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The magnificent Trail Ridge Road in the Rocky Mountain National Park is the highest paved road in the United States, peaking at an altitude of 12,183 feet above sea level, and driving it was one of the recurring pleasures of my wife Liz's and my two week holiday over there in Colorado.
There's a pull over right at the summit, and we would stop there to enjoy the view out over the peaks of the continental divide just to the west.
On this particular occasion it was late in the afternoon when we reached the highest point and a low angled sun was grazing the shapes and contours of the mountains in a delightful play of light and shadow as the temperature started to plummet in anticipation of the coming night.
I wasn't going to let an opportunity like this pass me by, so I set up my camera and tripod on the side of the road and got ready to photograph the high peaks as the dying light crept up the sides of the mountains.
A lone cumulus cloud formed over the highest peak as I as watching, so I waited until it was in the optimum position beofre taking this image, the final shot of the day.
Filename - rocky mountains 05.jpg
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 105mm
Exposure - 1/100 sec @ f11, ISO200
Location - Rocky Mountains, Colorado, U.S.A.
This image - 800x450px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop CC
Comments - ND graduated filter used to control contrast
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