BLM Land, Southeastern Colorado, Night Photography, July 30, 2020

After dinner my son and I hiked back up the volcanic ridge to the south of our campsite to set up for night photography.

I picked my view point, looking easterly from the ridge, making a few late day images and picking a final composition for the star photographs.

English Valley Sunset, Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 16mm (before crop), f/11, 1/25s, ISO 64

The moon was up and would not set until sometime after midnight.  We did not want the moonlight to interfere with the dark sky photos, so we set our remote timers to begin shooting for sometime after the moonset.

After getting our final compositions, making sure our tripods were stable, securing our focus rings with gaffer tape, programing remotes, installing rain covers (there was a slight possibility of rain), we started the remote timers and retired to our vehicles for the night, returning in the early morning prior to sunrise to retrieve our cameras, hoping we had suitable images for star trails.

Here is my final product from all of this effort:

English Valley Star Trails. A composite of 99 30s exposures plus one late day shot for the foreground.

Much better images can be seen on Flickr by clicking on the images.

Thanks for following, stay well and safe,

Ken

English Valley Sunset, Colorado, July 2020

From La Garita Arch we drove to an area called “English Valley”.  We parked at a turn around at the end of a sometimes barely discernible road at a high area overlooking a valley to the south.

The sun was rapidly sinking in the sky, so we quickly found spots to try to capture the late day sunset sky above the valley.

Sunset Scene, English Valley, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 24mm, f/11, 0.5s, ISO 64.

We were fortunate to have good clouds to the south and we could see a little rain falling in the distance.

As the light changed, I moved to other locations and turned a little more to the east.

Sunset Scene, English Valley, Colorado.Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm (before crop), f/11, 0.5s, ISO 64.

The moon had risen early and became visible as the clouds moved around.

Sunset Scene, English Valley, Colorado. Nikon D850, Nikon 14-24mm @ 14mm (before crop), f/11, 0.5s, ISO 64.

One can see how the light in the clouds migrated as the clouds themselves blew across the scene.

The last image in this post was chosen for Flickr’s Explore page, but I like the first image in this post better, although the light on the valley is better in the last image.

We thought about staying the night at this location, but decided to go to another area, where my son said we would have better chances of good sunrise subjects to shoot.

More later,

Ken

Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado, Sunset Day 2, July 2020

I returned to Teal Campground after my hike on the Williams Creek Trail and the clouds began to get denser as it got closer to sunset time.  It rained heavily for awhile, leaving a temporary puddle of water around the Sportsmobile.  I still held out hope that the storm would pass and I would have another spectacular sunset like the one that I missed the prior evening.

It was still heavily overcast and sprinkling lightly when I went out with my camera gear.  I set up at one location near the reservoir and selected my first composition.  Just as I got ready to take my first test shot, a motor boat loaded with a number of fishermen, returning from the far side of the lake, pulled right into my shot as they headed to the remnants of an old concrete dock.  I still made test shots to check my camera settings and composition as I waited for the fishermen to unload their boat and walk past me.

I decided that I did not like that location with the old, unattractive, concrete dock and now part of a boat in the foreground.  Since it was still very heavily overcast, I moved to another location, still hoping for thinning in the clouds.

I made a number of exposures at various locations, but most were not appealing .

The clouds did not thin much at all and this is the best image I made:

Sunset Clouds, Williams Creek Reservoir. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 35mm, f/11, 1.3s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and Dxo modules.

I do not think this is a bad image, it is just not what I was looking forward to.  Most of my shots did not even have a hint of light in the clouds.  At least this one did.

The clouds were moving fairly quickly past the mountain tops and I made a couple of short time lapse videos, but they are much too short to present.  In hindsight I  wish I had stood in the cold wind with the sporadic sprinkling of rain drops and made longer time lapse videos, but I was afraid of getting caught in another downpour, gave up and retreated to the shelter of the Sportsmobile.

I will move on somewhere yet to be determined tomorrow.

Thanks for following,

Ken

Williams Creek Trail, Colorado, July 2020

During my second day at Teal, after reserving my site for another night, I drove further up the road to Cimarrona Campground.

Just past Teal Campground, I stopped to photograph an old ranch building in a valley below the mountain side to the east.

Scene adjacent to Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/320s, f/11, ISO 1250, 80-400mm @ 80mm. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Modules.

Continuing to Cimarrona, I found this campground is significantly different than Teal.  Here there were Aspen trees, rather than Ponderosa Pines, the campsites seemed to be closer together and the campground more confined by the Aspens.  There were no good views from this campground, but I expect it would be quite nice in the fall, when the Aspens turn their golden yellow.

I continued on to Palisades (the horse campground) Campground at the end of forest service road 640.  There is a parking area in this campground for Williams Creek Trailhead.  Williams Creek trail goes far up into the mountains, eventually connecting to the Continental Divide Trail.

