Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Colorado
At the bottom, looking away from the entrance to the canyon
At the bottom, looking away from the entrance to the canyon
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Oct, 2014Views
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Awards
Chatter Award
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Top Shot Award 22
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at the bottom of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison outside Montrose, CO. It was so beautiful down there, and the day was perfect for taking pictures - blue skies and sunny.Time
My friend and I had made the 6 hour drive to Montrose the previous day, we were both sick but so seldom had consecutive days off together that we weren't going to let anything interfere with our trip. The drive down was miserable; we fought rain, sleet, and snow on top of feeling lousy. We made the motel fairly early and were in bed by 8pm. We got up the next morning about 7am, both feeling great and looked outside - the sun was shining, hallelujah! We got dressed and headed out the the Black Canyon. After touring around on top, we decided to go to the bottom...what a ride! The road is steep! But once we rounded the last switchback and saw the view, we were glad we'd made the trip down and spent the next hour just taking pictures and admiring the view. This picture was taken at approximately 9:40am on October 13, 2014.Lighting
Mother nature provided the very excellent lighting that day.Equipment
This was shot with a Sony SLT-A65V and a Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 lens, handheld.Inspiration
It was such a beautiful place that I would've been taking pictures even if all I had was a cell phone! Luckily, the road trip was planned with photography in mind and I had my trusty A65 with me. This area is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen!Editing
I rarely do post processing, even though I have the software I've never bothered to learn how to use it except a few basic sliders and cropping. I made a copy and played with a this and a couple other shots I took that day but decided I liked the straight out of camera versions better, especially on this shot.In my camera bag
I've since upgraded camera bodies, but at the time I had a Sony A65 camera, Tamron 17-50 f2.8 lens, Sony 18-250 f/3.5-6.3 lens and a Minolta 28-135 f/4 lens in my bag. I also had a tripod in the car. Since I do mainly wildlife and nature and a few landscapes, I don't carry lighting equipment.Feedback
The physical characteristics of a place like the Black Canyon - deep and narrow - can make photography at the bottom a challenge. Too early and one side is in the shade, too late and the other side is in the shade. Plan to get there towards midday, this shot was taken about 10am, the sun was high enough so we weren't in the shadows but not so high as to be directly overhead. We lucked out since the timing wasn't planned, we didn't know we could go to the bottom until after we got there. Sometimes you have to take what's handed to you and run with it!
