Crested Butte: From Dusk Till Dawn

No, it's not a sequel to the 1996 Tarantino-Clooney film. Just a collection of shots I took during my weekend in Crested Butte while the sun was down.

It was already dark by the time I got there Friday night, so I was pretty much pointing my camera based on guesswork and suggestions from Josh Futterman.  Shooting south resulted in star trails, Whetstone Mountain and the lights of Gunnison in the distance creating a soft glow on the horizon.

By Saturday night I had my bearings and decided to shoot toward Crested Butte itself instead.  Left the shutter open for 16 minutes this time, and got some foreground light thanks to a motion sensor on the garage that I tripped by mistake.  It was too darned cold to shoot for another 16 minutes, though.

Early Sunday morning a bright sliver of moon still hung in the sky while an icicle hung from the shed.  Thank goodness it wasn't windy, because it was plenty cold as it was.

You know what's a little freaky about properly exposed pre-dawn scenes?  No shadows.

The sky slowly filled with pinks and lavenders behind Mt. Emmons, also known as the "Red Lady."

Lovely panoramic stretching from Red Lady to Gothic Mountain.

One final gasp of color before the morning sun started to hit the tops of the peaks.  No true alpenglow, but I wasn't complaining.  Waking up to this view every morning just has to get your day off to a solid start. :)