Archive for category Colorado
November 30, 2010 – Guanella Pass
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Mountains, Picture of the Day on November 30, 2010
Guanella Pass, Colorado
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1765
Hello, everyone! Welcome back from the holiday weekend! I hope you all missed me, but otherwise had a fantastic time. In addition to the holiday, I also had a birthday over the weekend (happy birthday to meeeeee!), which makes it all the more pathetic that I did absolutely nothing since we last saw each other. Absolutely. Nothing. I didn’t even toss up a blog post. That’s okay though, judging by the traffic figures, it looks like none of you were around to read it anyway, because you were all out having the fun I should have been having.
Today’s picture was taken atop Guanella Pass, which is in Colorado, sort of on the eastern side of the Rockies, fairly close to Denver actually. It’s a nice drive, gets you right up into the high country, and it’s where you’d go if you wanted to hike up Mt. Bierstadt. I only mention Mt. Bierstadt because it was the first fourteener I ever hiked, back when I was growing up out there. Sadly though, I forgot my camera that day, so all I have is memories. Although even more sadly, I have a horrible memory (which is a big part of the reason I started taking pictures back when I was a kid), so even those are fuzzy. That is NOT Mt. Bierstadt that you’re looking at, it’s actually right behind me from this vantage point.
On another note, I realized the other day that it’s almost the end of 2010. Which means… you need another calendar! Remember how I was selling those last year? Hmm, yeah, they weren’t actually that much of a hit, it turns out. But hey, that’s no reason not to do it all over again, right?? So let me know if you want one. They make mediocre gifts (a better idea for that would be a huge canvas print, I could hook you up with one of those too – I just charge what it costs me to print it at Costco), but it’ll at least give you the warm fuzzies.
This concludes our broadcast for November. Next time I see you, it’ll be December!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. 1/60s, f/22.0, ISO 400. Focal length: 35mm.
Subscribe to the Picture of the Day via: Popularity: 15%
October 1, 2010 – Summit Lake Basin
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Picture of the Day on October 1, 2010
Summit Lake Basin, Mt. Evans
Friday, October 1, 2010
davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1792
Hello, folks. Quick post today. This is another one of those pictures that came out the huge batch that I’ve been working my way through, taken with my old camera and my old, crappy lens. Some of the pictures made it through okay, but on a bunch of them I had to sharpen them quite a bit to make up for the lens. Sharpening can definitely help, but it definitely doesn’t look as good as if it was nice and sharp coming off the camera. Plus, when I get started sharpening, I tend to over-sharpen, which can look kind of nasty. Although it’s not ALL bad with that lens, it had image stabilization, which allowed me to get away with a slower shutter speed than I normally would (1/125s), which allowed me to close the aperture down to f/22 (which is TINY!), so I could get a nice depth of field (although because of the crappy lens, none of the stuff in the depth of the field was really in focus anyway.. But whatever.)
This was taken in the Summit Lake Basin on Mt. Evans, in central Colorado. There’s a paved road that goes all the way up to the top, at 14,240 feet of elevation. (That’s 4,340 meters, for those of you that are metrically inclined.) The lake that you can just see poking out of the left side of the frame is Summit Lake, you can park right next to it. The spot where I was standing was about 1/4 mile from the parking lot. If you peek over that ridge, you look into Chicago Basin, which has these two lakes called Chicago Lakes. They’re really cool looking, I almost posted a picture of them today, but I decided to save it for later. As you can tell, the weather was a bit iffy that day, although the skies never opened up and dumped a bunch of rain on me like it looked like they might. So that’s good.
So, that’s it until Monday I guess. See you all then, right?
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. 1/125s, f/22.0, ISO 200. Focal length: 28mm.
