The Terra Galleria Blog – QT Luong

Last week, after seeing the following headline: “Wondering which photo is best? Ask this deep-learning algorithm online”, I had to give the new algorithm a quick test. After it correctly identified a key image of mine amongst a group of images of the same subject, I investigated further by running the algorithm against all the images on terragalleria.com. The findings do not agree with the headline, but are quite interesting.

The Tunnel View set

As a former Artificial Intelligence (AI) scientist turned full-time photographer, I enjoy keeping an eye on latest advances of AI being applied to photography. Photo editing is an elusive skill, with excellent professional photo editors commanding three-figure hourly rates. So when I ran across an article reporting on new technology that may automate “choosing the best photos”, my curiosity was picked.

As a quick test, I ran the algorithm on a set of 8 photographs made at Yosemite’s Tunnel View, with those resulting scores:

Although all the scores were relatively low (more on that latter), I was impressed to see that the algorithm scored my well-known image the highest. Could it be that indeed it is now possible to automatically pick up the best image ?

The terragalleria.com image library

I was intrigued enough with that quick test to run the algorithm on my entire online image library of more than 37,000 images. Here are the results for all images sorted from high score to low score.

Although the headline that got me curious talked about the “best” photo, anyone with a modest science training can understand that there is no such a thing. One has to first define the criteria for any metric to make sense. The criterion used by the MIT researchers for their project is “Memorability”, which they define as the ability of human observers to remember that they have seen a given picture before. As such, they are able to measure memorability by showing a large number of images to subjects (paid through Amazon Mechanical Turk) and asking them to click a button if they see an image for a second time. Once this metric is established, and the dataset gathered, they are able to use machine learning methods to produce an algorithm that achieves near human performance on that dataset.

On my dataset, textured images with strong repeating shapes seem to be overly favored. Aditya Khosla, the lead author, provided this explanation: “those might have a high score because of a limitation of our data which does not contain a significant proportion of such images. The reason is that it’s likely to find certain patterns correlated with memorability e.g., circles, but since most of the images the model has seen only contains one or two circles, it may not realize that 50 circles (as in a texture) also exist in the world and the score just keeps adding as more circles show up.”.

Besides this glitch, the results square well with a fact that has been known by psychologists for a while: the most memorable images are portraits and images of people, whereas landscape are the least memorable, as you can see by browsing results in reverse order.

Landscapes

Now that we know that some subjects are more memorable than others, can we find interesting conclusions by restricting our evaluation to a single subject ? Here are the results for the landscape images sorted from high score to low score. Besides the bias for strongly textured images already noticed, we can see that the most memorable images are those which are “graphic”, with strong features, whereas the least memorable images are “busy” landscapes with lots of fine detail. This seems to correlate well with the observation that the former images have more “impact”.

Memorability versus Esthetics

Memorability as defined above does not correspond to the everyday definition of what makes a photo the “best”. Although the latter judgement is largely subjective, there is a whole cottage industry (photo contests), and a lot of community websites (such as Flickr or 500px) which are premised on the validity or usefulness of image ratings. For years, terragalleria.com has also been offering to visitors the opportunity to rate images, as well as sort images by those ratings. Presumably, they are based on esthetic appeal.

For each of the 15,000+ images that have received at least 5 ratings from visitors, I took the average of those ratings. Users can rate images from from 10 (best) to 0 (worse). Here is the scatter plot of average ratings (X-axis) versus memorability scores (Y-axis).

If there was a high correlation between ratings and memorability, the points on the plot would be distributed along a diagonal line. As can be seen, the points are all over the place, which means that correlation is low, consistent with Fig. 4(d) in the authors paper.

Those quick experiments have not even addressed the issue of context, which plays a crucial role in how photographs are perceived and remembered – if you have any doubt, think about photojournalism. While memorability represents a promising measurement of the utility of images, photo editors jobs are still secure!

Of the five islands that make up Channel Islands National Park, one has eluded me for a while. The smallest of the Channel Islands, Santa Barbara is only one square mile in size. However, I couldn’t be pleased with my explorations of the park until I visited each of its five islands. This fall, I found at least a satisfying way to photograph Santa Barbara Island.

Because the crossing takes about 3 hours each way, day trips would be very rushed. On the other hand, the exclusive concessionaire, Island Packers, usually schedules trips that leave you on the island for 2 or 3 days before the boat comes back to retrieve campers. Unless you engage in water activities, this is quite a long time for an island with less than 5 miles of trails. There are only about four camping trips each year, running from July to October – when many wildflowers (including the coreopsis) are no longer in bloom. In the past years, by the time I got serious about scheduling, either the 10-site campsite had been booked out, or Island Packers had no room for sea kayaks. Access to the ocean is limited to the landing cove, so I consider a sea kayak almost a necessity to travel further on the waters. If you want to be amongst the less than two hundred people who camp on Santa Barbara Island each year, you have to plan very early and hope for good weather.

