Morning photo: Spring … really!

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Buttercups bloomed this week, the first wildflowers after a long winter.

FRISCO — After a few false starts, it appears that spring has truly sprung in the Colorado high country, though it shouldn’t surprise anyone if it snows once (or twice) more before all is said and done. But the past few days, we’ve experienced beneficial moistening rains and the Earth is responding in overdrive. Grass and other plants are growing almost visibly from day to day, the first few wildflowers have popped and streams are swelling in their banks. Even after many years living high in the mountains, the speed always surprises me a little. Our native plants, adapted to a short growing season, seem to know there’s no time to waste.

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The sun, captured in a raindrop.

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Morning photo: Winter’s last gasp?

Never say never …

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North Tenmile Creek, Frisco, Colorado.

FRISCO — At this point, I’m almost afraid to say it’s the last snowstorm of the season because it feels like it could keep snowing all summer. We’ve had years like this before — old-timers may remember a 12-inch dump up at A-Basin in the early 80s, and we’re in a weird phase of hemispheric circulation that doesn’t lend itself to predictability. But what the heck, snow is beautiful any time of year. It doesn’t really feel out of place here at nearly 2 miles elevation, even though it’s May. In this set, I tried to capture some of the feel of the wet spring snow with some iPhone closeups, which sounds easier than it is. For all its charms, the iPhone camera’s spot sensor can be tricky when you get within a few inches of a subject. Please visit our online FineArt America gallery for a selection of stunning Summit County landscapes. (more…)

Morning photo: signs of spring

meltdown …

A stand of aspens is partially submerged by a spring snowmelt pond near the Meadow Creek trailhead in Frisco, Colorado.

A stand of aspens is partially submerged by a spring snowmelt pond near the Meadow Creek trailhead in Frisco, Colorado.

SUMMIT COUNTY —At long last, the melt season has started in the Colorado high country, nearly a month later than last year. As it goes in the mountains, things change in a hurry once it warms up. Tender green sprouts shoot up at the edge of crusty snowbanks, sometimes growing an inch per day. There’s not a lot of time — at 10,000 feet, most plants have to reach flowering stage within just a couple of months. Springtime in the Rockies! (more…)

Morning photo: Randomized …

A little photo-foolin’

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Winter dreams.

FRISCO — I hope these images don’t come as too much of a shock to readers who are used to seeing traditional landscapes in this space. But after about a year, I re-opened the PS Express app on my iPhone after updating it and found all sorts of groovy new features that I had to play with. PS Express is the Photoshop iPhone app, and while some of these effects are questionable for photojournalism, others could come in handy at the right time. The point is, get to know the tools you have available; that way, you’ll know how to use them when you need them.

Slightly swirled rose, edited in PS Express, the iPhone Photoshop app.

Slightly swirled rose, edited in PS Express, the iPhone Photoshop app.

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Morning photo: One more storm …

April showers …

Clearing storm in the North Tenmile Creek drainage, Frisco, Colorado.

Clearing storm in the North Tenmile Creek drainage, Frisco, Colorado.

FRISCO — If the weathermen are right, this may truly have been the last big snowstorm of the season (but who knows, right?) so I had to pick out just a few more shots from an early morning Frisco iPhone walkabout. Snow is good anytime of the year, but the late-April bonus storms are the best, not just for the scenery, but for the sake of boosting our mountain snowpack. (more…)

Morning photo: Insta-scapes

A little iPhoneography …

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Sunrise on what usually is an island far out in the receding waters of Dillon Reservoir. Yes, the drought is a problem, but I’ve had the opportunity to take some landscape shots that I couldn’t otherwise get, at least not without a boat.

FRISCO — I’m finally starting to figure out the whole iCloud thing, and in the process, I rediscovered a bunch of iPhone photos that I thought were long gone. I wouldn’t want to rely on my iPhone exclusively for landscape photography, but this series shows that, with the right light, the little camera can perform alongside many fancier units. Visit our online FineArt America gallery for more Summit County scenics, available as fine art prints or greeting cards. (more…)

Morning photo: iPhone — raw

No Filter …

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Moonrise over the Gore Range.