Popularity: 11%
September 14, 2010 – Alpenglow and the Moon
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Mountains, Picture of the Day on September 14, 2010
Alpenglow and the Moon, near Lake City, Colorado
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=177
Today’s picture is a fairly old one, taken in that odd time between when I used a 35mm SLR and when I got my first digital SLR. When I got my first digital pocket-sized point-and-shoot, I started off by bringing both that and my 35mm with me when I’d go hiking or whatever. The idea being, I’d use the little guy for most of my pics, like taking pictures of my buddies or whatever, but if there was a shot that I would theoretically consider blowing up someday, I’d bust out the SLR. But obviously I quickly came to the conclusion that one of the two was dramatically easier to use, and actually took some decent pictures to boot. So I found myself reaching for the 35mm less and less often.
There were actually two last straws, that both hit at right about the same time. First, I had gone on a hike near Mt. St. Helens, and on that hike I had taken 3 or 4 rolls of pictures with the SLR. It was one of those days where the conditions were absolutely perfect. It was sunny, not too hazy, and there were these little fluffy white clouds that made the skies really interesting (and I had a polarizing filter to really bring them out). I was stoked to get the pictures back, because I knew they’d be amazing. Except.. they weren’t. They all just plain sucked. Four rolls of shots, and not a single gosh dang one was worth anything. It crushed me. And no, this wasn’t the only time this had ever happened to me. But it WAS the *last* time this ever happened to me. And, as if that weren’t enough, about this same time I decided to blow up a picture of Mt. Shuksan and Picture Lake. You know, that one view. I had two versions of nearly the same picture, one taken with my 35mm, and the other taken with my *2 megapixel* pocket point-and-shoot (the one I just linked to is neither of them, but it was pretty similar to both). I blew them both up to 12×18, and as it turns out, the point-and-shoot version was actually better. Even at only 2 megapixels, it looked fantastic at 12×18. Even with a crappy little plastic lens, it looked fantastic at 12×18.
After those two events, I started leaving the 35mm at home, and I never looked back. It was several years until I finally got up the courage to make the leap into an actual digital SLR, and this particular trip to Colorado landed right inside that window. So all I had with me for the whole trip was a little pocket point-and-shoot. I had upgraded to a 3.2 megapixel version by then, but still. Nowadays, I of course wonder about all the awesome shots I missed out on not having the equipment, knowledge or skills that I do now, but that’s never a worthwhile thing to worry about. I’ll just have to go back, right?
This particular picture was taken in the San Juan mountains, in the southwest corner of Colorado. There’s a little dirt mountain road that heads into the mountains from Lake City. Eventually it goes over some pass (Cinnamon Pass maybe? Not sure), but I was just driving a passenger sedan (a Subaru Legacy, AWD, but a sedan nonetheless), and the road got pretty gnarly, so I turned around before I got stuck. I did spend a night up there though, and this was snapped right before the sun went down. Ahhhh, alpenglow, my favorite.
Notes: Canon PowerShot S230 (Point and shoot). 1/500s.
Popularity: 12%
September 9, 2010 – Mediocre Image Thursday – Mt. Bierstadt
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Mountains, Picture of the Day on September 9, 2010
Mt. Bierstadt seen from Guanella Pass
Thursday, September 9, 2010
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1766
So, what, yesterday wasn’t bad enough for you, huh? Mediocre Image Thursday is BACK! It’s so mediocre that I couldn’t even make it happen consistently. I suppose I was setting myself up for failure by starting it right before two Thursdays where I knew in advance I’d be unable to follow through. But, whatever, we’re back now, woooooo!!!
This is another old image (a couple years old) that’s the result of me slowly going through the archives. This process is particularly frustrating for me, because I’m currently right in the thick of the time that I used my crappy Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. I eventually realized how much it was affecting the quality of my images, and I rectified the situation. But since I’m only now really truly spending the time to go through the pictures, I’m really only now really paying the price. It’s true that I can take comfort in the fact that it’s a lens I no longer use, so I don’t have to fight off that gut feeling that maybe my equipment is letting me down, and that perhaps I’ll have to face up to the fact that I made a poor purchasing decision, and that I might need to drop more cash to fix the situation. Now I only have to fight off the gut feeling that all of that stuff did indeed happen, but it’s in the past now and there’s nothing more I can do. I’d say it’s an improvement.
