I took advantage of a free Saturday afternoon this last weekend and took a quick trip up to Mayflower Gulch to shoot sunset. I got there about 5pm, piddled around by the cabins a little, shooting the last few wildflowers left, and then headed up the rough little side road that leads to the ridge between Gold Hill and Drift Peak. Last year I had driven this road, but had gotten stopped right near the end by a 50 foot long patch of snow. No problem with that this year, but that final stretch of road has quite the pucker inducing tilt to it!
Once on top, I took a little reconnaissance trip looking for a spot to shoot actual sunset from, and just enjoyed the views in all directions from up there. Pacific Peak to the north, the Gores to the northwest, Holy Cross Wilderness to the west, and even the tailing ponds of the Climax mines looked good from up there! I found a nice outcrop of rocks only about 30 feet from my car to set up and wait.
I played around with the digital a bit, having fun with the 300mm lens. When sunset came around, I only had time to shoot off two sheet of 4x5, and the sun spent the rest of it's descent behind a thick bank of clouds. After that, I just hung out and enjoyed the silence and views, and finally around 8:30, headed down the rough road, past the cabins, and on my way home! A quick trip, but a great one none the less!
Here is a digital shot of Pacific Peak in all it's glory. Gonna climb this someday!
Brent Murphy sent me a short PS tutorial a couple days ago on how to make an image look like B&W infra-red, and thought this image might be a good candidate. The clouds get a bit hot, but over all, I kinda like the results.
One of the wildest things of the day was when I heard a helicopter way off in the distance to the south, and realized it was heading my way fast! I bolted for my camera bag in an attempt to throw on my 300mm lens, but by the time I got there, the thing was almost on me. Turned out to be a Flight 4 Life chopper, and he was flying low. I fired off a couple quick shots, but none were super sharp I'm afraid. He headed north, low through the saddle shown in the B&W image above, and took a right turn behind Pacific Peak and was gone. This all happened in under a minute! Here is the first image I got off as he whizzed by: Copter
Sweet views, Brent! Love the orange and purples on that first one. Interesting experiment with that IR-like shot, though the clouds are definitely scorchin'!
Glad to hear that you're getting out and shooting. Sounds like a nice, fun, relaxing evening at Mayflower!
Posted by Todd Caudle on August 21, 2007 at 9:14 PM
I love being up on that ridge. I have some shots of Pacific with menacing clouds just like that from late in my 4x5 days, probably two summers before I went from the dark slide to the Dark Side. Great shots, Brent.
Posted by Jody Grigg on August 21, 2007 at 11:19 PM
Nice work BDiddy! Not bad for an old man!
Posted by Jody Grigg on August 21, 2007 at 11:31 PM
Nice work BDiddy! Not bad for an old man!
Posted by Roger Rouch on August 22, 2007 at 12:07 AM
Brent, glad you made it up that way and looks like it was a good trip. The B+W is very nice, but I really like the first shot. The hint of light on the far peak and nice clouds are great.
Discussion
12 repliesI took advantage of a free Saturday afternoon this last weekend and took a quick trip up to Mayflower Gulch to shoot sunset. I got there about 5pm, piddled around by the cabins a little, shooting the last few wildflowers left, and then headed up the rough little side road that leads to the ridge between Gold Hill and Drift Peak. Last year I had driven this road, but had gotten stopped right near the end by a 50 foot long patch of snow. No problem with that this year, but that final stretch of road has quite the pucker inducing tilt to it!
Once on top, I took a little reconnaissance trip looking for a spot to shoot actual sunset from, and just enjoyed the views in all directions from up there. Pacific Peak to the north, the Gores to the northwest, Holy Cross Wilderness to the west, and even the tailing ponds of the Climax mines looked good from up there!
I played around with the digital a bit, having fun with the 300mm lens. When sunset came around, I only had time to shoot off two sheet of 4x5, and the sun spent the rest of it's descent behind a thick bank of clouds. After that, I just hung out and enjoyed the silence and views, and finally around 8:30, headed down the rough road, past the cabins, and on my way home! A quick trip, but a great one none the less!
Wista 45DX
90mm lens
Fuji Velvia 50
2 sec. @ f/32
Brent Murphy sent me a short PS tutorial a couple days ago on how to make an image look like B&W infra-red, and thought this image might be a good candidate. The clouds get a bit hot, but over all, I kinda like the results.
Glad to hear that you're getting out and shooting. Sounds like a nice, fun, relaxing evening at Mayflower!
Pam