Caribou Ranch Open Space

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Jul 172011
 

On Friday I set out to do my annual pilgrimage hike to Lake Isabelle in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. Very soon after starting out on the trail, I realized that there was still an awful lot of snow up there (as in 10-foot-high trail-obscuring drifts) and I just didn’t want to work that hard.

So I headed back down Highway 72 toward Nederland in search of a lower-altitude, less snow-bound location when I spotted the sign for Caribou Ranch Open Space. I’d passed the turn-off for this park many, many times while traveling down the Peak to Peak Highway and thought that maybe it was time to check it out.

It turned out to be a very lovely place and probably the single most floriferous hike I’ve been on EVER. I could not believe the abundance and amazing variety of wildflowers out there. I’m still working my way through my photos from that day, but here are a few: 

Bee on a Blanket Flower

Bee on a Blanket Flower

White Fairy Trumpet

White Fairy Trumpet

Part of the trail follows the grade of the old Switzerland Trail railroad that serviced many of the old mines in the area in the late 1800s. This part of the route headed up to the Blue Bird Mine. 

Switzerland Trail railbed
Switzerland Trail railbed

Also within the park are the restored house and barn of the DeLonde Homestead.

Barn, DeLonde Homestead

Barn, DeLonde Homestead

A recording studio used to exist on the property that was used in the 70s and 80s by a lot of big names in the music industry, such as Elton John, Chicago, Dan Fogelberg, the Beach Boys, Stephen Stills, and John Lennon, to name a few. The studio burned down in 1985.

And just a few more flowery pics before I get back to processing the rest of my images from this hike:

Harebells
Harebells
Daisies of some sort

Daisies of some sort

Colorado Columbine

Colorado Columbine

These and many more photos can be found in the Caribou Ranch gallery HERE. More images will be added as I get through processing them.

Spurless Columbine

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Jul 022011
 

The Spurless Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea var. daileyae), aka Dailey’s Columbine, is a somewhat uncommon variation of Colorado’s state flower, the Rocky Mountain Columbine, aka the Colorado Blue Columbine. My first-ever encounter with the lovely Spurless Columbine occurred just last Sunday while on a hike in Reynolds Park, part of Jefferson County’s Open Space system. 

Spurless Columbine

Spurless Columbine

To view additional photos from my wildflower-abundant Reynolds Park hike, click HERE.

Countdown to Spring – T-Minus 14 Days

 1 Response »
Mar 062011
 

The white and lavender columbine (Aquilegia caerules), more commonly known as the Rocky Mountain columbine or the Colorado columbine, was officially adopted as Colorado’s state flower in 1899.

This photo was taken along the Lake Isabelle trail in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. The hike to Lake Isabelle is one of the best wildflower hikes arouind and is one of my all-time favorite hikes in Colorado.

Lake Isabelle 2010 II

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Aug 022010
 

When we last saw our intrepid photographer, she was beginning to slog her way through a ridiculous number of photos from her Lake Isabelle hike. On my first pass through the photos, I discovered that I had created a few duplicates and even triplicates during the download, so after deleting those and a few obvious non-keepers, I’m down to a much more manageable (HA!) 1888 photos. And I’m a mere 114GB away from filling up my new(ish) 750GB hard drive. Looks like I’ll be in the market for an even BIGGER hard drive soon.

Following are a couple of photos to show you just how beautiful and clear the day started out.

The photo above is an overview of the Indian Peaks area with Brainard Lake in the foreground. The sky is completely clear and wonderfully blue. My goal for the day was Pawnee Pass, which is the saddle just to the left of the two higher peaks on the right.

Long Lake is the first lake one encounters once on the trail and it was as smooth as glass and provided a perfect reflection of Niwot Ridge. I had reached the trailhead at about 7:30am and was happy to find that there were still plenty of parking spaces available. I was also delighted that once I left the parking lot, I hiked for an hour and 20 minutes in perfect solitude before I saw any other people. It was quite idylic.

My favorite spot along the trail to Lake Isabelle is a beautiful little rock garden on the side of a hill a little more than halfway to the lake. I found that a fairly large tree had fallen across my rock garden since last year, but this group of Colorado columbines seemed unaffected by the intruder:

Not too far from the rock garden, I found a little patch of monkshood. They’re awfully cute, but quite poisonous so I made every effort not to eat any.

