Colorado | Scott Fillmer :: Truth, Tech, Testimony, and Art

Lake City Colorado Wide-Angle Water Landscape

1 Sep

One of the things I probably dis-like the most about blogs is having to clean house, but, this weekend I went through the tedious process of implementing a new design, updating all the categories for each post, and changing some previous posts to display the full size images this design will accommodate. I really think that much of the details in photography is lost in viewing small images, so, for those still on dial-up, I apologize now. From this point forward I will be displaying my images on up to 900px wide in some cases, like the image below of Lake City lake in Colorado (although I will try to keep the file size as small as possible).

The image above was taken in August of 2005 in Lake City Colorado. There is an overlook on the forest road where you can stop and hike up the side of the mountain. Image data: Camera, Nikon D2X, ISO-100, Focal length 35mm @ f/16

This is one of those scenes that has probably been photographed a million times but is still so beautiful that you just have to stop and take a shot. This particular shot I did do a bit of hiking off the main road. I climbed up to the top of the ridge overlooking the lake and the most gorgeous colors appeared.

I rarely think the best shot is in the foot pegs of the tripod that just left (or where everyone else tends to take the same shot), and in this case I was greatly rewarded. The drive from Creede to Lake City is one of the most wonderful drives found in the country, so if you ever have a chance, take the road right out of Creede and take a slow drive over several passes until you drop down into Lake City.

Happy Labor Day to everyone.

Bryan and Sara Wedding Photos from Colorado

11 Aug

It took a while to edit the images but I have completed the upload for the wedding photos from the Bryan and Sara Fillmer wedding. All in all there were about 4,000 photos, which I edited to 4 galleries and about 300 final images, with one additional gallery that includes my picks.

Below are some of my personal favorites from the wedding, if you want the short version of the wedding, you can click on the gallery called photographer’s picks, which is about 20 of my favorites and is more of what is shown below. You can view each gallery individually (best viewed in the slideshow format link in the upper right corner) from the links below.

Wedding Gallery and Quick Picks

To view more images from the gallery above, just click on photographer’s picks. To view the other galleries you can click on the links below. Be sure to click on the slideshow format to view all images in a larger, continuous manner.

Gallery for Nails and Food on Friday – Gallery 1
Gallery for Sara’s Bridal Shoot – Gallery 2
Gallery for Rehearsal Dinner – Gallery 3
Gallery for Wedding Day Photos – Gallery 4

You can also just go to my main photo gallery, Auburn Images, and click on weddings, then click on the appropriate links.

A Wedding in Colorado Awaits a Photographer

31 Jul

Today my wife and I are leaving for Colorado for our son’s wedding. He is getting married on Saturday in Estes Park Colorado (which is was better than getting married in the heat of south Alabama) and we couldn’t be more excited.

People who have just met me are amazed that I have a son who is about to get married, frankly, I am too.Â But, on Saturday Sara Turner and Bryan Fillmer will be then known as another Mr and Mrs Fillmer and I will official become an in-law.Â We have known Sara for quite some time and are so thrilled that she will become part of the family.

Deb and I have always thought of her as part of the family for years now anyway, but now they have a piece of paper that proves it.

And, yes, I am doing double duty as the father of the groom and the photographer. In over 10 years of photography, this will be my first wedding (shhhh don’t tell them that). I have looked at more wedding photography in the last month than I ever thought I would (Chad Wright’s wedding photography has helped a lot, thanks bro), and I think I am as prepared as I can me.

All I have to do now is manage to get my larger photo back bag through security and in an overhead bin so some lovely baggage agent doesn’t alter my first wedding shoot, and my equipment.

I am sure everything will go as planned and soon Sara, who is managing to get our flip-flop wielding son into a suit and actual shoes for an entire Saturday (and me for that matter) will be a happy woman on her way with her new husband to Alaska on Sunday.

What would be nice is if this long tradition of taking photos at a wedding was transferred to taking photos on the honeymoon, now that would be something. The trip afterwards always seems to be in some grand place (sometimes a grander location than the wedding itself), with incredible scenery, and what do most couples take, themselves and some old point-n-shoot. Oh well.

Welcome to the family Sara, we love you.

Bachelor Loop Road in Creede Colorado, a Must See

2 Jun

I finally got back around to doing the photo of the day. This image is from a trail called Bachelor Loop that runs from the town center of Creede Colorado up into the mountain that overlooks the city, then back down the other side. The road runs in front of the cabin and you can see it in the photo here. It is a dirt forest road (not big at all, one lane at most) that winds around the mountains through Bachelor Loop.

It is an incredible drive as far as scenery goes, but you better leave your nerves behind and make sure your have a 4-wheel drive vehicle, at least in the colder months. The road here in front of the cabin is the loop road, which narrows greatly as you go up the mountain. This image of the cabin just calls out Colorado to me. Isolated at times, in the mountains, dirt roads, beautiful surroundings. Colorado has some incredible places to visit.

I have started to add my images like this image of the day, current, and past photo shoots to my business gallery, called Scott Fillmer Photography. You can see additional images here as I add them to Auburn Images gallery, or just click on the link at the top of this blog called gallery. Enjoy.

Colorado Columbine Flower in Bloom, Always Beautiful

16 May

There are a few wildflowers that really capture a state, and the top two that come to mind are the Texas Bluebonnets and the Colorado Columbine. The Colorado Columbine is actually native to Canada but has really become a symbol of Colorado since it was adopted as the official state flower on April 4, 1899 by an act of the General Assembly.

The Colorado Columbine Flower in Bloom

This flower has so many different faces and can be photographed in so many different poses that one shot does not do this flower justice. Below is the classic head on shot as I like to call it.

