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One of the things I like to do when on holiday in a new place is to visit any local photographic galleries there might be in the area.
I usually like to buy a piece to take home as a souvenir, but I also like to see what the local professionals are photographing, to get some inspiration for places Liz and I could visit during our stay.
I was really pleased during Liz's and my two week stay in Estes Park, just on the border of the Rocky Mountain National Park, to find Erik Stensland's excellent Images of RMNP gallery.
Looking round I spotted this photo of St Malo Church, also known as the Church on the Rock, and I immediately added it to my list of 'must see' locations.
Later on during our stay, Liz and I took a drive south down the I7 from Estes Park to Allenspark, to look at the magnificent scenery and to find this church.
Well, we found the church quite easily, it was right by the side of the interstate, but we were shocked to see that the surrounding area looked nothing like what we were expecting.
What we found was the chuch, sitting on its rocky outcrop, surrounded by a crater of devastation.
We found out from a local guy who was there that the great flood of September 2013 had essentially washed away the land surrounding the church, leaving the hole on the ground that was there now.
Wow! we weren't expecting that.
But even so, by adopting a low angle of view to hide the crater behind the soft, golden grasses of autumn I was able to take this picture of the church, with Rocky Mountains Longs Peak in the background.
Not exactly the view I was looking for, but quite satisfying nonetheless.
Filename - rocky mountains st malo church 01.jpg
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 24mm
Exposure - 1/50 sec @ f11, ISO100
Location - Allenspark, Colorado, U.S.A.
This image - 800x533px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Polarising filter used to enhance colours
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