Colorado – 2 – Mary E Campground

While on our trip, we were able to stay two nights at Mary E Campground. This federal campground is just outside Telluride on the San Miguel river. Both mornings I was able to wake up early and explore down its banks. That particular section of the river is interesting because it is relatively shallow and ultimately splits as the river encounters a mountain.

I find this photo somewhat calm – not as calm as I’d like. Looking back, I’d have liked the water to appear more smooth. I probably pumped a bit much power through the sensor at ISO800. I’m sure a setting of 200 or even 100 would’ve allowed a slower shutter to get the effect I wanted. With the older sensor of the D5200 it would’ve made for slightly less noise as well. Our campsite was a few hundred feet from this location. Unfortunately it was just far enough where we couldn’t hear the river at night.

One morning, I wandered up the river a bit to find this gnarly stump. The small plants growing out of it made for some interesting color contrast with the water. I also like how the sun is just beginning to hit the valley where the river flows. I can’t say exactly why but I adore this perspective. The wide angle lens is necessary in making this one of my favorite photos of the trip.

A missed opportunity! This photo was taken seconds after the sun set between the two mountains just right of center. It was picture perfect to have it centered just so! Though I missed the moment, I am not confident in my skills to be so disappointed about missing an epic photograph. Had I gotten there in time to take the shot, I’m sure my lack of skill would’ve left me with a blown out sun and nearly no foreground. This one is just fine. And I do love the moving effect of the water.

I sent an initial slew of photos from this trip to a friend for critique. His comment on this one was a good lesson for me. He got me to take a step back and take a look at the photo as a whole and see what the interesting part of the photo was. When I was standing there with camera in hand, I was taken with the size of the sky, the foliage on the mountains, the running water, and the sunset glow as part of the trees became shaded – so I snapped a picture. Once I got back and asked for critique, I realized that the grandeur of the whole situation just didn’t come through in the photo – it’s hard to put that experience into a picture. Luckily, with some heavy cropping, I was still able to get a rather nice photo out of it.

The last morning at Mary E was a real treat. As I was perusing the banks of the San Miguel just hours before packing up camp, I noticed two beavers floating in “side pool” off the river. Almost an eddy but much larger and the water was very still. Although I scared one beaver off pretty quickly, the other was happy to stick around and have his picture taken. Amazingly enough, when my 3 year-old heard about the story, we had to take a hike back to the same location to find that the beavers were still there! It’s possible that the pile of sticks behind him in this photo is their den. I don’t know, but to see them twice in one day seems unlikely. Nevertheless, the whole family got to see two beavers in the wild.