When trying to shoot closeup images of flowers it is great if you can get the green leaves in the background as this will make the flower pop off the page. I managed to get a little green in the bottom right corner but would have loved that all the way around the image.

What are your favorite wildflowers of the Spring and Summer months?

Coypu Nutria or Marmot or Prairie Dog Relaxing

1 May

This image of the day is a little different. This is a Coypu or Nutria, sort of like a beaver with a cat-like tail.

The coypu or nutria (Myocastor coypus) is a large, herbivorous, semi-aquatic rodent and the only member of the family Myocastoridae. Originally native to temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, primarily by fur ranchers.

This, not so little, guy just sat here with me for about an hour. Animals can be a lot of fun to photograph, if they cooperate, and they usually don’t. When trying out wildlife photography, best to use a very long lens if you can, at least a 200mm would be a good place to start. Isolate the background by using a very small aperture (stop all the way down to f2.8 if you have that fast of a lens).

The point of focus is almost always going to be on their eyes. You want the eyes to be in sharp focus and just let the rest of the image fall where it does. Even with the focus on his eyes here, you can see some pretty good detail in his paws.

If you can use a directional flash without disturbing the animal it will give just enough of a flash off their eyes to make them look more real, not like a wax figure.

Image Specifics

Body – Nikon D2X
Lens – Nikon 80-200mm f2.8, with a Nikon 1.4x teleconverter
Shot at f4 (due to the one stop loss from the teleconverter) @ 1/400 sec.
Film – digital @ ISO-100

Ivy Creek Trail in the Colorado National Forest

28 Apr

This image of the day comes from a National Forest trail that is so green during the summer it looks like a rain forest. This is from about a mile or so down Ivy Creek Trail in Colorado, one of many hundreds of images I came out with on this particular day.

Walking the Ivy Creek Trail

If you have never walked a trail in a secluded spot you don’t know what you are missing. The peace that I tried to convey in this image is only the tip of the ice burg so to speak. You take a road out of Creede Colorado to a national forest road (dirt road), where you have road signs and a view of houses.

The farther into the woods you travel, the smaller the road gets, the more nature takes over. Once you are back into the trail you hear absolutely no man made noise. No street noise, no cars, no chatter, just the creek and some birds.

It is like you have traveled into a sound booth at a recording studio and it is miles and miles across. This photo was taken only about a quarter mile into the trail, which you can take for about 20-30 miles, or loop all the way back into the city of Creede.

This image below is one of my all time favorite shots I have taken as a photographer. I would encourage you to look at the larger size to see the details in the trees. Only can nature produce so many variants of green. In person, it is the most lush and fertile area you can imagine, almost untouched by society.

Image Specifics

Body – Nikon D2X
Film – Digital RAW 12.1mp
Lens – Nikon 17-35mm [f/2.8] shot @ 17mm – f/13
Exposure – 6 seconds @ ISO-100

North Clear Creek Falls Colorado Long Exposure

25 Apr

This image was taken way way down in the river bottom. It is quite a hike down to the river and most shots are normally taken from the parking lot at the very top of the falls. This is North Clear Creek Falls in the Colorado Rio Grande National Forest, just a short drive away from Creede or Lake City Colorado.

There is also a South Clear Creek Falls and it is a little smaller and farther away down the river. I really like South Clear Creek Falls myself, it is away from the road and harder to get to, but very peaceful. If you ever have an opportunity to photograph North Clear Cree Falls I would recommend getting there even before sunrise to put some color on the rocks and to give yourself a chance to hike down before the sun is in full blaze.

A tripod is almost a requirement for this one unless you can find a level enough rock to place your camera, without something like that you will not be able to get the flowing milky water as seen above.

Image Specifics

Body – Nikon n90s
Lens – Nikon 24-120mm
Film – Fuji Velvia 50

Colorado in September and It’s 23 Degrees

30 Sep

This image was taken just a few days ago. YES, these two photos were taken on September 25th, in Creede, Colorado. Not the most photographic images I know, but we went up to visit some family in Colorado and froze to death in just a few days. The fall weather in this part of Colorado can be brutal, and the winter just miserable. Being from the south, cold is what it gets for two days in February when it gets below 40 degrees, here, at the 9,000 foot level, it gets to be -30*F in the winter, and just plain cold in the fall.

At this elevation, temperatures are well below freezing long before the rest of us even know fall is near. It is one of the most beautiful parts of the country, and the most unforgiving and harsh as well. The Aspens were in full yellow fall colors, frost and all.

The temp shown above was actually quite warmer than it was in the car. The car read 19.3*F as I took this photo. Just two long days in the car and we were back in the fall in the south, a cool 92*, ahhhh, we can almost turn off the air conditioning now. The first image is the car, and again, this is September, and the next is of course my loving wife Deborah, showing me how much she loves to be sitting in a frozen car instead of sitting in the Florida Keys.

Cold Colorado Fall

Time to Move from Colorado to Alabama

5 Jan

Moving From Colorado

Time to move to Alabama.

We have been in Colorado for some time now and have made some good friends but it is time to move on to what will probably be a more permanent location for us. We have been traveling now for more than 5 years without a steady place to call home and this, for now, is going to be it, Auburn.

Could you load everything you own into this trailer? We did…

Things shifted a little in the 1500 mile journey from Colorado to Alabama.

Help was needed.

Now we can unload!!

The kitchen of the rent house quickly took shape.

Scott took over what is supposed to be the living room for his office space.

This is the center of the house. From this post you can rotate 360 degrees and see every room.

Scott Fillmer

Lake City Colorado Wide-Angle Water Landscape

Other Posts Related to this Topic