Second Winter Storm

Detail Crop from full image above (edit - this is not a comp)
Please view the full image under "View Larger Photo" (to the right)

This is one of my favorite images from my Fall 2013 campaign. However it is not part of my contest submissions. I felt this one requires a bit of narrative and appreciated feedback. It also felt like a good time to relate some experiences from this fall.

The image was taken September 27, the morning of what I count as the second winter storm of the Colorado Fall season.

I was at Maroon Bells at the morning before, a particularly cold and windy day that saw Maroon Lake white-capping throughout the dawn hours. But the camaraderie of fellow photographers easily passed the time and before I knew it, I was being bear-hug surprised by Doug Koepsel! After a bit, we somehow ended up exploring the far end of the lake without our gear. Darn - must come back later. I then made my way up to Carbondale to meet up with Jimmy Gekas and his party for lunch. And while the pull to explore was strong, I decided to make my way back to Maroon Bells to take those shots I missed in the morning. Good day, and perhaps a few good shots of the approaching storm at Maroon Bells in another post.

So the next morning I slept in a bit (not get up at 3:30 am) and upon daylight in Aspen decided the low diffuse clouds were perfect for Castle Creek. I had read this in Jason Hatfield's excellent Fall Colorado Photo Guide. Inspiration. And sure enough I made my way up to the end of Castle Creek.

The Hotel is part of Ashcroft Ghost Town, once a mining town with 3500 people back in 1885. The town went bust when better Silver prospects were found in Aspen. The relatively few remaining buildings are set along a pathway. Even this late in the season, the trees were not yellow-mature, but there were enough of them that I could find a worthwhile backdrop. I explored further back in the creek area and by the time I made my way around the backside of this building, there was persistent wet snowfall.

This image represents one of my first images with a Tilt-Shift 24mm. Upon it was a 105mm Polarizer attached to the front of my Lee Holder. Needless to say keeping any of that dry was a fight - and for the first time out came my camera rain covers. Shift Left, Center, Right, Dry, Repeat. Darn, Do Left again, Darn it, Wipe Down, Reset, Left, Center,, etc. Next year - bring an umbrella!

In post-processing I had the most minimal of hand stitching to perform. The result is a "cropped" image 8875 pixels wide! I included a bit of detail showing the nail heads, snow, and other detail not seen in the 1200-size larger image. This is one that requires a large print - over a sofa.

I like the wet-yellow look, Perhaps I am not so keen by the brush to the right but I am not looking for pruned perfection out there. I love the fog of the storm approaching over the hills. Its not an active photo - not much is happening... but I like the relative homey comfort this shot affords. And for me it represents my Colorado Fall campaign, along with the many friends I encountered on the journey.

And now its ready for a bit of c&c. :)

Excellent narrative Karl! That is precisely why I love shooting landscape. There is always a story, some with a lot of adventure and others that are almost pure luck but still have a story leading to the capture!

Picture looks a smidge out of focus to me, though that could be a lack of coffee (lol).

Certainly one needs to look at the full image in the larger view, as the composition of the crop view seen here does not do it for me. With the full image, a consideration may be a little crop off the left to decenter the building. Also a tiny right crop to rid the treetop the protrudes into the sky from the right edge

Thanks Doug.

Yep, the detail image on the front page was intended just to show detail that is completely lost in the full image - in particular the snow but also the nailheads and other such detail. The detail front shot should not be considered a comp.

Thank-you for the crop suggestions. It was one of the elements that I tried different approaches on. Cropping a bit more to the left does have the advantage of making the tree line endless. And the slight bit cut off the right helps too. I recall having it a bit tighter for a bit, but decided to relax that as the hotel becomes effectively larger in the image.. and encroaches on the pano feel. Your thought is definitely one good vote that direction.

Thanks for filling us in on your adventure. It is great to have the company of other NPN'ers while out and about. The posted image looks great to me. Like the colors and the moody snowfall.

Here is a recrop.. hmm, worked better than I remember. I suppose the hazard of going blind working on a shot :)

Karl, I love well thought out shooting story!

I like the first (smaller) image better by a long shot. It shows "mood," and it connects. There's certainly enough detail in that old withered building to make me imagine the rest. However, I would certainly prefer a little more of the fall foliage in the bottom half of the image.

The second, larger image depicts a typical (but nice) overcast and a bit bland scene with blown out highlights due to conditions. Plus one has to REALLY look at this big scene to see the snow falling.

I don't want you to lose the falling "mood driven" snow, it's critical in my eye to keep it. I bet that moment connected with you? So why not focus on it!

BTW, next time time you shoot this kind of scene, shoot a very fast shutter speed to capture even more of the falling snow. Example here.. http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/snowstorm/ which BTW is one of my favs from my fall trip but I know it won't garner much attention. It connects to me for the same reason your first image connects with you.

Lastly, I clicked/saved your image and tried a crop that makes sense to my eye. Its a comp that allows you to take advantage of the brilliant surrounding color, old withered/ghostly building and still keep your falling snow meaningful. Just a thought...Comp is a tricky thing...

Interesting idea Kane.

I really had not intended the close image to be nothing more than a crop of detail that would be seen if the image was printed large / seen on a large monitor. But your idea may indeed open up a door to a different way to look at this image.

To tell the truth, I really was not thinking much about capturing the snow when I first took the image. I really have not had that much luck doing it.

But in this case it really did pop up in raw image - and gave the image story and mood that I think you suggest.. (edit - and the very thing I am fighting to bring to the fore).

I'll have to keep this experience and your thoughts in my back pocket.

Using the original source, here is a larger tight crop.

Its not as tight as Kane's example - and there is great merit to his version. I just felt more comfortable with a bit more roofline, a slightly more vertical format with the boards, and more barn side for the snow. Yeah it introduces some of that green hillside. I could go back and forth on this.

Main point of the post was to create a 720 version. Fascinating and liking the possibilities.

>> Example here.. http://www.kaephotography.com/photo/snowstorm/ which BTW is one of my favs from my fall trip but I know it won't garner much attention. It connects to me for the same reason your first image connects with you. <<

Btw, cool pic. The snow definitely gives this an image that something extra - and of course the memory.

I like the first cropped version and I really like the cropped version you posted above! If you can spare the pixels, then that's the one to print as large as you can.
I too enjoyed your tale and am quite pleased that you found something so good to capture in this less than perfect Colorado autumn.