Notes form the Field: Colorado, from the mountains to the desert (Joseph Rossbach)

Hello everyone,

I am finally back in civilization after almost 3 days without cell service or internet access. Right now I am sitting in a small cafe in the town of Ouray, Colorado. We ended up spending 2 more days in Rocky Mountain National Park before heading west to Colorado National Monument outside of Grand Junction and spending the the evening shooting from the rim of the canyon in the vicinity of the  Cove Ovens Viewpoint. The temperature was around 100 degrees when we arrived and as is typical of the desert at this time of the year the thunderstorms rolled in and provided us with some nice clouds for sunset. The next morning, after spending the night on BLM land just outside of the park, we arrived on location at the rim again and I managed to photograph my favorite tree, a lonely and gnarled Utah Juniper on the edge of the cliff just above the Coke Ovens formation. I really miss the desert enviroment and will be back soon !

Later today myself and my client will be heading up into Yankee Boy Basin in the Mount Snefells Wilderness in the san Juan Mountains. This high mountain basin sits at 12,800 feet and is accessible via a rough 4×4 jeep road. We are planning on spending the day shooting alpine wildflowers and waterfalls. Sunset will also be spent in the basin and we will camp overnight in order to be on location tomorrow at first light. Well, my time in civilization is up and I must get back to the mountains. Look for more trip reports and images in the next couple of days.

Here are a few images from the past couple of days.

Alberta Falls, Glacier Gorge, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

I made this image well after sunset on the trail back to the car after shooting late evening light at Mills and Jewell Lakes in the Glacier Gorge area. A 45 second exposure at f16 was required due to a circular polarizer and very low light levels. as you can see, this produced a dreamy affect in the rushing water of the falls. I set my kelvin tempature in camera to 7800 to combat the blue cast of shooting long exposures in weak twilight.

Storm clouds above Longs Peak at sunset, Trail Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

We were heading back from the west side of the park after attempting to photograph Onahu Creek. The sky had turned a dark ominous gray and black as we approached treeline heading up towards the continental divide. My client noticed a small break in the clouds to the west, so we decided to wait the storm out in hopes of some dramatic light. The winds were fierce at times and the temps hovered around 40 degrees which made shooting a real challenge. Just after the sun set the storm clouds to the east above Longs Peak were illuminated in warm alpenglow that only lasted for a minute or two before fading. I used a 3 stop graduated nuetral density filter to balance the light.

Rainbow and mountains at sunset from Trail Ridge, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

What luck ! This image of Mountains and tundra was made just minutes before the sun was obscured in clouds. It had been raining and we raced along the snaking road on Trail Ridge in search of a suitable place to set up our tripods. After arriving the rainbow lasted for just long enough for us to make a dozen images before the show was over.

Utah Juniper frames the Coke Ovens at sunrise, Colorado National Monument, Colorado.

I found this unbelievable Utah Juniper about 4 years ago while shooting for a few days in the autumn. At sunrise, I arrived at my spot and framed up this composition of outstretched arms. The morning side light perfectly illuminated the canyon below and the tree providing me with warm saturated morning light. I used my off camera strobe set at 1/2 power to fill in the middle shadowed area of the tree.

Joseph Rossbach

~ by mountaintrailphoto on July 6, 2008.