Blue Sky to Snow
A Beautiful Blue Sky Start to the Day
We are having it all today. Colorado mountain photography today included at least three seasons today from blue sky to snow. The day started out fairly warm and sunny, and remained so while I climbed to the top of Grouse Mountain. As I crested the summit a small stand of leafless aspen in the direct golden light of the morning sun. Those trees set against a beautiful blue sky with wispy cirrus clouds and brown mountain grass in the foreground looked amazing to me. I was tempted to just keep on hiking but the scene was just too beautiful to pass without stopping for a few captures.
I switched my Canon R7 to custom function C2 on the mode dial to get the pictures. Specifically that setting includes the electronic shutter, slow continuous drive, shutter priority at an 800th of a second and auto ISO which I use to ensure a correct exposure. I actually created the case for shooting elk and deer with a single focus point selected for fine focus on an animals eye through dense forest. At any rate, the setting also works well for landscape photography with my 100-400L mark II lens when I am focusing on distant subjects. I have to watch it, but the camera usually selects f/6.3 or f/7.1 as an aperture, which is usually fine. I have selected the slow continuous mode so that I don’t get too many duplicate images on an animal or subject that isn’t moving. Even at an 800th of a second, the camera was able to use ISO 100, the optimal setting for a sunny landscape image.
Blue Sky Gives Way to Snow Clouds
As I approached the overlook I could see trouble brewing on the distant Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Storm clouds were building and I could also feel a stiff breeze beginning to blow. Now that I’m back home in front of my computer, snow has begun to fall in earnest. I believe it is supposed to snow all night with conflicting amounts being forecast by the weather models. The good news is that there will be a short warmup and then the snow will return. Just in time to keep the gamblers out of the mountains and away from my town for the holiday weekend 🙂
Mountain Snow on the Way
I set up my camera on the overlook to photograph the storm clouds on the Sangre de Cristo, which were putting on a beautiful show. The settings I had used for the aspen grove worked fine for the stormy mountains. I took my time to photograph the entire range from the south end all the way to the northernmost peaks. I hope you enjoy the images, which I have uploaded to my Sangre de Cristo Gallery on my website!
Additional Links To S.W. Krull Imaging Books, Calendars and Video!
I am pleased announce my latest books on Lulu Press and Amazon including my latest, “Storm Warning” and this year’s wildlife calendar “Colorado Wildlife 2023“! As always, the best of these images and hundreds more are available for purchase on my website For my viewers interested in images for commercial use, please visit my image licensing portal! Furthurmore, if you would like to see a more complete record of today’s images please follow my Instagram account!
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