Author Topic: Wherein limr and 02Pilot travel around Colorado for no particular reason (Read 11551 times)

02Pilot · « **on:** June 05, 2017, 01:58:08 PM »

A few weeks ago, with the semester behind us, we headed off to Colorado for a week-long change of scenery. Why there? Well, I do love the American West, and I hadn't been to Colorado in probably twenty years; Leonore had never been, so it seemed a good place to get away for a little while. We covered a lot of ground, with probably 800 miles of driving through mountains of the southwest quadrant of the state. The weather, as you will see, varied considerably; this made impossible some of the explorations into the mountains I had wanted to do, but such is the risk of high mountain weather in May. Nonetheless, we were able to enjoy the stunning, endlessly surprising landscape and have a great vacation in the process.

As usual, we will both post our respective photos in this thread. I'll kick it off with a few shots from our first couple days. I'm sure Leonore will be along soon to add some of hers.

cs1 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 05, 2017, 04:04:33 PM »

Very pretty photos! I particularly like the one with the dead tree. I like the grainy look of the b&w photos. Did you use a red filter?

Bryan · « **Reply #2 on:** June 05, 2017, 04:21:27 PM »

Nice essay O2Pilot. I agree with cs1, the dead tree is my favorite but I also like the shot of the cliff dwelling. Those cliff dwellings always amaze me, I visited one in Arizona several years ago. It shows how advanced some of the cultures were in the American Southwest before they went away for various reasons.

02Pilot · « **Reply #3 on:** June 05, 2017, 06:21:27 PM »

Thanks, guys. Bryan, the cliff dwellings are pretty astonishing - it's fortunate that they're as well-preserved as they are. We didn't spend a lot of time in that area, so we didn't get closer than shown in that shot, but it would be fascinating to see them up close. cs1, I shot much of the time with an orange filter; I prefer it to a red most of the time, as it doesn't black out the foliage as badly. I also experimented with a green filter at a few points on the trip; I'm not sure exactly how I feel about those results yet - it's a much lower contrast look in that terrain, except when red rock formations featured prominently.

imagesfrugales · « **Reply #4 on:** June 05, 2017, 06:41:14 PM »

A very promising start of the essay. I adore the cliff dwellings, despite they are in color. There are some mega-famous works from St. Ansel. I sometimes go to our municipal library and the brouse his huge picture books.

Waiting for Leonores contributions.

Adam Doe · « **Reply #5 on:** June 05, 2017, 07:16:04 PM »

Nice set. Looking forward to seeing the rest that get posted. I particularly like the view of the cliff dwellings from above.

02Pilot · « **Reply #6 on:** June 05, 2017, 07:34:13 PM »

I don't have a lot of photos of the cliff dwellings, but I do have a similar shot to the one I posted in B&W - perhaps I'll include it in a later set; unsurprisingly, I have several subjects shot in both color and B&W. It seems whatever shooting discipline I possess goes right out the window when I'm on vacation.

jharr · « **Reply #7 on:** June 06, 2017, 12:22:32 AM »

I'm not sure what it is about 'out the window' shots taken while flying down a highway that appeal to me, but that first shot makes me feel the wind in my face when I look at it. Keep 'em coming!

limr · « **Reply #8 on:** June 06, 2017, 01:37:22 AM »

Hey folks

The b&w will take me a little while longer to get to. Pesky work and all. And I'll be out of town next week. In the meantime, here's the first batch from the color shots. You already saw my Crones in the weekend thread. The rest of these were taken with my trusty K1000, 50mm f1.7, and Agfa Vista 200 (mostly - some were Fujicolor, but aren't they essentially the same thing anyway?

)

FROM the train:

Horses by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Balloon by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Aspens by limrodrigues, on Flickr

OF the train:

Train1 by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Over the river by limrodrigues, on Flickr

And not involving a train at all:

Lookout by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Snow globe by limrodrigues, on Flickr

02Pilot · « **Reply #9 on:** June 06, 2017, 02:11:11 AM »

Quote from: jharr on June 06, 2017, 12:22:32 AM

I'm not sure what it is about 'out the window' shots taken while flying down a highway that appeal to me, but that first shot makes me feel the wind in my face when I look at it. Keep 'em coming!