This October, instead of a camping trip, I visited on a live-aboard diving boat, the Cee Ray, chartered by Ocean Safari Outdoors. Both boat and dive crews were friendly and helpful. Thanks for your help to this unfrequent diver! Ventura is closer to the northern Channel Islands, but Long Beach is a bit closer to the southern Channel Islands. Arriving the previous evening at the Long Beach Harbor was quite a different experience from the Channel Islands Harbor of Ventura/Oxnard. Whereas the former is filled with yachts and other small boats, the Long Beach Harbor is a huge shipping port with a very industrial-looking environment. As a prelude to a National Parks trip, this shocked me. My diving companions on the boat were also quite different from previous experiences, more urban, young, and ethnically diverse. The boat sailed at midnight, setting anchor near Santa Barbara Island well before dawn.

Walking onto the deck was like stepping in a different world with no signs of civilization visible nearby. A night dive took place, but since my last dive was 15 months ago, I chose to skip it. I didn’t want to fumble in the dark with diving gear, my camera, and a dive light, while going solo! However, I still got up early to photograph the curious glow of the underwater lights.

I stood mesmerized by the sight of Santa Barbara island emerging from darkness. Afterwards, the boat circled around the island in order to evaluate diving conditions. Since that took place at sunrise, it provided a range of views not accessible from shore with excellent light.

As I had learned on a previous diving trip in the Channel Islands, a diving boat provides far easier and comfortable access to diving sites than diving from the shore. It’s not even comparable. This time, instead of working with film, I used a Canon 5D mk2 and 17-40 f/4 lens with +4 diopter in the Ikelite underwater housing, together with the Ikelite DS160 strobe and a GoPro for video. Compared to the Nikonos, the rig is huge. Traveling with it is quite a drag, and hiking even more. In the water, it’s not really a problem since it becomes weightless. On a diving boat, a crew member simply handles your camera to you after you jump into the water.

Like the other Channel Islands, Santa Barbara is surrounded by extraordinary underwater kelp forests. They are the fastest growing plants on earth, adding as much as 3 feet per day. Diving in the giant kelp forest is like being able to fly in a tall forest. These plants may exceed 100 feet in height. The possibility to photograph at high ISO proved useful to capture the details and colors of the tall columns of seaweeds rising deep from the ocean floor to the surface.

High ISO really came on its own when photographing on the ocean floor. It is quite a bit darker than the surface. With slide film, I did not have enough light for a proper exposure. Underwater photography is all handheld. You want to avoid contact with the ocean floor in order not to damage its cover, so you are drifting with underwater currents while you are trying to frame your shot – which may include lots of fish swiming around.

Faster shutter speeds freeze the motion of the abundant school of fish, however, it was still necessary to use the strobe to bring bring back the bright color of the Garibaldi fish. They are not shy! Many got too close for me to focus, and one of them even bumped my camera housing.

Santa Barbara Island is renown for its large colonies of playful sea lions. Sea lions are awkward on land, but their grace and speed underwater was a sight to enjoy. Since they can swim up to 30 miles per hour, and they like to twirl in all directions, I was glad to be able to use faster shutter speeds, and even more, to be able to shoot hundreds of frames on a memory card, as opposed to 36 frames on a roll of film.

Swimming with the sea lions is a fantastic experience, as they are quite curious. A few of them swam towards me at great speed, blowed a few bubbles and veered sharply at the last second to avoid hitting me. The impact would hurt a bit more than a Garibaldi fish! I felt so privileged to be able to share for a moment the ocean with those intelligent creatures.

More images of Channel Islands National Park
More images of Santa Barbara Island

Here’s this year’s meta-list of best photobooks. It started with the shortlists for the Aperture Photobook Awards 2015, Foto Book Festival Kassel expert selection and Rencontres d’Arles Book Awards, and continued with Olga’s compilation of lists at phot(O)lia, which I encourage you to visit to follow the links to those lists.

The methodology is the same as for my meta-lists of previous years (2012, 2013, 2014). Unlike previous years, I won’t update the 2015 meta-list further. It takes a lot of work, and I am focusing time on my own book. Due to the subject and style, I do not expect it to be included in any of next year’s lists, but I think that a lot of readers will like it.

The meta-list is independent from the grand daddy of lists, the Photo-Eye 2015 Best Photobooks list, which includes 24 lists, and selected 17 titles with 3 or more votes. At this early (and this year, final) stage, the meta-list is quite comparable in size, as it uses 28 lists. In it, 30 titles total 3 or more votes. 10 titles appear in both lists, and the top vote of both lists is the same.

(8 votes)
Moisés. MARIELA SANCARI La Fabrica

(7 votes)
Deadline. WILL STEACY b.frank books
Songbook. ALEC SOTH Mack

(6 votes)
In the Shadow of Pyramids. LAURA EL-TANTAWY Self-published
Until Death Do Us Part THOMAS SAUVIN Jiazazhi Press

(5 votes)
Imperial Courts 1993–2015. DANA LIXENBERG Roma Publications
Life is Elsewhere. SOHRAB HURA Self-published
Missing Buildings. THOM & BETH ATKINSON Hwæt Books
Prophet. GEERT GOIRIS Roma Publications
You Haven’t Seen Their Faces. DANIEL MAYRIT Riot Books

(4 votes)
(in matters of) Karl. ANNETTE BEHRENS Fw:Books
Find A Fallen Star. REGINE PETERSEN Kehrer
Fire In Cairo. MATTHEW CONNORS SPBH Editions
Immerse. DAISUKE YOKOTA Akkina
LDN EI. ANTHONY CAIRNS Self-published
Lago. RON JUDE Mack
Taking off. Henry My Neighbour. MARIKEN WESSELS Art Paper Editions
Taratine. DAISUKE YOKOTA Session Press

(3 votes)
Before the War. ALEJANDRO CARTAGENA Self published
Bottom of the Lake. CHRISTIAN PATTERSON Koenig Books
Good 70s. MIKE MANDEL J&L Books/D.A.P.
Greetings from Auschwitz. PAWEŁ SZYPULSKI Edition Patrick Frey/Foundation for Visual Arts
Kumogakure Onsen (Reclusive Travels). MAZAKAZU MURAKAMI
Modoru Okinawa. KEIZO KITAJIMA Gomma books
Negatives. XU YONG New Century Press
Nude Animal Cigar. PAUL KOOIKER Art Paper Editions
Paper Planes. SJOERD KNIBBELER FW: Books
Shoji Ueda. SHOJI UEDA Chose Commune
Tones of Dirt and Bone. MIKE BRODIE Twin Palms
Wealth Management. CARLOS SPOTTORNO

(2 votes)
10 Days in Kraków. YUANYUAN YANG
A Handful of Dust. DAVID CAMPANY Mack
Albumas. SKUDZINSAS GYTIS Noroutine Books
Anna Konda. KATARZYNA MAZUR Dienacht Publishing
Blank Pages of an Iranian Photo Album. NEWSHA TAVAKOLIAN
Diary. BORIS MIKHAILOV. Walter Koenig
Dirt Meridian. ANDREW MOORE Damiani
Dzogchen. VINCENT DELBROUCK Self-published
Edges of the Experiment. MARIE-JOSÉ JONGERIUS & HANS GREMMEN
Erasure. FAZAL SHEIKH Steidl
I do not want to disappear silently into the night. KATRIEN DE BLAUWER Avarie
Illustrated People. THOMAS MAILAENDER Archive of Modern Conflict/RVB Books
In Search of Lost Memories. HAJIME KIMURA Self-published
Jean-Jaurès. GILLES RAYNALDY Purpose Éditions
Life is One Live it Well. HENRIK MALMSTRÖM Kominek
My Last Day at Seventeen. DOUG DUBOIS Aperture
Occupied Pleasures. TANYA HABJOUQA FotoEvidence
Révélations. JAVIER VIVER RM
Ser Sangre. IÑAKI DOMINGO RM Verlag/La Kursala/Here Press
Silent Histories. KAZUMA OBARA
Southern Rites. GILLIAN LAUB Damiani
Sunless. TIANE DOAN NA CHAMPASSAK
Teleplay, Pt 1. CATHARINE MALONEY Skinnerbox
The Chinese Photobook From the 1900s to the Present. WASSINKLUNDGREN & MARTIN PARR Aperture
The Complete Works. KOU INOSE
The Evolution of Ivanpah Solar. JAMEY STILLINGS Steidl
The encyclopedia of Kurt Caviezel. KURT CAVIEZEL Rorhof
The whale’s eyelash. PRUS TIMOTHY Archive of Modern Conflict Books
Transmission. LUCY HELTON Silas Finch
Unfinished Father. ERIK KESSELS RVB Books

If you are wondering how the meta-list changes as it incorporates more lists, compare the final 2014 meta-list with its initial version, which was posted on Dec 9, 2014, and that I am reproducing below.

