Calm Photos

Yes, winter in Ohio is making one last, strong push before moving aside for spring. Right now it looks to be a snow storm on the verge of becoming a blizzard. What better time to start thinking about summer and where to go for some of the most incredible nature and landscape photography within the lower 48 - the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

While getting up to speed on my recently installed upgrade to Aperture 2.0, I re-discovered several raw image files from a photo trip I took to Colorado in July 2006. Applying some the new editing features available with Aperture 2.0 I went through and selected some of favorite images from that trip. I thought it would be fun to re-post a few while providing some basic tips when visiting and photographing this incredible area of alpine scenery.

The San Juan Mountains - with an emphasis on the area between Ouray and Telluride - is one of those summer or autumn destination spots that should be within the top ten list of every nature photographer, both amateur and pro shooters, right along with the Smokies in spring, Zion and Southern Utah, the U.P of Michigan in fall, etc., etc.

A more spectacular display of alpine wildflowers I have not seen, yet. Yankee Boy Basin, which sits far above the mountain town of Ouray, is the most popular area for wildflowers and mountain vistas in the San Juan Mountains. But as always, the best shots are to be found by being a bit adventurous and driving the mountain road (sometimes more of a “path”) that leads upward from Yankee Boy to Imogene Pass then the old mining town of Tomboy and out the other side into Telluride.

   

                 

Here’s my tips for an incredible summer photo adventure in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado:

1) Base yourself out of Ouray. A fun, picturesque Colorado mountain town that is less expensive than Telluride.
2) If you fly in, you MUST rent a 4-wheel drive SUV or Jeep Wrangler. DO NOT - I repeat DO NOT - attempt the mountain road between Ouray and Telluride in anything less. You won’t get very far. I rented a Ford Explorer and it handled the boulders, rocks, mud and snow (yes, snow in July) beautifully.

3) Pack bug spray. At certain altitudes in the mountains you may run into flocks of ravenous mosquitoes and biting flies. Not often, but it does happen.
4) Dress warm with layers. You can start your trek in shorts and a t-shirt down in Ouray and by the time you reach Imogene Pass (13,000 feet +) you could be in long pants, coat and gloves.
5) Have a cover for your camera. I always recommend hotel shower caps. I’ve been using the same one for almost eight years now. Summer storms in the mountains are sudden, intense and unpredictable. The plus side is that all those alpine waterfalls are never dry or slow.
6) Camera body with spare batteries plus a wide zoom for your landscapes, tele-zoom for isolating scenes and macro for flower close-ups. Pro-grade tripod (extends to five + feet) with a solid ballhead, cable release, plenty of memory cards, circular polarizer, split-neutral density filter, detachable flash and hand-held reflector and diffuser are all items that I found to be very useful in photographing the mountains and wildflowers in the summer.
7) Good, sturdy hiking BOOTS. Not your cross-trainers, tennis shoes or Crocs, but boots. This is just as important as that 4-wheel drive.
Lots of extra water. High altitude hiking will dehydrate you quicker than just about anything else.
9) First aid kit, Balance Bars, Marathon Bars, etc.
10) If you go by yourself, make sure you tell someone where you’re headed and when you plan to return.
11) If you have any remote fear of heights, DO NOT drive this mountain road. There are sections where there is less than a foot of space between your tires and 1,000 foot drop-offs.