Photo Op

October 21st, 2010

 Snowy Aspen Leaves

This hasn’t been the best fall for leaf-peepers, but there were still some stunning views in the land of aspens.  And if you haven’t ventured out with your camera yet, there’s still time.

Todd Caudle, noted Colorado scenic photographer who produces the Colorado Mountain Club calendars and whose work is featured in his own books (check out www.skylinepress.com) offers these tips for the best aspen shots

  1. Avoid shooting in the harsh light of midday, but..
  2.  …if you must shoot in midday, try to shoot fall colors with side lighting (with the sunlight coming from the side rather than straight onto the foliage).
  3.  As an alternative, shoot with fall colors backlit by the sun. With the sun out of the image frame, you can use your hand or a hat to try to block the sun’s rays from striking the front of the lens to avoid lens flare. Backlit foliage absolutely glows in any season, more so in fall.
  4.  Bad weather makes good photographs. If it’s cloudy and rainy, or better yet, foggy, this is a great opportunity to catch fall scenes at their most transitory.
  5.  Look down! Some of the prettiest scenes are those intimate little wonders on the forest floor, where a single red plant is poking through a carpet of gold aspen leaves, or when fallen leaves are accented with dew drops.
  6. Look up! There’s nothing quite as vibrant as a ceiling of gold aspen leaves against a blue Colorado sky. Add some puffy white clouds and you’ve got the makings of a real beauty.
  7.  Trees and shrubs don’t have to be completely covered in perfectly colored leaves to make for striking images. Sometimes the tail end of the color season, perhaps a lone aspen holding onto its last leaves amidst a forest of bare trees yields a stark, but no less beautiful scene.
  8.  Change lenses from time to time, or even frequently. Whether you’re shooting a digital SLR camera with interchangeable lenses or a point-and-shoot camera with a good zoom range, experiment with different lens focal lengths, from wide-angle to telephoto, for the utmost in variety in your photos.

 
Deb Acord

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Fall Colors Bike Ride to Cripple Creek

September 28th, 2010

Fall Aspen Near Cripple Creek, CO

I’ve ridden to Cripple Creek on Gold Camp Road several times in the fall when the aspen have been turned but it’s been awhile since I last did it. A few weeks ago, I was hanging out at Kinfolks after hiking the Manitou Incline and one of my friends told me a group was going to ride their mountain bikes to Cripple Creek. The date was this past Saturday.

I was busy so I never tracked down the details on the ride. They were also spending the night and riding back on Sunday. It did get me thinking though that it was time to do that ride again.

We celebrated my daughter’s 6th birthday Friday evening so I didn’t get my bike and gear ready the night before. It was nearly 10 before I got started which was later than I had wanted to. It was already very warm when I rolled out from my house. It was looking to be a beautiful day with deep, blue sky and no clouds to be seen. I still took a vest and arm and knee warmers because it doesn’t take much to get cold at 10,000 feet this time of year.

Since Gold Camp Road is an old railroad grade, it climbs gradually and starting from my house I get about 20 miles of climbing before it tops out near Rosemont Reservoir. Once I passed closed tunnel #3, I found they had graded the closed section of road the more than I’ve seen in years. I know they want to keep it usable in case of a forest fire but not sure why they did so much grading. In places it made it tough to find a rideable line through the loose, deep gravel.

On the lower part, the aspen were barely changing color but once I got up higher they were beautiful yellow with just a little orange and red mixed in. The bright sunlight and cloudless sky made them even prettier.

About 10 miles before Cripple Creek, I caught up with the group that was riding. Many of them are hashers so it was no surprise that they had their SAG vehicle well stocked with beer. They offered me some but I was 40 miles into my ride and feeling a little dehydrated so I stuck to some fresh water.

I met my wife and kids in Cripple Creek and hung out with them for a few minutes before heading home on the highway. I knew I had to keep moving because I didn’t have a lot of daylight left. As it was, I ended up running out of daylight a little ways before getting home and I didn’t have lights.

After I called my wife to come get me, I kept riding but ended up getting a big nail in my tire. My CO2 adapter seemed to clog with ice but when I tried a 2nd cartridge I still couldn’t get air into the tire. I still got in 90 miles of great riding with about half of it dirt and half pavement.

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