(8 votes)
Hidden Islam. NICOLÓ DEGIORGIS Rorhof

(5 votes)
The Epilogue. LAIA ABRIL Dewi Lewis
Will They Sing Like Raindrops or Leave Me Thirsty. MAX PINCKERS self-published

(4 votes)
Back to the Future (limited edition). IRINA WERNING self-published
Carpoolers. ALEJANDRO CARTEGENA self-published
Disco Night Sept. 11. PETER VAN AGTMAEL red hook
The Winners. RAFAL MILACH GOST Books

(3 votes)
Euromaidan. VLADYSLAV KRASNOSHCHOK & SERGIY LEBEDYNSKYY Riot Books
Linger (Teikai). DAISUKE YOKOTA Akina Books
No Pain. Whatsoever KEN GRANT Journal
Ponte City. MIKHAEL SUBOTZKY & PATRICK WATERHOUSE Steidl
Sequester. AWOISKA VAN DER MOLEN Fw: Books
Trepat. JOAN FONTCUBERTA Éditions Bessard

(2 votes)
19.06_26.08.1945. ANDREA BOTTO Danilo Montanari
Anhill (meteorites). AUGUSTIN REBETEZ RVB Books
Centro. FELIPE RUSSO self-published
Congo. PAOLO PELLEGRIN & ALEX MAJOLI Aperture
Does Yellow Run Forever? PAUL GRAHAM Mack
Go There. GEN SAKUMA Roshin books
I. EAMONN DOYLE self-published
Imaginary Club. OLIVER SIEBER GwinZegal and BöhmKobayashi
Italia O Italia. FEDERICO CLAVARINO Akina
Karaoke Sunne. JH ENGSTRÖM & MARGOT WALLARD Super Labo
Land Without a Past. PHILIP EBELING Fishbar
Photographs for Documents. VYTAUTAS V. STANIONI Kaunas Photography Gallery
Pigeons. STEPHEN GILL Nobody
Printed in Germany. CHRISTOPHER WILLIAMS Walther Konig
Red Ball of a Sun Slipping Down. EUGENE RICHARDS Many Voices Press
Red String. YOSHIKATSU FUJII self-published
Reenactment MSf. ARWED MESSMER Hatje Cantz
Rich and Poor. JIM GOLDBERG Steidl
Silent Histories. KAZUMA OBARA self-published
Something like a Nest. ANDY SEWELL self-published
Strange Paradise. CHARLIE RUBIE Conveyor Editions
Syria Al-Assad. OLIVER HARTUNG Spector Books
Taxmonomy of a Landscape. VICTORIA SAMBUNARIS Radius
The Night Climbers of Cambridge. THOMAS MAILAENDER Archive of Modern Conflict
The Plot Thickens. JEFFREY FRAENKEL Fraenkel Gallery
The United States 2003-2013. MOSSLESS MAGAZINE
Tranquility. HEIKKI KASKI Lecturis
Typology. 1979 JOACHIM BROHM Mack
Vertigo. DAISUKE YOKOTA Newfave
Vienna MMix 10008/7000. JULES SPINATSCH Scheidegger and Spiess
Wild Pigeon. CAROLYN DRAKE self-published

Glacier National Park is renowned for its wildness, and the wildest part of Glacier is the North Fork. The most isolated section of the park that can be reached by vehicle, the region offers the adventurous photographer a chance to enjoy an experience away from the crowds.

The NPS management plan for Glacier National Park states that North Fork visitor facilities will preserve a primitive character. It forbids commercial development and vows to keep the Inside North Fork Road narrow and unpaved. The visitation is greatly reduced by those rough roads. You won’t find the traffic of the Going-to-the-Sun road here! However, the Outside road is definitively passable by regular cars if driven carefully (the speed limit is 20 miles per hour). Last fall, the rougher Inside road was closed. You can drive right to the edge of Bowman Lake and Kintla Lake, the region’s highlights. The drive in itself is a great journey out of the beaten path.

A mile from the park’s northwestern entrance, the rustic, off-the-grid outpost of Polebridge offers lodging and food, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Because the camping stores in the park were closed, I couldn’t find a cartridge for my compact foreign stove, so I had to content myself with uncooked Ramen noodles for dinner. When I walked into the charming Polebridge Mercantile store, I was delighted to smell their array of freshly baked goods. They would be delicious anywhere, but were a particular treat there.

Bowman Lake is the third largest lake in the park, after Lake McDonald and Saint Mary Lake. It is close enough from Polebridge (6 miles via a bumpy, unpaved road) that you could stay there if you don’t want to camp. The campground is very quiet, but it is primitive. From my campsite, I rolled out of bed and walked to the shore.

The peaks of the Continental Divide form spectacular backdrops on the eastern end of the lake. Due to the lake’s orientation, the light is normally good both at sunrise and sunset, but the sky was cloudy early, and cleared only in mid-morning. A few campers came to admire the view, but stayed near the boat launch. Walking along the untrameled shore east of it, I found a more interesting foreground with stones partly emerging from the water (opening image).

Kintla Lake, the fourth largest lake in the park, is only slightly smaller than Bowman Lake. Kintla Lake is even quieter than Bowman Lake. The small campground, Glacier National Park’s most remote frontcountry campground, is right at the edge of the water.

Unlike at Bowman Lake, no motorized boats are allowed, making it a great place to explore by kayak. However, I was glad that I did not get on the water that day. Only half an hour after I made the previous image, menacing clouds began to roll in. The wind calmed suddently before the rain. After taking advantage of the situation to photograph the reflections, I hopped in the car just as the first drops of water fell.

