Black and Blue and Pink All Over

MonikaC

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
I made a quick trip to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, hoping for some night photography. I've never gone there at this time of the year as I usually went to go rock climbing in March through maybe early May. The usual hazards are the ubiquitous poison ivy in the inner canyon and lots of bad rock. There's another one on the rim, at least at this time of year: bees. Numerous and aggressive around the campsites. I got stung when I was just standing there, hands on hips, trying to decide if I was going to stay there or find somewhere else. Feeding my dog was quite the issue as bees immediately swarmed her bowl as soon as I put kibble in it. I quickly set it down on the picnic table, which was a mistake, as then I had to figure out how to shoo the bees away without getting stun so I could pick it up & put it in the FJ so I could feed her there so she wouldn't get stung as she tried to eat. I finally waved a leash over the bowl enough that they mostly backed off long enough for me to grab the bowl bolt for the car door. Back to photography: I scouted for a site that would work for the Milky Way and found a nice promontory with inner canyon views and came back after dark. Alas, when the half moon was out, it was completely cloudy, then, going out in the wee hours, it just wasn't interesting with the canyon only visible as a silhouette (and I couldn't find the spot that I liked shoot from in the dark. It's not a great place to wander around int he dark as one of my first memories of the place was when a friend went climbing there with his girlfriend; they had finished the technical climbing, unroped & were hiking out when she slipped & fell to her death). I went back at first light (blue hour) hoping for some gap light at sunrise as it was again mostly cloudy, but it seemed like there might be a bit of light sneaking in. Wrong again. There was, however, just enough light that, combined with the smoke, really made the pegmatite bands really stand out pink. Lightning hit within a minute after taking these shots. It made me very aware of being in a very exposed position, so I packed up as the first raindrops were coming down. This was 2 exposures, one for the sky, one for the canyon.

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Ben Egbert

Ben Egbert

Forum Helper
Staff member
This is an incredible and very unique image Monica. Love your back story too. The light in the canyon is amazing and those bands really make this image.
 
AlanLichty

AlanLichty

Moderator
Very interesting image for your efforts. Certainly not the usual view of this canyon I have seen before with the pinks and blues.

The back story is remarkable and one I can easily relate to with the bees. When they are in hungry season it's hard to do much of anything involving edibles outdoors. When I was still living in Utah my sister came up to visit and I took her up the Mirror Lake Highway for a hike. We bought sandwiches from a Subway in Park City before we left. Trying to eat the sandwiches up by Mirror Lake was beyond challenging as you had to shoo them away from the sandwich before taking each bite or risk getting them in your mouth while they swarmed our lunches. Never did finish lunch that day.
 
MonikaC

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
AlanLichty said:
Very interesting image for your efforts. Certainly not the usual view of this canyon I have seen before with the pinks and blues.

The back story is remarkable and one I can easily relate to with the bees. When they are in hungry season it's hard to do much of anything involving edibles outdoors. When I was still living in Utah my sister came up to visit and I took her up the Mirror Lake Highway for a hike. We bought sandwiches from a Subway in Park City before we left. Trying to eat the sandwiches up by Mirror Lake was beyond challenging as you had to shoo them away from the sandwich before taking each bite or risk getting them in your mouth while they swarmed our lunches. Never did finish lunch that day.
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I remember seeing a kid take a drink from his pop bottle without looking first......... After seeing that, I always put the cap back on any bottle I'm drinking from when outside.
 
Douglas Sherman

Douglas Sherman

Staff
MonikaC said:
I made a quick trip to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, hoping for some night photography. I've never gone there at this time of the year as I usually went to go rock climbing in March through maybe early May. The usual hazards are the ubiquitous poison ivy in the inner canyon and lots of bad rock. There's another one on the rim, at least at this time of year: bees. Numerous and aggressive around the campsites. I got stung when I was just standing there, hands on hips, trying to decide if I was going to stay there or find somewhere else. Feeding my dog was quite the issue as bees immediately swarmed her bowl as soon as I put kibble in it. I quickly set it down on the picnic table, which was a mistake, as then I had to figure out how to shoo the bees away without getting stun so I could pick it up & put it in the FJ so I could feed her there so she wouldn't get stung as she tried to eat. I finally waved a leash over the bowl enough that they mostly backed off long enough for me to grab the bowl bolt for the car door. Back to photography: I scouted for a site that would work for the Milky Way and found a nice promontory with inner canyon views and came back after dark. Alas, when the half moon was out, it was completely cloudy, then, going out in the wee hours, it just wasn't interesting with the canyon only visible as a silhouette (and I couldn't find the spot that I liked shoot from in the dark. It's not a great place to wander around int he dark as one of my first memories of the place was when a friend went climbing there with his girlfriend; they had finished the technical climbing, unroped & were hiking out when she slipped & fell to her death). I went back at first light (blue hour) hoping for some gap light at sunrise as it was again mostly cloudy, but it seemed like there might be a bit of light sneaking in. Wrong again. There was, however, just enough light that, combined with the smoke, really made the pegmatite bands really stand out pink. Lightning hit within a minute after taking these shots. It made me very aware of being in a very exposed position, so I packed up as the first raindrops were coming down. This was 2 exposures, one for the sky, one for the canyon.

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That is an incredible image, Monika. What accounts for the blue and pink colors?

That was a sad story about your friends girlfriend. It makes you think about how fragile life is.
 
MonikaC

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
Douglas Sherman said:
That is an incredible image, Monika. What accounts for the blue and pink colors?

That was a sad story about your friends girlfriend. It makes you think about how fragile life is.
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The blue is from it being the "blue hour" and maybe the storm that was just around the bend (and Canons tend to show black as being more blue than Nikons do) and the pink, I'm guessing, is from the wildfire smoke and a bit of alpenglow from the gap light. Up close, the pegmatite is pretty white. It's a crystalline granite (you probably know that) and I've seen very broken up granitic rocks on the back side of the Snowy Range in WY turn blue and pink with the reflected light at sunset. Maybe that accounts for some of the blue, too. In addition, a lot of light has been warmed up by the smoke, as I'm sure you've seen.

Doing some homework: the pegmatite has feldspar in it that makes it pink.
 
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John Holbrook

John Holbrook

Well-Known Member
Beautifully unique image with the accompanying story interesting as well. I’m so sorry to hear about the climbing tragedy.
 
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JimFox

JimFox

Moderator
Staff member
First off, what an awesome image Monika. Even without the Milky Way or stars, the lighting and composition totally carry this all on it's own. The conditions weren't ideal but you came away with a winner.

I have been looking and trying to figure out whether you were on the North or South Rim, though I am thinking the North Rim?

That's too bad about the bee's. I have been there in all of the seasons now, but it sounds like I have been really lucky to not have come across the bee's like that. Boy, that would make conditions really hard to be in and photograph in.
 
MonikaC

MonikaC

Well-Known Member
JimFox said:
First off, what an awesome image Monika. Even without the Milky Way or stars, the lighting and composition totally carry this all on it's own. The conditions weren't ideal but you came away with a winner.

I have been looking and trying to figure out whether you were on the North or South Rim, though I am thinking the North Rim?

That's too bad about the bee's. I have been there in all of the seasons now, but it sounds like I have been really lucky to not have come across the bee's like that. Boy, that would make conditions really hard to be in and photograph in.
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Jim, I was on the North Rim, a bit west of Chasm View Nature Trail on a little rock outcropping.
Luckily, the bees stayed in the campground and around vehicles parked at the trailhead. One fellow I talked to thought that they were interested in the squashed bugs on the vehicles.
 
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