Weekend Flashback - Continental Divide, Colorado. 10/17/2005

                                                  "X-Shot" Information

                                                 Camera - Nikon D2-H

                                                 ISO - 400

                                                 Shutter - 1/200 second

                                                 F/stop - 4

                                                 Lens - 300

Driving to Denver for work from my foothill home, I noticed the full moon starting to set in the western horizon. The best view would be from the bridge over I-70 at the Genesse exit. The biggest piece of glass I had with me was a 300 mm, so I went with that. The best time to get a shot of the moon is at moon-rise or moon-set. At these times the moon has about the same exposure as its surroundings and appears to be larger. I took my light reading from the moon and the snow, the foreground was still black and didn't enter into the exposure.

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

Photo information contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Garden of the Gods - Colorado Springs, Colorado

"X-Shot" Information

                                                 Camera - Canon Mark III

                                                 ISO - 400

                                                 Shutter - 320

                                                 F/stop - 14

                                                 Lens - 35 mm

After leaving my home in Evergreen at 4:30 am, I pulled into the entrance of the Garden of the Gods just before sunrise. The early morning light would be hitting the red rocks of the garden and also Pikes Peak in the background. Locating a good position to shoot this scene was important, because the very first light would only last a few minutes. As the sun came over the horizon, Pikes Peak lit up first and then the red rocks of the gardens exploded with color. I knew that my "X-Shot" would come from these early shots. The only thing that had to be done was to make sure the depth of field was large enough to get the rocks of The Garden of the Gods and Pikes Peak in focus. Three different lenses were used giving me the opportunity to decide later which image would make the cut. This area can produce great pictures in the morning or afternoon. If you have the time, shoot both. There are plenty of things to do in the Springs in the middle of the day. I had the time but clouds started to move in around 9:30 am. A fast moving cold front had cut my day short but the sunrise was real nice and worth the trip.

       "X-Shot" Location Information

1. Drive time from Denver just about one hour.

2. Get off I-25 in Colorado Springs at any of these exits 146, 145, or 143 and follow

    signs to Garden of the Gods.

3. Their web page is www.gardenofgods.com

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

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

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Weekend Flash Back - Boyd Lake - Loveland, Colorado 02/01/07

                                                 “X Shot” Information”

                                          Camera - Canon EOS Mark II

                                          ISO - 400

                                         Shutter - 1/125 sec.

                                         F/Stop - 22

                                         Lens  - 16 mm 

This photo was shot at Boyd Lake State Park on one of the coldest days of the winter. Walking out onto the ice, I found a dad and his young son ice fishing. After taking some shots of them fishing for about ten minutes, the boy lost interest and started to play in the snow. Still taking some frames of the dad fishing, I noticed the boy  making snow angles about 10 feet away. Quickly resetting my exposure, with a f/stop of 22,  and a shutter speed of 125, I moved into position. This setting would give me enough depth of field to get the boy and his dad in focus while also stopping the boys arm movement.

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

Photo information contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Rocky Mountain National Park - Estes Park, Colorado

                                                   “X-Shot” Information”

                                          Camera - Canon EOS Mark III

                                          ISO- 1600

                                          Shutter - 1/60 sec.

                                          F/stop - 2.8

                                          Lens - 150 mm

Rocky Mountain National Park in the winter was a good choice for a photo shoot, even though Trail Ridge Road was closed for the season. Still available were Bear Lake, Horseshoe Park, Moraine Park and part of Trail Ridge Road up to Many Parks Curve. When I go to a place like this it always involves staying over night. That gives me two good shooting opportunities, evening and early morning, hopefully with the very best light. The Park was pretty empty and the weather was perfect, with some nice clouds. Everything fell into place on this shoot, even my “X-Shot” came out of no where. Driving towards the park exit, the sun had already set and it was almost dark when I spotted a large herd of younger elk. Pulling over slowly, not wanting to spook them off, my power window slowly went down. The light was very bad. My ISO was already at 1600, a shutter speed of 1/60 second with an f/stop 2.8 is not much to work with. The elk were just standing there doing nothing worthy of a picture but my eye was up against the camera anyway. Just then a car approached, blaring load music out of its windows. It pulled in right behind me and came to a quick stop. A man jumped out, holding a little flash camera. Once that flash went off all the elk turned their back on us and headed up a hill. Wow, all of a sudden there was this neat image right in front of me. I steadied my camera on the car door and shot away. I didn’t know if my slow shutter speed would stop their movement but knew my f/stop would never give me enough depth to get everything sharp. As it turned out the elk in the foreground were sharp and in focus, but the depth of field fell off after that and the image was also pretty grainy. Despite those problems the photo was still very interesting and it became my favorite shot of the trip.

