Climbers and Rocks

[RSL]

Still experimenting in Garden of the Gods to see what I'm going to go back and shoot once my D800 gets here.

[amolitor]

I like the echoing of shape/form in the first one, of trees against the rocks. The climbers give me scale, the lack of which is I think a real selling point for photographs made here. Clone 'em out!

Err, wait. I mean, wait for them to leave.

Light feels a little flat in both, but then, the fashion is for Super Dramatic Light when rocks are in play, so I may just be reflecting fashion.

[luxborealis]

There is the potential of a hundred B&Ws in the "Rocks" location.

[Chairman Bill]

Stuff the photography, there's some good lines on those rocks <off to search out chalk bag, rack, shoes & a rope>

[wolfnowl]

There's definitely a lot to see there!

Stuff the photography, there's some good lines on those rocks <off to search out chalk bag, rack, shoes & a rope>

I remember the last time I was in the Garden of the Gods there was some ...person... climbing vertical rock wearing a pair of Tyvek sandals.  There were several kids watching him, so as I went by I said to them, "When he falls, take the change from his pockets."

This was me, a looong time ago...  Still hairy, but it's white now.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfnowl/2866773028/
Mike.

[Rob C]

Mike, that's very cool, but those boots you sported are made for walkin' or posin' but not for climin'... At least in my accompanying rocky snap in 'prejudice I am wearing sensible sailing shoes. I'm not on show, of course, modesty forbids, but you get the idea. No, don't have a boat either, but this is a seaside pueblo and strangers can't tell if I do or if I don't. Have a boat, that is; they can obviously tell if I have shoes.

Rob C

[Rob C]

Russ

You are never going to go back and reshoot those same stones with another camera. No way can you force yourself to retread old ground; it kills the creative juices stone dead. The assumption, of course, is that creativity and landscape can exist within the same sente... No, let's not go there again, ever!

;-)

Rob C

 

[RSL]

Sorry, Mike, I don't consider 1993 to be "a looong time ago." But it's long enough ago that things have changed pretty drastically in Garden of the Gods. In 1993 the road ran from 30th street straight into the garden, and on past Hidden Inn, more or less bypassing some of the best rock formations in the park. Now Hidden Inn is no more, nor is the main road that ran past it, and the whole central part of the park is restricted to foot traffic. I hated to see Hidden Inn torn down because it was a classic tourist trap from olden days. Should have been on the National Register of Historic Places. But now that I've gotten over the shock of losing something that funky, I've come to appreciate the changes. Guys climbing in Tyvek sandals now get fined $500. To do what the two kids on top of the spire in the first picture have done you need to demonstrate to the park management that you've been properly trained and have the proper equipment. In the years around 1993 there seemed to be at least one Tyvek sandal wearer death every summer, and several rescue operations to save people who figured out how to get up, but couldn't figure out how to get down. The city got tired of paying for the rescues and the messy cleanup.

Of course you're right, Rob, but I haven't even scratched the surface in Garden of the Gods. I won't shoot the same pictures. I'll go back to the same areas and shoot different pictures. Andrew's right. The light in these shots is flat. It was late morning with a high, thin overcast. What I'm after now is exactly the right time of day for the particular rocks I want to shoot. That's going to be different for different ones. But the Garden is about fifteen minutes away, including time to get cameras and tripods into the car.

[Rob C]

Of course you're right, Rob, but I haven't even scratched the surface in Garden of the Gods. I won't shoot the same pictures. I'll go back to the same areas and shoot different pictures. Andrew's right. The light in these shots is flat. It was late morning with a high, thin overcast. What I'm after now is exactly the right time of day for the particular rocks I want to shoot. That's going to be different for different ones. But the Garden is about fifteen minutes away, including time to get cameras and tripods into the car.

Russ, that's pretty much the same deal as I have with my rocky places... except for me it's those fifteen minutes before getting the camera out of its drawer that are the problem... such struggles with the inner man or whoever lurks in there.

;-)

If I get up the nerve to carry a light tripod, then who knows what I may find myself getting up to one day.

Rob C

[RSL]

Actually, I should have said that the center of the Garden is fifteen minutes away. I can walk to the top of my own lot, turn right and continue around the ridge for about a hundred yards, and I'm in the Garden. But the central part, where the best pinnacles are, is another half mile or so in.

[Rob C]

Actually, I should have said that the center of the Garden is fifteen minutes away. I can walk to the top of my own lot, turn right and continue around the ridge for about a hundred yards, and I'm in the Garden. But the central part, where the best pinnacles are, is another half mile or so in.

Careful with the details, Russ: you might find yourself the new Not So Hidden Inn!

;-)

Rob C

[wolfnowl]

That's what I was thinking. Rob!  Haven't been in there in nearly twenty years... I wonder if Russ has a guest room? 

Mike.

[Rob C]

That's what I was thinking. Rob!  Haven't been in there in nearly twenty years... I wonder if Russ has a guest room? 

Mike.

If he's anything like me, he will have one of those rooms that is sometimes available but at other times most decidely not. Strange thing, architecture.

;-)

Rob C

[RSL]

Plenty of great motels close by.

[Rob C]

Plenty of great motels close by.

But Russ, most of the ones on great music videos are closed, almost derelict. It's part of the charm, the atmosphere. Or it would be, were I lucky enough to have made any.

Rob C