Black Ridge Canyons, WSA

After all that I went to the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness Study Area to meet some friends hike around and have some fun. You can view a gallery from that weekend here.  Enjoy and have a good weekend.

Photo details:  Canon G9 & Joby Gorillapod

Moving On

This photo was the surprise of the trip.  All morning I cursed at the clouds which were obscuring my subject while I sat on a cliff that was bathed in full warm sun.  I wandered around making photos of bushes and glowing leaves and grasses, but what I wanted was dark as could be.  Until this little hole opened and suddenly this scene started happening.  It was a Rembrandt sun beam that was just magic.  Time to make some coffee and have a snack.

...and with that it was time to move on.  How did I know?  I didn't really know.  I had something close to the shot I came for and several others that I made while I was here, so that's it.  Pack up and go home.  Remember to put the notes on a calendar so you'll remember to come back at the appropriate time... Drive safely... Uh, what's the problem?

The problem is how could I be sure I got the shot I wanted without connecting to the thing I came to photograph.

From the notebook:

     Have to stop and eat more often.  Making bad decisions.  -SLOW DOWN!

Rushing down from the 6_3 camp and hunting for a spot put me in a situation to skip breakfast, sometimes not a problem, but this day I had to be energetic, hiking, climbing, scouting, and I was on a time limit.  The sun is coming!  I got lucky to find a spot that made a nice photo, and lucky to have had the forethought to bracket the hell out of it for an HDR (see this post).  But the rest of the photos from that morning are merely passable examples of properly exposed poor decisions.  But why would that stop me from leaving.  It didn't, but it should have.  Because even though I had the photograph, I didn't have anything else.  I didn't have a story to tell.  That was the lesson for the trip.   It is no longer enough to come back with that great photo, but there needs to be more to share.

Well, I didn't learn it sitting on the cliff that morning.  Not even on the drive home.  May not have learned it at all, and I probably won't know until my next portfolio trip.

Photo details:  Nikon D3, 24-120mm VR at 120mm, 1/80-f/16, -2EV

Pointy Swirly

Pointy Swirly
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

The Unaweep Seep is incredibly beautiful.  Next time I'll get there about an hour before sunrise to try a certain composition.  The light doesn't hit the canyon floor until way past useless.  I'm talking 72,000 stop split ND that gonna have to be at least 17 inches tall.  Not much else to do but look for subjects in the shade.  What... you gonna make a 52 image HDR?  Go ahead, I'll wait.
This simple yucca was tucked up off the road where it's poised to prick your shins as you finish clambering up the embankment.  In retribution, I shot it... with the Nikon.
As I said this thing is in full shade, so there's a mighty colour cast.  Easy enough to clean that up in Lightroom, then a bunch of sharpening to bring out the texture.  None of which you see unless you click through to the Flickr page.
     From the notebook:
Sure is bright here.  And there are a lot of plants.  BLM sign very adamant about staying on the pavement.  Whatever.  Not gonna happen... EVER.


Photo details:  Nikon D3, 14-24mm @ 23mm, ISO800, 1/50 f/11

Border Crossing

Border Crossing
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

I love these things.  This one is on a dirt road heading toward Moab.  Seems a bit silly to me, but I'm sure it's very important to have them at all the crossings.  There's one twenty miles north, too.  It's less dramatic.  I wonder how it gets decided which state is listed first.

Palisade Dawn

Palisade Dawn
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

It's a fact that one can drive faster down a canyon road if one can't see what's over the edge.  The most unfortunate thing about this road is it's the only way to get back to those aspens.  But it's a year away and I might forget how bad the road is... probably not.
After the bouncing, i was scrambling to find a perch.  Spent most of the day before looking for evening shots with the full intent to shoot from the east rim in the morning.  Now that wasn't happening.  I remembered stopping at a place in the bottom of the canyon I camped above because the view of the Palisade was great. At the time it was noon-ish and something like f/78,000 on the face and f/-9 where I was standing.  Glad I stopped though, because it gave me my morning perch.  But I couldn't remember exactly how far up canyon it was.  Only that it was belos teh first switchback.  Honestly, it's not difficult to find in the daylight, but there aren't any landmarks in the dark.  Which means I drove the road twice in each direction.  As the sky started to brighten I could make out the face I wanted to shoot, so I parked and started grabbing gear.  My usual rig is the modular stuff made by thinkTANK.  It's good and does me well enough.  But I was standing at the bottom of a thirty foot slickrock wall.  So, now I'm going hands and teeth up a wall in the near dark with a camera store slung around me like Pancho-Somebody that outlaw guy all the while deflecting the swinging camera away from the rock with my elbows. Needless to say... when I go to the top I was a little winded.  Tripods, get a good one and strap it to you. (Oh yeah, I also had a tripod on me.  Everything is slung bandolier style - I'll get a picture of that someday and put it up here.)  So, I told you all that to intro this photo.  when I first started reading about this formation, this is what I saw in my head.  I had a topo map and a compass and an idea of what it should look like.  Enjoy.
     From the notebook:
Very good spot.  Leaving Gateway w/o coffee to check out the seep area, probably missed the good light.  Must return to that other canyon and get the hoodoos next summer when the sun returns.
Photo Details:  Nikon D3, 14-24mm @ 16mm, 5 stop HDR, f/16, caffeine free.

