Posted by Erik Aagaard on November 21, 2011 at 10:12 PM
Every autumn my saintly wife sends me off for several days of chasing the fall colors. (She mutters something about it being cheaper and more effective than therapy…not sure what she means!?) Anyway, this year’s delayed color change and blue, cloudless skies prompted me to expand my horizons – literally. I backpacked to the Upper Blue Lake below Mt. Sneffels in gorgeous, shirtsleeve weather and spent the night. The next morning I hiked over Blue Lakes Pass, down the other side into Yankee Boy Basin, and up the back side of Sneffels via the southern route. After climbing forever up that nasty scree field and then the col, it was exhilarating when I finally ran out of “up” and realized I was at the summit! I actually met some folks and their dog at the top, and we talked for a while and took each other’s photo. They felt sorry for themselves being from Denver – until I told them I’m from San Antonio, Texas!
Here’s a link to my Sneffels gallery. I’ve recently moved from a homemade website to Photoshelter and overall I’m pretty happy with it. There’s no way I could set up the back end stuff by myself, and they have a pretty slick package. I also like the fact that my images are now saved remotely – at least the full-size jpgs are, so if worst came to worst and both my backup hard drives crashed, all would not be lost. I’m still exploring all the options, etc. and if you feel like looking at more of my site you’ll see lots of images lacking descriptions, etc. I’m also still working on organizing galleries of images.
As always, I sincerely appreciate constructive feedback. Considering the caliber of this forum, I know I have a long way to go and welcome the opportunity to learn from those with far more talent and experience than me.
Posted by Pam Colander on November 22, 2011 at 1:00 AM
Amazing set Erik! It must really be something to sleep up there, so quiet and peaceful. Your starry skies shots really emphasize the solitude. I like too many of them to have just one favorite. Only 53 more to go Our first was Quandary many moons ago.
Posted by Jack Brauer on November 22, 2011 at 9:14 AM
Congrats! You couldn't have picked a better first 14er! The only problem is that now you'll have to be picky with choosing your next one or you might be disappointed.
That's great that you camped at Upper Blue Lake. I've always wanted to do that but every time I've been too scared by the lightning. I love the tundra colors in your shots, especially in contrast to the bright blue lake. I'd take a Sneffels backpack trip any day over driving around in the aspens!
Posted by Jack Garrett on November 22, 2011 at 9:53 AM
I really like this shot. The soft colors really make this image for me. NIce depth of field and I like the way I'm drawn into the scene. I bet it was great camping out up there.
Great job reaching the San Juan skyline! Your story and excellent images compliment one another really well - and I love the autumn tundra images.
Posted by Adam Schallau on November 22, 2011 at 4:16 PM
Congrats on "bagging" your first 14er! Thanks for sharing your story and the images.
Posted by Kane Engelbert on November 22, 2011 at 11:06 PM
Erik, that's a nice set of images from a great "anchor" mountain. Sneffles is a fantastic mountain to anchor an image because it just dominates it's surroundings. In this case, Sneffles dominates the "Sneffles Divide" which is a very beautiful backdrop to any shot.
From a photography standpoint, photographs from most 14ers do not have very "Iconic" comp; however a few 14ers do, and have stunning comp when you research it to death and make sure you're there at the right time and place. It depends on hard you want to work for that comp. 95% of the people out there have no idea what it takes to shoot from those elevations in the morning or evenings without getting killed.
To get the masses to embrace the 14er vista thing you will have to develope a strong "vista shooting technique;" which is a whole different ballgame. In my experience, foreground is still a VERY important element even in a Vista shot. Which means you need to place youself in the heart of huge mountains to shoot a bit wide to get that foreground and a big mountain to anchor the image. Just my opinion.
Posted by Joshua Hardin on November 23, 2011 at 1:08 PM
Congrats on your first 14er Erik! Beautiful photo here, I love the perspective and the Earth shadow. I also like the view toward YBB in your gallery, even with the bright skies that angle over those jagged mountain peaks is so impressive! Hope to see more 14er photos from you in the future.
Posted by Erik Aagaard on November 23, 2011 at 5:41 PM
See, this is why this forum is so great. Folks with tons of experience are happy to share. I really appreciate it. Jack, any suggestions for avoiding disappointment with fourteener #2?
And Kane, I very much appreciate you taking the time to make your comments. I've enjoyed reading about and seeing your exploits and will take your suggestions to heart. This time, I was simply trying to see if I could climb the thing, with photos as a secondary objective - but that will change as I get to do more.
Thanks again for taking the time and effort to give good feedback!
Erik
Discussion
8 repliesHere’s a link to my Sneffels gallery. I’ve recently moved from a homemade website to Photoshelter and overall I’m pretty happy with it. There’s no way I could set up the back end stuff by myself, and they have a pretty slick package. I also like the fact that my images are now saved remotely – at least the full-size jpgs are, so if worst came to worst and both my backup hard drives crashed, all would not be lost. I’m still exploring all the options, etc. and if you feel like looking at more of my site you’ll see lots of images lacking descriptions, etc. I’m also still working on organizing galleries of images.
As always, I sincerely appreciate constructive feedback. Considering the caliber of this forum, I know I have a long way to go and welcome the opportunity to learn from those with far more talent and experience than me.
That's great that you camped at Upper Blue Lake. I've always wanted to do that but every time I've been too scared by the lightning. I love the tundra colors in your shots, especially in contrast to the bright blue lake. I'd take a Sneffels backpack trip any day over driving around in the aspens!
From a photography standpoint, photographs from most 14ers do not have very "Iconic" comp; however a few 14ers do, and have stunning comp when you research it to death and make sure you're there at the right time and place. It depends on hard you want to work for that comp. 95% of the people out there have no idea what it takes to shoot from those elevations in the morning or evenings without getting killed.
To get the masses to embrace the 14er vista thing you will have to develope a strong "vista shooting technique;" which is a whole different ballgame. In my experience, foreground is still a VERY important element even in a Vista shot. Which means you need to place youself in the heart of huge mountains to shoot a bit wide to get that foreground and a big mountain to anchor the image. Just my opinion.
And Kane, I very much appreciate you taking the time to make your comments. I've enjoyed reading about and seeing your exploits and will take your suggestions to heart. This time, I was simply trying to see if I could climb the thing, with photos as a secondary objective - but that will change as I get to do more.
Thanks again for taking the time and effort to give good feedback!
Erik