Ken Papaleo: X Marks the Shot: Roxborough State Park, Littleton, Colorado.

"X Shot" information.

Camera - Canon EOS 5D Mark II

ISO - 200

Shutter speed - 1/125 sec.

F/stop - 18

Lens - 16/35 mm zoom

LOCATION.

1. Roxborough State Park is located at 4751 North Roxborough Drive, Littleton, Colorado.

2. Hours - 8:00 am - 5:00 pm daily.

3. About 30 minutes south of Denver.

4. The 3,339-acre park was established in 1975.

CHALLENGE.

This was the third State Park on my list of local parks to visit. I hadn't been there in years but remembered that it is known for dramatic red stone formations. I needed an angle, something that would make this shoot a little more fun.

SOLUTION.

I wanted to do a night shoot, with moon light, but found out that the park locked up at 5:00 pm daily.

A early morning sunrise shot was also out because the park didn't open its gates until 8:00 am and sunrise was at 7:10 am. About mid-week it snowed down in the Roxborough area. This was great, some new snow and a clear blue sky, along with the red stone, would work out great! I got there about 2:30 pm, a little early but I knew the light would fade around 4:pm, because most of the park faces east. Morning would have been better but it didn't clear until around noon. I could have waited until next morning but who knew how much snow would be left, so I went with the most snow.