Tag: Photographs

Thirty Mile Campground, Rio Grande National Forest, July 2020

An interim stopover on my journey from Ridgeway, Colorado to the southeastern corner of Colorado in July, 2020 was Thirty Mile Campground.  It is a long, slow drive on rough county/forest service roads to the campground.  This campground has sites that one can reserve and others that are on a first come first serve basis.    There were only a few sites available, when I made my reservations prior to my trip to Colorado.  I wanted to be sure that I had a place to stay at least one night, so reserving a site assured that I would not have to search for a free site in the forest.  I thought I might be able to get one of the free sites, if I decided to stay a second night; but the campsites were all full or reserved on the day that I arrived and there were no reserve sites available for a second night.  I would have to wait until the second day to find any available free sites, if I wanted to stay a second night.

My campsite in Thirty Mile Campground, Colorado, July 2020. iPhone Photograph.

Thirty Mile is a nice campground and my site was just inside the campground along the Rio Grande, where it was pleasant to hear the rushing water in the river.  After checking into my campsite, I took a walk along the river to check out possible locations for photography late in the day and/or early in the morning.

The river is pretty, but there seemed to be limited possibilities for photographic variations along the river.  This is a popular place for anglers and many of the people in the campground were there to fish for trout in the Rio Grande.

I watched a doe grazing on the opposite side of the river, shooting a number of photos and videos with my phone.  The doe did not seem to care that I was watching it.  One of the unedited videos can be seen here.

After my walk along the river, I drove along the road past the campground to check out the scenery along the Rio Grande Reservoir, which is a very long reservoir.  The road beside the reservoir is mostly a narrow one lane road with periodic pullouts, where vehicles can pass each other.  It was a rainy, overcast day, which created some photographic opportunities.

An iPhone shot through windshield on a rainy day along the Rio Grande Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone Photograph.

I drove almost to the very end of the reservoir before turning back.  Near the end, the water shallowed, revealing the trace of the river going into the reservoir.  In the upper end of the reservoir there was colorful vegetation and I got lucky when a break in the clouds allowed sunlight to highlight some of that vegetation.

Near the upper end of the Rio Grande Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone Photograph.

During my drive back towards the campground, I stopped to shoot with my iPhone at a few locations.

Wildflowers and Boulders beneath cloudy sky along the bank of the Rio Grande Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone Photograph.

There were a few scattered wildflowers and large colorful boulders, some covered with lichen, in various shapes between the roadway and the reservoir.

Boulders and a mountainside along side the Rio Grande Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone Photograph,
Sportsmobile framed by boulders with a mountainside in the background, along the Rio Grande Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone Photograph.
Pointy and flat top boulders along the bank of the Rio Grande Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone Photograph.
Wildflowers sheltered against a large boulder along the banks of the Rio Grande Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone Photograph.

The next post will have DSLR photos taken along the river and along the reservoir.

Stay well and safe,

Ken

 

 

 

Miscellaneous Scenes along Colorado 141, July 2020

Whenever we saw something  curious during our drive along Colorado 141 in July of 2020, we would stop to take a closer look and review information signs, if such were available.

An old charcoal kiln seen along CO 141. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 27mm, f/11, 1/500s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

It appears that someone has used this old charcoal kiln as a campsite or at least enjoyed a fire inside it.

An old charcoal kiln seen along CO 141. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/200s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

We spotted the ruins of an old home and stopped to check it out.

Remains of the Driggs Mansion along CO 141. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 38mm (before crop), f/11, 1/200s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

An information sign at the pull out told the story of this old house, although there seems to be some uncertainty around exactly how long this house was in use.  More information can be found at here or by doing an internet search for Driggs Mansion.

Remains of the Driggs Mansion along CO 141. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 200, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

This post marks the end of my visit to this portion of Colorado.  From here I travel to the southeastern portion of the state.  Stay tuned for more on that part of July 2020 in Colorado.

Ken

Indiana Covered Bridges – October 2019 – Houck Bridge

The second bridge I visited in my second day of photographing Indiana covered bridges in October, 2019 was Houck Bridge.  Although Houck Bridge seems to be in very good condition, it has been by passed and is now closed to traffic.

Houck Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 400, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

One can still walk through the bridge, but not drive through it.  Access to the creek level is most easily gained from the west side.  There is also a sizable parking lot on the west side of the bridge, so I am guessing that this bridge is now set up as a prime tourist attraction.  A couple of people did come and go, while I was here.

The interior photograph is an HDR image made from multiple exposures.

Houck Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, multiple exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Houck Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/16, 1/125s, ISO 640, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

Next up: Dick Huffman Bridge.

Ken

Indiana Covered Bridges – October 2019 – Oakalla Covered Bridge

After a day of other activities, I took another afternoon to visit more covered bridges in an area east of Indianapolis, Indiana.  I started at Oakalla Bridge, just south of the last bridge (Dunbar) that I had visited during my first day of shooting covered bridges.

Oakalla Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 22mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I think most of the covered bridges have some graffiti on or around them and Oakalla Bridge seems to be popular with those who like to mark things with graffiti.  I saw some evidence of graffiti being painted over on the exterior of the bridge and other graffiti in the interior.

Oakalla Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 18mm, f/11, 1/60s, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

It is also easy to get down into the creek channel from one side of the bridge.  The long log in the creek below the bridge even has graffiti on it.

Oakalla Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 250, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

There was plenty of room to move around on the wide sandy bank on one side of the bridge.  I made numerous images from this area, but in the end, I only chose a couple of those as most representative of the bridge and its setting to include in this post.

Oakalla Covered Bridge. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 100, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

More on Indiana covered bridges to come,

Ken

Indiana Covered Bridges – October 2019 – Pine Bluff

The second stop during my first day of photographing covered bridges in Putnam County, Indiana was at the Pine Bluff Bridge.

Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 800, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The setting around Pine Bluff is more attractive than that around Cornstalk (see previous post) and this will be a great place to shoot, when the fall colors peak.

Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 800, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 20mm, f/11, 1/30s, ISO 640, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Pine Bluff Interior HDR.  Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, Multiple Exposures, ISO 64, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I found a way to get down to the creek, where I could walk along the edge of the creek and beneath the bridge to shoot it from both sides.

Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 640, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 640, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

I experimented with the DxO Nik Selective Colorization of a monochrome image with a couple of the photographs taken of this bridge, bringing out the red color of the bridge after converting the images to monochrome.

Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/8, 1/400s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/8, 1/400s, ISO 1600, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 1/1
80s, ISO 800, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The photo above is my favorite of this bridge with the curved road leading to it.

A country road leading to Pine Bluff Covered Bridge, Putnam County, Indiana. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm, f/3.5, 1/125s, ISO 500, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

The final image here is looking back from near the bridge down the roadway leading to the bridge.  I know this will be a great place to try to return to another time, when the fall colors are at their peak.

More on Indiana covered bridges to come,

Ken