Fall 2020 in Colorful Colorado
Fall is my most anticipated time of year! I love the colors! I love the hint of cool. I even love the smell of the air! This Fall, minus a quick trip to Crystal Mill, found me in Southwest Colorado.
Sheep Mountain Power House (aka Crystal Mill) (S8)
Crystal Mill At Sunrise
Many people drive down in to see The Mill. Personally, I like to hike in. This allows me the ability to arrive before sunrise but, more importantly, to hike out and not have to worry about the oncoming traffic from those who are coming to see The Mill a bit later in the morning. In the Fall, this is A LOT of people coming to see The Mill. Sure, it is just over eight miles of hiking roundtrip, but it still beats coming head-on with another vehicle on a one-lane portion of the road with no options other than for one of you to back-up. Then, when that inevitably does happen, there will likely be people behind you and the problems continue. No thank you, I’ll hike.
I never did get the images of The Mill that I went for. Matter of fact, I only took a couple of shots and most of them, as you can see above, have sun flare issues in them. Oh well. Regardless, I am so turned off by the crowds and the fact that the landowner is charging to get a half-ass decent angle. He won’t even let you shoot from the best vantage point, no matter how many waivers you offer to sign. No thanks. I’ll likely not be going back to The Mill anytime soon unless there is someone who’s never been and needs a hiking buddy.
Colorado Aster (S8)
Moving on from The Mill found me headed more towards Southwest Colorado and the Telluride area. It’s quite the drive for me, but with a little luck from the weather gods, the trip would be worth it. Unfortunately, the weather prediction had clear skies forecasted. In addition, there still seemed to be quite a bit of smoke in the area from the surrounding wildfires. With fingers crossed, I pressed on with the trip in the hopes that the winds would be favorable and blow some of that smoke out of the area.
I arrived in the vicinity of where I wanted to shoot. I had just enough time to walk the area before converting to Explorer into Five-Billion Star Hotel mode. In the back of my mind, I couldn’t get a sign that read “Beware Wildlife” out of my head. More specifically, I couldn’t get the thought of mountain lions out of my head, especially with what I had planned for the evening.
Beware Wildlife
The evening’s plans were to shoot the Curved or “Dancing” Aspen under the moonlight. Everything was setting up nicely for the shoot. The skies were clear. The moon’s illumination was scheduled to be +90% . The breeze was non-existent. The kitties seemed to be stalking night photographers elsewhere. Tho, just in case, I had my trusty expired can of bear spray with me. Along with that, I grabbed a sturdy stick (aka my Spooky Stick) and smacked it against every rock and tree trunk I came across just in case they wanted to know where I was. I figured this would either deter them or speed things up. Not sure which.
The few minutes that I spent shooting the aspen via moonlight were, well, interesting. By now, I’d spooked myself into just wanting to get the shots done and leave. Not really sure why. I could see quite well (so could the kitties) as the place was very well lit with moonlight. It was very still. Eerily still. Nothing was around but me, or, at least, not anymore. I scared the five deer away. Their eyes were glowing back at me when I peered their direction which added to the way too spooky vibe I was getting. *Shutter Click *Shutter Click *Shutter Click Done. Time to head back to the Hotel and nap until sunrise.
BTS At The Curved Aspens (S8)
Before I knew it, my alarm was going off telling me to get up and get ready to shoot that ole’ sunburst through the Curved Aspen. I slapped my alarm and peered around. It seemed no bears crawled through my sunroof to eat all of my goodies. That was a great start to the day. I grabbed my camera gear, my jacket, and my Spooky Stick, which is conveniently renamed a walking stick during the day, and trekked on over to the area where the Curved Aspens stood waiting. The breeze had picked up a bit and along with it came a haze in the sky. Little did I know, this on and off again haze would plague the entire trip.
Dancing Aspen Glowing In The Sunset
The morning went well minus not getting the shot that I came for. Ugh. I ended up shooting the Curved Aspen, but never really feeling like I was coming away with anything very nice. At least, I was pretty sure that I wasn’t coming away with the image that I had in my mind. Tho, to be fair, I do not even think it was ever possible as the Fall had fell way to much for that. Maybe 2021…!
I ended up returning later in an effort to shoot the trees with the sun at my back.
