Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Landscape Photography Locations => Topic started by: John Hollenberg on January 30, 2024, 03:17:35 pm
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I am planning to go to Estes Park, Colorado in Sept, 2024. Trip will be 9 days with a mixture of day hikes and photography. I am trying to figure out the optimal time to have the highest likelihood of great Fall Color in RMNP and may want to do some wildlife photography as well (Sony A7r V and Sony 200-600mm lens). Any suggestions of exactly when to go appreciated.
Thanks.
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I am planning to go to Estes Park, Colorado in Sept, 2024. Trip will be 9 days with a mixture of day hikes and photography. I am trying to figure out the optimal time to have the highest likelihood of great Fall Color in RMNP and may want to do some wildlife photography as well (Sony A7r V and Sony 200-600mm lens). Any suggestions of exactly when to go appreciated.
Thanks.
Nature is not on the clock!
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Nature is not on the clock!
Very unhelpful response. Nature IS on the clock, there is a range of times when it is usually best. I won't be looking for Fall Color in July. On a previous trip to Western Colorado I had very good input from someone who lived in Colorado and knew about when the Fall Color peak was most likely. His guess was spot on. A trip to Caddo Lake in Eastern Texas in early November, 2023 for Fall Color was successful because I had specific info on when great colors were most likely. I found two Fall Color photo workshops offered in RMNP in Sept, 2024 and based on those dates and the timing of the Elk Rut (Sept 15-Oct 15) I have tentatively decided to go Sept 17-26. Fall Color change starts first at the highest elevations (11,000-12,000) and works its way down as the season progresses so I should be able to find an area with good Fall Color by varying the elevation.
Helpful responses from those who live in the area would be appreciated.
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I have spent 15 years photographing aspens in autumn in Colorado. Mostly south of RMNP. I usually allocate two to three weeks starting on the 20th.
Steven
www.friedmanphoto.com
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I have spent 15 years photographing aspens in autumn in Colorado. Mostly south of RMNP. I usually allocate two to three weeks starting on the 20th.
Helpful, thanks. Presumably peak would be a bit earlier in RMNP which would be North of where you shoot.
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That would be my guess peak earlier in RMNP. I always prefer to shoot into the peak colour.
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Here is the definitive word on the optimal times to photograph RMNP in September from Erik Stensland who has photographed there for over 20 years:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-uZsavg9Ks
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One data point.....For whatever it is worth.............Grand Mesa, CO Oct 1, 2022
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Best I have ever seen is third week of September in Vail valley. But, foliage, eh, incredibly hard to schedule. Some years, glorious, others, nothing.
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I was there this past fall during the first week of October and it seemed to be a little past peak color.
Tom
Ann Arbor, MI