Winter Bells

Last Tuesday I hiked up to the Maroon Bells for a winter sunrise. The winter gate closure resides at the T Lazy 7 ranch which leaves a 6.5 mile hike to West Maroon Lake. The road to the lake is traveled extensively in winter, mostly by the snowmobiles of T Lazy 7 and cross country skiers. Thus the road is hard packed, meaning you won't need snowshoes, or any foot traction like Microspikes/Yax Trax. Also, a nice thing about starting the hike at 3:45am is the road is frozen solid so traction is excellent and basically feels like your hiking on a paved road.

The hike to the lake in the dark was uneventful at best. Once at the lake, I was really surprised that there where but one track from the out houses to the snow-covered lake itself. Nobody goes to the lake; a stark contrast to the spring summer months. I followed the ski track out onto West Maroon Lake and enjoyed piece and quite for the next 3 hrs. That’s right! Nobody but me at Maroon Lake for three freakin hours! Sunrise itself was pretty nice. I had some interesting light and a lot of clouds however the super low light alpenglow stuff I drool over just showed up on my camera very weird. The result was some strange color casting that I’m still trying to unravel.

I have to admit, I was surprised at what little composition there is in the winter season. The lake is covered in nondescript snow, so much for any foreground. So I just concentrated on the cloud shrouded beautiful peaks themselves.

Here’s a mini gallery of 6 images to view. I experimented with Black and White too. Help me narrow this list down to 3 please.

Any comments or critique with the images you select are very much appreciated.

Thanks,

Kane

http://www.kaephotography.com/gallery/npn/

Kane, I can't pick 3 but i can tell you that last B/W is just awesome...great job with comp and processing! The other 5 are pretty darn good too.

Edit....I guess I should say #5..just crazy good!

Hey, Kane! What a great series! I'll have to put the winter bells on my "list." My favorite two are 5 and 2. I can't choose between the other 4. They really do lend themselves to the B&W. Really great series!

5, 1 and 2. Terrific work Kane!

#5 is growing on me. I'm thinking it has potentail to replace my current header on my web page.

The far left cloud lighting in #5 is interesting and I think looks a bit confusing as to what the heck is actually going on. But I figured it out. I didn't realize the sun would rise directly behind the 14er Pyramid Peak just out of sight to the left, thus creating a huge shadow. So essentially that's Pyramid Peaks shadow which I think is pretty cool.

1,2 and 5 in that order. 3 and 4 are too tight, the bells need a little more room to breathe. You had some great light there and I love the clouds. The best winter shots of the Bells I've seen are in early winter before the lake is frozen over. Otherwise a late spring snowfall after the lake has opened. I took some winter shots in early December that worked well after a fresh foot of powder but that was back in the days of medium format film (~1996,or 7) so I don't have an exact date, but conditions change from year to year of course.

Kane, I have looked a couple of times and keep liking #5, the B&W pano above the rest. Although probably accurate being in the bright sunlight, the top right ridge apears too bright for my eyes.
Of the color versions, I prefer #2

I'd pick 1, 4 and 5 as the best of the group. I love the atmospherics (the clouds over the peaks) and the light, but feel like the photos really only have one picture plane, which gives them a rather flat feeling. Foreground at Maroon Lake in winter is really tough, I agree. When I've been there in winter (two multi-day trips, one in March, one in very early April) the stream at the far end of the lake (southwest end, away was from the parking lot) was flowing and there was some open water to work with in terms of reflections. I also found some interesting snow pillows at the parking lot end of the lake, up on the east side 50 vertical feet or so above the lake. Obviously, it's quite possible neither one of those possibilities existed when you were there, but you might want to look for those possibilities if you get a chance to return some day.

Great shots ! I like 4 and 5 the most.
Charlie Whiting
Denver, CO
www.charleswhitingphotography.com

Beautifu, unique and moody. I think your efforts were well rewarded here, Kane! No nits at all from me.
I also prefer #'s 1, 2 & 5 becuae I like the panoramic format and the looser compositions of those three.
Excellent work!

Awesome Series Kane.

Ill go with 1,3,6. Glad you made it out there. Even if the lake was boring, i think you should include it, to at least let people know it's Winter--hard to tell from just the peak.