Antero

I hiked to the summit of Mt. Antero (14,269 ft) last night to shoot the sunset. It was cold and windy, but the light was good. With 2 hours until sunset, we (myself, wife, brother and 2 friends) reached a soft snowbank on the road that could not be crossed. We needed to hike another 1,500 vertical feet before sunset...so we ended up hiking right up the side of Antero (30-45 degree slope). Half way up the steep slope, I was suffering from carrying my 45lb pack and trying to keep up with the others, who had only camelbacks. One of my brother's friends offered to take my pack for a while and insisted on carrying it all the way to the summit and back down. Once we reached the summit, I opened my pack to find that my other friend had taken out my pouch that contained my 2 headlamps and my jacket. Apparently he needed to make room for some of his own stuff. The same friend that carried my pack gave me his extra jacket so that I could bear the wind and take a few shots. Needless to say, we ended up climbing down the steep slope by moonlight.

Let me know what you think about the pictures. I like the first one, but I have mixed feelings about the second.

#2

A closer shot with the 300mm.

I really like the comp, light, and colors on the first one, Scott. I think the 2nd could be good under the right light. The 3rd one is nice, but it doesn't hold up to the first IMO. Thanks for sharing your story. I often find those as interesting as the photos. I wish I had a friend who would carry my stuff!

They are all fantastic images, but it would be hard to top all that's going on in that first one. I saw all those clouds out that way when I was heading towards Westcliffe yesterday, and thought I'd have a good show from Hermit Pass til snow stopped me short without enough time to hoof it the last few miles. (Hoof it? Yeah, right. Not in the kind of shape I'm in right now.) I'm glad you were somewhere to capture such a spectacular display of shadow and light and clouds and mountains. Of course, that's Shavano and Tabeguache, but I love how you can see Ouray, and possibly Chipeta, peeking out from behind them, esp. in the third one.

...and the summit pano, taken a little bit before the others. Thanks for the comments Paul. We see so many photos, but hear too few stories around here...so I thought that I'd share mine.

I think I like the Pano the best, great perspective! The first one is great too. I love the clouds, golden light, and the talus foreground. Thanks for the story too!

Scott, that first shot is great! The foreground texture with soft light adds a nice touch.

All these are amazing. Thank you for sharing.

So Scott, what you meant to say is you hiked to the top with your brother, wife, a friend and someone who used to be a friend!! Thanks for sharing the story and photos. You saved the best for last - I love the pano. The first shot is great too, but the talus in the lower left is weakest spot of the shot so I would be tempted to crop up and in from the left just a bit to reduce its weight in the shot. I love the beautiful light from getting up to where the clouds float!!!! You lucky......

John

BTW, is that the road up visible in the third shot (or just a trail)? Looks like a fun drive up the slope!

Thanks John. Yes, that is a road, but it's blocked by snow around 12,500 or so. No, I won't be ending any friendships...I'll get over it. I just found the situation to be very ironic between a friend and an acquaintance.

Nice shots! I really like the first image.

Fantastic! Great color and comp.

Great stuff, Scott. The 1st image is magical & the talas must have bee a blast in the moonlight!

i like the first and third shots, nice light and colors Scott!

Awesome stuff Scott. There was incredible weather going on last night, and I was hoping someone was out shooting it. The layering in your first shot is wonderful. Great work on the composition.

Fabulous first shot! I agree the 2d would work if the light wasn't uneven at top. The summit panorama is nice too, but it looks like a fairly strong colorcast compared to the first.

Thanks, guys. Stan, thanks for the honest critique. The summit pano was taken before the other shots. Thus, there was more pink in the sky and less orange, and the light was not as intense on the mountains. Anybody else see the color cast that Stan is referring to? Does it look unnatural? Perhaps I need to look into this.

I don't see any problems, including a color cast issue Scott. Seems pretty nature, given the way the setting sun and clouds were interacting at the time.