Mt Evans Morn

I headed up to Mt Evans to do some sunrise shooting this past Sunday. There were some great patchy clouds over the foothills, and I was really hoping that they would provide for some interesting light and skies for the morning.

I was not disapointed.

5D, 24-70L

gotta love the little tarns around summit lake...

another...

And on the way down, I stopped to shoot some detail/abstracts of the bristlecones. I kinda like this one - curious about what others think?

Regarding the fee issue - the forest service was handing out tickets like crazy to the cars parked on the side of the road. A lot of folks up there for the long weekend, and they were definetely racking up the fines.

Also - the road to summit is now closed at Summit Lake. There are some really nice fall colors starting to come out in the grass around the lake, so I definetely want to head back up there in a week or two...

Wow! Michael, you took some tremendous shots while you were up there. The first image is fantastic but the next two really blow me away! I love the composition of the second shot and the balance of the third one is absolutely perfect.

Thanks for sharing. You've got some real winners there!

Great shooting, Michael! #3 really stands out to my eyes - the color, comp and detail... all are very strong. #1 is sweet, too - the lighting on the mountain and grasses is dramatic; if you could lighten up the reflection/water just a bit, I think it will feel less bottom heavy and not steal the eye from the upper part of the scene.

Not sure about the bristlecone shot. I have a lot of shots similar to this from our trip out to the Sierras. There's definitely something there that appeals to our photographer's sensibilities, but my feelings about this image are similar to the feeling about my own - something is missing, just not sure what it is.

Great shots. I like #3 the most. It would have been even better with a little alpenglow but everything feels balanced. I'm with Rick on the tree detail. I like taking the same sort of shots but seldom come away with anything that has the same feeling as why I took the shot.

Wow, you had a very productive morning up there. #1 is my favorite, very sweet light, only nit is the reflection area could be a bit lighter for better cloud detail. I also like your composition of #2 and the inclusion of the mt reflection. The Bristlecone pine close up needs other aspects (swirly design, or S-shaped design, etc) to increase interest. #3 is very well balanced light wise, but the warm light of #1 is missing on the mountain.
Does the forest service recognize the Golden Eagle Pass up there?

Nice shooting, i like em all! even the 'uninteresting' bristlecone

These are all excellent shots, but in my book, #2 is just a grand slam home run in the bottom of the 9th. It is simply outstanding!!!

As for the Mt. Evans fee, that should be its own topic.

They're all nice Michael! I really like the bristlecone one too.

I like 'em all too. It is certainly turning a nice color there above treeline.

Michael, number 2 and 3 are fantastic.

Very cool series, Michael. I also agree on 2 and 3 beeing the best. But I also like the last one. The changing color and detail in the wood is awesome! Great capture!

I agree on #2 and #3. Both are top notch.

Thanks all! I appreciate the comments and feedback! Some really helpful perspective about image #1. I really like the dramatic lighting in it's current state, but I think a little lighter water would probably help. The extreme darkness does distract a bit as you search for the detail in the water. I'll be mindful to not make it to bright so there is still a difference between the sky and reflection.

In regards to the bristlecone, the reaction here is similar to my own. Part of me says this is a cool study in color and texture, but then the other part of me longs for something more. I had some others that were more interesting structurally, but the strong color won me over. I actually shot the bristlecone stuff for a client that was looking for a panoramic type scene, but one that contained more intimate views of nature. We ended up deciding on a grouping of 3 images. This triptych is what we settled on - and I really like the way it came out!

that sir, looks awesome. Printed huge with nice frame and matte....amazing!