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Mark and I visited
Colorado in September of 2002. We camped in the Buena Vista -
Collegiate Peaks area as well as the Great Sand Dunes National
Monument. These are some of the photos taken during that trip.
When you visit the sand dunes, be prepared for
WIND. After all, that's how the dunes were formed. Mark had warned
me not to use a new, high priced camera in the dunes. He suggested
that I bring an older camera (or even pick up a used one) for
shooting up on the dunes. This is very good advice. There are
moments when the wind calms down a bit, but you may have to wait
a long time for this. |
The photo above is a picture of an old mining town outside of
Cotopaxi, Colorado. The town was being restored and it made for
a good photo op.
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It takes a while
to get to the top of the dunes, but it is worth it. The easiest
path to take, is to try to stay on the hard edge of a ridge as
you make your way up. The sand is packed a little harder and you
don't slide down as often as you do on the soft side of the ridge. |
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The above photo was taken on the trail to Mount
Belford. This photo was taken with a Hasselblad Xpan. I could
not carry a lot of camera gear when going up these trails. The
dual format Xpan was a good camera choice for this type of trek
because it is not much heavier, or larger, than a typical 35mm
camera. (The dual format Xpan can be used to take panoramic as
well as standard 35mm photos.)
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The best times to photograph the sand dunes
is late afternoon or early morning due to the shadows caused by
the angle of the Sun. |
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The above photo was taken with the Xpan. Mark also use a digital
camera to take several standard 35mm sized frames, and "stitched"
them together to make a panoramic photo. The result can be viewed
here.
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