I was up early and according to the weather channel it was going to be a beautiful morning… no excuse not to grab the camera and head for the wilderness! It seemed extra dark as I drove down the canyon and I worried that there would be no light on the river and the trip was going to be wasted. As I cleared the canyon a strange red glow steamed through the window into the front seat so I took a quick glance to the east.
I could not believe my eyes, the sky was on fire! I spotted a side road and quickly pulled over. My long lens was attached in preparation for wildlife photography but I knew that the effect would last but a few moments, so I quickly grabbed the camera and fired off a few shots. Seeing that there was a bit more time I put on a wide angle and snapped a few more. And then just like that, the color was gone. It’s amazing how fleeting these great moments can be!
The canyon was cold this morning… even though the day was supposed to be relatively warm, the nights are definitely getting colder! Luckily I had an extra hoodie and a pair of gloves in the back seat! I didn’t see the eagles but I brought my long visit chair along anyway, thought I might just rest awhile and hope for a herd of deer or a bear to wander into the meadow on the opposite side of the icy river.
The only action I could see was a few ducks milling around in the icy South Platte River and a few sparrows busying themselves along the waters edge. Pretty soon a fisherman came along to annoy me so I decided to wander over to the dam for a look see. I always approach slowly in hopes that I will catch the great blue heron, but I got to day dreaming as I approached and he flew right past me! I didn’t even have time to get my camera ready. But the heron made an unusual maneuver… a short flight and a landing near a vantage point on the shoreline. As stealthily as I could I crept through the reeds to the shoreline. There he was, standing in the shallow water… I ducked below a thicket of reeds and brought up my camera… That unfortunately was enough, off he went again… but at least I was ready and got a couple of him flying by 🙂
By then it was getting hot and I had to shed a couple of layers so I went back to the truck. As always I scanned the eagle’s area and noticed a spec of bright white up in the trees! So I quickly snapped a picture just in case and grabbed my chair again to take up an observation position. But by the time I got to the best spot though, the eagle was gone. In the meantime the two osprey that I thought had already flown south were soaring high in the clear blue Colorado sky! Far to distant for a good picture, but if you want to see him you can check my Instagram page where
I have displayed a few more from today’s action. I don’t know what there habits of the young osprey are these days, they are never at the nest or the wide spot in the river where I was accustomed to seeing them so I had assumed they were gone! Apparently the warm weather we have been enjoying has kept them around. A peregrine falcon also made a flyby and of course there were also a few geese randomly landing and taking off. Please feel free to follow my page if you don’t want to miss the next adventure!
All in all it was a spectacular morning indeed!
For your enjoyment I have created a library of multimedia videos for my YouTube channel! Feel free to watch and be sure to subscribe to my channel if you would like to see more of my adventures! Also feel free to follow my Instagram page where tons more of my images are displayed!
As always, the best of these images and hundreds more are available for purchase on my website as wall art on glossy metal or acrylic sheets, stretched canvas and traditional matting and framing. Tons of cool household and gift items are also available with any image you like including coffee mugs, t-shirts, blankets and pillows, battery chargers, phone cases, stationary and much much more! Just click on any image you like and all the choices, sizes and prices will appear! For my viewers interested in images for commercial use, please visit my image licensing portal!
Autumn in Rocky Looking forward to next weeks return visit! Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss this year’s adventure!
Video of autumn in the Park. Looking forward to next weeks return visit! Be sure to subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss this year’s adventure!
Autumn Beauty in Eleven Mile Canyon Colorado
https://youtu.be/5Z-_2lA1KBo Sights and sounds of a beautiful autumn morning in magnificent Eleven Mile Canyon Colorado including amazing fall colors, bald eagles, and mule deer. Don’t forget to subscribe if you like and don’t want to miss the next episode!
Autumn in the Canyon
Fall has come early to Eleven Mile Canyon Colorado… With the departing of the osprey some of the pizzazz has gone out of my visits here, but the amazing color has made up for it! I arrived just after sunrise and was delighted to notice that both bald eagles were in the nest.
I grabbed my camera and my official observation chair and hurried down to the riverbank in hopes of catching them before they left for the day. Right around sunrise these days they can be found flying back and forth with sticks to fortify their nest for the harsh Colorado winter, but the show doesn’t last for long. Within an hour it is likely that they will both be off for the day doing eagle stuff!
Just after I got situated, one of the pair took off and flew into the canyon. Unfortunately my camera was nowhere near ready. Exposure compensation was set at +2/3 and my shutter speed was only at a 500th of a second. My first opportunity was completely blown. Quickly I adjusted my settings for eagles in flight, -2/3 exposure compensation to assure that the bright white of their head feathers are not blown out and about a 1250th of a second shutter speed. I usually like a 1600th or faster but in such low light 1250 is a good compromise.
Eventually the eagle returned and I was able to get a couple of nice shots of the pair in flight. Soon after of course, the show was over and I decided to walk in and investigate the fall color situation. The sunshine had not yet reached the river valley so I was able to get a couple of nice motion blurs of the flowing stream and see that the colors were going to really pop with the light of the sun.
