Flowers of the Plains

                                               "X-Shot" Information.

                                  Camera - Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

                                  ISO - 100

                                  Shutter - 1/200

                                  F/stop - 18

                                  Lens 16 mm

All photographs for sale, contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

 After shooting wildflowers at a number of low-elevation locations, my "X-Shot" came on the Pawnee National Grasslands. It happened just before sunset, with some clouds covering the sun. I used a very wide angle lens and an off-camera strobe to get this image. The light reading was taken from the sky and the strobe was set for the same exposure. My strobe has the ability to disperse the light in a wide area or zoom it into a narrow beam of light. I used the narrow beam to just hit the blooming flower.  The sky and the flower had the same exposure, leaving the rest of the ground black. During my visit some huge thunderstorms moved in giving me a great sky which I used in a number of photos. If you go to the grasslands make sure you wear long pants and high ankle boots to protect your legs from cactus and snake bites. Always be cautious of rattlesnakes while walking around because they are in this area.

“XShot”  Location Information

1. Drive time from Denver to Grasslands - 2  hrs.

2. Take hwy. 85 north out of Greeley.

     In Ault, go east on hwy. 14 for 40 miles, to Reymer,

     turn left on dirt road 129, that takes you in.

3. Make sure you stop at the office in Greeley, 660 “O”

    Street, to get a map and information.

4. Bring food, water, extra clothing and a cell phone as there

    isn’t much out there.

5. Make sure you check the weather before going. 

Ken Papaleo
Colorado Nature Photographer

Weekend Flash Back, DIA - Denver, Colorado 6/18/2007.

                                                      "X-Shot information

                                          Camera - Canon EOS-1D Mark II

                                          ISO - 50

                                          Shutter - 1/500

                                          F/stop - 5.6

                                          Lens - 70/200 zoom

The tent-like roof at DIA's Jeppesen Terminal was being cleaned by men hanging on ropes.    Realizing that the picture had to easily be identified as DIA, I passed on my large lens and went with a 70/200 zoom. This would give me the ability to compose my shot showing a number of the roof peaks. I took the exposure readings from the white roof. Now all I had to do was wait for the worker to move into a location that I liked.

For more information on this picture contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

North Park Wildlife - Walden Colorado

                                                "X-Shot" Information

                                    Camera - Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

                                    ISO - 400

                                    Shutter - 1/500

                                    F/stop - 8

                                    Lens - 500 mm with a 1.4 Canon Extender

                                    

All photographs for sale, contact e-mail address below

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Looking to photograph moose takes time, good location and a lot of favor.

Walden is know for moose so it was a good spot to head to. I had three

days, so that gave me the time and the event happened on my last morning.

Every morning and evening I would turn my attention to looking in the willows and wetlands for moose and always any other wildlife. The area near the Illinois River in the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge, is a good area to check out. If you head towards the Refuge Headquarters and then turn onto County Rd. 32, take your first right and you will come to a scenic overlook that dead-ends. From here you can look down into the Interpretive Nature Trail, which is next to the river and a good place for moose. I checked this spot often but never saw anything until my last morning. Taking one last peek from this overlook, I saw a moose. Getting back in my Jeep, I made my way to the nature trail. My 500 mm lens with a extender on it, became a 700 mm lens on a mono pod. Knowing where the moose was, I headed in that direction. Not wanting to get the animal upset, I only shot for a short time. He never moved from this location, so my shots are similar but fun. 

  "X-Shot" Information

1. Drive time from Denver is about 3 hours.

2. If you want to be at a shooting location by sunrise, it comes up about 

    5:30 AM. For sunset pictures, it goes down around 8:30 PM.

3. Good moose locations are the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge areas around

    Walden on Hwy 125 from Rand to Walden and on Hwy 14.    

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Nature Photographer

Weekend Flash Back - Homestead Creek, Colorado. 5/26/02

    

                                                 "X-Shot " Information

                                                 Camera - Nikon D1H

                                                 ISO - 400

                                                 Shutter - 1/60

                                                 F/stop - 80

                                                 Lens - 17 mm

While working on a large water project, I found myself at Homestead Creek early in the morning. To my delight, morning fog was in the area but it was also cloudy, so no sunshine. Finding this location along a dirt road, I put on a very wide angle lens to shoot. The creek was right below me and the fog was further back, so the wider the better. I cropped most of the boring white sky out and took an overall light reading. This photo ended up being the lead photo of a five day water special put out by the Rocky Mountain News.

