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Barker Dam, Colorado #1

The reservoir formed by Barker Dam near Nederland, Colorado, U.S.A.

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The story behind this image

Greater than the sum of its parts.

This image of the Barker Reservoir at Nederland, Colorado, comprises several simple elements, none of which is terribly interesting in its own right.

But put them together and the combination and placement of the different elements makes for a really nice whole composition.

My wife Liz and I were taking a break from exploring the Rocky Mountain National Park, and instead took the I7 south from Estes Park down to Nederland, just to see what it was like.

Just before reaching Nederland itself we pulled over to take a look at the Barker Dam and reservoir, and maybe take a photo or two.

Intially I was unimpressed with the view, having overdosed on magnificence up in the Rockies the previous day.

But after a few minutes' looking around I found this arrangement which appealed a little, with its arrangement of triangles of different colours.

But I still wasn't convinced enough to press the shutter until a small cumulus cloud hove into view over the water.

So I hunkered down and waited until it was just in the right spot before taking this one exposure.

Shortly after the cloud evaporated and the scene returned to its previous uninteresting state, so we packed up and headed off to Nederland for a coffee.

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Image data

Filename - colorado barker dam 01.jpg

Camera - Canon EOS 6D

Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 24mm

Exposure - 1/50 sec @ f11, ISO100

Location - Barker Dam, Nederland, Colorado, U.S.A.

This image - 533x800px JPEG

Conversion - Adobe Lightroom

Comments - Polarising filter used to enhance colours