls. Short, fractions of a second, shutter speeds make the river current ripples apparent in the images above. The images below are made with long shutter speeds, using a 7 stop neutral density filter, smoothing out the ripples.
Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 30s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The light is going away faster on the north wall than on the south wall, creating an asymmetrically lit image.
Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Blurring of the reflections by the river current is more apparent in the longer exposures.
Yampa River Reflection, Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/16, 25s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Finally, as the light disappears on the canyon walls to the east, I turn to check out possible compositions to the west.
Yampa River, Echo Park, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The sun is below the western rock face, the sky is bright and the river is in shadow, making it difficult to get a balanced exposure. While this is not a great photograph, I still like the leading line of the river with its current ripples, reflected skylight, fuzzy reflections of the bordering walls, the bars on each side of the channel and the soft streaky clouds in the sky. This view might be good in early morning sunrise light.
While waiting for the golden hour, I made a few iPhone images just to see what I can do with those and to show those who might use such a device to capture photographs, the possibilities for such images.
Yampa River at its confluence with the Green River. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
I can brighten the lower portion of the image above, but I think this looks more natural.
The Yampa River and Canyon in Echo Park. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Yampa River and canyon walls near sunset. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
That is it for this shoot. We have one more sunrise in Echo Park before ending this trip. Some of the images in this blog are posted to my Flickr page, where one can view them in higher resolution and viewing on a large screen will be best.
My son and I are in an open grassy area near the confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers in Dinosaur National Monument for our first sunrise shoot in Echo Park. The grassy area has a number of large rocks scattered around, which we think will be good foreground objects with the canyon walls in the background.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 30s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
As we wait for the sunrise light to illuminate the cliff faces, I am surprised to see how the pre-sunrise, indirect light gives such a warm red glow to the rocks. In fact, that indirect light might be best for photography here. I note that the foreground rocks receive reflected light from the high rock walls, taking on a pinkish red color.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 4s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I make numerous images with various exposures, while waiting for the direct light.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1.6s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 19mm, f/11, 6s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
These images do not adequately convey the unspoiled beauty of this location.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 4s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 3s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1.6s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1.6s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Just as the first rays of direct sunrise light touch the top of the canyon wall to the west, the setting moon appears in my compositions.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 19mm, f/11, 1/4s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Shooting with the wide angle lens, the moon barely shows up in these images, but it is more apparent in the higher resolution images posted to my Flickr page.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 17mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Soon the first rays of direct light begin to light up the canyon wall at the confluence of the rivers.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 17mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Turning around, I see the light on the large cliff face just east of my position.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 17mm, f/16, 0.5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/6s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Looking back to the west, the sunrise light is advancing quickly down and across the canyon wall and the moon is still in the gap between the two large rock faces.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I continue to capture images from various view points as the sunlight advances on the western rock face.
Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/4s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Echo Park, DNM, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/16, 1/6s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Comparing the first image in this post to the last ones, it is my opinion that the pre-direct, diffused light gives a more pleasing color to the rock than the direct sunrise light here. The sun is already fairly high in the sky before the rock face to the west receives the direct light, so the sunrise golden light is not seen on the west canyon wall.
Be sure to check out the higher resolution images on my Flickr page.
I’m hoping that someday I will visit Echo Park in the early fall to see trees with fall foliage.
Mosquitoes swarm relentlessly around us as we walk the short distance through a forested area to the Yampa River behind our campsite. We are covered in bug repellant. Still the mosquitos buzzing around our heads are an unpleasant distraction. We go down a steep bank with the aid of a rope tied to a tree, getting onto a sandbar in the river. We are shooting sunset photographs at this location our first evening in Echo Park.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 500. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
As usual, when shooting in a canyon, the late day light illuminates only a portion of the canyon wall.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 17mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The light on the far canyon wall reflects into the river with just a sliver at the edge of the sandbar.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
The top edge of the cliff side to the right of Steamboat Rock gets only a small wedge of late day sunset light.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/10s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I make a number of shots, capturing the sunset highlights and the reflections in the river.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/16, 1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/16, 20s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
To smooth the ripples in the river, I use a seven stop neutral density filter and a long exposure.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Each time I change the composition, I acquire a shot with a 3 stop soft graduated neutral density filter to balance the foreground and sky exposure, then add the seven stop ND for a long exposure.
Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/16, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.Yampa River, Echo Park, DNM. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/11, 30s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
I like the way the long exposure shows the motion of the river current in the photo above. By the time these last two images are made, the golden hour light is gone, so we call it a day. We venture once again through the mosquito infested woods back to our campsite.
We are looking forward to a sunrise shoot tomorrow.
This post is a continuation of experiences and photography during a July 2019 road trip in Colorado.
From the Gates of Lodore in Dinosaur National Monument my oldest son and I continued on to Echo Park, also in Dinosaur National Monument. To get to Echo Park one must travel 13 miles down a narrow, steep, rocky, high clearance vehicle road. The road is not an extreme 4 wheel drive, at least not when dry and going into the area is mostly downhill; but 4 wheel drive vehicles are recommended for this road. There are some narrow intervals, where it is not possible for two vehicles to pass each other.
There is a sizable campground in Echo Park, but sites are on a first come basis, so there is no guarantee that one will find a campsite after the drive down. We were fortunate that a number of campsites were available, when we arrived, and two of those sites had good shade, which we really needed, since the daytime temperatures were in the mid 90s (F). The shade only protected us during the morning and part of mid-day. In the afternoons there was no avoiding the sun. Since we were out in the early morning and late day for photography, we were mostly resting around the campsite during the day. The summer heat can make it difficult to be entirely comfortable in the vehicle during the day and the insects with mosquitos made it undesirable to be outdoors. This is one of those times, when an outdoor, screen shelter would be useful. However, a nearby couple with such a shelter said the insects and mosquitos got into the shelter, anyway. The mosquitos also got into our vehicle each time we opened a door, so we spent some time trying to eliminate them. I have since acquired a couple of battery powered bug zappers to test during a future trip.
The Sportsmobile in Echo Park Camp Site. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Steamboat Rock in my window. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Echo Park Campground view from my window. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
The setting for the campground is very nice with views of Steamboat Rock on one side and views of high cliffs all around. From our campsite we only had to walk a very short distance through woods to the river and good views of Steamboat Rock and the Yampa River.
Steamboat Rock in Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.A panoramic view of the Yampa River going around Steamboat Rock. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
During the mid-day hours, we made a couple of exploratory hikes looking for good places for sunrise and sunset photography.
An old dead tree along a trail in Echo Park. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Even though the NPS website says there are no trails in Echo Park, there is at least one created by frequent visitors and it appears to go on along the river for quite a way.
A trail through Echo Park. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Hiking along this trail, we found a large, open grassy park with scattered rocks that would be useful as foreground, with the canyon walls in the background.
Echo Park with rock foreground and starburst. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
The bank of the river near this area is steep, but we found a way down into the channel. If hiking here, be aware that the river bank is undercut in numerous places, where it could give way without warning, so be very careful walking near the river bank.
Yampa River Channel. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
We think we can get good photos in the river channel at both sunrise and sunset.
Yampa River at its confluence with the Green River. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
The confluence of the Yampa and Green Rivers cannot be seen in these photographs, as it is hidden behind the vegetation and rocks near the center of the the image above and that below.
Yampa River near the confluence with the Green River. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.The Yampa River and Canyon in Echo Park. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.Yampa River and canyon walls near sunset. iPhone photograph edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.
Several of these iPhone images were actually made during sunrise or sunset shoots.
DSLR sunset and sunrise photography here will be the subject of subsequent posts.
Since the hike to the sunrise shooting location at the Gates of Lodore was not long, we did not have to get up excessively early, but we still began hiking in the dark this morning.
We were fortunate that we had the moon setting as the sun was rising today. I made a series of images as the moon set behind the western canyon wall.
Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 2000. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 1600. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 0.8s, ISO 200. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
The moon is so much brighter than the foreground that getting a really good moon exposure was difficult, so I did not get any detail in the moon with the long exposure times required for the foreground, even though I was using a graduated neutral density filter. A combination of the moons movement and/or the wide angle distortion results in an oblong moon, too. I could have tried to make multiple images with proper exposure for the moon, then for the foreground and merged those, but due to the rapidly changing morning light, I decided against this. Plus, I am usually not really pleased with the results of such attempts.