The 15-mile drive from Polebridge to Kintla Lake, on an unpaved road, takes about 45 minutes. Even if you didn’t visit the lake, it would be a rewarding journey through scenery not not found in the rest of the park, such as large meadows, and the North Fork of the Flathead River. Autumn colors along the way were beautiful at the beginning of October. Contributing to the sense of wildness, I did not see more than a dozen other cars along the whole road.

More images of Glacier National Park’s North Fork

In my quest to photograph fall foliage in each of the National Parks, I traveled to Glacier National Park this autumn. In this post, I report on the superb and relatively unknown color I found in the park, breaking it down region by region.

Unlike the mountains of the east coast, or even the Rocky Mountains further south, Glacier National Park is not a popular fall color destination. Witness how long it even took me to undergo this trip! This may be because by the end of September, all concessions (lodges and park stores) and many park services such as campgrounds and visitor centers have closed down. I was a bit surprised that so many amenities were closed, because the weather was just perfect, and the park beautiful at the beginning of October. I was told that the reason for those relatively early closures is that the NPS needs to prepare the park for the long winter by removing infrastructure that would otherwise been damaged by the snow.

Those closures mean that you need to be a bit more self-sufficient to visit Glacier National Park during the fall than in the summer. I wasn’t able to find a cartridge for my stove nearby, so I ended up eating uncooked Ramen noodles for several days. On the other hand, most of visitors have gone home. While in early September, it is common for all the campgrounds to be filled, in early October I never had any problem to find a site in the evening. In the more remote areas of the park, I sometimes had the impression that I had the park to myself.

The park is magnificent in the fall. Fall foliage can be found in all sides. It is particularly rich thanks to a larger variety of trees than in other Rocky Mountain parks. Besides the usual aspen and cottonwoods, they include including birch, Rocky Mountain maple and Western larch. The west side of the park changes color starting in mid-September, while the change on the east side occurs in late September. The larch trees growing at higher elevation are the last to change, in mid-October.

The West Side

Thanks to the abundant rain, the West Side of Glacier is characterized by extensive old growth forests reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest. Deciduous trees mix with them, so foliage displays the brilliant golds juxtaposed against the greens of the conifers. Look for it along the shores of Lake McDonald, and along the Going-to-the-Sun road. Even on a quiet walk in a pure evergreen forests, I found color on the undergrowth.

The North Fork

Glacier is renowned for its wildness, and the wildest part of Glacier is the North Fork. I saw many larch trees in the region, but in early October they hadn’t turned yet. A mid-october visit to Bowman Lake or Kintla Lake should be spectacular since they line up the shores. Like for the North Cascades Larches, a separate trip is required to capture the color of larches. On the other hand, at lower elevations, such as along the North Fork of the Flathead River, aspen were bright yellow.

St Mary Lake

The hillsides that form the North shore of St Mary Lake had an abundance of color, often solid gold. Taking advantage of a cloudy day, I parked on the side of the road and wandered uphill to find intimate forest scenes with aspen. However, my favorite images of the area contrasted the color of lakeshore cottonwoods with the greys of a burned forest using the same light (a sunny afternoon lended a very different character to that area).

Many Glacier

The road leading to Swiftcurrent Lake was lined up with trees in autumn foliage, although at even slightly higher elevations, such as around Apikuni Falls, the color was more sparse. Further north, the Chief Mountain International Highway (outside of the park) is also a prime fall color destination. Generally speaking, more aspens grow along the east slope of the Lewis Range than on the west side.

Two Medicine Lake

While the shores of Two Medicine Lake are dominated by conifers, I found color along the lower part of Two Medicine Valley, including the shores of Lower Two Medicine Lake. Along the south route around the park, Highway Two, miles of golden aspen lit up the foothills.

I hope those images have inspired you to plan a trip to Glacier National Park in the autumn. I am certainly planning to return one of those years, likely in mid-October to see the larches with hopefully fresh snow!

More images of Glacier National Park autumn foliage.

Away from the main road and communities, the relatively little-known Wild Basin area offers a quieter experience in Rocky Mountain National Park, perfect for a cloudy day if you enjoy photographing moving water.

Following a peaceful forested stream, you can photograph four diverse waterfalls within a 6 mile RT hike (950 feet elevation gain).

Since your main subject is flowing water, you should bring a tripod. It lets you use long exposures to render water as a smooth flow. Using a polarizer, I found that at ISO 50 (lowest available on my camera) and f/11-f/16, I could get exposures in the 1/4s-1s range, which smoothed the water while retaining some texture. The polarizer has the additional benefit of removing the surface glare from wet rocks. This makes them darker, creating contrast with the flowing water.