         “X-Shot” Location information:

1. Drive time from Denver is about two and a half hours.

2. Enter the park from the Estes Park side, to get to these locations.

3. On this shoot I liked the morning light the best as most of this section of the park

     faces east towards the rising sun.

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

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

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Weekend Flashback - DIA - Denver, Colorado 2/14/05

                                                    “X Shot” Information

                                                  Camera - Nikon D2H

                                                  ISO - 800

                                                  Shutter - 1/500 sec

                                                  F/Stop - 16

                                                  Lens - 500 mm

While working on a project for the ten year anniversary of DIA,  a great lead shot was needed. I wanted to get a plane and the main terminal somehow together in this shot, showing off the unique tent-like structured roof. What I didn’t want was to turn this into an add for one of the airlines, with their name plastered on the side of the plane. The answer was finding someplace east of the airport that when looking back to the west, around sunset, everything would be back lit. Then I had to find a spot where a silhouetted landing aircraft would line up with the terminal. After that I had to wait for it all to come together and it did.

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

Photo information contact e-mail address below.

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Butterfly Pavilion - Westminster, Colorado

                                                  “X Shot” information”

                                          Camera - Canon EO Mark III

                                          ISO - 800

                                          Shutter - 1/250 sec.

                                          F/stop - 2.8

                                          Lens - 100 mm macro

The home of 1,200 free-flying butterflies from around the world, brought me to The Butterfly Pavilion for my next shoot. The butterflies are in an indoor rain forest which is humid and hot. In the winter months, this could cause several problems. First, the glass in your camera and lenses will fog up when you go into the rain forest, if you have left them in your cold car. To fix this problem, wait in the parking lot for a few minutes with you engine running. Put your gear on the floorboards under the heater until they are warmed up. Then go inside the pavilion before they get cold again. Second, don’t wear heavy winter clothes when visiting! You will quickly become very uncomfortable. It’s best to dress for summer conditions. Yes, it might be snowing and 10 degrees outside but you will only be out there for a few minutes compared to the hours you will spend in the rain forest. A macro lens is a must if you want nice close-up images. Most of these photos were shot with a 100 mm macro lens. Also use your macro with an f/stop 2.8 and this will make the butterfly really stand out! The trick now is to keep the images looking different. By changing angles, backgrounds and the distance between the end of your lens and the butterfly you can avoid monotony. The morning sunlight was very nice because it made interesting shadows for me to work with and lit up the vegetation well. I only spent about one and a half hours shooting but it was plenty of time. If you are a professional photographer, you are required to talk to their marketing department before shooting. They can be reached at marketing@butterflies.org.  Otherwise just go and have some fun getting great shots. 

      “X Shot” Location Information

1. Drive time from Denver about 30 minutes.

2. Get off Boulder Turnpike at the Church Ranch Blvd./

    104th Ave. exit.

3. Go east on 104th for a short distance, turn right at their

     sign.

4.  Butterfly Pavilion is located at 6252 West 104th Ave.

     Westminster.  Web page address is 

     http://www.butterflies.org/contact.php

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

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

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com

Genoa Tower & Museum Parking Lot - Genoa, Colorado

                                                      “X Shot” information

                                             Camera - Canon EOS Mark III

                                             ISO - 320

                                             Shutter - 1/125 sec.

                                             F/stop - 22

                                             Lens - 70 - 200 zoom

 This photo was taken in the parking lot of the Genoa Tower and Museum at sunset. The light was completely horizontal, leaving a warm glow on the trailer and the grain elevator. Wanting both objects to be sharp, I picked  f/stop 22 giving me the depth of field needed for this to happen. That light only lasted a short time and then the opportunity was gone, but I had my shot!

                “X Shot” Location Information

1. Drive time from Denver is about 90 Minutes.

2. Get off I-70 at the Genoa Exit/ 371, east of Limon.

3. Follow signs to Genoa Tower parking lot.

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

                       All Photographs for sale, contact e-mail address below

                                        kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring 

Weekend Flash Back - Steamboat Springs, Colorado 01/19/05

                                                   “X Shot” Information

                                                  Camera - Nikon D1H

                                                  ISO - 200

                                                  Shutter speed - 1/160 sec.

                                                  F/Stop - 5.6

                                                  Lens 14 mm

The morning was perfect as the hot air balloon started to fill with air. I noticed a man enter the balloon and quickly took a peek. The image was beautiful and I proceeded to take a number of frames before I had to get out of the way. Using a 14 mm lens allowed me to get the whole top of this graphic balloon in my frame.

Ken Papaleo

Colorado Photographer

For information contact the e-mail address below

kenpapaleo@highcountrycoloring.com