I continued to shoot as the sunrise light progressed down the canyon wall and the clouds moved through the morning sky.
Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm, f/11, 1.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 19mm, f/11, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunrise. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
On the hike back towards the campsite, we made a detour down to the river to check out possible compositions closer to the river.
Green River near Gates of Lodore. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
This image with the canyon wall reflection in the river is the only decent image I managed to get there. If this image is viewed on Flickr, click on the Flickr image to see the spider on the grass frond on the right side of the image. (Not all of these images are posted to Flickr).
The next stop on this trip is Echo Park, also in Dinosaur National Monument.
From Irish Canyon, we traveled to the Gates of Lodore campsite in Dinosaur National Monument, checking out Browns Park National Wildlife Refuge first. We decided that Browns Park would not be an easy place to photograph without having a second vehicle, since it was too far from the campsites to the most photogenic scenes. This is one downside to traveling in a camper type vehicle, as it takes a while to prepare the vehicle for travel after camping in it.
When we arrived at the Gates of Lodore campground, there were plenty of available campsites, but the one nearest the trailhead to the Gates of Lodore and with good shade (it was hot) had a car parked in it, even though the site did not have a reserved tag on it. We thought it possible that the car’s occupants had walked to the kiosk to fill out the reservation form, so we chose the next closest site that also had good shade. We were not initially sure that we would stay in that site, so we were just sitting around discussing options, when a volunteer park ranger stopped by and provided much useful information about the park. One of our concerns was the bear activity sign warning posted at each campsite. There were bear vaults provided for storing food and anything with an odor that might attract bears. We had lots of such items and it would be much trouble to move everything into a bear vault and retrieve it as we needed it. The ranger assured us that there had not been any recent bear activity, so we did not need to bother with the vaults. We also asked about mountain lion activity, but there had not been any sighting anywhere nearby, even though they are known to be around somewhere. Mountain lions and bears are always a concern when hiking trails in their territory.
At least a half hour went by and no one returned to the vehicle in our preferred campsite, so we assumed hikers were parked there, where they should not be, if they were not camping. So we paid for the site we were in and shortly afterwards the car’s occupants returned and departed. Other campers soon came along and claimed that campsite.
After setting up the Sportsmobile for camping, we applied sunscreen over our insect repellant or vice versa and hiked to the Gates of Lodore.
Bleached animal bones along the Gates of Lodore trail. iPhone photo, with edits in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Along the trail we spotted a number of bleached animal bones, possibly remnants of a wild animal’s meal.
The trail we were on went far into the back country, but we only checked out view points for photographing the Gates of Lodore, which is a canyon through which the Green River flows.
Gates of Lodore, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado. iPhone photo with edits in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
The first few overlooks we checked out had much distracting vegetation in the foreground. My son found a very nice place off of the trail from which to photograph.
We returned to camp, had a meal and returned to the trail prior to sunset. I initially tried to shoot near the view point in the scouting photo above, but I soon abandoned that, since I was not pleased with any composition I could make there. I went back along the trail and set up near my son, so I’m sure we ended up with very similar photos, although he somehow manages to get more appealing compositions than I, even in the same location.
Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 20mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
I made numerous shots as the sun went lower into the sky, varying my compositions a little. Shooting down river into the canyon at this location presents the frequent lighting restrictions as most canyons. The canyon walls go into shadow well before sunset, so the typical golden hour light is not really attained. There was some good light on the foreground vegetation from time to time and there was some colorful vegetation mixed with various shades of green.
Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 20mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 640. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
Even though these first two images are the same composition, the light on the foreground is different in each.
One can see the shadow moving quickly up the canyon wall on the left of these next two photos.
Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/250s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
I alternated from landscape to vertical trying to get some variation in the compositions.
Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
One can see how the light is changing on the foreground and the canyon walls.
Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
I varied the composition to get either more or less of the foreground boulders and/or the rock outcrop along the near canyon edge.
Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 800. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.Gates of Lodore at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 15mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 1000. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo Nik modules.
Soon the light on the canyon wall was totally gone and only the clouds in the sky were varying in the images.
