Luckily I awoke early on this cold wet morning… Down here in the valley it just looked like any other foggy misty morning and I had no idea of the beauty awaiting me on the mountainside. Actually I just wanted to get to the gym early to beat the crowds so I loaded up the puppies and the camera and drove off to the trailhead where we always walk.
Upon arrival I noticed some little eyes curiously staring from the dense forest, a fawn mule deer wondering what we were up to! Turns out Mamma wasn’t far away and I got some nice shots of the pretty pair before heading up the mountainside. It was foggy and wet at the trailhead as well and I was tempted to leave the camera behind… but there was a hint of blue showing through the mist from the sky above. Sometimes that means that I will climb out of the fog and see a pretty cool show on the peak.
Trusting my instincts paid off and after climbing a few switchbacks a magnificent view of the peak shown through. The fog was blowing around at about tree line creating an amazing mystical misty effect. I ended up shooting quite few from different elevations as we climbed ever higher to the top of the ridge on the north side of the Ute Valley.
These I am hoping will be good sellers on my website. These images are the kind that most people never get simply because they are not there when the brief shows occur. This time was no different, by the time we got to the bottom of the trail again the show was over. The fog had moved off to the east and was no longer very interesting looking. Plus the right lens is needed, a phone camera is just not going to capture the dramatic effect that my Canon F4L 70-200 is going to bring in, for example notice individual hairs visible on the little deer. Also notice that although the pine branches are blurred, the eyes and fur on the baby deer are tack sharp. In this case I had to use spot focus by selecting a single focus point in the camera to insure that focusing will only be on the subject I choose. Phone and point and shoot cameras are not going to have this feature and focus would have been on the branches, blurring the deer instead. In addition to the usual print and gift item products, commercial stock images are for sale on my website on the image licensing portal.
Steve Krull is a prolific sports and nature photographer selling prints and stock images online as S.W. Krull Imaging at various sites and agencies. Click this link to view all the products and services offered by Steve Krull and S. W. Krull Imaging. Additional services include, wedding photography, portraiture and model portfolios, and event photography. Additional products include fine art stock imagery, prints and gift items