Anyway, I’m venting. Today’s picture is from Colorado. Specifically, it’s a picture of Mt. Bierstadt, which is a “fourteener”, meaning, it’s one of 50-some peaks that are over 14,000 feet in Colorado. I took it from Guanella Pass. There’s a road that goes over the pass, one of those dirt roads that’s not really the way to go if you’re just trying to get somewhere, but is really pretty if you’ve got the time. Here’s something interesting: I’ve hiked up two fourteeners in my life, one was Quandary Peak over by Breckenridge, and the other was this one, Mt. Bierstadt. It happened way back in high school, and tragically I forgot to bring my camera these days. I was still in to photography back then (with my old-school 35mm), but I wasn’t as obsessed as I am now. I know that’s true, because if the same thing happened today, and I realized at the trailhead that I forgot my camera, I can tell you with absolute certainty that I wouldn’t be climbing that mountain. I am one lazy mothereffer, let me tell you. If there’s no chance of getting nice shots out of it, you would have a very hard time convincing me that it was worth the effort.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. 1/60s, f/22.0, ISO 400. Focal length: 39mm.
Popularity: 10%
August 30, 2010 – Mayflower Gulch
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Fall Color, Mountains, Picture of the Day on August 30, 2010
Mayflower Gulch
Monday, August 30, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1047
Hello, dear readers! It’s Monday again! Woooooo!!!!! What, not feeling the enthusiasm?? Yeah, me neither. Sigh. I went out of town this last weekend though, that was cool. Headed up to Whistler, and did a little bit of hiking. That’s not where this picture is from though. More on that in a bit.
I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this already or not, but I have a new (ish) rule of thumb: I refuse to look at my pictures on the big screen until at least a couple days have passed since I took them. Sounds like a weird self-imposed rule, right? Well, see, there’s a reason I had to do it. I’m always excited at the pictures I’m taking. For whatever reason, they always seem to look FANTASTIC on the little screen on my camera. So I take a few, and I get stoked that I got THE SHOT, and that forever after I’ll be finally satisfied that I captured the perfect image, and that I’ll get home and be able to retire the camera forever. But… it never quite works out that way. Ignoring for a minute the fact that taking pictures is just like a drug (you can never get enough! Even when you get the shot you dreamed of, it never satisfies you – you immediately start dreaming about your next hit.), for whatever reason when you look at them on the big screen, they’re never quite as sharp as you thought, or the color’s not quite right, or there’s a blemish that you didn’t see before, or you just missed the most interesting part of the mountain, whatever. And that just crushes my soul. It sucks the excitement for the pictures right out of me. I mean, these issues are usually very minor, and usually aren’t even noticeable at web-size. But, instead of going to bed riding the glow of “I got some AWESOME shots today!” I end up going to bed really sad, and then I don’t want to look at them again for weeks. On the other hand, if I just enjoy the euphoric high for the rest of the day or whatever, and wait until it fades away naturally, then I can approach the photographic results with a more level head. I’ve told myself I’ve had this rule for awhile, but I’ve only really gotten serious about enforcing it lately, the last few weeks or so. And it’s been working out GREAT! So, long story short, I’m not going to be looking at my pictures from this weekend for at least another day or two.
So, in the meantime, you get a picture from Colorado, from last summer. This was taken with my wide angle lens (Tokina 11-16) in a spot called Mayflower Gulch. It’s a really short trail (a mile-ish?), because I only had a tiny bit of time that day. The trailhead is a little ways south of Copper Mountain along highway 91 (which I believe has the nickname “Top of the Rockies Highway”). I think the trail keeps on going (or there’s probably several trail choices once you get to the gulch) but I didn’t have time for any of that. I was able to get to a nice setting, and that had to be good enough for me. My buddy Trevor (who lives up in Summit County) took me out there, after I asked for a short trail that would let me get some nice pics. This choice worked out perfectly!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 lens. 1/250s, f/9.0, ISO 100. Focal length: 12mm.
