Colorado wildlife: A favorite critter - the American Pika

 

I have written and presented photos of one of my favorite animals, the American Pika, here in the blog several times during the last few years. If you type ‘pika’ into the search field in the left side bar you can see the older photos and blog posts about this cute and highly interesting critter.

We saw them again this year during a hiking tour in the Maroon Bells- Snowmass Wilderness in the Rocky Mountains. If you cross a boulder-covered hillside above an altitude of 8,000 feet you may have a good chance to hear and eventually see them. The pikas were busy gathering grass and other plants as food for the upcoming winter. I guess they know that there is more than just work in life and sometimes they stop for a few minutes and take a sun bath or just watch what’s going on in their rocky neighborhood.

I have quite a few images of the American Pika on my hard drive already but still missed “the” shot that tells the story about their preparation for the winter. It is not so difficult to make the click while the pika takes a break and looks down from a rock, but if they have the mouth full of plants and grass they move darn fast between the boulders. Because of the rocks it is not so easy to follow them with the lens and track focus. Peak of action, the short stops the pika makes sometime on its way to the den was again the key for success.

I got the shot I went after this time but I know there is still room for improvement. Sharpness is not 100 percent nailed and the photo is slightly cropped. I was closer with the Nikon D300s / Sigma 150, f2.8 combo for the second image and it is definitely a tad sharper. The question is always, which photo tells the better story? For me it’s the first one despite the little technical flaws…

Colorado landscapes: Maroon Lake - after the rain

 

Back to the Colorado stories. I read somewhere that Maroon Bells are the most photographed mountains in the US. I have no idea if this is true or not, but they are definitely worth a look or two, even if the sky is not blue and the fall colors of the leaves just start turning.

As you probably have figured out I’m not so much a fan of the “postcard views” and rather make photos that use subtle light and clouds to tell a story. The purists under the landscape photographers may also not like that the water of Maroon Lake has some ripples but for me this is part of the story telling. Everybody who has been more than a couple times in alpine mountains knows by looking at this photo that there is some dynamic up in the sky, that the clouds moved fast, and that some wind played a role in this game. Yep, the editor who has to select the next postcard for print will refuse this photo, but have you seen many postcards that tell stories beyond a great vista? …. ;-)

Fine Art Gallery - "After the rain"

 

Who says I have to show my actual work here in the blog any time I post something? ;-)  Yes, I made some new bird images during the extreme cold weather we have here since a few days but today I liked to browse through my archive and dig out some “unfinished business”. This photo was made in September 2012 in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a rainy and windy day but the views were stunning and the dynamic of the clouds during and after the rain showers was unbeatable.

Getting closer to a final result

 

You probably know the feeling after you have something created and accomplished that it is still not finished in one way or another, or that there is still potential for improvement even if you like the results. This is what happened to me with the image I show you today. It is from last years trip to the Rocky Mountains and the first version was made in full color. You can click HERE to see the color version of this photograph. I liked how the picture conveys the drama of this weather situation, with lots of rain and a short break through of the sun. The color version lives from the color contrast between the green of the grass in the foreground and the different shades of blue in the clouds. I received some good words about the photo in one of my online galleries but I still had the feeling that the first version did not reveal the essence of this particular moment. For my taste it still had too much information. The approach I'm taking now with this black and white version is to reduce everything just to the light and luminosity. For me it reflects the mood of this moment much better and now I have the feeling that I came a little closer to a final result that I like to print and hang on a wall.

Nature clicks #130 - Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

 

It was already two months ago that we have been in the Rocky Mountains and I'm still not done telling stories about our adventures there. OK, you can call my blog "the most out of date blog in the world" but to be honest, I don't really care. Circumstances have not been in my favor recently and I do not have new pictures that I like to show here. If you don't mind about that, keep reading and put up with "the old stuff"... ;-)

During our vacation we kept looking for Bighorn Sheep but didn't have any luck until two days before we returned home. We had seen these wonderful animals in Glacier National Park a few years ago and were hoping to have another encounter in the Rockies. Finally we had our moment.

