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UltravioletPhotography

Colorado National Monument


OlDoinyo

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Colorado National Monument is one of America's lesser-known parks; it originated when one John Otto moved to the rugged canyon country southwest of Grand Junction, fell in love with the area, and started a decades-long personal campaign to have it designated a national park. He finally got his wish after a fashion in 1911, when President Taft issued an executive order designating Colorado National Monument. (An actual National Park label requires an act of Congress, and such an upgrade in status has never happened, but this is largely a technicality.) Otto later served as the first superintendent and help build the main park road and facilities.

 

More about the park here:

 

https://www.nps.gov/colm/learn/index.htm

 

On March 6th, I visited the park, and came away with a few images, including the UV frames shared here. All images were taken with the Sony A900 at f/16 and ISO 100 with display intent BGR unless otherwise indicated. The Steinheil 50mm was fitted with a Baader U2 filter; the Tamron 21mm was fitted with a rear-mounted UG11/S8612 stack.

 

"A Grand Valley Postcard" (0.8 seconds, Steinheil:)

 

post-66-0-78157800-1521141852.jpg

 

The Wingate sandstone takes on a warm hue in this treatment which reminds me of old hand-colored postcards from the early 20th century. The UV imagery reminds me how much air pollution there is around Grand Junction--more than meets the eye, so to speak. Independence Monument, in the center of the frame, is one of the park's iconic rock formations, and was first climbed by John Otto.

 

"Canyon Overlook" (6 seconds, Tamron:)

 

post-66-0-73865800-1521141873.jpg

 

Snow patches from a storm earlier in the week still dotted north-facing slopes, as seen in this photo.

 

"The Coke Ovens" (2 seconds, Steinheil:)

 

post-66-0-55124500-1521142026.jpg

 

The eponymous rock formations are seen in the center of the frame still grazed by the last light of late afternoon. They also appear in the right of the preceding frame.

 

"Monument Canyon" (3.2 seconds, Steinheil:)

 

post-66-0-42602400-1521141968.jpg

 

The Baader's bullseye artifacts are more apparent in this image than in the others, for some reason; perhaps that this was shot into the light had something to do with that.

 

"Fruita Canyon" (30 seconds, Tamron, ISO 400:)

 

post-66-0-53442000-1521141908.jpg

 

This last image was taken as the sun was setting and the light was failing. There was essentially no chromaticity, so I worked it up as a sepia-tinted monochrome for an old-fashioned look.

 

I cannot claim that these images reveal any major insight into UV photography as such, nor into the UV properties of the subject matter; they are mainly an artistic exercise.

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That is beautiful land there in Colorado. I am not familiar with this area and would love to see it. Given that I have some family in southwestern Colorado, I should get out there more. :)

 

Thanks for the lovely UV photo essay. I like the preservation of the reddish tones and the sepia tint. That certainly works for these views.

 

I agree that the BaaderU is probably at its worst on wide landscapes. It is difficult to view this as a feature rather than a dichroic "bug". B)

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  • 2 weeks later...
The tones are really interesting with this type of scenery. I really like the composition of the last one with the road leading to the heat fog in the background.
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  • 2 weeks later...

Postscript: Independence Monument in IRY

 

Sony A900 camera, Tiffen #15 filter. Worked up in Pixelbender and Photoshop. Synthesized image from a single exposure.

 

post-66-0-20337800-1523034296.jpg

 

The difference in spectral band makes a dramatic difference in visibility!

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Yes it does!

I like this version for its contrasts. Spectacular scenery there. And we can really see where the plant life is with this treatment.

 

I've always found it so interesting that in distant landscapes, infrared light brings out the details and contrasts because the longer wavelengths can travel better through the atmosphere while the shorter UV wavelengths give us that hazy, soft look. But up close (as in my botanical work) the results are just the opposite. So many of my IR flowers are soft while the UV versions are sometimes too bitingly sharp with lots of gritty little details.

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  • 1 year later...

Postscript: March, 2020

 

I returned to this location a couple of weeks ago, and snapped a few images. The first four images are again of the Independence Monument scene. Images were obtained with the Sony A900 and the Steinheil Cassar-S lens at f/16. The images are, in order:

1: Straight UV, BGR intent, Baader U2 filter;

2: Chronochromic, RGB order, 1-minute intervals, Baader U2;

3: Straight IR, BGR intent, Hoya R72;

4: Chronochromic, RGB order, 1-minute intervals, Hoya R72.

 

post-66-0-89831000-1585012821.jpg

 

I also include an IRG shot looking east toward the Grand Mesa. Filter was Tiffen 12, with Pixelbender workup:

 

post-66-0-60409600-1585013794.jpg

 

There were many permutations of images I could have chosen for the chronochromic treatments, but I have not explored them all.

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I'm really liking the chronochromic results. It has been a long time since I tried those, so this is an inspiration to try again.

 

The IRG photo is lovely. Those colours seem to fit the landscape.

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  • 2 years later...

Postscript 3: Fruita Canyon Redux

 

Same camera as before, a few days ago, Tamron 17mm lens, U360/S8612 filter, 10 seconds@f/16.

FruitaCanyonUVjsmallexDSC00024.jpg.55ea5a0f3b01d3138df0e2a9d95b6a71.jpg

 

Slight green tinge as I neglected to close the viewfinder shutter which resulted in a bit of infrared fogging. But the snow pops out interestingly.

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