Mount Bierstadt II
It was a bright and sunny morning with pleasant trailhead temperatures in the 50’s, and not much wind to speak of. This was my second visit to Mount Bierstadt which was chosen for both ease of hike and ease of access as this was intended to be not only a “1st time 14er hike” for a varied cross section of hikers with varying levels of fitness, but also a practice run for me in having the honor of bringing and using my late Father’s high end digital Canon camera equipment up the hill. The equipment includes a 17-85mm zoom attached to a 50D body, and a 70-200mm zoom attached to a 60D body, and were carried up the mountain, assembled, in heavily padded, professional grade “camera holsters” attached to a mountaineering utility belt. All I had ever used in my photography up to this point were simple “point and shoot” digital cameras set to “automatic”, and my phone (still love it’s “panoramic” mode), but after a hands on crash course workshop on usage and capabilities of the equipment, and how to set and use F-stops and ISOs to affect exposure from my brother Cris, I felt confident and excited to get out on the mountain and see what I could do.
Plans and purpose of the day changed somewhat however in a couple of ways, changing the dynamics of the hike. First, the 5 to 7 people who were supposed to come turned into one, Blake, a down to Earth cool cat who’s a friend of mine from work, and this seemed to be just fine with the both of us. Secondly however, and certainly more disheartening, was that I experienced a jamming of zoom on the 17-85mm lens that left movement from only 17-24mm resulting in only a wide angle view. Following some research and a few phone calls after returning home that afternoon, it was determined that a screw had come loose inside the lens causing what is apparently a chronic problem after 3 to 5 years with the Canon EFS 17-85mm zoom, and has sense been repaired and refurbished by Canon and is as good as new. For this shoot however, the limited zoom of the 17-85mm left me unfortunately without shooting capabilities between 24mm and 70mm, resulting in this work being either wide angle or telephoto and I ask you to keep that in mind as you view the album.
Lens issues aside, I think I did OK with the shoot. I know I overexposed some stuff, and would do some things differently next time. I also definitely found out how difficult it is to shoot predatory birds while they’re flying! Ha! Enjoy the photos and please leave your thoughts and comments with the picture and sign the guestbook. Thanks! |
Date(s): 15 August, 2016. Album by Paul Yarborough. Photos by Paul Yarborough. 1 - 24 of 35 Total. 1064 Visits. |
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