Ouray Photo Workshop Trip Report - Tom Bol Photo Workshops

Iconic Vistas

Fall in the Rocky Mountains is a magical time of year. Photographers travel from all over the world to photograph massive stands of yellow aspen at peak color. On our workshop we visited iconic mountain scenes like Dallas Divide and Crystal Lake to capture big scenes right as the light was at its best.

This year the color on Red Mountain Pass was better than we have ever seen it. There was also an astonishing amount of reds and oranges in the groves. It was a great year to be in Ouray!

Dallas Divide at sunrise

Ready for streaming light on a crisp morning

Red aspens in a sea of yellows

Hidden Groves

A big part of this workshop is getting away from the crowds and finding hidden spots where our group can roam and take their time capturing intimate landscapes. We wandered off the beaten path into several groves to capture golden light created by sunshine streaming through yellow leaves.

Glenn and Traci focusing on ferns

Golden light in the groves

Brian back for a third time in Ouray

High Peaks

In addition to trees, the 14,000 ft peaks, like Mt Sneffels (inset) make for dramatic backgrounds for landscape images. It took our group a few days to get used to the 11,000 ft altitude on high passes. It was well worth the effort for the views we found on Owl Creek Pass and Silver Jack.

Brian and Michael choosing filters

So many red and orange leaves this year

Chuck using his hand for focus stacking

Macro Images

I carried both a landscape lens and a macro lens every where I went on this workshop. Sometimes I would get out of the car and find golden leaves with water droplets less than 6 ft from the car.

Macros of Gambel Oak and Rose Hips added to the color palette on this workshop.

Gambel Oak acorn

Suzy capturing a single rose hip

Frost on Christmas colors

Canopy Shooting

We spent several sessions working on canopy images from within the aspen groves. It takes just the right amount of leaves and the perfect foreground tree to get it just right. Adding a sunstar was another popular technique in the groves.

Dave getting some setting help

Sunstars and super wide lenses

Saralynn working the canopy shot

Creative Techniques

Workshops are a great place to try new things. Tom created the inset photo with a 9 frame multiple exposure image, set to lighten mode on the Nikon Z9. We tried shutter speeds of 1 second to create silky trees in the groves. A morning session with two Mallard Ducks created some beautiful abstract reflections at Crystal Lake.

One second shutter speed for a silky look

Mike working the True Grit barn

Duck induced concentric circles

Thanks to the photographers who joined us for Ouray Fall Colors. What a year to experience Colorado's aspen groves!

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CREATED BY

Cree Bol

Credits:

Tom Bol and Cree Bol