Popularity: 17%
August 3, 2010 – Mt. Evans Highway
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Mountains, Picture of the Day on August 3, 2010
View along the Mt. Evans Highway
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1619
So you’ve heard me say that I’m sitting on a multi-year backlog of old pictures, right? Yeah, still true. But today’s picture is a result of me actually making some progress on that over the weekend. That sentence sounds way more impressive than it actually is. When I hear somebody say “I made progress!” I generally think that means they made it through a couple months of backlog. But, no. I’m stuck on August 8, 2008. Before this weekend, I was about a third of the way through that day. Now I’m about two thirds of the way through that day. So, umm.. not really that exciting I guess.
This process is fairly painful for me though. Many, many times I’ve grumbled about how I spent a couple years using a crappy lens, and how I have since realized that, and done something to correct the situation. Unfortunately, that was right in the thick of the time spent with the crappy lens. So I visited all of these really cool places and did all of these really cool things, and so many of the pics cause me physical discomfort when I look at them. Ugh. Many of them (like this one) can at least be brought back into the realm of respectability with some post-processing, but if you looked at the full-size image you’d believe me if I told you that it’s hardly hang-on-the-wall worthy. But, I promised myself I’d make it through them all eventually, pulling out all the halfway-decent ones. So this won’t be the last time you see one of them.
I almost went ahead and finished off the post right there, but then I realized I haven’t actually touched on what the heck you’re looking at. This was taken along the Mt. Evans Highway, which is sort of near Idaho Springs, Colorado. (By “sort of near”, I mean that Idaho Springs is where you leave the highway (I-70) to head up into the mountains…) The Mt. Evans Highway is apparently the highest auto-road in either the world or North America, topping out at 14,400 feet or so. (Google tells me that’s about 4,400 meters.) It’s paved the whole way, and it goes right to the top of Mt. Evans. (And it’s worth noting that Mt. Evans is just a bit taller than Pikes Peak (at 14,100 feet), which isn’t too far away (a couple hours) and also has a road (although not paved) going up to the top. Anyway, to get this shot I had to walk a few hundred feet from the roadway, but this is essentially the same view you’d get from the car. It’s a really pretty drive, and you should do it. There, now I’ve talked about the picture, have a nice day.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. 1/40s, f/22.0, ISO 400. Focal length: 30mm.
Popularity: 8%
July 29, 2010 – Mediocre Image Thursday
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Fall Color, Picture of the Day on July 29, 2010
Fall color along Gold Camp Road
Thursday, July 29, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=681
Hey everyone! I’m going to start a new weekly feature here at Dave’s Picture of the Day. Every Thursday, I’m going to post a picture that’s totally, absolutely, horrendously mediocre. This is of course different from every other day because on Thursdays I’ll actually be calling them out as such. Exciting! I’ve got a ton of images that are mostly okay, as in they’re mostly in focus and such, but they just… don’t quite do it for me. They just aren’t quite interesting enough, or whatever.
So, today we’re going to kick it all off with this one! This was taken along Gold Camp Road, which is a dirt road that takes you from Colorado Springs out to Cripple Creek. Or, the other way around, if that’s your thing. There’s of course also a highway route that’s longer but much faster, but that one is not included in today’s picture. Only one route at a time, that’s what I always say. Why does it get the dubious honor of being the first image selected for mediocre-image-Thursday? Meh, I dunno. It’s got some nice elements, the nice bright yellow tree, all the detail in it. But the tree is sort of awkwardly placed. And the background isn’t really that interesting. It’s not a total train-wreck though, it definitely reminds me of when I was there, which can be a useful thing, if you’re trying to help yourself remember when you were somewhere. But it doesn’t really do a good job of reminding *you* when I was there, because you weren’t there.
