Boulder Flatirons – First Snow, Winter 2011

The Front Range of Colorado experienced its first snow of the 2011 winter season this week with some areas receiving up to 12″ of the white stuff. Trees and shrubs are beautifully laden with thick white clumps of snow creating a winter wonderland. And Thursday’s clear sunrise lit the entire range with a rich pink glow.

Chautauqua City Park and the Boulder Flatirons in Boulder, Colorado is one of my favorite locations to visit after heavy winter storms. And I’m not alone. If you look closely you can see many tracks made by sledders, snowboarders, skiers and hardy trail runners. And why not? What a beautiful location to go out and play in the cold and snow!

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I was recently approached by Easy Canvas Prints and asked to review their photos to canvas product. Printing on canvas seems to be growing in popularity. And if done properly, the results can be very elegant. For the last several months, finding a reliable vendor producing a quality product, has been on my to do list. So after checking out the EasyCanvasPrints.com website, I was happy to give them a trial run.

Disclosure: Easy Canvas Prints provided me with a free 16″x20″ canvas print and paid for shipping.

The first step, obviously, is to select a photo to print on canvas. I’ve read many opinions and listened to other photographers thoughts about what makes an image a good candidate for printing on canvas. A quick internet search will provide all kinds of results on this topic. I tried to apply some of these guidelines to some of the popular images in my image library. But in the end, I just trusted my intuition. I had a new image from my recent Colorado fall color trip that I really liked. It spoke to me. And it said, “Print me on canvas.” 

The next step is to jump online and order your canvas print! Sometimes ordering prints online can be confusing – resolution, size, color spaces, profiles, etc. I’ve learned to deal with all this technical tedium. But I was very pleased with the simplicity of the ordering process on the EasyCanvasPrints.com website. It was truly easy! And they provide guidance and great tips along the way. So let’s get started…

What size canvas do you want, and what’s it going to look like in my living room (or my client’s executive office)? The 16″ x 20″ provided by Easy Canvas Prints is one of the most popular sizes for a wall in an average sized home.

Ok. Now let’s uploaded an image and see what its going to look like… I exported a JPG file from Lightroom sized at 16″x20″ and sharpened for print on matte paper. This way I can check the JPG at full resolution to make sure I’m happy with the amount of sharpening. I selected the Browse button, chose my file and uploaded it from my computer. Notice the nice tips at the top of each page. This one lets you know what range of resolution works best with Easy Canvas Prints printers (180-240 dpi). These are common resolutions native to today’s digital cameras.

Hey, look at… “Check your image quality”  That’s pretty nice. Now I’ve got some confidence that my file has got enough resolution to print at my selected size. And my image looks pretty good in the example area. Next we move on to selecting the border options. I played around with the different options, but eventually chose the default “Mirror Image”.

I really liked how the different border options were displayed in the sample area as you changed your selection – nice visualization. Now we’re almost done! Just check out some final finishing options…

Now you simply add your canvas print to your cart and check out. Its that easy. Well, you do have to wait for your canvas print to arrive in the mail. That may be the hardest part!

My canvas print arrived in just a few days. And the results surpassed my expectations. The canvas print is very, very nice (if I do say so, myself). I would proudly present this to any of my customers.

Some details on the quality:

• First and foremost, the color and sharpness of the image exactly matched my file and my expectations. This is the most important factor for photographers. We want our printed product to look like the properly color managed file on our computer screen. I have confidence that any file I send to Easy Canvas Prints will be faithfully reproduced.
• The canvas quality is very nice – medium weight and texture. It has a very nice feel and a quality look.
• The canvas is well stretched and wrapped on its frame. And the frame includes a hanging bracket (you could hang it on the wall right out of the box).
• The packaging, for shipping, was also very professional.

Here are a couple photos of the finished product…

 Canvas wrap detail – tightly wrapped and well attached to frame

I purchased an off-the-shelf frame at my local craft/hobby store, fit the canvas into the frame, and it was ready to hang on my wall.

Finished product with off-the-shelf frame, hanging in my living room

In conclusion:  I highly recommend Easy Canvas Prints. They are a quality vendor, start to finish, and produce beautiful photo prints on canvas. I’d like to thank them for giving me the opportunity to review their product and I look forward to using their services in the future.

Note: Jump over to the Easy Canvas Prints page on Facebook and “like” the page for a great introductory deal…

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Mill Creek Pinnacles Predawn I

The Mill Creek pinnacles burst from a mix of green, yellow and orange fall colored aspens in the West Elk Wilderness in Colorado. These impressive features tower hundreds of feet above the peaceful valley floor, with a ruddy color in stark contrast to the surrounding foliage.

Mill Creek Pinnacles Predawn II

The spires vary in size and shape and (best of all) change dramatically in appearance from different angles. So as you hike up the valley and steal glimpses from the quiet meadows and small openings in the trees, each pinnacle can show a different profile as your viewing perspective changes. And as the autumn sun rises, the pinnacles alight, as if they were giant candles made of stone.

