Seasonal waterfall cascading into the Crystal River

I don't use my neutral density (ND) filter often, but this scene, especially on this day, called for it.  The ND filter and f25 aperture allowed a 1/3 second exposure, which softened the gushing falls and surging river.  On a cloudy day, the slow exposure seemed to work well with the muted colors.

More morning fog

There were just a few wisps of fog when I got up this morning, but the temperature and dewpoint (38 and 37, respectively) were very similar to those two days earlier, when a dense fog filled the valley. 

When I got to the top of McClure Pass, the fog was filling the Crystal River valley nicely, and there were some low clouds clinging to the peaks of the Ragged Mountains.

Foggy Mountain Panorama

Morning fog in the Crystal River valley.

This panorama was created from six images.  My friend stitched them together in Photoshop, then sent me the file which I cleaned up at Picnik.com.

Though it was relatively clear when I got up this morning, I noticed the temperature (38) and dewpoint (37) were very similar to what they were on Monday morning, when I got some great fog shots.  Waiting an hour or so allowed the fog to form and the sun to rise.  I was rewarded for both my patience and the drive up to McClure Pass to capture these images.

Click on the image to see it full-size (or at least your screen size).

Snow on the mountains; fog in the valley

Landscape with mountain and field of dandelions

Mt. Sopris is south of Carbondale, Colorado, in the Crystal River valley.  Spring clouds and fields of dandelions make this majestic mountain especially photogenic in both color and black & white.

Two very different landscapes in black & white

Frequent visitors to my blog or flickr pages know I love both color and black & white photography.  Images with sharp contrast differences, especially those with muted or few colors, lend themselves well to conversion to black & white.  The problem is choosing the best way to do it, and how.

McCloyd Canyon, Cedar Mesa, Utah

Seasonal Waterfal, Redstone, Colorado

For these two photos, I used my favorite method of conversion - the channel mixer in Photoshop.  However, the process is very different for the two shots. 

Most of my alpine shots require little more than clicking the "monochrome" box and making slight adjustments to each channel (usually pulling down the blue to darken the sky, while giving slighter boosts to red and green to keep the whites very white).  With desert photos, however, this method initially results in a shot that leaves much to be desired.  Acting on a hunch a couple weeks ago, I made some adjustments that had a tremendous impact.  I lowered the red and blue channels by 50 each, while boosting the green channel by 70 or 80.  In addition to darkening the sky and the rocks, it brightened the desert plants.  Previously the plants would be somewhat indistinguishable from the surrounding red dirt and rocks.  I'm quite pleased with the results, and look forward to creating some striking desert landscapes in black & white.