Nine-Years Ago (03-May-2008) — Colorado

Springtime Nature in Colorado.

I spent the day at Rocky Mountain National Park. It was  early spring, and the upper elevations of the park had not opened yet due to snow. There were a number of birds and mammals looking for food. I finally identifed one of the birds from that day as a Grey-headed Junco. I also spent time working with a 24 mm f/3.5 PC-E lens to do some landscape images.

Early springtime Gray-headed Junco in Rocky Mountain National Park.Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)
Gray-headed Junco in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 200, 400 mm, f/8, 1/640 sec). (David J Mathre)


Individual images from the slideshow can be viewed here.

Nine-Years Ago (09-March-2008) — Colorado

Winter Nature in Colorado. Rocky Mountain National Park.

One of the things that I loved when working part-time in Boulder was the chance to go to Rocky Mountain National park nearly every weekend. Several of the roads on the east side of the park are kept open year round. The following are some images I took of the landscape and the animals in the park.

Winter trail and panorama at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of five images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 1/160 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. The jags in the contrails unfortunately show that the upper winds were strong while taking the five images. (David J Mathre)
Winter trail and panorama at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of five images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 1/160 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. The jags in the contrails unfortunately show that the upper winds were strong while taking the five images. (David J Mathre)
Winter road in Colorado. Panorama of Longs Peak to Estes Cone. Composite of five images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Winter road in Colorado. Panorama of Longs Peak to Estes Cone. Composite of five images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 24 mm, f/16, 1/250 sec). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro and the composite generated using AutoPano Giga Pro. (David J Mathre)
Black-billed Magpie eating scraps on a picnic table at Endovalley in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 200, 125 mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec). (David J Mathre)
Black-billed Magpie eating scraps on a picnic table at Endovalley in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 200, 125 mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec). (David J Mathre)
Black-billed Magpie in a pine tree at Endovalley in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 200, 125 mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec). (David J Mathre)
Black-billed Magpie in a pine tree at Endovalley in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR lens (ISO 200, 125 mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec). (David J Mathre)
Pine trees in the winter. Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of seven images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 27 mm, f/16, various). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and HDR composite generated using Photomatix Pro. (David J Mathre)
Pine trees in the winter. Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of seven images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 27 mm, f/16, various). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and HDR composite generated using Photomatix Pro. (David J Mathre)
Pine tree in the winter. Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of seven images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 27 mm, f/16, various). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and HDR composite generated using Photomatix Pro. (David J Mathre)
Pine tree in the winter. Rocky Mountain National Park. Composite of seven images taken with a Nikon D3 camera and 24-70 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 200, 27 mm, f/16, various). Raw images processed with Capture One Pro, and HDR composite generated using Photomatix Pro. (David J Mathre)
Bull Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park. Winter nature in Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens with a TCE-20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bull Elk in Rocky Mountain National Park. Winter nature in Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens with a TCE-20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bull Elks in Rocky Mountain National Park. Winter nature in Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens with a TCE-20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Bull Elks in Rocky Mountain National Park. Winter nature in Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens with a TCE-20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Coyote in Rocky Mountain National Park looking for lunch. Winter nature in Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens with a TCE-20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)
Coyote in Rocky Mountain National Park looking for lunch. Winter nature in Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D300 camera and 300 mm f/2.8 VR lens with a TCE-20 teleconverter (ISO 200, 600 mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec). (David J Mathre)

Nine-Years Ago (06-January-2008) — Colorado

Winter Nature in Colorado. Rocky Mountain National Park.

Winter in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was only an hour drive from Boulder and I would visit whenever I could. The Park Service kept most of the lower roads open throughout the winter.

Winter in Rocky Mountain NP. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) (David J. Mathre)
Winter in Rocky Mountain NP. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) (David J. Mathre)
Winter in Rocky Mountain NP. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) (David J. Mathre)
Winter in Rocky Mountain NP. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 17 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) (David J. Mathre)
Winter in Rocky Mountain NP. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 25 mm, f/9, 1/125 sec) (David J. Mathre)
Winter in Rocky Mountain NP. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 17-35 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 25 mm, f/9, 1/125 sec) (David J. Mathre)

Nine-Years Ago (26-August-2007) – Colorado

Summertime Nature in Colorado.

Mother duck and eight ducklings resting in the middle of Lily Lake. Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec). You can see the ducks as tiny specks in the panoramic image of Lily lake I took a few minutes earlier.

Mother Duck and Eight Ducklings Resting in the Middle of Lilly Lake. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec) (David J. Mathre)
Mother Duck and Eight Ducklings Resting in the Middle of Lilly Lake. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs camera and 80-400 mm VR lens (ISO 100, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/60 sec) (David J. Mathre)

Nine-Years Ago (26-August-2007) — Colorado

Summertime Nature in Colorado.

Summer Morning Reflections at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 140, 14 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec).  Two versions — as originally processed, and reprocessed today (Capture One Pro, Photoshop CC, Focus Magic, and NIK Color Efex and NIK Define). Let me know which you like better (or why I save all images — to learn from my mistakes and to used newer image processing tools).

Summer Morning Reflections at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/22, 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)
Summer Morning Reflections at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 100, 14 mm, f/22, 1/20 sec). (David J Mathre)
Summer Morning Reflections at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 140, 14 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Photoshop CC, Focus Magic, and NIK Color Efex and NIK Define. (David J Mathre)
Summer Morning Reflections at Lily Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. Image taken with a Nikon D2xs and 14 mm f/2.8 lens (ISO 140, 14 mm, f/11, 1/60 sec). Raw image processed with Capture One Pro, Photoshop CC, Focus Magic, and NIK Color Efex and NIK Define. (David J Mathre)