Colorado State University Nightscapes

After our recent gully-washer of a rain storm I hopped in the car to go do some wet night photography and ended up at the Colorado State University's Oval. Here's some of the results I liked. Very little post-processing was used for either image.

After Dark at the Halls of Justice


On Flickr

The Enchanted Paseo


On Flickr

1936 Chevy Farm Truck & Friends

Reaching for the Stars

This ancient juniper tree yearning for the stars is brought to you courtesy of some of the lowest light pollution I've seen in Colorado. The image is completely natural, with no manipulation in photoshop. The tree was illuminated with my white LED headlamp, basically a paint with light experiment. The exposure was 63 seconds.

The Beauty of Age

Ancient Mesatop Sentinels



Twisted History

Composite

Night of the Cranes



I decided to have some fun making a composite. The crane silhouettes were created based on my photos of Sandhill Cranes in flight at Bosque National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico (some of which I've shared here). The sunset is from this past week in the mountains above Fort Collins, Colorado. And finally the full moon was borrowed from my Phases of a Total Lunar Eclipse image featured here long ago. It was fun making this, I hope you enjoy.

Forest Ripples

Red Mountain Falls

On Flickr

If you enjoy my photography could you please think good thoughts for my grandfather? He is who I can most credit for giving me a passion for photography and who taught me how to use my first 35mm SLR. Today at near 90 years old he is recovering from a really tough fall and high fever in a 24 hr nursing care center. He really wants to return to his independent life. I appreciate all of your good thoughts and prayers for him, thanks a million.

Rural Decay

Can't Get Clean

On Flickr

The Portal

On Flickr

Skylarking

Aermotor Cloud Storm



I Spy Sky Eyes

Sundown at Rivendell

Sundown at Rivendell, originally uploaded by Fort Photo.

Try viewing large on black.

This image is a digitally-enhanced composite of a five frame HDR and portions of two of the frames used to make the HDR (mostly sky and some of the reflection). I've also removed a small portion of road on the middle right.

In the past when I posted from this series someone commented that they felt it was almost prehistoric in feel. So tonight I went for broke to reach Jurassic Park, and maybe it's just the coffee and beer, but I feel I've ended up in Middle-Earth. ;-)

Round Trinidad

A whimsical round house found in Trinidad, Colorado. This image is digitally enhanced.

Sandhill Crane Flight

Incredibly majestic birds, that are perhaps at their best in the air.

Sandhill Crane Projectile




Crane Flight Diagonal

Coming Right at the Morning

A first light scene from Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico.

Cormorants are Cool

Double-crested Cormorant Landing




Double-crested Cormorant Bat Impressions

Yellowstone Colors

One of the most surreal landscapes I know, Yellowstone National Park is a photographer's dream.

Grand Prismatic Intricacy

A view of the largest hot spring in the United States: Grand Prismatic Spring.





Clepsydra Geyser Permutations

This sunset image is a composite of multiple long-time exposures of an erupting geyser at Yellowstone National Park.

A Moment of Teton Time

Birds and Bird

Birds



Bird

A Pair of Cuties

Spotted Towhee (water added)



House Sparrow

Illustrative Renderings

Lately I've been experimenting with a hybrid post-processing approach that creates images that are part photograph and part illustration, almost as if one of those old architectural renderings. I find a number of different tools can really help implement the feel I am going for, such as the faked water reflection I used in my previous golden pond post. Here's one that is more on the side of a photograph to preserve the natural color and beauty of a Great Blue Heron-- but layered in is a combination of LucisArt and a variety of Photoshop steps to give the look of a rendering to some extent as well.

The effect really comes into its own when viewed large (click on the image for a larger view).

Great Brr Heron




And here is one more strongly on the illustration/architectural rendering side...

Ammons Hall, Colorado State University

Cottonwood on (fake) Golden Pond

The water was simulated to add an element of depth to the image, hope you enjoy.

Grand Crescent Moon Sunset

A view of the setting crescent moon in the sunset taken just east of the Very Large Array (radio telescope) in Socorro County, New Mexico.

Taken with a 300 mm F4 to emphasize how large the moon looked setting. The next night was too late to get this shot as the moon's descent to the horizon was still well above the final fading sunset colors. It reminded me of how Ansel stressed when you see something really special don't wait to go back and get the photo no matter how inconvenient, there's no guarantee you will get a second chance (like his moonrise photo we all know and love).




And here is an image of the crescent moon in the sunset the following evening in a wider more landscape oriented view at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge:

More Pawnee Pontificating

The same night I took the sunset photo in my last post I had a lot of fun capturing the scene in a myriad of ways for practice at trying different photography techniques. In that spirit of trying to render one scene in a variety of ways I give you another angle at the same pond, and this one is an HDR (3 frames, not pseudo) take:

Hugged by a Sunset



And here is a long-time exposure (about 3.5 minutes) of Venus setting in the early night sky over the pond (not an HDR, very little post-processing):


The Disappearance of Venus

Pawnee Pond Pondering

The incredible sunset we had in Colorado Friday night seen here from a small pond in Pawnee National Grassland. No filters were used save a neutral density grad, and besides denoise and a slight levels adjustment I used very little post-processing. Shown both right side up and vertically flipped/upside down, can you tell which way is up?

Snow Goose Grace

Here are a couple of views of white morph Snow Geese (Chen caerulescens) taken at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge show off the inherent grace and beauty of this species.

One cool ID factoid to know in order to tell the very similar Snow Geese and Ross's Geese apart is the distinctive black patch on bill edges, the "grinning patch" or "smile" unique to the Snow Geese. The black lipstick-like grin patches are fairly easy to see on these captures. Also Ross's Geese have much smaller/stubbier triangular bills

A Slightly Different Sunset Pillar

A Slightly Different Sunset Pillar, originally uploaded by Fort Photo.

View 'A Slightly Different Sunset Pillar' Large On Black

Clepsydra Geyser serves here as a sunset pillar, helping paint this ethereal scene. What intrigues me the most is the lighter area at the base of the steam pillar, I didn't use flash and was the only one taking photos. I have no idea why it looks illuminated, spooky!

From the National Park Service:

This nearly constant performer splashes from several vents and its steam can be seen throughout the Lower Geyser Basin. Its name is Greek for water clock, and was given because the geyser used to erupt regularly every three minutes. Since the 1959 Hebgen earthquake, however, Clepsydra erupts almost without pause. Sometimes it quits during Fountain's eruption.

Night Heron Braking into Grace

This has a certain almost Eastern aesthetic to it that I enjoy, hope you do too.

Night Heron Braking into Grace, originally uploaded by Fort Photo.

Returning to Fort Ephemera

One of most beautiful birds of prey in the world: the American Kestrel.



And here is another crowd pleaser: the Cedar Waxwing in a paradise of it's favorite alcoholic berries.

Bosque Goodness

Bird Rays



Magic Bosque Morn

Yellowstone Beats Bellagio

Cobalt Blue Sunset Bonus

Elective Sunset

Some images of the amazing sunset we had on election night in Colorado this week. One can only hope it's a good sign, heh.

Teton Superlatives

Teton Point Bliss



Moose Matinee