Despite all this water, I had trouble to find something to drink. In September, there were plenty of room in the USFS Olive Ridge Campground where I stayed, close to the Wild Basin entrance. However, there was no running water. Although the official NPS map states that water is available at the entrance station, I found it had been turned off there. I certainly didn’t want to drive 14 miles to Estes Park just to refill my water bottles! In the nearby small community of Allenspark, businesses were closed in the early morning. Fortunately, an innkeeper helpfully pointed me to a public source of water. Called Crystal Springs, it is located by the Allenspark business route Highway 7 up the road from the Fawnbrook Inn. The water is filtered directly from a mountain spring, keeping a delightfully fresh taste.

Copeland Lake

Shortly past the entrance station, Copeland Lake offers a decent roadside view with the reflection of Mount Copeland in the early morning. On that mostly cloudy day, I waited patiently for a bit of sunshine.

Copeland Falls

The first waterfalls, Lower and Upper Copeland Falls are less than 0.5 mile from the trailhead. North St. Vrain Creek drops only about fifteen feet there, but there are many compositions possible along the secondary trail that follows the creek between the two waterfalls. Even on a sunny day, if you arrive early enough, the creek will still be in the shade.

Calypso Cascades

Calypso Cascades is 2 mile from the trailhead, and is most easily photographed from the footbridge. Taking advantage of the autumn’s low flow, I also tried to scramble on the rocks for a different composition with a closer foreground. The staircase-like succession of drops should be a spectacular sight earlier in the season.

Ouzel Falls

The last waterfall, Ouzel Falls, is one of the most spectacular in the park. Ouzel Falls is quite distant from the bridge, but you can leave the main trail just before it, and follow a user trail to the base of the waterfall. Ouzel Falls faces south-east.

Cloudy weather works best for most of this hike. In such weather, I focussed on a close-up of Ouzel Falls, whereas in more sunny conditions, I would have tried to include it as part of a larger landscape.

View more images of Rocky Mountain National Park

Part 3 of 3: 1 | 2 | 3

Bear Lake is one of the classic locations in Rocky Mountain National Park. The popular destination is the start of a moderate trail that takes you to four lakes of different character in less than four miles (RT). This post gives tips for photography along the not-to-be-missed trail.

You can can park nearby and circle Bear Lake on a flat trail. As it is easily accessed and is a major trailhead, Bear Lake can become crowded during the day, requiring the use of the free shuttle. As I arrived before dawn, I had no problem parking. Since, based on previous visits, I prefer the afternoon light there, in the morning, I bypassed Bear Lake for the lakes further up the trail, and photographed it on the way back.

Nymph Lake

Nymph Lake (1 mile RT, 225 feet elevation gain) is partly covered with water lilies. You can photograph towards the continental divide in the morning, however only the tops of the peaks are visible. In the afternoon, distant Longs Peak is well illuminated and visible from the west shore. You’ll also find several openings on the trail above Nymph Lake with good views of Longs Peak.

Dream Lake

Dream Lake (2.2 miles RT, 425 feet elevation gain) is at the ideal distance from Flattop Mountain and Hallett Peak, which are prominent from there, but not too close. Since it is said to be the most photographed lake in the park, it can be useful to show up before sunrise to claim your spot for the classic composition near the outlet.

Emerald Lake

The peaks rise straight from Emerald Lake (3.6 miles RT, 625 feet elevation gain), which makes the setting awe-inspiring, but more difficult to photograph – super-wide angle needed! An easy scramble up slabs left of the trail gave me a higher viewpoint. Like for Dream Lake, the best light is from sunrise to early morning. Afterwards, the face of Hallet Peaks goes in the shade.

Bear Lake

Compared to the lakes along the trail, Bear Lake has less of an alpine character. It feels a bit ensconced, especially at the point when you first come upon the shore, with Flattop Mountain and Hallett Peak partly hidden.

However, if you walk counter-clockwise a short (0.25 miles RT) distance to a boulder field on the north shore, you’ll find a more open view which includes Longs Peak in the distance. Rocks provide a foreground and cut the waves for better reflections. Longs Peak is better lit at sunset, but sunrise can sometimes work.

From there, if you are up to scrambling up the boulder field, you‘ll discover a fine view from high above. From an opening between trees, you can photograph the lake in the middle ground, and Longs Peak in the background. The spot is most remarkable in the autumn, when yellow-colored aspens border the field to the west, and orange-colored aspens border it on the east. The aspen are sunlit from the morning to mid/late afternoon, and go in the shade at sunset – which is fine if you can control the dynamic range.

Continuing counter-clockwise along the shore, views of surrounding mountains disappear, but the slope where you found the boulder field and aspen makes for fine reflections in autumn.

View more images of Rocky Mountain National Park

Part 2 of 3: 1 | 2 | 3

Bear Lake Road is the most popular area of Rocky Mountain National Park because it gives quick access to locations which are representative of the beauty of the park. It had been a decade and half since my last visit there. In the while I had been traveling to less crowded parts of the park. However, I wanted to refresh my memory for the benefit of readers of my upcoming book, and also update my photos of the area which were shot on 35mm film – not those in this post, which are all large format. This post revisit in detail two contrasting spots along the Bear Lake Road.

