Click on the image for licensing terms
Impressed?
I certainly was when, on the first morning of Liz's and my holiday in Estes Park, just to the east of the Rocky Mountain National Park, I got up just after sunrise for a walk around the grounds of our hotel and saw this.
Needless to say, I hurried back to our room and loaded up with gear to photograph the scene, with clouds boiling over the summits of the Rocky Mountains to the west, lit by the rising sun.
It took me quite a while to assemble the necessary gear, and then to find a suitable vantage point to get a clear view of the peaks without the tips of pine trees poking up into the frame.
So by the time I was in a position to press the shutter the light had crisped up and cooled down quite a bit as the sun rose higher in the eastern sky, but even so, the mountains, crowned by cloud, were absolutely stunning.
Needless to say, the next morning I was set up ready to photograph in the same spot before the sun had even risen, but that's another story.
Filename - rocky mountains 01.jpg
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 100-400mm zoom @ 400mm
Exposure - 1/250 sec @ f8, ISO400
Location - Estes Park, Colorado, U.S.A.
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Tripod, mirror lock-up and cable release used to prevent camera movement during exposure
All content copyright © Howard Litherland 2009-2026 unless otherwise stated.