FRISCO — The various filter apps on an iPhone are fun to play with, but they can also make it easy — some would say too easy — to mask a less than adequate exposure with enhanced colors or other special effects. Like so many things, they’re best used in moderation, remembering that there’s no substitute for a crisp, clean and well-exposed image to start with. All the shots in this set are taken with an iPhone, but they’re straight out of the camera, no filters, no editing, other than a couple of slight crops.

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Blue River Valley mists.

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Pond-shine.

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Frost is in the air.

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Frost-cicle.

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Fresh.

Morning photo: Sunrise scenes

A wintry morning

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A fine mist of ice crystals in the air distorted the sun coming up over Swan Mountain and created a sundog in the morning sky.

FRISCO —A dog-walking session Friday morning yielded a few nice shots of sunup over Swan Mountain and Dillon Reservoir. And after writing about iPhoneography in yesterday’s photo essay, I deliberately left the Nikon at home, although I regretted it when I saw the sundog forming, since my standard DSLR lens is mounted with decent zoom lens that would have let me capture more of the ephemeral ring around the sun. I’m hoping for a few more snowy sunrise sessions the next couple of days! (more…)

Morning photo: Going mobile

A year of iPhoneography

Slanting sunlight on the Snake River picked up by the iPhone, enhanced with a camera filter app.

Slanting sunlight on the Snake River picked up by the iPhone, enhanced with a camera filter app.

FRISCO —I’ve had my iPhone for a year now, and I probably use it as much for photography as anything else. As much as I’d heard (and seen) about the iPhone’s camera, I have to admit that I’m a bit old-school when it comes to photography, having learned the basics in a black and white darkroom, working on school newspaper and yearbook photos. It didn’t take long for me to adapt to digital imaging — I never really liked turning my film over to a photo shop and then waiting for a few days to get prints. And when I started playing with iPhone camera and editing apps, I quickly decided that the whole concept of mobile compact photography is worthwhile addition to my photography quiver. I almost always have my DSLR with me, but there have been a few situations when I’ve learned to let go of the Nikon and to trust the iPhone. I especially like the way it responds in low-light situations, and the sensitivity of the sensor to slight tilts of the lens. I’m not trying to be all evangelical, but I’d feel pretty weird at this point heading out to shoot without packing my phone along.
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Morning photo: Roadside

‘Some days are dry, some days are leaky
Some days come clean, other days are sneaky
Some days take less, but most days take more
Some slip through your fingers and onto the floor …’

~U2

Winter grass.

Winter grass.

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Not as pretty as the grass.

FRISCO — Friday dawned as a beautiful, classic late-December day, with single-digit temps, hazy skies and shimmering snow flurries, so I did what I usually do; loaded the dogs into the car and headed out for an early morning photo session, starting on the Tenderfoot trail to catch the early morning light on the Gore Range. After the dogs had their romp, we headed back via Swan Mountain Road. The light was still good when we reached Sapphire Point, so we stopped again, but when I tried to pull out of the parking lot, I some grinding underneath the car, then … nothing, except the sound of rubber wheels spinning in the snow. When I got out to have a look, I immediately saw a C-V joint and a couple of bearings laying in the snow behind the right front wheel. Oh well, like the song says, “Some days come clean, other days are sneaky.”

While waiting for the tow truck, I decided to shoot a few frames. Why waste good light, right? With a few stalks of frost-coated grass and partial sunlight, I tried to capture the feel of a cold winter morning, happy that the car was stuck in a beautiful spot, and not on the shoulder of I-70.

Winter grass II.

Winter grass II. My Instagram friends seem to prefer the single stalk, but I like the ragged forest as a backdrop to this one.

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