Some of my favorite shots have been taken like that. I think I've got a few more that should be making an appearance.

02Pilot · « **Reply #10 on:** June 06, 2017, 03:25:06 PM »

As Leonore's photos show, we spent a day riding the Durango & Silverton narrow gauge railroad. It's a pretty amazing ride, all the moreso when you realize that the 45 mile-long line was cut through the mountains in less than a year between 1881-2. I generally enjoy trains, but this line is something else. Unsurprisingly, we both shot a lot of photos - here are some of mine.

MacArron · « **Reply #11 on:** June 06, 2017, 06:57:30 PM »

As I was looking at your photos, I instantly opened another tab on the browser and searched "trips to Colorado"

Amazing photos. These are the photos I like. It would have been good to see someone in any of them, but who cares... Fantastic!!!

Great great work.

Cheers.

Late Developer · « **Reply #12 on:** June 06, 2017, 07:28:07 PM »

There's a LOT to like in that series. Well done. My personal favourite is "Aspens" and the gnarly tree about second from top.

cs1 · « **Reply #13 on:** June 06, 2017, 07:47:05 PM »

I really love all of the shots that you presented so far. Leonore, "Horses" and "Aspens" are brilliant! The way the scenery is lit in "Horses" is very beautiful. And I also have a thing for symmetric and geometric compositions, that's why I like Aspens so much. O2Pilot, I also like your b&w shots very much.

Thanks for sharing the Colorado series, it's brilliant.

jharr · « **Reply #14 on:** June 06, 2017, 08:58:56 PM »

Awesome set. They definitely belong in a Colorado Tourism brochure as I too feel the Rockies calling to me. That last shot though! It looks like the train is just about to tip over and roll down that hill! I hope that's just a trick of the perspective.

02Pilot · « **Reply #15 on:** June 07, 2017, 01:57:10 AM »

I'll invoice the Colorado tourism office for my commission. Seriously, if anyone decides to follow in our footsteps, we can give you a bunch of suggestions.

James, that's not a visual trick. The train is perched just that precariously for part of the route. It's a wild ride.

limr · « **Reply #16 on:** June 07, 2017, 02:21:53 PM »

Thank you kindly, gents

And yes, although we were thankfully going very slowly through that section, it was still a pretty wild train ride. We had seats in the open car, too. When I saw shots of that section before we went on the ride, I was convinced I was going to be yiping and curled up under the seat with my tail tucked in. And yet, when we actually on the train, I was fine. I even looked down.

Pete_R · « **Reply #17 on:** June 07, 2017, 04:42:08 PM »

We did the Durango/Silverton trip about 20 years ago and, for anyone thinking of doing it, it's probably worth pointing out it takes 3.5 hours each way (I seem to remember it was 4 hours but maybe they have an express service now) and, at that time at least, the seats were hard. The views are great in places, but in others they're not. I would say check it out first.

02Pilot · « **Reply #18 on:** June 07, 2017, 05:19:49 PM »

Quote from: PeterR on June 07, 2017, 04:42:08 PM

We did the Durango/Silverton trip about 20 years ago and, for anyone thinking of doing it, it's probably worth pointing out it takes 3.5 hours each way (I seem to remember it was 4 hours but maybe they have an express service now) and, at that time at least, the seats were hard. The views are great in places, but in others they're not. I would say check it out first.

It still takes 3.5 hours each way. The seats are still hard (unless you spring for the fancy club car), BUT...if you are in the open gondola (which is the same price as the basic fare), you'll be standing most of the time, so it won't matter. To my mind, the gondola is the only way to do the trip. I loved watching the views change as we proceeded up and back, and having the freedom to move around and lean out of the car. Sure, it's a long day and the tickets aren't cheap, but it was totally worth it. I can't recommend it highly enough.

astrobeck · « **Reply #19 on:** June 07, 2017, 09:49:55 PM »

Very well done!
I love the train and my husband and I ride it each year, and like you adore the open car!

