I drug myself out of bed and met Morris up at RMNP in the wind and snow flurries this morning at 6 am. He had evidently not slept much last night figuring on snowfall. We were joined by Alex (sp?) and at the last second a visitor from Virginia. We decided on Sprauge Lake given the snow and cold and visible stars to the east. Some clouds were slightly visible from the glow off on the horizon. We "skated" up to the lake on thin patches of ice and tromped around the edge a little ways in the light snow and gusty wind. As the sun rose there was a moment of pink color and then it quickly faded. After about 10 minutes of shooting an old stump on the lake's edge a bit of color once again appeared on the horizon and then, when it hit the clouds and snow around us the area took on this amazing pink glow. The color of the sky and clouds were reflecting off the ice and snow so almost everything was pink!
I would post an image, but I will have to wait until tomorrow. I have one quick transfer (read as snap shot) on the web and will try to get a link up soon.
(http://sgpeckham.web.officelive.com/images/desert_pano_web.jpg should work)
Morris, will you be able to post one of yours?
Posted by Fred Stearns on January 24, 2009 at 3:34 PM
Steve,
I tried to get in and was denied! First, I had to log in to officelive, which my email would allow be to do. Then it came back and said that I didn't have authorization to open that page, "Your current permission level does not allow access to this page. Please contact the site owner to request site permissions for accessing this page.". Is this where you really posted your picture?
Posted by Fred Stearns on January 24, 2009 at 6:22 PM
OK. This time I was able to have the picture show up. Even though I know it is real, it sure looks way to pink.
I was going to go to Rocky today, but got talked out of it. I would not have arrived that early. It looks like I would have missed everything except the wind and snow. Tomorrow looks even worse for taking pictures.
Posted by Stan Rose on January 24, 2009 at 7:28 PM
This winter has been abysmal for photography, quite frankly, and it doesnt look like its gonna get better any time soon
Thanks for the comments. I can see where you can get the impress that my white balance is off. However, I processed the image with a small bump in saturation. It was a very pink morning up there.
You will note in Alex's post he was working the PP to reduce the pink and yet it remained. I guess we shall wait for Morris's post and see what his take on the morning is.
Winter? With high's in the 70's? Really? And just to confuse things, we saw a robin bopping around this morning! What in the world it was doing up at sprauge in January isn't totally clear, but it appeared to be happy staying there.
S
Posted by Jamie Botdorf on January 24, 2009 at 11:00 PM
Steve, Morris, Alex - congrats on getting up early and heading to RMNP. Sorry I missed you. I ended up staying local - Roxbourgh and Eldorado Canyon SPs. It was warmer down here! :-)
Hope to connect with you on a future jaunt!
Posted by Steven Peckham on January 24, 2009 at 11:12 PM
Jamie,
I trust you had a good time this morning. It wasn't that cold up there - I would guess upper 20's. Probably colder down low.
Will definitely be looking for you on the next outing.
S
Posted by Morris McClung on January 25, 2009 at 12:34 AM
Hey Guys,
I really enjoyed shooting with you Steven, and you too Aleksei. And Rich from Virginia. I just got home from babysitting my 13mo. old grandson, so too tired to post tonight. I will try to post tomorrow. Sorry the others didn't make it. Steven made the call for Sprague, and it was a good one. Bear Lake and other locations that way were socked in. That robin up there at this time of year was definitely freaky.
After shooting and grabbing breakfast at Mickey D's I went to Eric's gallery in Estes. Make sure you stop in and check out his work if you are up there. Fantastic images, and Eric is such a genuinely humble guy, it's just great to talk to him. Sorry I talked your ear off Eric.
Jamie, when I was in Estes, the bank thermometer said 48 at 9:30, so I don't know how much warmer it was down here. Of course, the wind was blowing pretty good up there.
Steven's post is pretty close to the effect of the light.
I had a great time too guys - certainly worth the trip up.