Autumn’s First Light on the Mill Creek Pinnacles

As the sun fills the valley it side-lights the gorgeous aspens, as well as the willows and other fall foliage. The cold morning air is crisp with the smell of fall and the slightest breeze will send down a shower of yellow fluttering leaves. Ahhh, October in Colorado…

Sunrise on the Mill Creek Pinnacles

It’s no wonder, fall is my favorite season. 

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Capitol Peak Autumn I

The yellows and oranges of the Quaking Aspen virtually define the fall season in the mountains of Colorado. On this evening, warm sunset light graces Capitol Peak, near Snowmass, providing a classic Colorado scene.

Capitol Peak Autumn II

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Lake Marie Sunrise

Spectacular sunrise with low pink clouds at Lake Marie in the Snowy Range of Wyoming.

I woke early Sunday morning, long before sunrise. Overnight temperatures were well below freezing, leaving the ground crunchy with frost and ice. The wind was still howling, as it had all night long. Most of the Snowy Range was obscured by undulating fog and clouds. Medicine Bow Peak, Old Main and Sugarloaf Mountain were hidden from view. The higher clouds were streaming across the sky. So much so, that looking up caused a dizzying, disorienting feeling that the ground was moving. But the eastern horizon was perfectly clear, so I knew that prospects were good for the scene to light up at sunrise.

Lake Marie is nestled below The Diamond, on the southern end of the Snowy Range. It’s outlet forms a small cascade that runs under a footbridge, and that’s where I set up my camera about 30 minutes before the sun began to rise. The wind was blowing so hard, the conditions were changing by the second. Fog and clouds would roll in over the mountain-tops and totally obscure the scene. The next moment everything would lift hundreds of feet, changing shape with turbulent air, exposing even the summits of the peaks. It was impossible to predict what the scene would look like at the moment to moment. I watched the spectacle and took many images as the light warmed and grew – both cursing the wind for its biting cold and in awe of the incredible conditions it was creating . Finally light splashed across the rock faces, reflected off water and clouds and filled the landscape. What a morning!

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Arnica Dream

The Heartleaf Arnica is an abundant wildflower in the Colorado high country. During the months of July and August, large patches often paint forest floors and open meadows with bright, sunshiny yellow. And they constantly dance, sway and shake in the cool mountain breeze. The happy Arnica is one of the images that sticks with me, reminding me of summer, as the season begins its turn to fall.

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 Gore Range Panorama

Its located directly west of Shrine Pass and at a similar elevation. A number of my photographer friends have recently posted gorgeous images from Shrine Pass, so I had a hunch that this location might be blooming as well. And at just over 3 hours from Denver, it made for a nice afternoon and evening exploration. The wildflowers were, indeed, spectacular.

McAllister Gulch Wildflowers

I spent several hours in the late afternoon photographing the wildflowers and scouting locations for a sunset image.

Indian Paintbrush Nestled in Blue Spruce

Dusky Deep Purple Penstemon

Lupine and Indian Paintbrush with Gore Range Backdrop

Lupine Bouquet

Heartleaf Arnica with Filtered Backlight

The gorgeous clouds that were overhead all afternoon, began to dissipate as sunset drew near. And the skies were mostly clear as the sun sank below the horizon. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes. So I didn’t get the spectacular wildflower, mountain sunset image I envisioned, but now I know a good place to go when the conditions are right…

Mount of the Holy Cross from Hornsilver Mountain

The 4WD road up McAllister Gulch travels through thick forest (much of it ravaged by the recent pine beetle infestation) before emerging into the open tundra. Most of the road is easily negotiated, but the last 1/2 mile in the trees includes some very steep sections with several large rock obstacles. My stock ’09 Nissan Xterra barely made it up the worst section (it required 3 unsuccessful attempts over the largest rock obstacle). 30 years of Colorado off-road driving experience certainly helped, but better, bigger tires (which I plan on purchasing this fall) would have helped even more. But it would still have been very rough. This road is best left to the serious 4-wheelers with the right equipment. Regardless of your vehicle, you should definitely check the trail conditions before any attempt.

 Not a bad place for an afternoon drive…

Map of McAllister Gulch 4WD trail leading to the top of Hornsilver Mountain…

View Hornsilver Mountain 2011-08-06 in a larger map

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Longs Peak Dawn

Monsoonal clouds create dramatic sunrise skies over Longs Peak and Mount Meeker – from McCall Lake, near Longmont, Colorado.

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Boulder Brook I

Rocky Mountain National Park is full of rushing waters and lush green undergrowth this time of year. And I love wandering along the cascades in search of intimate compositions of the streams, wildflowers and other foliage. I arrived just after sunrise and a partly cloudy sky produced mostly diffused light for several hours. The Boulder Brook Trail was empty and quiet at this time in the morning and I enjoyed a leisurely climb up the fairly steep and strenuous trail. Some of the wildflowers are starting to decorate the stream’s edge and the forest floor. But many species are loaded with buds just waiting to bloom. I might have to return next weekend!

Boulder Brook II

Boulder Brook III

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Marching Men ~ Arches National Park, Utah

A wonderful sunset hike into the Klondike Bluffs area of Arches National Park led to this view of the appropriately named Marching Men rock formation. We had a great group of talented photographers on this evening and I really enjoyed everyone’s company. The light wasn’t bad either.

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