Colorado landscapes: Black Canyon - storm clouds and rainbow

 

It is hard to believe that the first photo has been made forty minutes before the second one. A storm front moved out of the area at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison the second night we stayed there. What first looked like an early sunset was just a brief episode in the constant change of light. Looking down the canyon from one of the view points along the south rim and watching the development of the weather was as exciting as watching a movie.  "Killer light" at its best, with the bonus of a rainbow... :-)

Colorado wildlife: Mule Deer

 

I have been asked by a friend, did you make any wildlife photos during your trip in southern Colorado? The answer is yes, although my focus has been really on landscape photography this time. One animal we have spotted almost at every location where we camped was the Mule Deer. Almost every doe had one or two fauns around and it was fun to watch them interact in a playful way with each other. We were wondering why we saw the small Mule Deer herds quite often very close to or in the campgrounds, even if there was open land around as far they eye would go. The predators they have to fear the most are probably Mountain Lions or Coyotes and these guys mostly stay away from humans, hence the deer feels obviously safer in the presence of humans. That doesn’t mean you can walk right up to them and getting out the long lens is still necessary in order to make the click.

I followed this faun for a while as it was munching the leaves from the shrubs and I had quite a few photos to choose from at the end. Why this one? Well, I like how it holds its ears because there is nothing more that says “Mule Deer” as the gigantic ears they have. I hope you enjoy…

Colorado landscapes: Black Canyon - dealing with an overcast

 

My first photo gives you an idea how we saw the Black Canyon of the Gunnison the day after the shots in my last blog post were made. There is nothing exciting about this photo, except maybe for the location itself, but the light is just not very flattering. There wasn’t really a need to make photos that I wouldn’t use anyway here in the blog, in a book, or most important as a large print on the wall. However, I still make these clicks for my own documentation and memory. I want to be able to remember locations and shooting angles in order to be better prepared if I go to the same place another time.

The landscape on the rim of the canyon is desert-like and fresh colors are not there in abundance during an overcast, as easily seen in the first photo. There is much more to the canyon than just the rocks and looking out for other subjects is important on a day like this. The south rim of the canyon is at an altitude of about 2500 m (~8,300 ft) and fall comes early. The first leaves started turning yellow already in the first half of September during our visit and pointing the lens into this gully lead to the photo above.

Painted Wall, the highest cliff in Colorado, with its patterns is probably the most iconic view of Black Canyon National Park. These patterns were created more than a billion years ago when molten rock was intruded into fractures and joints in the existing rock, then cooled and hardened. I made several clicks and because of the gray overcast I was thinking black & white for a final image. Everything changed all at once when the sky broke and the sun sent its rays through the layer of clouds to the bottom of the canyon. Suddenly the gigantic rock wall revealed its beauty and told the story why people called it “Painted Wall” much better.

East Portal Road leads to the bottom of the Black Canyon, down to the Gunnison Diversion Dam. A tunnel through the rocks from there to the Uncompahgre Valley delivers water for irrigation since 1909. The water of the Gunnison River at the dam is more quiet and after spending hours up on the dry rim it was a pleasure to see green and yellow reflecting in the cool water...

Colorado landscapes: Black Canyon of the Gunnison

 

I introduce our next destination in Colorado with some lines that I found in the National Park brochure.

“Some are longer, some are deeper, some are narrower, and a few have walls as steep, but no other canyon in North America combines the depth, narrowness, sheerness, and somber countenance of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison”,     Wallace Hansen, Geologist

It is indeed an awesome canyon, carved by the Gunnison River. The river loses more elevation within the 48 miles of the Black Canyon than the 1,500-mile Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans.  The gorge is over 800 meters deep and very little sunlight reaches the bottom. The only things that give a sense of scale in my first image are the border stones of the view point on the other side of the canyon, which are about a kilometer away (5/8 of a mile).

Yes, someone may find a little light in every little crack in these rocks by employing multiple exposures and merging them to a High Dynamic Range photo. I personally prefer to expose strictly for the highlights and use the shadows as an element in the composition of my photo. But that is just me…:-)   The setting sun reveals the structure of these step walls and I consider us very lucky to have such great light the first evening after our arrival in the National Park. More to come...