These shots were taken on the same day that Todd was wandering around the Westcliffe area after the blizzard. I shot sunrise over the Garden of the Gods that morning and decided that it was so beautiful that it would still be worth the drive down to Westcliffe.
I posted a B&W version of this shot in ESS, but I badly botched the development of those negatives. An image could still be pulled out, but they're fall from ideal. The developer was too warm and I'm having trouble with uneven development in my Combi-plan tank.
Anyways, this one was shot on E100G, no filters, Nikon 300/9M. I'm open to cropping ideas. I'd like a lens longer than 300, but the Fuji 400T is a bit hard to find on the used market and a more difficult lens to take backpacking. I kinda like just the center aspens against the snow. Plenty of real estate to work with on this one.
This is the other shot from the day. I posted it on M&N but people have some aversion to that section of this site. Way off on the right just at the edge of the trees, there is a FedEx truck. Didn't even see that when I took the shot, but you can read the FedEx logo on the van in the full res scan. Here its just a spec of white on the edge. Again with the 300M, E100G.
The expanse of sky and the crisp daylight conditions were both intentional to give an open feeling to the shot. It can certainly be cropped to 2X3 ratio though.
I wouldn't mind getting closer to the windmill to place it larger in the frame, but at the same time I didn't really want it to dominate. Here I felt it is a harmonious component in the landscape, not the subject of focus. The issue was how much it blended with the pines. I didn't have time to go find the landowner, ask permission and get under the fence, so I shot this as you see it. I think shooting so that the windmill's vein was against the snow would have worked well. And maybe I'll come back to shoot it like that in early June when the meadow is green and the aspens leaf out.
Wow, I really like the 2nd one. What FedEx truck? I can't see it. This is beautiful. Some people may not like blue skies without clouds, but I think the snowy peaks really pop against that gorgeous Colorado blue sky!
Discussion
4 repliesI posted a B&W version of this shot in ESS, but I badly botched the development of those negatives. An image could still be pulled out, but they're fall from ideal. The developer was too warm and I'm having trouble with uneven development in my Combi-plan tank.
Anyways, this one was shot on E100G, no filters, Nikon 300/9M. I'm open to cropping ideas. I'd like a lens longer than 300, but the Fuji 400T is a bit hard to find on the used market and a more difficult lens to take backpacking. I kinda like just the center aspens against the snow. Plenty of real estate to work with on this one.
The expanse of sky and the crisp daylight conditions were both intentional to give an open feeling to the shot. It can certainly be cropped to 2X3 ratio though.
I wouldn't mind getting closer to the windmill to place it larger in the frame, but at the same time I didn't really want it to dominate. Here I felt it is a harmonious component in the landscape, not the subject of focus. The issue was how much it blended with the pines. I didn't have time to go find the landowner, ask permission and get under the fence, so I shot this as you see it. I think shooting so that the windmill's vein was against the snow would have worked well. And maybe I'll come back to shoot it like that in early June when the meadow is green and the aspens leaf out.