Amongst the lakes situated along Bear Lake Road, Sprague Lake is the easiest to access. It provides a view of the Continental Divide which is one of the most iconic in the park. It is the first lake you’ll encounter on the road. The other trailheads further up the road often fill up in the early morning, requiring you to use the free shuttle. At Sprague Lake, parking is easy. Little hiking is required, which makes it a convenient sunrise location. When you come upon the shoreline, you’ll see the east side. Unless there is a spectacular sky on the east, you’ll want to continue counterclockwise until you can look towards the west towards the Continental Divide.

I kept walking (about a quarter of a mile) until I reached the east end of the lake. There were many photographers on the lake shore, but I was surprised to see that most of them had set up closer to the trailhead. I think the further east you go, the better the perspective is, because you are further from the western shoreline. This makes the peaks stand out above the trees, which also appear smaller compared to the peaks. You can see that by comparing with the night photo I made on the way.

The other benefit of photographing from the east end of the lake is that you can find boulders in the water to help anchor the composition. One photographer was camped near what I thought was the round boulder I used for a foreground a decade and half ago. I tried to find an alternative before concluding that, back then, I had indeed picked up the “best” spot. I asked the photographer the permission to set up next to him. Upon closer examination, I remarked that there was a second, flatter rock on the left. When I mentioned to the photographer that I did not remember it, he told me it had been there for a long time.

The light was weak at sunrise, but it would have been a bad idea to pack and leave, as the light improved in the following hour, in conjunction with some interesting clouds. Upon returning home, I checked my 1999 image (marked 2008 because it is the date of publication). Sure enough, the flat rock wasn’t present, maybe due to the higher water level in the springtime.

While I expected to be able to find the spot of my 1999 Sprague Lake image, I wasn’t so sure about the forest scenes that I photographed in the fall of 1998. The former is one of the park’s icons, whereas the latter is a scene which seemingly could be found anywhere. I remembered spending several hours at a mere boulder field surrounded by aspen on both sides, that offered many different compositions. I was particularly attracted to a few small trees growing close together out of the boulders, which had colorful leaves. However, at that time, I didn’t take note, nor did I memorize the location.

Driving up the Bear Lake Road, I noticed a steep boulder field on the north side, about 0.7 miles before the Glacier Gorge trailhead. There is room for a few cars in the curve and more at the nearby Prospect Canyon pull-out.

I scrambled up the boulders, and here they were, my old friends. Out of all the trees in the park, I had found the same nondescript aspens I had photographed seventeen years earlier!

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Possibly the most rewarding destination in Great Sand Dunes National Preserve, Mount Herard offers to off-trail hiker fantastic views over the the Sangre de Cristo Mountains and the dune field. Read more about this seldom-visited peak, and find detailed directions to navigate to the summit.

There are no established trails in Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve that give good views of the dune field from higher. One can find such a view slightly outside the park, at the Zapata Falls Recreation Area, 8 miles south of the national park. You can photograph right from the edge of the parking area. More varied forest foregrounds are available near the waterfall (1 mile RT), if you are willing to scramble a bit on the slopes above. However, the dunes are a bit distant from there and the perspective reminiscent of the entrance road.

Although information about hiking up Mount Herard – the prominent 13,345 feet mountain that dominates the dune field – is scarce, I figured it out that the summit would provide a more striking view. Mount Herard is of modest elevation by Colorado standards, but it soars a full mile above the Great Sand Dunes.

Starting from half a mile west of Medano Pass – reached through the Medano Pass Road (an adventure by itself), a trail reaches Medano Lake (8 miles RT, 2000 feet elevation gain). The lake is situated in a dramatic cirque of mountains below Mount Herard. From there, the summit of Mount Herard towers impressively above you. If you stopped there, the hike would already be worth it.

Morning light illuminates the cirque of mountains around the lake best. Since I had returned from the Sand Creek Lake hike quite late the day before, and I planned to summit in the late afternoon, I started at a relatively late time. When I arrived at Medano Lake, the cirque was backlit and the sky cloudy. I didn’t try to photograph it. Instead, I planned to use the same trick as before: photographing with the rising moon as a substitute for morning light.

When I started on the trail, I wasn’t sure whether I would be able to go to the summit. Because of my sprained ankle, the most I had walked all summer was a 2-mile stroll on the sidewalk. At the beginning of this trip, I felt tired after the shorter hikes I had done in Rocky Mountain National Park. Summiting required an additional 1800 feet of elevation gain without the benefit of an established trail. This makes for a total hike of about 3,800 feet elevation gain, and about 10 miles RT.