These photographs were made near Summit Lake, just below the 14,264 feet high Mount Evans. Bighorn Sheep are excellent climbers and you may see them at very exposed steep mountain slopes. This herd didn't have a "big ol' ram" with curled horns but several ewes with lambs and also some younger rams. I made quite a few clicks but although it was mid afternoon the light was way to harsh for my taste. An hour later would have made a big difference, but hey, Bighorn Sheep have obviously their own schedule for showing up ;-) and we were just thrilled to see them so close.

Nature clicks #128 - American Pika

 

Back to nature related photography today. Joan and I spent quite some time to look out for one of our favorite animals, the American Pica, during our trip to the Rocky Mountains. Knowing a little bit about their habitat, steep boulder-covered hillsides at an altitude above 8,000 feet, helps to find them. This photo was made on the slope of 14,264 feet high Mount Evans. I had this pika here already in my viewfinder when a hawk suddenly soared over the rocks and the pika disappeared between the boulders with cyberspeed. It took ten minutes before it showed up again and continued sunbathing. But maybe it was just on the watch from this well exposed rock hanging over a very deep valley. I sure enjoyed watching these critters and was very happy to make some good clicks.

Felt like three seasons

 

Before the first snow hits the ground here in the Midwest and before you are all tired of seeing images of fall colors I like to post another photo of the colorful aspens in the Rocky Mountains. There were plenty of opportunities but not every image works the same way. It was the pattern of the trees that made me choose this one over others.

Just a little bit higher in elevation at Guanella Pass the rain that we got the night before coated the mountain peaks with a thin layer of snow. This was a month ago and it felt like three seasons were present at the same time. The temperature felt still like summer, the leaves told the story of autumn, and the snow, of course, gave a taste for the upcoming winter.

Nature clicks #122 - Yellow-bellied Marmot

 

We found them at many places in the Rocky Mountains but always in higher elevations in the alpine tundra zone above 10,500 feet (~3200m). In some areas they are used to people and they may show up right beside the trail. In most instances they disappear between the rocks if you get too close. It needs a little patience and luck to catch them in a nice pose and good light. Quite often they sun bath on a rock or watch out for predators. The Yellow-bellied Marmots feed on green vegetation exclusively and in the fall they put on a layer of fat, which sustains them through hibernation during the winter.

Most of my images of the marmot were made while waiting patiently for another critter, that is much more difficult to get in front of the lens. I will report about this one shortly, so please stay tuned....

Great timing

 

Before our trip to the Rocky Mountains I had some concerns that we might be too early for the fall colors. It turned out that we came just at the right time to see the aspens changing from green to orange and yellow. We stopped many times along the road for taking pictures of the beautiful aspen trees. I can promise you already that you will see some more fall colors here in my blog in the next few weeks...

Keep it stabile

 

One of the things I wanted to experiment a little more during our trip to the Rockies was shooting of flowing water with long exposure. I really like the abstract look of photographs with this subject. I have done this before and after studying my previous photos I really believe it is all about composition and about keeping things out of the frame to make an image work. These shots are quite often made in narrow valleys or canyons and a stupid branch coming from the side or a log in the water at the wrong place can have a very negative impact on the photo. The degree of how much the flowing water gets blurred can be a little bit of personal taste and I experiment a lot with the exposure time in order to obtain the results that satisfy me. Sometimes it is enough to just close the aperture but mostly I use a polarizer or a neutral density filter to extend the exposure time.

The best spot to make the click is not always the most stabile place. Quite often I have the legs of the tripod (and my own as well) in the water of the creek or between slippery stones. Every vibration of the tripod is fatal for a long exposure time and I have trashed many pictures because the rocks in the creek were blurred too. These kind of images are not very difficult to make from a technical standpoint but keeping the tripod stabile is very essential. Finding the right composition and the right light is the more challenging part...