Scenic Aperture

Here’s a nice collection of trees in honor of Arbor day. Please stop by the  NWF photography contest web site to vote for your favorites.

Here is a detail shot of Mineral Creek near the entrance to the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway just south of Ouray, CO. I made this photograph in early October at the peak of autumn color. If you look close you can see a few yellow aspen leaves in the water and on the rocks.  I’m sure it is quite a different scene today. The weekend weather forecast for the Ouray area included 20 inches of snow by midnight tonight.

I made this image with the Canon 5D Mark II and EF24-105mm at 40mm f/4.0L IS USM at f/13.0 0.4s iso100. To control the light a Lightcraft Fader ND adjustable neutral density filter was mounted to the lens and set to reduce the light by about 4 stops. This filter let me precisely control the light to maintain just the right amount of detail in the moving water. The Fader ND is a must-have accessory for shooting waterfalls and cascades.

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Mineral Creek - Alpine Loop Scenic Byway

Autumn Aspens. . .

One month ago today . . .

Were at their peak fall color . . .

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Aspens near Durango

Three is a magic number. Compositions of three objects usually work better than those of two or four. Not sure why, they just do. There are lots of studies that show there is a psychological advantage to three in marketing, writing, and composition. Apparently, it is easier for the human brain to process groups of three. Somewhere I read that it all comes down to the way we humans process information. We are proficient at pattern recognition and three is the smallest number of elements required to create a pattern. Hence, the power of three.

I feel this photo works on many levels; lighting, color, and composition (get it, three!). The composition includes groups of three; clouds, mountain peaks, and reflections. It would probably also work with four mountains or two clouds, but there seems to be something to the power of three.  What do you think?

Technical – photo taken with Canon 5D Mark II and Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM  at 50mm, 1/8s f/9.0 ISO 100 with CPL and GND.

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Molas Lake, San Juan Mountains

There is something about mountains and horses that are irresistible to me. Horses and mountains go together like peanut butter and jelly. When I’m shooting in the mountains, I am always on the look out for a scene that includes horses. You usually have a compelling composition when you find them together.

This scene presented itself near Ridgway, Colorado a couple of weeks ago. I was admiring the rugged peaks of the Sneffels Range as I rounded a curve in the gravel road. When the  horses became visible, I knew this was one of those places where I could include horses in a classic landscape.

The light was a bit of a challenge but, in the end as usual, makes the shot one of my favorites. The sun was rather high in the sky at 4:00 PM and was positioned in front of me to the upper right of the frame. The distant mountains were covered in haze and providing a contrasting background to the the back lit aspens in their autumn color.

By the way, the original True Grit movie starring John Wayne was filmed in and around Ridgway (maybe that is part of my fascination of mountains and horses). There’s even a restaurant in town called the True Grit Cafe. It is decorated in classic western decor and is a must stop for the first time visitor but, for my money, I prefer the food and service at Thai Paradise just up the street.

Technical stuff: This photo was made with the Canon 5D Mark II and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II at 155mm 1/40s at f/11.0 ISO 100 with CPL and GND. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess that in post I cloned out about 250 lbs of horse shit from the pasture; you never see horse shit in a classic John Wayne movie.

Thanks for looking.

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Near Ridgway, CO