It's hard to decide if I like the b/w or the color better....too tough to pick. Love them all!!!

Adam Doe · « **Reply #20 on:** June 08, 2017, 07:18:17 PM »

I love all the shots from the train of the train as it's going around a curve. And, wow, what a landscape to roam around in!

02Pilot · « **Reply #21 on:** June 08, 2017, 09:05:27 PM »

As you might imagine, there are many more train photos. I restrained myself to avoid too much repetition of the theme, but it wasn't easy. As to the landscape, yeah, it's impressive. What's even better is that it changes a lot even over short distances; not as frequently as we saw in Arizona a few years back, but it's still a lot more varied than what I normally see in the Northeast. You'll be seeing yet another equally spectacular but quite distinct version of the topography in a forthcoming post.

irv_b · « **Reply #22 on:** June 08, 2017, 09:47:36 PM »

Wow I enjoyed everyone of those shots. It just great when you take off somewhere and come back with such a wonderful bunch of photos well done guys

02Pilot · « **Reply #23 on:** June 09, 2017, 01:24:32 PM »

Really appreciate all the comments, and glad everyone seems to be enjoying the photos. I want to give Leonore a chance to get some more of hers ready to post, but in the interim I'll add a few from the train trip that I overlooked when I posted my last set.

cs1 · « **Reply #24 on:** June 09, 2017, 01:38:33 PM »

O2Pilot, the "lonely little train" (last photo) is easpecially nice. All of those lovely criss-crossing lines (flanks of the mountains, train tracks, tree lines etc.) are beautiful and the depth of the photo is brilliant.

limr · « **Reply #25 on:** June 09, 2017, 02:07:34 PM »

Okay, here are some more - quite a few actually. It'll make up for not having anything else to share for probably 2 weeks

Ouray:

Ouray by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Spring storm by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Tucked in by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Spring blooms by limrodrigues, on Flickr

And then the next day there was some sun:

Morning by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Welcome by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Beaumont by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Took a selfie, can you see me?

Selfie by limrodrigues, on Flickr

And now for some randomness...

This guy probably wasn't really following us around Durango, but he and his bicycle seemed to show up wherever we were. He saw our cameras and starting hamming it up. The first time he did this, we laughed and waved. The second time, I took the picture.

Impromptu by limrodrigues, on Flickr

Then, driving from Ouray to Grand Junction, as the landscape was changing yet again...

Moo by limrodrigues, on Flickr

And for the record, yes, I am the person who will see cows in a field and yell "COWS!" Every.Time.

Bryan · « **Reply #26 on:** June 09, 2017, 04:09:48 PM »

LOOK, COWS! (I do that too).

Quote from: limr on June 09, 2017, 02:07:34 PM

Moo by limrodrigues, on Flickr

And for the record, yes, I am the person who will see cows in a field and yell "COWS!" Every.Time.

jharr · « **Reply #27 on:** June 09, 2017, 05:26:35 PM »

Ouray is on my short list of places to visit and/or live in. Your photo makes it that much more enticing.

02Pilot · « **Reply #28 on:** June 10, 2017, 04:28:56 PM »

As Leonore showed, the weather took a decided wintry turn the day after our little rail excursion. We left Durango for Ouray as planned, driving CO 550 (known as the "Million Dollar Highway" because of the supposed value of the ore-rich fill used in its construction) through the mountains, by which I mean over the mountains. The route crosses three passes, the highest of which is Red Mountain Pass at 11,018ft (3,358m for you ultra-modernist weirdos), and has a grade of up to 8%, and is basically all corners. Oh, and it has no guardrails - easier to clear snow and rock slides that way. Driving this road in the opening stage of a mountain snowstorm was entertaining - hey, travel's all about getting as much of the experience of the place as possible, right? In any case, we made it to Ouray unscathed. The storm blew out eventually, having left about 6" of snow and clear blue skies in its wake. The view in every direction was spectacular.