Night Comes On

Night Comes On
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

From where I'm camped I can see across the valley to the east rim of this same canyon. Similar open view, looks like some wide spots that will give me a direct view of the SE face of the Palisade.
After breaking camp and cleaning up, I head into the lowland for more hiking and scouting. Then back up the other side before the evening light starts happening. Also easier to find a camp in the daylight. I headed up road 6-3, which is 6 miles of washboards and tight turns. Then another annoying 15 miles on the top I still hadn't found the spot I saw last night the sun is heading out of view quick and I'm not sure I can navigate the tangle of roads I followed in here. So, the backup plan was find a camp and bed down early and start driving back down at 5am. At least I wouldn't have to worry about on-coming vehicles at that hour.

Sunset was very colourful in a cloudless sky. Found these trees near camp and made the most of them. The rest of the area was socked in with lots of trees, but I found a view east with lots of aspens in a great formation just below the ridge. You can be sure I'm coming back next year a few weeks earlier.
Photo Details: Nikon D3, 70-200mm at 82mm, 1/15@f16, -1EV
From the notebook:
Sucks up here, will make the best of it and head down early. Maybe that spot I found this afternoon, Palisade should be prominent on the horizon.


Tomorrow: The Palisade

Squid Jam Eye

Squid Jam Eye
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

Fort Collins, CO, is a ridiculously bucolic town. Well, it's a city, really, but I grew up in Philly and it's tough to call this place a "city". Whatever... let's move on. There's this very progressive notion that all publicly funded acts of construction should carry a 1% tax to also fund an arty endeavour that will be placed in the same area. It's called "Art in Public Places". Usually results in crap that can be ignored and the only benefit is to the artist and their banks. But the waste of a program has spawned one great thing, so I'm glad this program exists. The Squid Jam and Jelly Preserve. The little swallow nests in the same area are a perfect compliment. Sit under the highway and watch the birds and the squids and contemplate the fossil beds. Or just keep on riding your bike, I didn't want to be disturbed anyway.
Photo info: pooly executed HDR, a camera, lens, one tripod, two bad words, and a cloudy sky.

Cold Burn

Cold Burn
Originally uploaded by McF Studios

Way before dawn. Seems like an appropriate first image. This is from a recent portfolio trip to the Palisade WSA, on the western slope of Colorado. Chasing a notion that fall colour is peaking out there (it was past the peak), I packed and ran out of town for the week.
This area was mentioned in a book called "Colorado's Canyon Country", which suggested the photogenicty (don't bother looking it up it's not a real word, but "artistic license and such"). This was the view from camp on the first morning. After finding the Palisade, I got the map and compass out to find roads leading to the canyon rim. Found this spot down an old mining road with what appeared to be an old "Property For Sale" sign. These former pinon trees were once victim to a wildfire, but most of the ground cover had re-grown and you'll get to see some of that in future posts. No idea what plane that is, doesn't matter much I guess, since I don't have any immediate extraterrestrial photo plans.
I mentioned it's before dawn. For some reason I got up at 4am, even though I know the light wouldn't start until 6:30am. But there I was in a down bag staring at the stars and waiting. No complaints. I eventually started reading, since I was planning on shooting close to the Jeep.

     From my notebook:
blonde girl in jeep pulls / astride expressionless checks / me out I giggle

Leaving Fort Collins in a fog.
I consider the week ahead staring
bleary into the grey mourning.

ttfn-r.