That’s all for now… more tomorrow!

Wildflower Photography

 4 Responses »
Jun 042010
 

As you can probably tell by now, wildflower photography has become the driving force behind my frequent spring and summer hikes here in my Rocky Mountains. I’ve become a student of Colorado wildflowers not only because I love to take pictures of them, but also because I’m somewhat obsessed with knowing their names. I have a whole pile of books specifically about Colorado wildflowers and if I photograph a flower that I can’t identify, I will pore through the books, and the internet if necessary, until I can determine what it is.

Purple fringe, Butler Gulch

Purple fringe, Butler Gulch

You don’t have to be quite so obsessive-compulsive in order to take nice wildflower pictures. Following are a few tips for improving your wildflower photos:

  • There are two general types of wildflower shots: the portrait, which is a photo of a single flower or small grouping of flowers; and the landscape, which generally features a whole bunch of flowers in the foreground of a beautiful landscape shot. Try doing some of both.
Field of blooms, Butler Gulch

Field of blooms, Butler Gulch

Columbine, Butler Gulch

Columbine, Butler Gulch

  • Wind is the archenemy of the wildflower photographer. Even with a tripod and fast shutter speeds, you’re probably not going to get a good shot of a moving flower. This will be a good time for you to work on that characteristic that is critical for photographers: patience. Really super windy days are not good days to attempt wildflower photography, but if it’s just a little breezy, wait it out. The wind will generally let up here and there, so seize that moment to take your shot.
  • A tripod really is necessary to get super crisp flower shots. Often you’ll be shooting in lower light conditions, such as in the dappled light of the forest or at sunrise or whatever, and you’ll need to use slower shutter speeds, for which a tripod is critical. Even in ideal light conditions, a tripod is your best bet for capturing nice sharp photos.
Alpine avens, Butler Gulch

Alpine avens, Butler Gulch

  • Get low. Shooting flowers from above is rarely the best angle. Mix it up. Get really low and shoot from underneath the flower. Be creative. You knees will get dirty, but it’s worth the effort.
  • Tread lightly. Don’t go stomping all over a whole field of flowers and other plants just to get at the one you want to photograph. It’s just not nice.
  • Light:  As with most other types of photography, the best times to shoot wildflowers are just after sunrise and just before sunset. For the rest of the day, it’s best if the sky is overcast or at least partly or mostly cloudy. The midday sun creates harsh shadows and highlights. 
  • If you absolutely must shoot in the middle of the day, consider using diffusers and reflectors to manipulate the light.
  • Don’t use your on-camera flash.
  • Lens:  A macro lens or macro setting is best for photographing individual flowers. I generally use my 105mm macro lens when I’m shooting close up. If you have a point and shoot with a macro setting, experiment with that. Try the super macro if that’s an option. For landscape shots, a wider lens or setting is usually better.
Columbine landscape, Butler Gulch

Columbine landscape, Butler Gulch

  • Composition:  Get close. Fill the frame. Experiment with the Rule of Thirds. Don’t center every flower in the frame, but it’s ok sometimes. Try to capture the occasional bee, moth, butterfly or spider within your flower composition. Check your background for distracting elements. For landscape shots, try to find a fabulous background to complement that gorgeous field of blooms. Flowers also work well in the “intimate landscapes” that I wrote about HERE.
Mountain laurel intimate landscape, Diamond Lake

Mountain laurel intimate landscape, Diamond Lake

  • Look for nice specimens. Don’t bother photographing the flower that’s covered in dust, damaged by frost or half eaten by a bug. Look for the most beautiful specimen(s) that you can find.
Dusky beardtongue, Mayflower Gulch

Dusky beardtongue, Mayflower Gulch

  • Take LOTS of photos.

Of course I have to admit that I don’t do all this stuff. I rarely use a tripod, I almost always shoot in the harsh midday sun and I’ve never used diffusers or reflectors, etc. I definitely have a lot of room for improvement. But that’s what it’s all about – improving – so pick a couple of these tips at a time to work on and I can almost guarantee that your wildflower photos will start looking better.

Scarlet paintbrush, Fourth of July Trail

Scarlet paintbrush, Fourth of July Trail

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