Apologies for the large number of photos in this one. I'm trying to give a sense of what the road is like to drive, but even with numerous shots it doesn't really do it justice. It's incredible.

cs1 · « **Reply #29 on:** June 10, 2017, 04:46:11 PM »

It's nice that you had such diverse weather conditions. From this ensemble the 5th photo is my favourite. I like the depth and composition.

limr · « **Reply #30 on:** June 10, 2017, 06:37:01 PM »

Quote from: Bryan on June 09, 2017, 04:09:48 PM

LOOK, COWS! (I do that too).

limr · « **Reply #31 on:** June 10, 2017, 06:57:52 PM »

Ah yes, Red Mountain Pass. A stunning drive that I somehow managed to appreciate even though the aforementioned height, curves, snow, and lack of guardrail were all kinds of anxiety-inducing and triggered my 'tic' (a sharp intake of breath every few seconds). I blame the 1970s and far too many episodes of "CHiPs" and "Colombo" wherein someone's brakes failed going down a twisty mountain road. Or communism.

I survived by limrodrigues, on Flickr

ManuelL · « **Reply #32 on:** June 11, 2017, 08:32:13 AM »

Late to the party, but love all the photos you posted here!

Makes me look forward to my on vacation even more (1 1/2 weeks to go).
I always find it great to see your different takes on the same subjects.

02Pilot · « **Reply #33 on:** June 11, 2017, 03:07:43 PM »

The weather was a mixed blessing. While the snow was pretty and certainly created some unique scenes, it also made it impossible to head up into the mountains via some smaller roads. I had been looking forward to doing that and investigating some old mining structures and a ghost town or two that are nearby.

As far as how and what we tend to shoot, there are certainly significant differences in vision. That said, in going through our output from a trip it is not unusual to see some very similar frames; it's unavoidable when traveling together, at least to some degree. It is always interesting to compare and see how each of us shot something.

02Pilot · « **Reply #34 on:** June 16, 2017, 01:41:47 PM »

OK, it's time for me to close out my portion of this thread. The last set of photos were taken on the penultimate day of the trip, and were in a way the most unexpected. We had to drive up to Grand Junction so that we could get an early start the next morning to get to Denver in time for our flight home. Rather than take the direct route, we swung further west along a road that looked like it might be more interesting on Google Maps.

It turned out to be an incredible drive. The scenery was amazing and the road was almost empty. Crossing over a mesa, we dropped into a valley that felt like driving through a shallow version of the Grand Canyon. This wasn't a national park, just a road through rural Colorado. If this isn't an encouragement to get off the main roads and see what lies beyond, I don't know what is.

cs1 · « **Reply #35 on:** June 18, 2017, 01:24:10 PM »

O2Pilot, thanks for the excellent advice regarding using an orange filter. I shot some Fomapan 100 yesterday with an orange filter and I loved the results. I'm definitely going to take it with me to the Peak District next week. Cheers!

02Pilot · « **Reply #36 on:** June 18, 2017, 01:32:44 PM »

Quote from: cs1 on June 18, 2017, 01:24:10 PM

O2Pilot, thanks for the excellent advice regarding using an orange filter. I shot some Fomapan 100 yesterday with an orange filter and I loved the results. I'm definitely going to take it with me to the Peak District next week. Cheers!

Glad it worked out. The medium red always feels too heavy-handed to me, at least for my normal sort of photography; orange and deep yellow are my usual go-to filters. Be sure to post some results when you return.

cs1 · « **Reply #37 on:** June 18, 2017, 01:41:19 PM »

Quote from: 02Pilot on June 18, 2017, 01:32:44 PM

Glad it worked out. The medium red always feels too heavy-handed to me, at least for my normal sort of photography; orange and deep yellow are my usual go-to filters. Be sure to post some results when you return.

I was really sceptical at first but the difference between orange and red is significant. I use yellow regularly but orange gives a blue sky a little more punch.

Yes, I'd be happy to post some results.