Stay tuned, next week’s Thursday special will be even more not awesome!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Canon 18-55mm kit lens. 1/125s, f/5.6, ISO 100. Focal length: 21mm.
Popularity: 13%
July 8, 2010 – Aspen Leaves
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Fall Color, Picture of the Day on July 8, 2010
Aspen Leaves
Thursday, July 8, 2010
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=674
Another late/short post today. Sorry about that! These are aspen leaves in the fall, in Colorado.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Quantaray 70-300mm lens. 1/320s, f/9.0, ISO 100. Focal length: 183mm.
Popularity: 10%
June 23, 2010 – Hahn’s Peak
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Mountains, Picture of the Day on June 23, 2010
Hahn's Peak
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1582
Wow, I just realized it’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted a picture from Colorado. It’s sad that I don’t live there anymore, and thus don’t have a steady drip of new pics from the area coming in, but still.
You’re looking at Hahn’s Peak, which is a little ways outside of Steamboat Springs. I was in the area a couple years ago for my wife’s family reuinion, so I got pretty familiar with the view up at this guy, since it pretty much dominates the valley where we were staying. This particular shot was taken from right near the trailhead that takes you up to the top, to that little fire lookout that you can see there. In a nice dose of typical Colorado late-summer weather, it was almost perfectly clear when we started our hike, but a few thunderstorms rolled in soon after we got down off the top. I guess it’s good that we weren’t running any later than we were, you definitely don’t want to be exposed out of the trees during an electrical storm…
In other news, I keep mentioning how disappointed I was in my Tamron 28-300 VC, but yet I keep posting pics from that lens. You may be wondering why that is. I mean, I certainly am. The reality is, that was the only lens I used for basically an entire year, and the non-VC version of that lens was my primary lens for essentially another year before that. So, all of the pictures I took from that timeframe used it. So while it’s true that the quality of most of those pics isn’t quite what I’d like, that’s the only pics I’ve got from then. Also, I’m still in the midst of really going through all of the pictures from then and doing whatever processing I’m going to do. (It’s tough to power through it when so many of the pics that I thought would be fantastic just aren’t because of my equipment, so I end up putting it off, A LOT.) So, even though this is a two year old picture from a lens I didn’t like, I just recently got around to digging it out of the pile. And there are plenty more where this one came from. So I’m sure you’ll continue to see them from time to time. Get comfortable.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Tamron 28-300mm VC lens. 1/125s, f/14.0, ISO 100. Focal length: 154mm.
Popularity: 8%
February 3, 2010 – Lake Dillon
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Picture of the Day on February 3, 2010
Lake Dillon
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1128
So I wrote this joke to start off today’s post with. I got halfway through typing it, but it was sooo bad that I just couldn’t do it. I had to clear it out and start from scratch. I’m actually embarrassed that I was almost willing to put it out there. Wow.
This is Lake Dillon. It’s in Summit County, Colorado. It’s a man-made reservoir dealie, that sits between Silverthorne and Frisco and Breckenridge and Keystone. (The latter two being ski resorts.) If you follow the valley off the top left of the frame, you’ll be heading toward Breck. Meh, I’m running out of things to say today. There it is, enjoy!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tokina 11-16mm lens. 1/250s, f/8.0, ISO 100. Focal length: 11mm.
Popularity: 10%
January 26, 2010 – Aspens
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Fall Color, Picture of the Day on January 26, 2010
Aspens in the Fall
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=654
I know, I know, I promised that I’d write something meaty today. Well.. have you considered vegetarianism? I ran out of time and content both today, so you’ll just have to keep waiting for another soliloquy. To make matters worse, I’m going to be on jury duty the next couple days, so unless I feel like tossing something up later on when I get home (umm, yeah, unlikely), this is all you’ll get until at least Friday. At least I’m setting you up properly for disappointment instead of springing it on you and leaving you sitting there wondering if something happened to me. Because I know you’d do that too, you’re always looking out for my back. That’s why we get along so well. I’m glad we’re friends. C’mere, gimme a big hug. Awwwwww.
