Photos from Westside of Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado
Photos of Westside of Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado: Photographs of Mt. Baker along the banks of the Colorado River and reflecting on Beaver Ponds at sunrise. Sunlight filtering through the clouds painted dappled light onto the peaks of Mount Baker all morning. All types of wildlife are known to frequent the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park, including Elk, Deer and Moose. We witnessed a heard of elk in the distance slowly stroll by as they foraged upon the abundant grasses in Kawuneeche Valley. These sunrise photos of Western Rocky Mountain National Park were taken on September 15th from 7:02am to 11:33am.
Getting to the West Side of Rocky
To get to the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park we took Trail Ridge Road. This time of the year Trail Ridge Road is usually open but one never knows so always check online ahead of time. Our first stop was Beaver Ponds. Beaver Ponds is an easy and very short hike from the trailhead parking lot. We next drove down the road to a location just off the highway where the Colorado River winds though Kawuneeche Valley. From here took our photos of Mt. Baker overlooking the Colorado River. After completing our photos we headed to the west entrance of the park and found several groves of Aspen Trees to photograph. The last image in this series, the multi-colored aspen trees, was spotting on a mountain side just off the highway heading up Trail Ridge Road.
Westside of Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado Photo Gallery
Gear Used to Photograph Westside of Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado
The following camera gear was used in the Colorado Landscape Photography of the Westside of Rocky Mountain National Park Colorado:
- a Nikon D810 with MD12 Battery Grip with Really Right Stuff L-Bracket,
- F-Stop Gear Aloe Green Tilopa Back Pack (with large Pro ICU),
- the Nikkor 24-70mm, f/2.8,
- Nikkor 70-200mm, f/2.8,
- a Tamron 150-600mm, f/5-6.3,
- a Gitzo CF6X Mountaineer 2 tripod (GT2530),
- with a Really Right Stuff BH-40 LR Ballhead,
- a Really Right Stuff TVC-34L tripod with series 3 quick column,
- and a Really Right Stuff BH-55 LR Ballhead and B2-AS-II quick-release clamp.
The 7:02am morning exposures for the first light at beaver Ponds averaged between 1/6 second and 2.5 seconds at f/10. We used the Nikon D810’s native ISO of of 64. Some of these images were created by combining 5 exposures at one full stop apart in Adobe Lightroom. This HDR process was done in order to capture the high dynamic range of the early morning light. The very wide panoramic photos were created by stitching 9 vertical images together in Adobe Lightroom CC. The photos of the mountainside aspen trees were taken with the Tamron 150-600mm lens at 600mm and 1/125 of a second at f/8.
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