Morris - I'll need to hit Waterton canyon with you sometime in the future. I was birding down there on Friday and had a blast.
Cheers,
Alex
Posted by Kurt Rinne on January 25, 2009 at 12:44 PM
I agree with Stan on this year's winter conditions.
To think this time last year I walked across Sprague Lake when shooting sunrise. Looking at Steven's photo there would be no way I'd walk out very far, let alone across it.
Makes me wonder what the conditions are at Dream Lake? I was hoping to snow shoe for the first time up there this winter.
That ice on Sprauge is very soft. I knelt down and placed one knee on the ice. It didn't take much to deform/melt the surface. There is no way I would think about walking across the lake surface (unless I was in the mood for a very cold bath). I don't know the conditions up at dream. Probably a bit cold and snowy today, but it has been much too warm the past several weeks to build up much ice. Unless things change in the last half of winter, I would expect an early thaw.
Discussion
12 repliesI would post an image, but I will have to wait until tomorrow. I have one quick transfer (read as snap shot) on the web and will try to get a link up soon.
(http://sgpeckham.web.officelive.com/images/desert_pano_web.jpg should work)
Morris, will you be able to post one of yours?
I tried to get in and was denied! First, I had to log in to officelive, which my email would allow be to do. Then it came back and said that I didn't have authorization to open that page, "Your current permission level does not allow access to this page. Please contact the site owner to request site permissions for accessing this page.". Is this where you really posted your picture?
Try the URL above. I get the image to show up.
S
I was going to go to Rocky today, but got talked out of it. I would not have arrived that early. It looks like I would have missed everything except the wind and snow. Tomorrow looks even worse for taking pictures.
Thanks for the comments. I can see where you can get the impress that my white balance is off. However, I processed the image with a small bump in saturation. It was a very pink morning up there.
You will note in Alex's post he was working the PP to reduce the pink and yet it remained. I guess we shall wait for Morris's post and see what his take on the morning is.
S
Stan,
Winter? With high's in the 70's? Really? And just to confuse things, we saw a robin bopping around this morning! What in the world it was doing up at sprauge in January isn't totally clear, but it appeared to be happy staying there.
S
Hope to connect with you on a future jaunt!
Jamie,
I trust you had a good time this morning. It wasn't that cold up there - I would guess upper 20's. Probably colder down low.
Will definitely be looking for you on the next outing.
S
I really enjoyed shooting with you Steven, and you too Aleksei. And Rich from Virginia. I just got home from babysitting my 13mo. old grandson, so too tired to post tonight. I will try to post tomorrow. Sorry the others didn't make it. Steven made the call for Sprague, and it was a good one. Bear Lake and other locations that way were socked in. That robin up there at this time of year was definitely freaky.
After shooting and grabbing breakfast at Mickey D's I went to Eric's gallery in Estes. Make sure you stop in and check out his work if you are up there. Fantastic images, and Eric is such a genuinely humble guy, it's just great to talk to him. Sorry I talked your ear off Eric.
Jamie, when I was in Estes, the bank thermometer said 48 at 9:30, so I don't know how much warmer it was down here. Of course, the wind was blowing pretty good up there.
Steven's post is pretty close to the effect of the light.
Morris
Morris - I'll need to hit Waterton canyon with you sometime in the future. I was birding down there on Friday and had a blast.
Cheers,
Alex
To think this time last year I walked across Sprague Lake when shooting sunrise. Looking at Steven's photo there would be no way I'd walk out very far, let alone across it.
Makes me wonder what the conditions are at Dream Lake? I was hoping to snow shoe for the first time up there this winter.
Kurt,
That ice on Sprauge is very soft. I knelt down and placed one knee on the ice. It didn't take much to deform/melt the surface. There is no way I would think about walking across the lake surface (unless I was in the mood for a very cold bath). I don't know the conditions up at dream. Probably a bit cold and snowy today, but it has been much too warm the past several weeks to build up much ice. Unless things change in the last half of winter, I would expect an early thaw.
S