For more information on this photo contact the e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Ken Papaleo

 Colorado Photographer

Sunrise & Sunsets in Walden Colorado

                                              "X-Shot" Information

                                              ISO - 400

                                              Camera - Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III

                                              Shutter - 1/160

                                              F/stop - 22

                                              Lens - 70/200 zoom

All photographs are for sale, contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com 

My goal was to visit the Walden area to photograph moose. By the third morning the moose were located and I made my shots. During the rest of the time, I photographed the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I decided to use these in this week's blog and run the moose and other wildlife next week. The key to getting good photos was the clouds that were around all day. In the morning they turned beautiful colors but were black and stormy in the evening. I had not seen so many sun rays breaking through the clouds as I did on this trip and that's where my "X-Shot" came from. Shooting a sun ray picture presented a couple of problems. First, you have to get an accurate reading of the rays and this was done by using a large lens to get a reading from the bright sun rays. Then that reading was used with my zoom lens. The second problem was I didn't know how far away the sun rays were from the mountains in the background. Using an f/stop of 22 would give me the best chance of getting everything in focus. The real key to this photo was that I didn't get locked into just looking for and shooting moose. I kept my mind open and shot everything that looked good to me. So if I hadn't found any moose, I wouldn't go home empty handed.

  "X-Shot" Information

1. Drive time from Denver is about 3 hours.

2. If you want to be at a shooting location by sunrise, it comes up about 

    5:30 AM. For sunset pictures, it goes down around 8:30 PM.

3. Good shooting locations cane be found going east out of Walden on

    County Road 12A and all of the roads breaking off of it. Be sure to read all

    signs in this area. Some roads are private but most are county roads with

    private land on both sides. You will see signs saying "Private" but there

    will also be signs telling you that you can travel on these county roads, 

    but you can't leave them. Many great shoots can be taken from the

    roads.

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Nature Photographer

Weekend Flash Back - Telluride, Colorado 05/31/2001

                                               "X-Shot" Information.

                                               Camera - Nikon D1H

                                               ISO - 400

                                               Shutter - 1/250 sec.

                                               F/stop - 11

                                               Lens - 14

I was covering a group of unicyclists who rode on mountain trails in Telluride. We drove to the top of a trail and parked. The path had a lot of switch-backs in it that the cyclists followed. Learning earlier that one of the riders regularly ventured out onto a rock, turned around and came back onto the trail, I waited at that location for him to show up. The rock was already in the shadows with a sunlit background so I decided to make him a silhouette. Pre-setting my exposure for the bright background gave me what I wanted.  A wide angle lens was needed to get the rider and the beautiful background in the frame. Taking a low position that would get him up in the sky bit, I waited for my subject and took this picture.

For more information on this picture, contact the e-mail address below.

                                  kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

Silverton, Colorado

                                                  "X-Shot Information.

                                            Camera - Cannon EOS 5D

                                            ISO - 250

                                            Shutter - 1/250

                                            F/stop - 11

                                            Lens - 16/35 zoom

All photos for sale, contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

After shooting hot air balloons in the early morning in Ridgway, Colorado about a month ago, I made my way south on hwy. 550 to Silverton.  It just so happened that this day was the first arrival for the summer season of the Durango - Silverton

Train. The town hosts a big celebration with many people in costume. The town's Brass Band was playing and I was taking some tight shots of its members when an older man stopped at the corner to listen. The gentlemen was also dressed in costume and was smoking a pipe. My other camera was already set with a wide angle zoom on it so I was able to shoot right away. The man was there only for one song and then moved away. The important thing in getting this "X-Shot" was not to get tunnel vision with a long lens. It just takes a minute to check out what else is going on and it could be your best shot of the day.

"X-Shot" location information

1. Drive time from Denver is about 6 -7 hours.

2. Hwy. 550 runs south out of Montrose, through Ridgway, Ouray, Silverton and

    Durango. 

3. The trains run daily from Durango to Silverton in the summer months.

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

Weekend Flash Back - Air force Academy, Co. Springs. 11/13/07

                                                   "X-Shot" Information

                                        Camera - Canon EOS-1D Mark II

                                        ISO - 400

                                        Shutter - 1/250 sec.

                                        F/stop - 16 /35 zoom

It was a nice sunny mid-November day as I drove to a funeral being held at Colorado Air Force Academy. The remains of an Air Force pilot were found in South Vietnam, sent home and would be buried on this day. We had good photo access, and could move around freely at the burial site. Noticing a cadet up on a small hill who would be playing Taps soon, I moved in his direction. The plan was to shoot him, back lit, with a wide angle lens. Pre-setting my exposure to the bright sky, I waited for him to play. When the song started I moved in low, putting my camera on the ground in the shadow of his head and pointed it at him. Having the camera in the shadow made sure there would be no lens flair and using auto focus took care of the rest. Shooting only a couple of frames was all it took to make this image. 

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

For more information on this picture, contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com