Mount Evans, July 2018: Part I

A guaranteed stop when I visit Colorado every summer is Mount Evans to see a sunrise and hopefully some mountain goats. Conditions this year were once again favorable for both, so with a little mind-over-mattress when my alarm rang at 4 a.m. I managed to get up and head out.

The sunrise arrived as I was on my way up to the summit.  Fortunately, I was in a good spot to pull over and shoot it.  Being above some clouds off to the east provided a nice effect, but I've got to figure out how to get rid of all that lens flare.  I've cleaned my lenses and filter repeatedly so I don't think they're the problem.  That leaves something inside the camera body, possibly on the mirror, and I'm not sure how to fix it.

I drove right through some fast-moving clouds coming up and over a saddle on the way to the summit, and probably should have stopped while I was right in them to shoot stills or video.  Instead I waited until I got a little above them, and the effect's not quite as dramatic.

I didn't see any of the charismatic megafauna I'd come for until I was practically to the summit.  And the first I happened upon were some native Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep.  Apparently they have babies this time of year, too, but you wouldn't know it from all the attention that the introduced Mountain Goats get!

There were more than just babies.  It was an entire family picture!

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ram

The Mountain Goats were all the way up at the summit parking lot, along with 30-degree temperatures and high winds.  The breeze and low light gave this lone fellow a wild, dramatic look.

We' re all suckers for pictures of animals with their tongues sticking out.  And Mountain Goats seem to provide more such moments than most species.

This goat strolled by me extremely closely.  I wanted to get an even larger shot of the eye, but even at full zoom and as close as the animal was this is as tight as I can crop in without introducing too much grain.  Still, an interesting perspective.

This is the senior portrait shot.  Warm light, nice contrasting background, and the goat staying perfectly still.  The winds must have even died down for a moment because there's very little blur in the fur.

Then there's this moment, with the wind howling so fiercely that some of the remaining scraps of winter coat are being blown straight out.  You can even spot some loose hairs that have come untethered and are being carried off on the breeze.

Related Links:

• Mount Evans: July 2018, Part II
• Mount Evans: July 2018, Part III