holga series: round 2

here are a few more favorite shots from a road trip back in april, i just got these back from the lab. if you haven't done so already, you check out holga series of southwestern colorado landscapes round 1 if you'd like to see more.

a roadside pit stop near the top of red mountain pass, colorado, shot with a holga:
a roadside pit stop near the top of red mountain pass, colorado:<br />

canyon of the ancients national monument are well preserved by tax payer's dollars:
canyon of the ancients national monument are well preserved by tax payer's dollars:canyon of the ancients national monument are well preserved by tax payer's dollars by kern-photo

wildfires in 1996, 2000, and 2002 burned much of the park. for the first 20 or so miles of driving in, the not-so-green-table looked very much like this, as shot from the fire lookout at park point overlook:
fire burned landscape at mesa verde by kern-photo with holga camera

the spruce tree house, among the best-preserved cliff dwelling at mesa verde:
at mesa verde's spruce tree house shot with a holga at dusk, by kern-photo

to avoid harsh shadows, i chose to shoot the largest cliff dwelling, cliff palace, at dusk using a tripod and my 70-200 f/2.8 lens zoomed to 200mm for 1/4 sec, f/11, iso 200. sorry, my holga just didn't have the low-light capability that the nikon d300 has. it boggles my mind to think ansel adams pulled some great stuff back in 1941 that still rival what a 100 megapixel camera could shoot today. if you scanned in one of his large format negatives at 300dpi, you'd get the about equivalent of about 100MP image. it just goes to show you megapixels don't matter.
cliff palace at mesa verde, at dusk, by kern-photo with a nikon d300 and 70-200 f/2.8 lens

and a 4 second exposure after sunset (f/6.7 and iso 800) was needed for this panoramic perspective using the nikon 12-24 f/4lens. it was super peaceful, quiet, and had the place all to myself for the better half of two hours. now, that is a luxury!
mesa verde national park, cliff palace, a 4 second exposure after sunset (f/6.7 and iso 800) was needed for this panoramic perspective using the nikon 12-24 mm f/4 lens by kern photo

the balcony house, built some 1,400 years ago and 'found' in 1884, is an intriguing place to explore. my imagination had fun thinking about what it was like to live a thousand years ago, without the internet, global commerce, and reality-tv. while i was walking around, the rangers were so patiently answering visitor's questions. i overheard one of the small kids ask the rangers, "why did they built their houses so far from the road" :)

i probably would have asked the same question if i was 5 years old!
the balcony house at mesa verde national park by kern-photo with nikon d300the balcony house at mesa verde national park by kern-photo with nikon d300detail of ladder, the balcony house at mesa verde national park by kern-photo with nikon d300overview of the balcony house at mesa verde national park by kern-photo with nikon d300

while many the the areas have been excavated and restored, there are many reminders of the ancestral puebloans of mesa verde like rock drawings, pottery shards. i enjoyed seeing the tiny foot holds cut into the rock and spaced apart like a grade 5.7 or so at the rock climbing gym! and to think kids ran up and down this rocks all day long carrying water, food, and toys!
close crop of the balcony house at mesa verde national park by kern-photo with nikon d300