These are some aspen trees, in Colorado. This has always been one of my personal favorites, I think because of all the little details in there. I love shots with a lot of little details, which also helps explain why it bothers me so much when pictures are just a little bit out of focus. And THAT helps explain why it’s not uncommon for me to over-sharpen a lot of my pictures. I tend to err way on the side of too much sharpening, which a lot of times makes a crappy result. But that’s okay, it’s something I’m working on. One of these days, when I actually sit down to learn how to use photoshop, I’ve promised myself that I’ll cut back on the sharpening a whole bunch, and instead spend all of my time playing around with levels and curves. I mean, that’s what all you photoshoppers do, right? Hmm, if I only knew…
One of these days I’m thinking about having a week dedicated to pics from you, my dear readers. I haven’t decided when, and I haven’t decided what a good theme would be, and I haven’t even decided yet if it’s a good idea. When I see super-cool-awesome pictures from other people, I sometimes feel bad, like “oh man, I could NEVER take a picture like that. I might as well just give up”, so I’m afraid doing so would send me into a tailspin that would take my whole weekend to recover from. So maybe I’ll make it a rule that you’re only allowed to submit crappy pictures. Yeah, actually, I kind of like that. It’ll be a “send me your best crappy picture” kind of thing. I can’t wait! Anybody have any thoughts on that? Possible themes? Let me know – either comment here, on my Facebook page, or just email me at dave (at) davefry (dot) net. We’ll see how this goes.
See you guys on (maybe) Friday!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, Quantaray 70-300 mm lens. Â 1/250s, f/7.1, ISO 100. Â Focal length: 50mm.
Popularity: 7%
December 16, 2009 – Mayflower Gulch
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Mountains, Picture of the Day on December 16, 2009
Mayflower Gulch, Summit County, Colorado
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=1061
Well, it’s Wednesday. Awesome, right? Yeah, exactly. Today’s picture is from Mayflower Gulch, which is a little ways up a little trail/4×4 road just off Highway something-or-other in Summit County, Colorado, the one that goes from Copper Mountain to Leadville. It’s a really nice alpine basin, with the standard set (for Colorado, anyway) of broken down, abandoned houses from long-gone miners. I suppose there are a couple trails that leave from right around here and explore more remote places too. But I didn’t have time for that when I was there.
The weather was kind of a mixed bag when I was there. No rain (not yet anyway), but clouds that were constantly moving through. That meant that most of the time I had in the actual basin was spent under cloud cover. That actually affects your pictures quite a bit, because it makes a surprisingly large difference in your exposure whether your foreground is in the sunlight or in the shade. Generally, I prefer sunshine as you can imagine (although if you can get one of either your foreground or your background in the sun and the other in the shade, it can provide some really nice contrast), and I would have preferred that for the day I was here, but alas, you take what you can get. As a result, I had to expose the shot more than I would have liked, which resulted in losing almost all of the color out of the sky. (A polarizing filter would have helped, but I don’t yet have one that fits my wide-angle lens, which is what I was using here.) I really like that little spash of sunshine on the peak there in the distance, without it I think it would have just kind of been washed into the background, leaving a much less interesting shot. This way, it’s kind of peeking out, saying “HEY! I’m here too, damnit.” Wait, your pictures don’t talk to you? Oh.. Weird.
Anyway, in an unusual moment of foresight, I’ve come to realize that tomorrow I’ll be posting a picture of a flower and a bug, and Friday is going to be a really nice shot of Mt. Baker. So be sure to stick around for that before you abandon the picture of the day for ever and ever. Until then…
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel T1i, Tokina 11-16mm lens. 1/250s, f/6.3, ISO 100. Focal length: 16mm.
Popularity: 12%