Notchtop Reflection Marigold Ponds Rocky Mountain National Park CO
Photos of Notchtop Reflection Marigold Ponds Rocky Mountain National Park. Thank you for viewing our photographs of Notchtop Mountain at sunrise. A light layer of smoke and from the recent wildfires in Montana and the Northwest drifted over the area. The diffuse smoke at sunrise changed the quality and color of light in these early morning photos. The pond shown in this photo is one of two small ponds located just below Two Rivers Lake at the base of Notchtop Mountain. Early morning clouds are visible over Notchtop Mountain as the first light of dawn illuminates this distinct Colorado peak.
Getting There
The hike to the area is a 6.5 mile round trip with an elevation gain of about 420 feet. Once you arrive, the elevation is approximately 9475 Feet. With about 30-40lbs of gear in our backpacks we began our hike more than an hour before sunrise. Upon starting at the Bear Lake Trailhead you’ll take a right turn onto the trail that leads towards Odessa Lake and Flattop Mountain. From here you will continue for about 3 miles till you reach and area with large boulders. If you choose to continue on the trail you will find Lake Helene about quarter mile beyond this point. These sunrise photos of Notchtop Reflection Marigold Ponds were taken on August 24th around 6:41am.
Photo Gallery Notchtop Mountain Reflecting in Alpine Tarn – RMNP Colorado
Gear Used to Photograph Notchtop Mountain Marigold Ponds Rocky Mountain National Park
The following camera gear was used in the Colorado Landscape Photography of Notchtop Mountain reflection upon Marigold Ponds in Rocky Mountain National Park:
- a Nikon D810 with MD12 Battery Grip and RRS L-Bracket,
- F-Stop Gear Aloe Green Tilopa Back Pack (with large Pro ICU),
- a Nikkor 14-24mm, f/2.8,
- the Nikkor 24-70mm, f/2.8,
- a Gitzo CF6X Mountaineer 2 tripod (GT2530),
- with a Really Right Stuff BH-40 LR Ballhead,
The 6:41am morning exposures of the first light on Notchtop Mountain averaged between 1/40 second and 1/2 second at f/11. We used the Nikon D810’s native ISO of of 64. Some of these images were created by combining 5 exposures at one full stop apart in Adobe Lightroom. This HDR process was done in order to capture the high dynamic range of the early morning light. The very wide panoramic photos were created by stitching 14 vertical images together in Adobe Lightroom CC.
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