Had a great time on a solo mission into the Holy Cross Wilderness hiking to some high peaks above treelike. Stayed on the summit until sunset then hiked down in the dark with a headlamp. Once I returned to where I parked, the stars and Milky Way were so vivid and I could not resist capturing some astrophotography. These are a few of my favorites from the adventure.
Capitol Peak, Elk Mountains
Elk Mountains with Capitol Peak, Mount Sopris and others
Self Portrait atop summit just before sunset
Colorful intense sunset
High peaks of the Sawatch Range
High peaks of the Sawatch Range
Sunset Drama
Summit
Lush Aspen forest on the way up.
Columbine flowers along high ridge below summit
Sunset glow lasted into twilight
Crisp stars and Milky Way when I returned to where I parked
J. Pow wrote:
Great set...Self portrait is the standout!
Joel
I appreciate that Joel! That one is my favorite too, along with the first. That light was insane and short lived. I only had about 5 minutes to set up and walk back and forth trying different poses. This one with the sun star was what I had envisioned and glad it worked!
Dustin Gent wrote:
Great set - self portrait is sweet - and the first one I bet would be rad printed on metal!
Thanks for the positive feedback Dustin! I'm thinking exactly like you and planning to print that one on metal! Or this one, can't decide. This one's a little tighter. Your thoughts?
Great set - what a color show! I agree on your choice for a print. I also love the selfie - was that just luck with the sun star in your armpit? I would crop in and make that my avatar if it were mine
awesome self portrait and view from the top. was it difficult to align the starburst under your arm?
it must have been a long hike down. no suitable spot to camp out at the summit and capture the milkyway at the top? you could have caught the sunrise the following dawn.
Jim Dockery wrote:
Great set - what a color show! I agree on your choice for a print. I also love the selfie - was that just luck with the sun star in your armpit? I would crop in and make that my avatar if it were mine
Thanks Jim, the sun star was half luck/half planning. I could see myself casting a shadow on my lens and knew if I got it just right I could create a nice sun star somewhere on the edge of my silhouette but lucked out with where the sun star happened. I like it too and may play around and see how it looks to make it my avatar image.
tntcorp1 wrote:
awesome self portrait and view from the top. was it difficult to align the starburst under your arm?
it must have been a long hike down. no suitable spot to camp out at the summit and capture the milkyway at the top? you could have caught the sunrise the following dawn.
Thank you! I was trying to create a starburst since I could see myself casting a shadow on the lens as I moved back and forth and thought that could look interesting, just lucked out though with how it aligned though in the end! It took me about an hour and a half or so to get back down. The summit area was pretty rocky but there were some flat meadows below that would have been a great place to camp. I have backpacked in that area before, but on this trip I was just out for a day trip and traveling fast and light, bringing camping gear would have added more planning and made it more difficult. You're right though Milky Way shots up top with the silhouette of the mountains would have been fantastic plus a bonus sunrise too! Hmmm, there's still time this summer...
Appreciate that TNCasual, thanks! Kind of a last-minute decision to go do this so I'm glad I went and motivated - for the exercise, the adventure, solitude, inspiration and photos I was able to capture.
