San Juans w/ Everybody Else

I was in the San Juans with everybody else this weekend. Koveh T. and I headed down and camped in AB and ILB for most of the weekend with some day trips around when it wasn't raining. Seemed like we were either past peak, or flowers were simply better last year in the locations we visited, but it's impossible to have a bad time in the San Juans anytime you're there and other than the 8hrs of rain we got in ILB on Sat. afternoon, the weather cooperated until Mon. morning. Here's a few shots from the weekend. C&C always appreciated.

PS-great to meet you in AB Jim T.-hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip!

First shot is Fri morning in AB. No color for sunrise, but the clouds made some neat patterns as the sun came out and burned everything off.

Later Fri when the storms rolled in, taken in a secret location...

Sat. afternoon after 8 hrs of steady downpour in ILB, I was convinced there was NO way the sun would make it out. I was wrong and only got off 2 shots of the "glow"

Sunday we headed toward Stony Pass for some midday fluffy cloud shots

Made it to Black Canyon Sun night for an awesome sunset. Couldn't quite fit the stream with my cropped sensor camera, so had to settle on a different comp. That's All for now!

#1: LOVE the cottonball clouds!
#3: What amazing glow!

As for your secret location, did you climb DOWN to this spot, or come up from the bottom? I've figured out how to climb down, but am unaware of access from below. (You can e-mail me offline if you don't want to broach the subject here.)

A great series with the first two being my favs. I really like the comp you got on the "secret falls". When I visited in the spring, the water was rushing so hard that the cool little pour-offs like the one you found were lost in the torrent of water.

Great set, Jared--love the Black Canyon and purple reflection shots especially!

These are all excellent! I especially like #1 and #5 in particular. The Black Canyon seems to be a difficult place to photograph, but you really succeeded here with this composition. Glad you settled for "less".

Thanks Kelly. Yes, extremely insecure. That's exactly why I emailed people offline to give them the location with directions, and even took a fellow photographer with me to show him where these falls were located. Just b/c I don't publish proper names, detailed directions, and the best time of day to shoot at a location doesn't mean I am "unwilling" to share or give the info. I'm sure the people living in the private residence nearby would appreciate people being rather tight lipped about this location as well. Besides, I had to do my own research to locate these falls and that is part of the fun in my opinion. On a final note, I really do hope someone gets a "better" shot of these falls (completely subjective mind you). If they are able to translate and capture such a stunning and beautiful scene in a more effective manner, kudos to them.

I don't know where to start here. I think I will address the pics first. Jared, this is a great series. I was at Stony Pass last week in almost the same location and I really like your comp from there. The different time of day with the puffy clouds adds to the scene. AB looks a little sparse but still a nice shot. The secret falls is also a great shot. Looks like you had a very productive trip.

Regarding Kellys reply....I posted something the other day on etiquette. If Jared posted an image and chose not to divulge to location publicly, I don't feel it is someone elses business to do it for him. The last thing a private property owner needs is a hundred cars pulling up in front of his home. Kelly, I notice you are not an NPN member and I don't have an issue with that but please respect the posts of others in the forum when it comes to disclosure...that is proper etiquette! Thank you.

Awesome shots, Jared! The purple ILB one is especially incredible.

And I too disagree with Kelly's comment... It's your right to decide whether or not to disclose your photo locations, and in many cases it is probably wise to NOT post it all over the internet. For the sake of the land.

The cyan of the mountain's reflection compliments the magenta glow nicely. How long was this exposure?

Have to say #2 and #3 are just awesome.

As for Kelly's comments, I have only run into 1 person that wasn't willing to give "secret info" out on this forum. Everyone here has been more than helpfully. If people really didn't want a location to go out then they won't post them. I myself don't always put locations on my posts as it's a public forum. Anyone could obtain the info and next thing you have 100 people going to a location that only a few know. Saying that, if anyone that participates on this forums ever asks me a location I send them all the details I have via email, of which it looks like Jared is pretty much willing to do the same if you just asked.

I guess we have this week's winner in the Jerk of the Week competition. Thanks for making it so easy to decide, Kelly! Very classless.

BTW, I've been to that waterfall many times, and never had to cross through anyone's private property to do it.

The cotton ball clouds in #1 are fantastic and really make that image. And the color in the ILB glow shot is sweet. I also like the way the foreground rocks show through the water. That's going to be one of those shots that people will doubt its "reality". Great series!