I went back to the parking lot to retrieve my truck for a long day of fall photography. I slowly drove along the riverside road looking for all the best views. The colors along the river were well worth some sketchy scrambling on hands and knees down to waters edge and I took advantage of every opportunity! In addition to all the wonderful still images I was able to capture, I thought it important to capture some of the sound and motion of the beautiful golden water of the river. Still images are nice but sometimes they just don’t do the scene justice!
On my way out of the canyon I spotted a young deer crossing the river so I stopped and grabbed my camera. The yearling was soon joined by two other doe mule deer in crossing the river but unfortunately, once again I was unprepared for the situation… my camera was still equipped for scenery pictures with only a 24-105 lens and a shutter speed of 160th of a
second… but there was no time for adjustments and I just started shooting. Luckily it looks like a couple have turned out, one with a bit of pleasing motion blur 🙂
For your enjoyment I have created a nice 10 minute YouTube video with still imagery and video of today’s experience. There are also many other adventures that I have documented with multimedia videos for my YouTube channel! Feel free to
watch and be sure to subscribe to my channel if you would like to see more of my adventures! Also feel free to follow my Instagram page where tons moreof my images are displayed!
As always, the best of these images and hundreds more are available for purchase on my website as wall art on glossy metal or acrylic sheets, stretched canvas and traditional matting and framing. Tons of cool household and gift items are also available with any image you like including coffee mugs, t-shirts, blankets and pillows, battery chargers, phone cases, stationary and much much more! Just click on any image you like and all the choices, sizes and prices will appear! For my viewers interested in images for commercial use, please visit my image licensing portal!
Autumn in Rocky Mountain National Park
https://youtu.be/IJVIICuYIpE Experience the park in HD video. Please subscribe to this channel if you like and don’t want to miss the next episode!
Elk Herd on a Rocky Mountain Autumn Evening by Steven Krull
https://fineartamerica.com/featured/elk-herd-on-a-rocky-mountain-autumn-evening-steve-krull.html Picture of the Day – wall art on glossy metal or acrylic sheets, stretched canvas and traditional matting and framing. Tons of household items and gifts are available, including clothing, coffee mugs, blankets and pillows and much more! Click to explore!
A Wild Weekend
A wild weekend indeed, starting with the Waterton Canyon bighorn sheep herd! Camera buddy Kevin and I arrived at the trailhead not too long after sunrise hoping to see the big rams somewhere along the riverside trail.
A stiff chilly breeze was blowing down the canyon on the way up, enough for cold fingers and ears! Knowing that the window for seeing the animals is wide and unpredictable, we took our time on the ride up. Without seeing any sign of the beasties, we arrived at the picnic area just beyond the crossover bridge and decided to take a long break to rest up and wait for the rams to come down from the high peaks towering above the canyon.
Eventually we decided to ride back down and wait by the old dam where the rams often come down for a drink of water from the river. I imagine we whiled away another hour talking and visiting with hikers and other mountain bike riders. Finally when we were just about ready to give up we heard a holler from from another guy that was resting with us… he was pointing in the direction of the cliffs so we hopped on our bikes and headed over to see what was up!
And there they were, at least eight rams hanging around on the cliff side, snacking on the dry mountain grass and occasionally butting heads to practice up for the upcoming rut season. Eventually they meandered down to the river where we tried to reach the shoreline without bothering them too much and got a few shots of them getting a drink.
Figuring the show was over for a few hours anyway, we decided to call it a day. however on the way down we ran into the ewe and youngster herd, and they also were on their way down for a drink. A nice bonus to round out an already great day 🙂 In addition to some fun still pictures, I managed to remember to shoot some video as well… I didn’t have my fluid head tripod along so my footage isn’t that great but I did put together a nice montage set to music for my YouTube channel. If you like, be sure to subscribe to my channel! I am still a few subscribers short of being able to get a custom URL for my channel!
Another bonus for the wild weekend was a red-tailed hawk sighting this morning. I wasn’t prepared for a bird in flight picture when he took off, but with a 500th of a second shutter speed I managed to get a couple nice ones 🙂
Today will of course be spent processing and backing up hundreds of images. Perhaps if I get done soon enough maybe I’ll start getting my gear ready for our annual pilgrimage to Rocky Mountain National Park! I’m definitely going to have a list this year… Last year I forgot my sleeping bag and only had my winter parka to use as a blanket… Froze my butt off… almost literally!
For your enjoyment I have created many short multimedia videos for my YouTube channel! Feel free to watch and be sure to subscribe to my channel if you would like to see more of our adventures! Also feel free to follow my Instagram page where tons of my images are displayed!
As always, the best of these images and hundreds more are available for purchase on my website as wall art on glossy metal or acrylic sheets, stretched canvas and traditional matting and framing. Tons of cool household and gift items are also available with any image you like including coffee mugs, t-shirts, blankets and pillows, battery chargers, phone cases, stationary and much much more! Just click on any image you like and all the choices, sizes and prices will appear! For my viewers interested in images for commercial use, please visit my image licensing portal!
A Day With the Bighorn.
Video of Autumn in Waterton Canyon! Please subscribe if you like and don’t want to miss new videos!
Elk Rut Season Coming Soon!
https://youtu.be/IJVIICuYIpE Video of last year’s elk rut season in Rocky Mountain National Park which I’ll be going to again in a couple weeks! Subscribe to my channel if you like and want to be kept apprised of this year’s adventures!
