Evening light panoramas on Mt. Galbraith

I went on a short evening hike with my daughter and thought I would generate a few more immersive panoramas. This time (contrary to the last time I was there! see here and here) it was clear and even warm. This panorama was taken on the lookout point over Golden and Denver. This is right next to my favorite bonsaï-like tree there that you can see here. Make sure to click on the "view on Google maps" link to see it large and to use your mouse (or finger on a mobile device) to look all around.

I also took a panorama at the top in the same spot as I did last time. I was not aware that there was so much of a view up there as it was completely fogged in then. Not so much this time.

The next image is for comparison with an image I posted last post.

Hope you enjoyed these!

Frosty fairytale

In the previous post I showed a panorama of the top of Mt. Galbraith near Golden. This is a wonderful small open space park right on the edge of town. This was a very interesting morning where the fog had frozen on every branch and tree limb and had formed amazing structures everywhere. I was completely alone this morning. A feeling strengthened even more by the quiet of the fog. I had forgotten my tripod, so all the images here are handheld, including the panorama from the previous post. Luckily I had not forgotten some traction devices for my shoes as the trail itself was covered with a thick coating of ice and it was the most slick I have ever seen any trail. One place I finished first was my favorite tree in this park that looks just like a bonsaï. The frost and the fog made everything quite monochromatic, so prepare yourself. I hope you enjoy these images as much as I enjoyed making them!

Frosty Bonsaï.
Nikon D600, Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 at 18mm, f/11, 1/100s, ISO 100



The pitcher.
Nikon D600, Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 at 25mm, f/11, 1/100s, ISO 100



Mystery.
Nikon D600, Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 at 28mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 100



Panorama at the top
Stitched from 20 handheld images. Nikon D600, Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 at 16mm, f/16, 1/50s, ISO 100
This is a high resolution panorama for printing. You should check it much larger by clicking as this blog's format doesn't like wide images much.



Pinnacle.
Nikon D600, Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 at 24mm, f/16, 1/60s, ISO 100



The orator.
Nikon D600, Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 at 21mm, f/16, 1/50s, ISO 100



Follow the trail.
Nikon D600, Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 at 16mm, f/16, 1/50s, ISO 100



Edge of the burn. Nikon D600, Tokina 16-28mm f/2.8 at 20mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 100



The trail continues.
Nikon D600, Nikon 24-85mm f/3.5-4.5 at 55mm, f/11, 1/125s, ISO 100

A frosty morning in Mt. Galbraith open space park

Mount Galbraith is a nice open space park close to Golden. I go there often to photograph some of the very nice trees you can find here. This morning I went because we've had some freezing rain recently and I was excited about the prospect of hoar frost. It did not disappoint. The trees were gorgeous and I will share some images at a later time. In the mean time, I stitched a 360 panorama that I did from handheld images as I had forgotten my tripod. It worked out really well anyway. See and explore it below (click and drag to look around) and you can make it big by clicking on the view in google maps link.

Another angle

On the tree


Sweeping. Buy a print.
Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm f/2.8 at 11 mm, f/13, 1/100s, ISO 200.
Flickr image, Google+ post.

Deer

Mule deer on Mount Galbraith in the early morning.


Munching. Nikon D300, Nikkor 55-200 mm f4.0-5.6 VR at 200 mm, f/8.0, 1/800s (sunny 16 rule), ISO 200
Google+ post (image above links to flickr)

I often see lots of wildlife early in the morning such as these deer but don't really have the appropriate gear to get them closer. I did like this little group though with the one in the center noticing me.

Sunrise at Mount Galbraith

Mount Galbraith is a basically unknown open space park just west of Golden. It's accessed right off Golden Gate Canyon road. The morning these images were created last weekend, I was originally planning to go up in the mountains, but a combination of factors made me rethink that. The extremely high avalanche danger made me a little apprehensive about the location I had chosen and the roads leading there were extremely slick after the big Friday snow storm. So I chose to stay in a little longer and drive up to Mount Galbraith where I had taken some nice cloudy sunset images before (see here, here, and here) and where I had discovered a very nice tree that overlooked Golden, Denver and the plains that for sure would be offer some nice opportunities at sunrise. It's rare to need snowshoes in the foothills, but this day I needed them.


Sunrise over the plains. Buy a print.
High resolution composite from 16 images.
Individual shot technical data: Nikon D300, Nikkor 35 mm f1.8 DX, f/13, 1/125s, ISO 200
Same image on flickr. Same on Google+.

This is the tree and down below you can see Golden and North Table Mountain. You should really check it out large by clicking on it.

I also made a panorama at this same spot:


Wideness. Buy a print.
High resolution composite from 10 images.
Individual shots: Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm f2.8 at 11 mm, f/13, 1/100s, ISO 200

Again, seeing this large is the only way.

This is the tree from the other, sunlit side.


Glowing. Buy a print.
High resolution composite from 8 images.
Individual shot technical data: Nikon D300, Nikkor 35 mm f1.8 DX, f/13, 1/60s, ISO 200

I saw a lot of deer from which I will post some pictures later. Now I focus just on the landscapes.

This image was taken on the other side of Mount Galbraith long after the sun had come up but the shadows were still very very cool.


Hot and Cold. Buy a print.
Technical data: Single shot Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm f2.8 at 15 mm, f/10, 1/200s, ISO 200
Google+ post. Same image on flickr.

The hills you see in the back are I think those in White Ranch open space park and Golden Gate Canyon state park. I really like the very strong hot/cold contrast you get here between the shadows and the sunlit areas. This is really what it looked like to me. I lifted the shadows out of the darkness by using a graduated neutral density filter but to your eyes the shadows looked this crazy blue in contrast with the warm, sunlit areas.

On the back of Mount Galbraith there is also a large area of burnt trees from an area that burned last spring. These offer some interesting opportunities but are hard to frame effectively.

Dance of the skeletons. Buy a print.
High resolution composite from 8 images.
Individual shots: Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm f2.8 at 11 mm, f/11, 1/80s, ISO 200

Hope you enjoyed these as much as I enjoyed my morning that time.

More from Mount Galbraith

Mount Galbraith Golden Vista. Buy a print.
Assembled from 7 handheld images Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 mm at 11 mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200

This is the same tree as I showed a few weeks ago. It's a nice vantage point overlooking Golden and Denver as you can see and I thought it would make a nice panorama. You should really see it large which you can by clicking on the image above. I stitched it together using the outstanding (and free) hugin software. The individual images were developed in Lightroom 4 beta and I did a little post in Lightroom 4 beta too.

The tree

Evening light at Mount Galbraith. The city you can see down there is Golden (you can clearly see the Coors brewery) and in the distance is Denver. From a few weeks ago on a quick afternoon hike. As always click the image for a bigger view.


The tree. Buy a print.
Nikon D300, Tokina 11-16 f2.8 at 11mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200

Image link on flickr. Google+ post.