Denver Area Photo Locations – South Valley Park
April 17, 2015
•
Leave a Comment
This is the next in my series of PFB Images blog posts about Denver area outdoor photography locations. This month, I’m featuring South Valley Park. The park is located west of C-470 in the Ken Caryl Valley area of Jefferson County. From C-470, take the Ken Caryl Avenue exit and turn west, passing through the hogback. At the first traffic signal, bear left onto South Valley Road. Continue about one mile to the South Valley Park entrance on the left. The park is free and is open from one hour before sunrise the one hour after sunset daily. See the park’s website for details. South Valley Park consists of about 900 acres, including about 8 miles of trails. From the main parking lot, you can combine the Swallow Trail and a portion of the Coyote Song Trail to create a 2-mile hiking loop. Swallow Trail is hiker-only, and serves as a boundary between the flatter western meadow portion of the park and the hogback on the eastern side. The 0.2-mile connector between the Swallow Trail and the Coyote Song trail begins the climb up the west face of the hogback. The climb continues along Coyote Song Trail, with the highest point on the loop near the Lyons Back Trail junction. Note that the lands east of the Coyote Song trail (including the hogback rim and portions of the Lyons Back Trail) are owned by the Ken Caryl Valley Ranch Foundation, and are only open to Foundation members. Grazing Elk Trail is a 2.5-mile loop encircling an elk meadow in the southwest portion of the park, and is accessible from the south end of the Swallow Trail. This trail is subject to seasonal closures based on elk movements. Since the Grazing Elk Trail is closed when the elk are most active, the majority of the photographic opportunities are along the Swallow Trail / Coyote Song trail loop. The park is home to mule deer, rabbits and other small mammals, and a wide variety of bird life. An occasional elk will cross South Valley Road to graze in the meadow west of Swallow Trail during the fall, and coyotes and foxes can be seen occasionally. Mann Reservoir (just south of the parking lot) attracts limited waterfowl since the reservoir is small and water levels are not stable. From a landscape photography perspective, this park provides less crowded access to the red sandstone formations that Colorado’s Front Range is known for. Much of the loop provides close-up access to the formations, allowing for intimate photographs such as this melting icicle photographed along Swallow Trail. The best time for landscape photography is evening. The rock formations are bathed in low light until the sun dips below the foothills to the west, as shown in this late-day image taken where the rocks rise out of the meadow. From Coyote Song Trail, it is also possible to photograph sunsets over the Front Range foothills. Various other locations in the park can yield decent photographs depending on weather and lighting, including and the intermittent creeks that flow through the park and Grazing Elk Trail. Your feedback on my photo location blog posts is important, so that I can provide relevant, helpful information. Please provide comments to help me continue this series. April New Images
April 12, 2015
•
Leave a Comment
I spent a weekend last month at Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado's San Luis Valley. I've spent this weekend editing images from that trip, plus pulling together a few older images. Based on this work, I uploaded eight new images today between my Colorado and United States website galleries. The image below is one of my new Colorado shots from the Sand Dunes. You can get a sense of the vast dunes from the three hikers in the lower left of this image. Overall, there are about a dozen people in this photograph - how many can you find? Feel free to respond below.
Since I have added new images to my Colorado gallery, I have removed a few older images to keep the gallery size reasonable. If you have a favorite that's been deleted, you can still order it - just comment on this post or drop me an e-mail. Please enjoy looking through all of my galleries, and feel free to purchase prints of your favorites! Denver Area Photo Locations – Clement Park
March 09, 2015
•
Leave a Comment
This is the next in my series of PFB Images blog posts about Denver area outdoor photography locations. This month, I’m featuring Clement Park. The park is located west of Littleton off Bowles Avenue in Jefferson County. From Santa Fe Drive (US 85), take Bowles Avenue west about 2.5 miles to the park entrance opposite W Long Drive. From C-470, take Bowles Avenue east about 3.7 miles to the park entrance. The park is free except during special events and is open from 5 am to 11 pm daily. See the park’s website for details. Clement Park consists of about 200 acres, including the 60-acre Johnston Reservoir, Grant Amphitheater, picnic areas, athletic fields, and the Columbine Memorial. From the main entrance on Bowles Avenue, Johnston Reservoir is to the right (west), and the rest of the park spreads to the east. There is a 1.4-mile paved trail that circles the reservoir near the water’s edge. Other trails serve the athletic fields and the eastern portions of the park. The lake trail sees heavy bicycle use and many dog walkers, so step off the trail to take pictures where possible. The reservoir provides habitat for many birds and small mammals that have adapted to suburban life. Ducks and geese can be seen daily at the reservoir, and herons and egrets make random visits to the lake. Sea gulls, red-winged blackbirds and other smaller birds are common. There are two prairie dog communities southeast and southwest of the reservoir that draw the occasional coyote and raptor to the park. The majority of the photographic opportunities are around the reservoir. Waterfowl photography (such as these ducks) is relatively easy, as many of the birds have acclimated to humans. The three piers along the east side of the lake allow you get out over the water, closer to the waterfowl. Wildlife photography is best in the early morning, particularly around the cove at the reservoir's southeast corner. From a landscape photography perspective, the lake provides for interesting sunset reflections from the lawn east of the reservoir. Pick your location carefully to manage lights from the development across the lake. Unfortunately, the sail structures on the piers were taken down for renovation and have not been replaced. Various other locations in the park can yield decent photographs depending on weather and lighting, including the amphitheater and the small creeks that flow through the park. Your feedback on my photo location blog posts is important, so that I can provide relevant, helpful information. Please provide comments to help me continue this series. New Exhibit - Roxborough Library
March 06, 2015
•
Leave a Comment
I'm excited to announce that I have twelve images hanging in the Roxborough Library throughout the month of March. Three groups of my images are currently hanging in the community room at the back of the library. The library exhibit is a collaboration between the Roxborough Arts Council and the Douglas County Library System. Come on out and support local artists and enjoy a good book. |
