The sun peeks through a tiny gap in the clouds to shine on the Maroon Bells during a very cloudy sunrise on the shores of Maroon Lake. 19 Years after shooting the Bells with a Mamiya 645, my first visit back I brought along a Mamiya 7II rangefinder with the 50mm lens (25mm equivalent field of view). Here the Fuji Provia 100 film has rendered the cloudy morning a cool purple. Exact exposure data unrecorded, though probably F16. Scanned with my Nikon LS9000ED film scanner.

Read about how the Maroon Bells inspired me to get into photography:
blog.kurtlawson.com/?p=1386

Tags:   100 50mm 6x7 7 7 II II aspen aspens batch 1 bells clouds color colorado copyrighted creek deadly bells fall film mamiya maroon maroon bells mountain mountains national forest peak provia rock rockies snow snowmass sunset trees white river national forest wilderness

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A trip up a seldom used dirt road to a very seldom used old trail in the Sierra Nevada lead unexpectedly to a spectacular little canyon filled with fall color and waterfalls tumbling down from above. I’ve driven by this area countless times at this point, but didn’t know it was there. Late in the season these cottonwoods were still in full fall glory, and even the shrubs around seemed especially colorful.

Tags:   autumn black california canyon cottonwood creek fall gold golden granite sierra sierra nevada trees waterfall

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Quaking aspen trees bask in the afternoon sun as the shadows creep longer. Scattered clouds mask the sunlight on these mature colonies of the venerable trees. Some of them are in full golden splendor while others were still quite green. I always find it interesting they way they precisely map where conditions are favorable for them to grow across the landscape.

Tags:   aspen autumn colony conway fall foerest golden grove nevada quaking aspen roadside sierra sierra nevada trees

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A spectacular stretch of quaking aspen trees stand in intense backlight from the afternoon sun in the Sierra Nevada. Fast moving clouds from a clearing storm danced upon the mountain tops while below the light made the trees into radiant gold and orange fire. This area is home to the most extensive aspen forest in California, at least as far as I have discovered. They seem to thrive here without much competition from their coniferous competition they face elsewhere. It’s almost like a tiny slice of Colorado or Utah nestled along the Sierra, as the quaking aspen groves in those states dwarf anything in this one. Dunderberg Peak dominates this corner of the Sierra at a mere 12,374 feet, but its position makes for spectacular views from the summit.

Tags:   aspen autumn backlight califronia conway dunderberg peak fall golden grove pine sierra sierra nevada tree trees

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Autumn has taken hold and the quaking aspens of the Eastern Sierra are showing off their gold. They are also doing their signature quaking in the wind. At times the wind was blowing very hard in fact, and for a long time I’ve had a thought of using a neutral density filter to see what kind of results I can get stretching the exposure in that wind. Having recently acquired a 15 stop filter for solar eclipse photography, I fitted that onto my lens and began experimenting. This was the best result in this particular area. The dance of the trees in some strong gusts is quite evident, and the sky was a very deep blue aided by the elevation of over 7000 feet on a clear day. The sound of the aspens quaking in the wind was sublime.

Tags:   aspen aspens autumn blue california fall sierra nevada sky trees

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