I did meet some cool fellow photogs. A couple of them have kept in touch after this shoot, namely Kelli Saye (IG) and Bill (FB) and Susie Roose (FB)(IG). It was nice to meet all of you and I hope that we get to shoot again someday soon.
*Images above are from a shoot I did later in the day.
Aspen Reflections
After shooting the Curved Aspen, I drove down the road a bit to shoot a few reflections on the water. I met up with Bill and Susie again. The shooting didn’t last very long as the sun was beginning to get high in the sky. This ended up being fine as the conversation was as good as the photography.
BTS Shooting Reflections
(Image Credit: Bill Roose)
I thoroughly enjoyed shooting the reflections. I am not sure what it is about them, but I find them mesmerizing. I think what it is is that I like studying the reflections themselves and picking particular items out of them. For instance, let’s take the BTS image above that has me in it squaring up a composition. You can see the reflections in that shot from the perspective of the entire lake. Now, take a look at the images that I ended up shooting. The topmost image in this set is mainly focusing on the tree trunks as well as the second image. The third image that I came away with is very similar except instead of tree trunks I’ve decided to focus on the fence and its V-shaped reflection. I tell ya, I could stand to shoot those type shots for hours.
After shooting the reflections and shooting the breeze, we all went our separate ways. Most of us were heading into town for whatever reason. Myself; I was headed down into the canyons in search of waterfalls.
I spent the day wondering around both Upper and Lower Ames Falls as well as Mystic Falls. (S8) I lost count of the miles I put in, but I think they were all up hill ;-)
A Fall Day At Mystic
The lighting wasn’t great; I knew this before I left. Regardless, if I had not gone I would have always wondered, “What if?”
In my attempt to capture Fall colors, I tried a few compositions and ended up going with this one. It is such a different world tucked down here. Total silence other than the flowing of the water. Definitely worth the short, but treacherous, hike down into this area followed by the return hike out!
BTS While Awaiting Sunset (S8)
After shooting the falls, I was in the mood for some more reflections. With that, I cruised on over to a little spot I know and began contemplating a composition.
Fall Reflections Limited Edition Prints Available
There are three different compositions that I really like out of this particular location. I settled on attempting to snap two of them. The first was a shot from underneath this ridiculous looking Aspen. I like the composition and the way the tree drags the viewer, like it or not, out and over the pond.
Sunset in San Miguel County
One of the other compositions that I like is more of an overall shot, something I wanted as the sun began to sink lower on the horizon. I particularly like how the evergreens on the left and the right, along with their reflections, sort of enclose or frame the edges of the composition.
Aspen Glow
As the day began to come to a close, I had to begin planning the next day’s shoots as well as my exit outta here.
Sunrise Breaking Through The Smoke At Jacks Reservoir
The next day found me in a new location. I’d taken the Five-Billion Star Hotel over to Silver Jack Reservoir. From here, I shot sunrise over what has got to be a record setting low level in the reservoir before heading off and exploring Owl Creek Pass.
Fall Season: Hang In There! Limited Edition Prints Available
I wanted to get out and do a bit of hiking/exploring. I already had a six-hour drive home. I definitely didn’t need any more time cooped up in the vehicle. With that, I hit a few backroads on foot as well as a couple of trails. While walking one of those backroads, I came across the leave you see in the above image. All around were leaves raining down on me as I set up this composition. This little guy seemed to hanging on for dear leaf, I mean dear life!
Sit/Lay back for a moment if you will and enjoy the breeze blowing through the aspen canopy high above.
Follow The Yellow Leafed Road
The morning, if I had to choose an overall topic, seemed dominated by reflections. This portion of my day seemed to be dominated by leaves. The sun was high, so I did what I could to put something between the sun and myself. Since I was out shooting the Fall colors, leaves seemed like the thing to sandwich. The yellows and golds really brightened my day, no pun intended.
Peering Through The Shade Towards Chimney Rock
If I had to choose an overall theme for the rest of my day, it’d be rocks. On my way out, I passed by Chimney Rock. The meadow above, along with the rock in the background, draws visitors from all around partly due to the natural beauty and partly due to the John Wayne movie True Grit. For a bit of history on the movie, go here.
This was my second visit to the meadow. The first, the rock was smoked in. See below.
On the way out, I couldn’t help but stop and shoot the gorgeous colors beneath the towering cliffs. This is definitely a beautiful area and one that I will revisit often!
Towering Cliffs Overlooking Forests Of Gold