During my trip planning, I had noted the possibility of finding waterfalls along Williams Creek, which feeds into the Williams Creek Reservoir.  In viewing the trail via Google Earth, I could see that, while I might see falls or cascades from the trail, the view would probably be from so far away, that it would be impossible to get good photos of falls or the creek from the trail.  There appeared to be some possibility of walking along the creek for some distance; but eventually it looked impossible or difficult to follow the creek to the possible falls.

I decided to hike up the trail to check it out.  I could tell from the map that the trail was fairly steep in some places and I did not want to carry a heavy load, so I did not take my DSLR and heavy camera gear.  I did wear my Camelbak with a full water reservoir, a few snacks and items that would be useful in case of inclement weather or an unexpected event.

Gnarly Fallen Tree Trunk. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

This fallen tree trunk was so twisted that I had to take time to photograph it along the way up the trail.

A typical view along Williams Creek Trail. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

This is a typical view of the trail.  It was much steeper in some places and flatter or downhill in others; but the trail was mostly uphill.  I could hear the creek flowing in the distance much of the time, but not see it very often.

A view from Williams Creek Trail, Palisades Campground, Colorado. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

I finally got to a place where I could see one of the features that I had spotted via Google Earth.  I was correct in surmising that the trail was so far above the creek that it would be impossible to get a good photo of the falls or cascades from the trail.  In the photo above the little white areas in the lower left are cascades or small falls in the creek.

While at this point another hiker came down the trail and said this was the best view point for this feature.  He said there was another view a short distance up the trail, but it was not as good.  I hiked up to check out that view and found that he was correct.  So I came back here and zoomed in on the creek with my iPhone.

Williams Creek as seen from far above on Williams Creek Trail. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

This is the result and not very satisfying.  I cannot even judge the scale of these water features from this distance or this photo.  This feature on the creek is not the best one that I spotted on Google Earth, but it was evident that it would not be possible to get to the better possible falls or even get a good view from this trail.

It had been cloudy all the time I was hiking and I could hear thunder far in the distance.  The thunder finally got loud enough that I knew it was time to head back down the trail.  Since it was mostly downhill on the way back, it took much less time to hike back to the parking lot in Palisades Campground than it did to hike up.

Approaching Storm. iPhone Photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

One can see the heavy clouds of the coming storm in the photo above.  I made it back down to my vehicle and back to my campsite just before it began to rain lightly.  I’m sure it was raining heavier in the higher elevations.

I’m still hoping to get good sunset light this evening at Teal Campground.

Stay tuned to see how that worked out,

Ken

 

Teal Campground, Day 2, Sunrise

One of the best things about being able to shoot near one’s campsite, is not having to get up really early, since not much time is required to get to a shooting location.

I immediately headed to the area along the rail fence that I had scouted the previous day and I had two or three compositions already in mind.

I set up at my highest rated composition first and began making a few test shots as I waited in anticipation of good sunrise light.

Fence Line, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1s, f/16, ISO 200, 24-70mm at 29mm. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

It was still cloudy with heavy clouds in the east, which limited the early morning light that would already be partially blocked by the mountains to the east.

View the above photo on Flickr by clicking on it, then click on it again on Flickr and a deer can be seen just to the right of the post with the loops of barb wire hanging on it.  The deer is warily watching me.  Soon after taking this photo, the deer crossed the fence line and began to eye me again from the far right.  I made a few photos of it with my iPhone, but those were of poor quality, especially when zoomed in enough to get a good view of the deer.

I made a series of shots at this location as the light slowly changed.  The morning light was disappointing and I think would not even have been very good here even without the clouds on the eastern horizon.

Fence Line, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/.5s, f/11, ISO 200, 24-70mm at 29mm. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

The photo above is the best that I got here.  There is just a little weak golden hour light on the mountain side in the upper left.

I moved to my secondary composition along the fence line, near that tree in the distance, where the fence line dipped across a low point.

The morning light was essentially totally blocked by clouds now.

As I stood here, I heard something like a thumping on the fence and observed a chipmunk scampering along on the lower rails.  I nicknamed this the “Chipmunk Highway”.

Fence Line, Teal Campground, Colorado. Nikon D850, 1/125s, f/8, ISO 3200, 24-70mm at 29mm. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

There were many wildflowers in the area just to the east of this fence line, so I decided to go have coffee and breakfast and return with another lens to shoot wildflowers.  That will be the subject of the next post.

Take care,

Ken

 

Teal Campground July 2020, Sunset Day 1

As sunset time approached during my first day at Teal Campground, I could see no breaks in the clouds in any direction and the clouds to the west were very thick and heavy.  Light rain sprinkled intermittently.  I decided there was no need to take my DSLR out this evening and to just check out more of the area for possible sunrise compositions.

I walked towards a rail fence line on the western edge of the campground, thinking that area and the mountains to the north and west might get good sunlight the next morning.

As I was taking a few iPhone shots of possible sunrise compositions, I began to notice just a hint of late day light begin to show up on the distant mountainsides, in spite of the 360 degree, very heavy cloud cover.

