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A cold, clear September morning high in the Rocky Mountains and the sky to the east is glowing in the pre-dawn light.
My wife Liz and I were at the start of a wonderful two week holiday spent exploring the magnificent scenery of the Rocky Mountain National Park from our base at Estes Park, and having been shunted through six time zones from our home in North Wales my internal clock was a bit out to say the least.
Which is why, wide awake at 3am, I decided to take advantage of my condition to get out and do some early morning photography.
We'd visited Sprague Lake the day before, so I was able to find my way in the darkness to the lakeside where I set up my camera close to the water's edge and proceeded to take the hundreds of still images needed to create my Rocky Mountains Timelapse #9 video.
I was first at the lake but was soon joined by other local photographers as the light grew stronger, who stopped by for a chat, passing on nuggets of useful information as to where to go for some more great photo opportunities, which I made full use of as our holiday unfolded.
This image is taken from towards the end of that time lapse shoot, with the sun just about to appear above the horizon and with near perfect reflections of the sky, trees and mountains in the still waters of the lake below me.
I'm so glad I didn't just stay in bed, tossing and turning in my jetlagged frustration!
Rocky Mountains Stars Timelapse #1
Filename - rocky mountains sprague lake 04
Camera - Canon EOS 6D
Lens - 24-105mm zoom @ 28mm
Exposure - 1/5 sec @ f4, ISO100
Filters - 2 stop neutral density graduated filter used to balance the brightness of the sky with its reflection.
Location - Sprague Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA
Image enhancements - Adobe Lightroom
Comments - This image is one of hundreds taken to create my Rocky Mountains Timelapse #9 video.
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