Love the stony pass shot, what a great day it seems!

Nice pics. Although it always amuses me when a photographer is unwilling to share a certain location where an image was taken. It tells me that they are most likely unsecure, and afraid that someone else may get a better picture. No matter what, someone will always figure out where it is, whether or not you disclose the location.

I'm quite comfortable in my own skin and yet there are locations that I choose not to divulge for various reasons. None of those reasons have to do with a concern that someone will shoot a better image than mine.

Some of the reasons I may not divulge a location in a public post are for delicate locations, infrequently visited locations which I would prefer stay that way, and for locations that may be dangerous for others to access. I have a background in search and rescue and technical rock climbing, skills that many people do not have. How do you think I would feel if someone fell and was hurt or killed based on information I provided publicly?

That said, I can't think of a time when someone has asked me privately about a location and I've refused to give information. But I also put that information in context which can be difficult to do in a public post.

Now that my rant is out of the way, I'd like to make some comments about your images Jared.

#1 isn't working that well for me on a combination of items. The distinctive AB ridgeline seems awkward at this angle and it is quite blue from haze. Perhaps applying a warming gradient would improve that appearance. The stream exiting the side of the frame is a bit strange as well.

#2 is a place I guess I wasn't familiar with, but what a great location. I think the white sky is not adding much though. Cropping at the top edge of the waterfall really changes the image in a positive way I think.

#3 WOW!!!!!

#4 the popcorn clouds over stony pass are great. Perhaps a luminosity masked curve on midtones would help add some pop to the dominant foreground.

#5 WOW #2!!!!!! You might have missed out on the wide angle to capture the stream, but I think you came out of it with something even better and more elegant.

Mel-

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Thanks for the C&C everyone.

Mel-I appreciate the honest feedback. I'm noticing the "blue" tones on the peaks as well. I wanted something a little different (not the iconic ridgeline) something so you knew where it was, but not what you get every time. I was trying to use the stream as both a diagonal from the bottom corner through the image to the peaks and up to the clouds as well as basic lead-in line, but I guess this wasn't too successful. Maybe if the stream came a little closer towards you rather than off the edge of the frame would be more effective?

I agree w/ the stony pass shot as well. The sun was going in and out of the clouds and I tried to get warm but diffused light, but the midtones seem a little flat (compression isn't helping in that category either). I'll try your suggestion.

Jared, as far as the images, I totally agree with Mel about the sky in #2, but I think if you remove or tone down the sky...WOW, what an image. That one is probably my favorite comp! Also just love #3 and #5...the colors in those shots are off the charts!

Totally agree with comments back to Kelly and Jack Garret couldn't have said it better about etiquette.

I like your secret location the best.

- Dan.

The waterfall shot is just fantastic. Well done on all of them.

Just another pat on the back Jared, really nice images.

That's a marvelous series! Excellent work on all of them.

# 1 is my favorite. I really like the curves in it. All the others are great. Thanks for posting.

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to offer up my sincere apologies for the rude comments I made the other night. To Jared and everyone on this forum, I am so sorry for what I said. I can't take away what I said, but I can say that it was very rude of me, and hope that you would find it in your hearts to forgive me. Not that it's an excuse, but I haven't been having a good week (learning about some serious health issues I have developed), and I guess I'm having a hard time lately being tactful.
Jared, they really are beautiful photos, and I do understand some of the reasons a person may want to limit who or how many people they disclose a location to. I'm not really sure why I said what I said, it is completely out of my character, really. So please everyone accept my deepest apologies.
Out of respect, I removed my post which had revealed where these falls are. Like it has been said, all one has to do is e-mail him for the location.
I think I really need to get out. Getting cabin fever here, being ill. Good to see the flowers in AB are good, I might try and go out that way.
Happy shooting everyone.
Sincerely,
Kelly

Great shots, Jared. I really like the glow at ILB. My suggestions would be in line with what's already been said. Good work.

Very nice! Really like the water fall image.

Nice work, Jared! I LOVE the purply reflection shot. I don't know how I missed this, and get the gist of whatever Kelly said - there's no reason to have to disclose locations - it's completely your discretion and I commend your ethical stance. I've photographed on private lands where the landowner asked me to ID the images by county for fear that pot hunters and the like would sneak onto his land in the night. Why would I ID the location?

Those are great images and the unique take on Black Canyon works really well.

The waterfall is just great!