RMNP: July 2015 Scenery

Overcast skies aren't a favorite of mine for shooting. But sometimes you don't have the luxury of waiting for other conditions. So over the years I've learned to work with them, and even appreciate some of the opportunities they provide.  Such was the situation on my one day in Rocky Mountain National Park earlier this month.

Wildlife was my primary objective.  But I never pass up the opportunity for a good landscape.  The clouds enshrouding the peaks west of Moraine Park add something different to a view I've enjoyed many times.

Slight break in the clouds by the time I'd made my way to Sprague Lake.  This was the extent of the blue sky I'd see.

When clouds don't give you the light you want for sweeping vistas, you go small.  Despite the clouds, this pile of dead wood in Sprague Lake still provided an interesting reflection.

Driving up Trail Ridge Road put me right smack in the clouds, which opened up more unique opportunities like a cascade with misty origins.

Same cascade, slightly further down the slope and from a very different perspective.  It retains an air of mystery with the obscured background.

Light like this requires a tripod, which came in handy to capture the blur of cars who weren't really going quite as fast it appears in the low visibility.

I've bought into the idea for a long time that bright overcast is the best light for shooting wildflowers like these Fringed Bluebells.  The color is so nice and vibrant.

Same species of plant -- just one where the flowers are older so the petals have faded to pink.

Did a little fruitless moose hunting on the park's west side.  A view like this of the Kawuneeche Valley takes some of the sting out of not finding my wildlife quarry.

While I didn't find the moose I was hoping for, the many bull elk I did see more than made up for it.  Look for them in my next post!