Day 6

Waking up the next morning I found myself a bit cozy and not wanting to get up. This often happens around Day 5 or 6 of a trip and more so when the weather is cold. This particular morning arrived with clear skies and frost on the ground. I really had no idea of what the forecast would bring, but seeing the blue sky told me that I’d be shooting this morning while trying to omit the sky from my compositions as much as possible.

My first image found me happily staring at an aspen grove that had a beautiful reflection in the calm water between it and me. There was a slight breeze, so the reflection wasn’t tack-sharp, but it was about as close as it could get without it being there!

After shooting my first image, I walked the pond and came upon a pretty neat scene. The below image offered up two very different reflections. On the far side of the log, the breeze had kicked up well out of frame. This energy transferred across the pond but was blocked by the log where the water on the other side wasn’t affected by the mid-pond breeze.

The sun had been up for a few minutes at this point. I turned to look at what is arguably Colorado’s most photographed cluster of Aspen and they were beginning to catch light. I’d shot this in the past with the idea of catching a sunburst. This year, the autumn colors were much further along than the last time I shot this cluster.

I set up directly across from the aspens in the hopes of catching them in the light while the background stayed relatively dark. The fog on the water was dissipating quickly with the oncoming sunlight. I had to work quickly before the fog was completely gone. A gentle breeze kicked up exposing a few clumps of grass on the righthand side of the composition. “Click",” and it was done!

After a lovely morning spent shooting autumn reflections, it was time to return to camp and get some breakfast! On the menu this morning were pancakes! They were great! Now, with bellies full, it was time to head off to our next destination, Ohio & Kebler Pass.

The lighting was harsh as the skies for the day, and the next few days to come, were clear. This is great as a backpacker, but as a photographer, it can be the pits. With conditions such as these, I headed into the trees in the hopes of blocking out some of that sunlight. I managed to both do that and get a nice relaxing rest! I laid down on the ground and watched the aspen sway in the breeze. It was probably the best couple of minutes of the entire trip! However, this moment couldn’t last forever and it was time to gather our things and head off to the next destination. One thing that would not change was the boring skies. We’d have to shoot somewhere where we could limit the sky in the image. Crystal Mill seemed like a decent enough place and wasn’t too far away.

I’ve been to The Mill many times. Each time I come back with a new appreciation for the location. As previously mentioned, this time I was challenged with shooting the location while omitting the sky from the composition as much as possible. As you can see in the image above, I barely allowed the sky to creep in. Being up a bit higher would solve the composition concern that I had. Hmmm, if only someone had a drone…

My typical composition includes a bunch of sky as can be seen below in the sunrise image I caught a few years back.

After shooting sunset at the mill, darkness quickly took over the deep canyon we were in. We slowly made our way out of the canyon and into a neighboring town where we stopped to borrow a bit of artificial light and cook dinner. On the menu were crab legs. Yes, actual crab legs, LOL