I thought about hastening back to my vehicle to get my DSLR gear, but I figured that any good light would be so fleeting that it would be gone before I could do so and it would be best to at least get a shot or two with my iPhone, rather than miss the sunset entirely.

So I waited and watched as the sunset light got better and better, moving across the mountainsides in the north and to the east.

Golden Hour in Teal Campground, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Now it was definitely too late to get out the DSLR, but had I rushed back to my vehicle as soon as I saw the possibility of a golden hour, I would have had time to get a few images with a better camera.

Golden Hour in Teal Campground, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Golden Hour in Teal Campground, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I know others have had this same experience and I this is not the first time this has happened to me.  I always think, “Never again”, but it happens again, anyway.

After the golden hour, the clouds began to glow, too.  The iPhone camera is just not good enough to handle the dynamic range of a glowing sky at sunset, but I made a few images and managed to salvage this one:

Sunset at Teal Campground, Colorado. iPhone photo, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO modules.

Having missed this opportunity to shoot sunset here with my DSLR, I decided that I had to stay over another night and hope to get a good sunset again.

Take care and stay safe,

Ken

 

 

Teal Campground, Colorado, July, 2020

Teal Campground, north of Pagosa Springs, Colorado is nestled among tall ponderosa pines on the west side of Williams Creek Reservoir.  The drive into the campground is long and, after the pavement ends, is on forest service roads, the conditions of which are highly variable.  During my visit, some sections were relatively good, while most sections were rocky, bouncy, pot holed and washboarded.

The setting for the campground is attractive with good views of mountains across the reservoir and in other directions.  The campsites are available on first come basis and a fee is required.  With my National Parks Senior Pass, I only paid $11/night.  A number of campers were already there, but I was fortunate to find a perfect site for my Sportsmobile.

Teal Campground Campsite. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

There are a couple of other campsites just up the road and I was uncertain about whether I wanted to stay here or in one of the other two campgrounds.  Before I paid for my site, I walked around and found the camp host in his pickup truck talking to other campers.  He was very adamant that no smoking was allowed in any outdoors area nor in his “very clean” restrooms.  Fortunately, I am not a smoker and I did not want to use the restrooms during the pandemic anyway.  The host told me that the other campsites usually had vacancies, unless Teal was full, but one site, Palisades, at the end of the road, was only for those with horses.

I decided to stay at Teal for at least one night and check out the other sites and Williams Creek hiking trail from Palisades the next day.

After lunch, I set out to check out the area for possible photo locations, testing compositions with my iPhone.

Contours. Teal Campground, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Some of the big pines had interesting features, but the one above is my favorite.

The Fallen. Teal Campground Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

The ground under the pines was covered with fallen needles and pine cones.  I thought the stray section of old rusty barb wire among these made for an interesting photo.

Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I found a number of boulders scattered around in the grassy area near the reservoir that might make good foreground objects at sunset.

Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

It was an increasingly cloudy afternoon and I began to think that there would be no golden hour at sunset today.

Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

I think I found some good possible compositions and the clouds will be great to have.  Now I just need to have golden hour light to make these better.

Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.
Scouting Photograph, Williams Creek Reservoir, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

Aren’t those clouds magnificent?

Wildflowers in Teal Campground, Colorado. iPhone photograph, edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik Modules.

There were numerous varieties of wildflowers around the open grassy area surrounding the campground, too.

Now I just need to have an early dinner, prepare my DSLR gear and wait for sunset.

Until then,

Ken

 

 

 

Yankee Boy Basin, July 2020, Part 3

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.

Ken

 

Bisti Wilderness, May 2019, Day 7 Sunset

The destination for a final sunset shoot on the last day of my May 2019 visit to the Bisti Wilderness was the same as yesterday’s, since yesterday’s sunset light was obscured by heavy clouds on the western horizon.  I really liked my chosen location and this was my last chance to shoot here on this visit.  There were some clouds today, but not so heavy as yesterday.

The light turned out to be good at sunset, but not great.  The clouds on the western horizon blocked the light until just a few minutes before sunset.  Even after the sun dropped below the denser clouds, there were still wispy clouds defusing the light.  However, I think I got a few good images.

North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 48mm, f/16, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 70mm, f/16, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

As yesterday, I had to navigate carefully getting into position for various compositions, being careful about where and how I walked, where I stood near steep drop offs and using care in setting the tripod.  This was not a place in which to get careless or make sudden, unplanned moves.

North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 52mm, f/16, 1.0s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 55mm, f/16, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 42mm, f/16, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.
North Bisti hoodoos and vista at sunset. Nikon D850, Nikon 24-70mm @ 42mm, f/16, 0.6s, ISO 64. Edited in Adobe Lightroom and DxO Nik modules.

This post wraps up my May 2019 visit to the Bisti Wilderness.  There is still much that I have not seen or photographed here, so I expect that I will return sometime in the future.

I hope that my readers have enjoyed following along with my experiences and photography here.

Ken

Echo Park, Dinosaur National Monument, Colorado, July 2019, Day 3 Sunrise

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,

Ken