However, I knew that it was the easiest time of the year for this hike. Most of the year, the Medano Pass Road is closed. In the early fall, there is no snow on the ground and no risk of thunderstorms. While pausing on the shores of Medano Lake, I was able to trace a moderate route to the summit. Once I started, I was pleased to see that I’d be hiking on alpine tundra rather than rocks. Luck favors those who try. After less than fifteen minutes of cross-country hiking, I ran into a fairly good user trail, which happened to follow exactly the route that I had traced! At that point, I knew I would be able to make it.

To find the user trail from the start, look for it from the established trail when it skirts the smaller (northernmost) of the two lakes, climbing diagonally the slope to the northwest. It becomes less defined at a wide saddle, although cairns continue to mark the way up a narrower saddle, then a steeper and partly rocky ridge that leads to the rounded summit. Here is my GPS track for the day.

The view in all directions were well worth the effort. The Crestone group lies to the north, the Blanca mountains to the south. The summit is flat, but by hiking down a bit to the southwest of the summit plateau, I took in an extraordinary perspective on the dune field – the best high view in the park. It was indeed much better than from Zapata Falls because you are considerably closer and higher. From there, the 750 feet dunes look small. Like from points below, the light on the dune field is best in late afternoon, which is when I had timed my arrival.

I lingered on the summit until sunset. On the way down, hiking poles were of great help on the steep ridge. It was reassuring to have a GPS track to follow in the dark thanks to Gaia GPS. By the time I got back to the Medano Lake trail, the moon had risen. Instead of continuing down the trail, I made a short detour to photograph the lake as I had planned. This capped a great day in the mountains which was all the more satisfying because of the uncertainty with which it had started.

Part 3 of 3: 1 | 2 | 3

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If you are wondering what you’ll find in the mountains behind the Great Sand Dunes, and don’t care for hiking on trails, you may consider driving the primitive Medano Pass road. Not your vanilla scenic drive, traversing its tricky terrain requires the proper vehicle and a bit of planning. The reward is the opportunity to discover the often overlooked mountain environment of the park, particularly glorious in autumn.

The Medano Pass road is only 22 miles long, however it usually takes 2-3 hours to drive. The Park Service says that a high-clearance, 4WD is required. They state that “Mini-SUVs, wagons, and all-wheel drive vehicles will get stuck”, and based on my experience, I believe them. Although I’ve been on much more difficult roads (such as Teapot Canyon in the Maze of Canyonlands), I find that the combination of deep sands, creek crossings, and rocky and steep sections presents a unique challenge. Here’s the NPS detailed Medano Pass road guide. The road is usually open from Memorial Day week-end through the first serious snows in October.

Starting from the west side, the first obstacle you encounter is a 4 miles section of soft sand, between the aptly named “Point of No Return” and the “Sand Ramp Trail”. The sand is pretty deep in some places. In June 1999, I was driving a Jeep Cherokee, a capable high-clearance, 4WD vehicle, but as it was my first time driving in such conditions, I failed to keep the momentum going and got stuck. I got lucky that, a group of hikers helped me by pushing the car. After that incident, I did not dare to stop in the sandy section, missing out on some great views of the dune field from the east.

Between the west end of the road and Medano Pass, there are 8 places where Medano Creek crosses the road. There are no bridges, so you must ford the creek. On that June drive, I found the crossings very intimidating. Some were so long and deep that I was always afraid that the car would not make it. The creek was flowing strong, and you could not see the bottom – which fortunately is rocky rather than muddy. The park rangers drive Jeep Wranglers equipped with snorkels for good reason. However, on my second visit, in September, the crossings were easy in the low water conditions.

Complicating matters further, a rocky roadbed near the pass requires full tire pressure, whereas in some conditions, dropping tire pressure may be necessary to increase traction in the sandy sections. Unless you carry an air compressor, it is best to drive the road from east to west, as a free air compressor is available at the western entrance to the road. The eastern end of the road starts on County Road 559, along Hwy 69, about 16 miles south of Westcliffe, and is marked with a sign.

Remembering my difficulties in the sand fifteen years ago, and given that the vehicle that I rented (AWD with 8 inch of ground clearance) was less off-road worthy, I played it safe by driving from the east and returning that way. I skipped entirely the sandy section by turning back before reaching it. The rangers had discouraged me to even attempt that itinerary with my vehicle. I saw less than a dozen other vehicles, all of them pretty rugged. Another driver commented that the road was rough for my Ford Edge. However, I had no difficulties.

The drive was particularly rewarding in late September, when the golden aspen provide some of the most colorful fall foliage I’ve seen in any of the western national parks. The most beautiful section was near Medano Pass. There are also great views of Mt Herard near Medano Pass, with the best light being at sunrise and early morning. You can camp at a number of designated primitive campsites along the road. They are secluded and never fill up, unlike the Pinyon Flats campground, which was full on a late September week-end. Last, but not least Medano Pass is the trailhead for Medano Lake and Mt Herard, which will be the subject of the next posting.

Part 2 of 3: 1 | 2 | 3

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