One of the many things I love about America is the driving, especially in such a beautiful place as Estes Park in Colorado, right by the Rocky Mountains.
And the road names are so evocative as well.
A short drive north out of town on Wonderview Avenue will take you, via Macgregor Avenue, up past the Stanley Hotel to the forbiddingly named Devil's Gulch Road.
But there's nothing to fear, as the road swings east and takes you past old style western ranches nestled at the base of Lumpy Ridge and on down a few hairpin bends till eventually you arrive at the small town of Glen Haven.
Glen Haven was all but wiped out in a dam burst a few years back, but the general store is still in operation and selling the most wonderful cinnamon rolls.
We were advised to give the rolls a try by the very helpful receptionist at our hotel, and I'm really glad we took her advice, not just for the rolls, but for the drive as well.
This image shows one of the hairpin bends on the Devil's Gulch Road which I noticed on the way down to Glen Haven, and made a point of stopping (safely) and photographing on the way back up.
The combinations of linear and radial shapes, dark and light areas and a perfectly positioned sun was too good to resist.
I used my widest lens to exaggerate the perspective of the lovely bend, and stopped down to the smallest aperture possible to get a sunburst effect to use as a focal point for the composition.
Cinnamon rolls, a great drive and a dramatic photo - all in all a good morning's holidaying!
Filename - estes park devils gulch 01
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 14mm prime
Exposure - 1/200 sec @ f22, ISO100
Location - Estes Park, Colorado, U.S.A.
This image - 800x450px JPEG
Conversion - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - Small aperture used to enhance starburst
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