Ken Papaleo: X Marks the Shot: September 2013

Fall in and around Walden, Colorado.



"X Shot" information.
Camera - Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO - 2000
Shutter - 1/800 sec.
F/stop - 5.6
Lens - 500 mm
Note - a 1.4 extender and a monopod were used for this shot.


Challenge.
Anytime I go to Walden Colorado, my challenge is to get a real nice photo of a moose, but the real challenge is finding one. Their around but seeing one, in the short time I'm there, doesn't always happen.

Solution.
I was only spending one night in Walden, got there around 1pm and checked into my room.  Evening and morning are the best times to spot wildlife.  The Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge is a good place to check out, but it is very large, 23,464 acres. Preparing for this shoot, one camera was on a 500 mm lens, with a 1.4 extender, connected to a monopod. The other was carrying  a 70/200 zoom. You need to be ready to jump into action, right away. You don't know what a moose will do once it sees you. I had them boult right away, just ignore me or get pissed off. Pulling into the refuge, there was a real strong, consistent wind. This is usually not a good situation to capture wildlife photos. With the wind, clouds started to cover the area with deep shadows. It was about a hour until sunset, hadn't seen any moose and it was time to make a decision. The clouds where starting to look like they could produce a nice sunset. Do I give up on the elk and move to a nicer location for the sunset? The winds just keep howling, so I packed up and headed to a lake. The winds weren't as bad there and the sunset turned out to be very impressive. Back out at the refuge, before sunrise, the next morning, did the trick. From a ridge, I could look around with my binoculars. The wind wasn't bad and I spotted a number of moose. Using my long set-up, a couple of nice images were recoded. Now knowing where they where located, I moved into a closer location. Got my "X Shot" and a few other images here. I took a longer way out of the refuge, on my way home and came upon a herd of pronghorn. They took off immediately but being ready to take a picture, I was able to capture a nice image. So make sure while your out looking for one thing, keep your eyes open for any nice photo situation and make sure you stop and shoot it. You might get skunked on your hopes, but you wont go home empty handed.






































Ken Papaleo
Colorado Nature Photographer
303-674-0615



Weekend Flash Back - Loveland Ski Basin, Colorado, 10/17/1998.



"X Marks the Shot" information.
Canera - Nikon D2H
ISO - 200
Shutter - 1/125 sec.
F/stop - 16
Lens - 24 mm


Ken Papaleo
Colorado Photographer
303-674-0615


Sullivan Logan Stewart meets his family, September 17th, 2013, Lakewood, Colorado.



"X Shot" information.
Camera - Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO - 2000
Shutter - 1/65 sec.
F/stop - 5.6
Lens - 24/700 zoom.

For those of you who have followed my blog for over a year, you might remember when my daughter, Jamie and her husband, Andy, lost their son, Logan, last July, right after birth. Logan just lived over 50 minutes. We all knew before hand that he would be with The Lord in a very short time, but when Logan passed away, we were all devastated.

September 17, 2013, their son, Sullivan, was born. He is very healthy and their all doing fine. These photos show Sullivan meeting his family, right after birth. He was born on my wife's birthday, a great gift for Pam and the rest of us. For nine months we waited for this little guy, he won't make us forget Logan, but he has brought love back into a lot of broken hearths. With Gods love, we will all enjoy
watching this baby change our lives for ever.

Photo Note. Sullivan was born around 11 pm, so no natural light and the lighting, very nice and moody, wasn't great for photos. Not wanting to use a strobe, I pushed the ISO to 2000 and than changed everything to black and white. This took out all the crazy coloring and made nice images.























































Ken Papaleo
Colorado Photographer
303-674-0615


Weekend Flash Back - Denver, Colorado, 10/29/2012.



"X Shot" information.
Camera - Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO - 2000
Shutter - 1/25 sec.
F/stop - 16
Lens - 300 f/2.8
NOTE - Tripod and cable release used for this shot.


Ken Papaleo
303-674-0615



Art Work for The Outdoor Studio Tour, Evergreen, Colorado.


"X Shot" Information.
Camera - Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO - 400
Shutter - 1/250 sec.
F/stop - 11
Lens - 70/200 zoom
Note - This is a B & W print that I painted with Marshall Photo Oil Colors.


This up coming weekend is the Evergreen Outdoor Studio Tour, so I decided to run images of my hand colored black and white photos. After shooting a good image, a print is made. I then paint parts of it, only using Q-Tips that I make from tooth picks and cotton. Some pieces take a short time while others are very time consuming. 

The Outdoor Studio Tour is where 30 Evergreen Artist open the personal studios to the general public, for a weekend. If your in the Denver area, you might want to check it out. You can find information about the tour at www.evergreenopendoorstudios.com.  If you come up, make sure you come and say hello.


























Ken Papaleo
Colorado Photographer
303-674-0615






About Me

My photo
Evergreen, Colorado, United States
I worked for the Rocky Mountain News for 28 years, until they went out of business. I now do freelance work, post this weekly blog, ski and play with my four grand children. I still have the love to get out and take photographs, which brings me great peace and comfort.

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