After this shoot we thought maybe sunrise would be a better time to shoot here. So we will come back in the morning.
Irish Canyon, as with many canyons, is difficult to photography at sunset since the canyon goes into shadow well before the best sunset light.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
The image above illustrates this problem. There is good sunset light on the top of the east canyon wall, but the rest of the canyon is already in shadow. If not for editing software, it would be very difficult to get much detail in the shadow, even with a graduated neutral density filter. Of course, one could make a composite of multiple exposures either by stacking the images or creating an HDR. Stacking can be tedious and HDR methods have another set of problems, so I prefer to avoid both of these methods, whenever possible.
Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Near sunset the canyon features went completely into shadows very quickly, not allowing much time to get the golden sunset light on much of the canyon.
Irish Canyon Sunset Rays. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
One can see in the above image that the sun is still well above the horizon, but the canyon is already in deep shadow.
Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I worked my way along the roadway through the canyon, using the road as a leading line and capturing whatever features I could in the sky and the canyon walls.
Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/8s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.Irish Canyon. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Eventually, I got back to the old dead tree that I had found earlier in the afternoon, hoping that I could get a good, late day composition.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/5s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
The clouds were moving overhead fairly quickly, changing as the sun went lower into the sky behind the west canyon wall.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I moved around a little, slightly changing my composition of the tree, canyon walls and clouds, making a number of images to capture the changing clouds and light.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Eventually, the interesting light was essentially gone and I stopped shooting for the day.
Irish Canyon Sunset Light. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 0.4s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
I believe I was right about this dead tree making a good foreground for sunset images.
My son set his camera up to shoot throughout the night at a big boulder to capture the moon’s transit and the varying light as the moon moved across the night sky. I elected not to try shooting night shots. I’m still reluctant to leave my camera unattended at night (although, I do sometimes), even in the wilds, and here we were not far from a road that was good enough that semi-truck rigs came through. There can also be animals, like deer, roaming around at night that could stumble over the camera.
Reminder: Click on the photos to view them on Flickr, where they will look much better.
From Vaughan Lake we traveled to Irish Canyon, Colorado.
A sign near the entrance to Irish Canyon, Colorado. iPhone photo.
Near the canyon entrance are boulders with early Native American (Fremont) petroglyph etchings.
Native American Petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.
These iPhone photos of the petroglyphs have been edited more heavily than normal to bring out the petroglyphs, which are faint in the unedited images, so the colors are enhanced beyond what one might see in bright sun light.
Native American petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.Native American petroglyphs in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.
This area is on BLM (Bureau of Land Management) public land. There is a nice campground just a short distance into the canyon. There is a typical, but well maintained, pit toilet in the campground. There is no water available, but there was at least one trash can near the pit toilet.
An informational sign at the Irish Canyon campground. iPhone photo.Irish Canyon Campground. iPhone photo.
When we arrived, there was only one other camper in the camping spot most removed from the roadway and a couple of motorcycle riders in the front most campsite. We drove through the campground and picked the most level looking of the remaining campsites.
We walked around and talked to the motorcyclists, who were retired uranium miners from Wyoming. It turned out that they were just taking a break in the campsite, so when they moved on, we moved into that campsite, since it was more level than the others and had a picnic table with better shade (and it was a warm day).
Campsite in Irish Canyon. iPhone photo.
There was not enough shade in which to park the Sportsmobile, but it was a breezy day, so leaving the vehicle open helped keep the temperature from getting excessively high inside.
Irish Canyon Campsite. iPhone photo.
The setting of the campsite provided very good scenery and we walked around to scout possible photographic compositions for sunset and/or sunrise.
Irish Canyon Roadway at Irish Canyon Campground. iPhone photo.
The roadway in the canyon could be used as a leading line.
Irish Canyon scene. iPhone photo.
This old dead tree might be a suitable foreground for a sunset photo.
Irish Canyon scene. iPhone photo.
This big boulder might be useful as foreground in a composition, but it was right at the edge of the trees and slope near the canyon wall, so it might be difficult to get a clean composition here.
Irish Canyon Campsite in late evening. iPhone photo courtesy of Sean Kemp – WildOpenLandscapes.com
