Maroon Bells

Thanks Wilson.

A great photo Tracy, I took some shots along the same road and you are fortunate to live in such a beautiful location.

Thanks everyone for the comments.

For what it's worth, I'd say this photo was taken in late September, or Oct 1 at the latest. As a general rule of thumb, the peak for Aspen color here in Colorado is the third week in September. Some of the Aspens up near tree line just got their leaves this week. In three months, they'll lose them again.

Hi Rob, As the general rule may vary well be, but I live in Southern, Ca. I didnt leave until the evening of the 29th of September. Spent a couple days in Northern AZ, a few days in the Telluride area, a day in Denver, developing film, re-supplying food, oil change, etc. This is not counting the driving time and stops to photograph other areas in between and there were many. Along with this being photographed on the second morning of being here, I would guess it was at least around the 8th or so. The general rule of thumb also is that the fall colors start in the North and work there way South, but this isnt always the case either. About 2 weeks after this I was just North of Yellowstone in Southern Montana and the colors were peaking there.

This was the first part of a 6 week trip in which I kept moving non-stop every day from sun-up to sun-down, which is now somewhat a blur and honestly cant remember the exact day, but should be pretty darn close. They did say it was a late year for many areas, much to my benefit.

I didn't realize they only held their leaves for 3 months.

Fair enough. You would know more about the date than I would, I supposed. They do change later some years, depending on the rainfall and temperature, etc. It's a very nice shot. I plan to go up and shoot it myself this year, though I doubt I'll do as well as you've done here. Funny about the aspens, but I've been in the Arapaho National Forest almost every day for the past two months, and near timberline, they're just now starting to get their leaves. The growing season for them is crazy.

I would like to see them with fresh leaves also and you will most likely do better asthis wasnt too difficult a composition, just wished I would of used a film with a wider exposure latitude, possibly the newer Velvia 100, so maybe the hillside to the left wasnt quite so dark.

This was taken about a mile or so before the Bells. There is a small pond on the left side of the road, which seems to be a popular stop for photographers and turn-outs on both sides of the road. While most of the photographers went down by the pond, I hiked up the hillside "about 200-300ft" on the opposite side of the road getting up above the Aspens. Most of my shots seemed to be best just after the sun peeked over the hillside, but A couple hours before sunset might also be worth a try, I was over at the Ashton Ghost town during these hours.

Steven, I like your first upload. The juxtaposition of the soft yellow of the trees and the strong brown of the mountains.Well composed. ( I like the couple in that sorounding as well. )Pnina

It is really a marvellous landscape. Thank you to share it.

Particularly, I prefer the full frame version with the Bells not so centered. IMHO the compo is more balanced and the dark sahadowed mountain less prominent.

BTW, Hail to Velvia and slides! Even if Velvia does not like shadows and strong sunlight at the same time...

I'm with you Albert, I have no plans on retiring Velvia anytime soon, but maybe keeping a few rolls of another film handy for certain situations, most likely Velvia 100. I usually have a few rolls of Provia with me for wildlife, etc., but dont much like bringing that out for landscapes/seascapes.

I liked what you did here Steven.And more like the story that you have told us , how you have taken the road that less travelled to hike up to take this shot.And I see that it was a worthy hike...!My favorite place and a great shot of it...!

Hi Steve, great to see your work on this spot. Very sorry that I has been away from PN quite long for personal reason and glad to see you made lot progress with your web site.

 

I like this composition, with good layers and well balanced. I printout the thumbnail and the color is great. if there is any weakness, I may wish you get rid of the black mountain area but I know it would be it was always there.

Hi Kurt, Good to hear from you again, its been a while.

Yes, the black area in this one is the big problem. The slide does show better detail than shown here, but is still very dark. If I would have waited longer to shoot this the light would of been much worse. If I lived in this area I would try a few different things to try and figure this place out, "a difficult area". Maybe a different film would be better or maybe shoot it later with an 81B or 81C filter, I still dont know??

No need to worry about the left side any more Steven. We can take care of that for you... once and for all......

That certainly takes care of it! I like it. Thanks Vincent. (-: