Posts Tagged Maroon Bells
November 30, 2009 – Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Fall Color, Mountains, Picture of the Day on November 30, 2009
Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
Monday, November 30, 2009
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=641
Hey everyone, welcome back from Thanksgiving! I hope you were all able to give heartfelt thanks for all the good stuff in your life, and passive-aggressively attack those who are guilty for everything else. I was, and man, it was awesome.
So, first off, I do feel like it’s worth mentioning that no, I have not posted this picture before. I have, however, posted at least a couple that are really similar. That’s just the way it goes around here. When I go places, I take a lot of pictures, that are all just a little bit different. The differences are usually subtle enough that you won’t notice them unless you’re looking at two versions right next to each other. But what usually happens is that half of the subtle differences that I like better are in one version, and half in the other, so I can’t in good conscience pick one over the other. So I usually keep both hanging around. That’s exactly how it happens that all 10 if the top 10 most highly-rated pictures of Colorado in Rate Dave’s Photos are pictures of the Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake taken on the same day. This one’s not QUITE that similar, (it’s vertical, whereas the ones I’ve posted here before were horizontal), but the point still stands.
If you actually read the text here on potd.com closely (I’m not sure how many of you actually do), you probably noticed that I failed to post a picture last Tuesday as I had promised. It’s a long story as to why, but it involved running out of time and almost missing a flight. But, before things got quite so desperate, I had planned on posting this picture. Mostly because I figured it was a safe one to go ahead and post with a minimal write-up. So since I was already mentally committed to using it, I figured I’d go ahead and use it today.
This is of course a view of the Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake, just outside of Aspen, Colorado. I think I’ve actually posted three Maroon Bells pictures before, so if you’re interested in seeing those, search for “Maroon Bells” in the search box on the upper right. I would normally link to them here, but I’m feeling a bit lazy today.
But, since I actually do have time to do a write-up today, I’ll go ahead and say something about it. And here we go.
There are a lot of different kinds of photo opportunities. There are the subtle ones, where something catches your eye in the middle of an ordinary day. And there’s the ones where due to some unique circumstance, like a crazy storm rolling through or a nice sunset, something ordinary is turned into something extraordinary. There’s mood shots, where for whatever reason the scene in front of you does a perfect job of encapsulating the aura of a place and thus makes a good story. The list goes on and on. But somewhere in that list is the lookout point. A well-marked spot where the general consensus is that the view kicks ass. Doesn’t really matter the time of day, time of year, or weather. It’s just an awesome viewpoint that makes for a great picture. That’s what this place is. The natural elements are all there in such a way as to make it idiot-proof to get an awesome shot. I’m not really sure where I’m going with this, but I do want to make sure I somehow work it into this paragraph that you should take the time to try out a lot of different stuff in such a situation. Try taking it horizontally, try it vertically, try it with all sorts of different layouts of foreground. Try it with everything. Because you’re using digital (you’re using digital, right?), so who cares how many you take? And for god’s sake, don’t delete them on the camera before you’ve had a chance to see them on the big screen! The ONLY excuse for that is if your card is full and you need to take more pictures. But it’s WAY too easy to miss something on the little tiny camera screen that will turn an image that you think is only ho-hum into something fantastic. It very often happens that the real winners, my favorite shots of the day, are not the ones I expected to be so when I was taking them.
Okay, lunch time. I’ve rambled at you enough for one day. Thanks for coming back after almost a whole week of no posts! I promise I’ll do it again soon.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, 18-55 mm kit lens. 1/320s, f/7.1, ISO 100. Focal length: 25mm.
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September 14, 2009 Part 2 – Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Fall Color, Mountains, Picture of the Day on September 14, 2009
Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
Monday, September 14, 2009. 2 of 2.
http://davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=638
Hey everyone. This is the first time I’ve actually posted two pictures in one day. I’m not really sure what led me to do a 2nd post today, but as long as I was sitting there on my couch staring at the wall, I figured I’d toss up a picture aimed at those fans of the Picture of the Day who are on the other side of the world. Yes, I’m talking to you, Petah Tiqva, Israel.
This is another picture of the Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake near Aspen, Colorado. And no, I haven’t posted this one before. Yes, I’ve posted at least a couple that are very very similar to this one. But not this one. The biggest difference between this one and one in particular that I posted awhile ago is the people at the far right edge of the frame. I had found a framing of the view that I liked, and the light was perfect. But those people JUST WOULDN’T MOVE. It was maddening, really. There were people lined up along the whole shore giving them the stink eye, but they were totally oblivious. They were just chilling out, right there, right in the middle of everyone’s view. I tried to crop them out, but that didn’t feel right, because it ended up cutting a lot of those rocks in the foreground in half, so it broke up the picture’s story. Very frustrating.
Thankfully though, they did end up moving after about 10 or 20 minutes. So I was able to get the shot I wanted in the end, all was well, high fives all around. But still, annoying. Keep that in mind if you’re ever hanging out in a really pretty place where there are a lot of folks setting up pictures. Definitely don’t hold back from checking out the stuff you want to see, but try to at least keep moving. Don’t find a nice central spot in everybody’s way and then just hang out there. Garrrr.
Anyway, off to bed for me, see you guys tomorrow at the normal time.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, 18-55 mm kit lens. 1/250s, f/5.6, ISO 100. Focal length: 22mm.
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August 14, 2009 – Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
Posted by Dave in Colorado, Fall Color, Mountains, Picture of the Day on August 14, 2009
Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
Friday, August 14, 2009
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=648
I’m in an all-day meeting at work today, so no time for a writeup. But here’s another photo of the Maroon Bells near Aspen to keep you busy.
Have an utterly fantastic weekend!
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, 18-55 mm kit lens. 1/200s, f/7.1, ISO 100. Focal length: 34mm.
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June 3, 2009 – Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
Posted by Dave in - Best of Dave's POTD -, Colorado, Fall Color, Mountains, Picture of the Day on June 3, 2009
Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
June 3, 2009.
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=639
I promised this one a couple weeks ago, so I’ll go ahead and get it out of the way. Once again, this is a view of the Maroon Bells (and Maroon Lake) from just outside Aspen, Colorado. This was taken at the end of September. The Aspens usually are at their peak for just a couple of weeks, so it can be tricky to get the timing and the weather just right.
As I mentioned in the last post with a picture of the bells, I had to hang out for about 4 hours to get this picture. It took that long for the sun to finally rise high enough over the neighboring ridge to illuminate the aspens up there on the hillside. (Actually, that came a bit earlier, but I was waiting for the sun to make it all the way to my end of the lake, so that those rocks in the foreground were illuminated too.) But, once the sun was there, I only had about 20 minutes to take the pictures before the breeze started kicking up, and the reflection disappeared.
You’ll undoubtedly see more pictures from this particular day over time. Both because I have basically 3 batches of pictures (one from early dawn, one from around this time, and one from when I came back later with Julie) as well as because there’s several different themes to explore. (I have ton of pics from this spot, some using the reflection, some not, but I also have some pics from other nice vantage points.) But, I promise, none this week.
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, 18-55 mm kit lens. 1/320s, f/5.6, ISO 100. Focal length: 22 mm.
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May 21, 2009 – Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake
Posted by Dave in - Best of Dave's POTD -, Colorado, Mountains, Picture of the Day, Winter/Snow on May 21, 2009
Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake at dawn
May 21, 2009.
http://www.davefry.net/rate/index.php?viewimage=635
So far, I’ve been trying to only post pictures that I haven’t already posted somewhere else on my profile. But.. whatever.
You’ve probably seen a picture from this viewpoint before, ESPECIALLY if you’ve ever looked at a Colorado calendar, or anything like that. In some ways, this is *the* representative Colorado view. I’ve seen it everywhere from postcards to grocery store discount cards. It’s f’ing everywhere.
This is a view of the Maroon Bells, looking over Maroon Lake. The viewpoint is near Aspen, about 20 minutes outside of town. In summer months, it’s pretty popular, to the point that after a certain time, they won’t even allow you to drive in anymore, instead they run busses from about 10 minutes down the road. Pretty wild.
I’ve actually visited this spot twoce, once was quite awhile ago when I was on a 3 week roadtrip through Montana, Colorado, and points in between. On that trip, I didn’t have a set itinerary, and ended up in Aspen for a night totally on a whim. I didn’t have a hotel lined up, so instead I just parked at the viewpoint and slept in my car. I woke up at sunrise, and shortly after, the sun was shining right up the valley, which let me get some nice pics of the reflection in the lake and such.
This time (2006), Julie and I had flown down to Colorado just for a long weekend, to drive around in the hills a bit to see the aspens. Since we had pretty limited time, we actually did plan out our route, which included a night in Aspen, this time staying in an honest-to-god hotel, with walls and a toilet and everything. Remembering my luck last time with the sunrise pics, I decided to do that again. So I woke up at around 5am, and headed over. Julie of course gave the response you’d expect from a wife who has been asked if she wants to wake up before dawn and sit there for a couple hours while you take pictures, so she stayed in the hotel and slept in.
Unfortunately, this was a very different time of year (last time was at the beginning of summer, this one was solidly into the fall), and therefore, the sun followed a much different path across the sky. So, instead of shining straight up the valley, illuminating the scene within an hour or two of coming over the horizon, it was rising behind one of the high ridges, which meant that Maroon Lake was in the shade until about 4 hours after sunrise. So, I got a few pictures like this one soon after the sun started rising, then I sat there and waited.. And waited… And waited… Eventually, I was able to get the pictures I wanted though, perhaps I’ll include one from later that morning in the picture of the day sometime next week. I ended up rolling back into the hotel at around 11:30 am, about 5 hours after I’d left, and about 3 hours later than I told Julie I’d be back.
Of course, there was no cell phone coverage in the valley, and besides that fact, Julie’s phone was dead and I didn’t know the number to the hotel, so when I came back several hours later than I said I would, Julie was understandably concerned. But, as it turns out, all is fair in love, war, and photography. To make it up to her, I actually came back to this spot later that afternoon, and brought her with me. By then they had closed the road, so the only way in was to ride the shuttle, but that’s fine. It’s really interesting to see though how the quality of the light and the general feeling of the scene changed throughout the day. I’ll show you some of the other pics if you’d like. One interesting difference: The air tends to be perfectly still in the early morning and late afternoon, which allows you to get these perfect reflections. During most of the day, there are almost always little breezes that keep the surface unsettled. And that held true today as well, right as I was leaving in the morning, the wind was starting to pick up a bit, so the reflections disappeared.
Okay, that’s enough text for today.
Map for this one: http://tinyurl.com/p8yon7
Notes: Canon EOS Rebel XT, 18-55 mm kit lens. 1/500s, f/4.0, ISO 400. Focal length: 28mm.
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