Photo of the Day
While in Colorado I thought a lot about how Ansel Adams made the landscapes around him beautiful without the use of any color. While on a hike one day I took a new look at Hahn’s Peak which I took many shots of on my trip. I tried to expose this picture like Ansel would have. The deep blue sky looked good black in my eye. I like the look of this shot, and I wonder if Ansel would have been proud. The beauty of Colorado is something that I always thought that you needed a little color to convey. I liked how this simple shot looked in color, but I liked it much more once I converted it to black and white.
If you have followed my work at all you will know that I think this peak is amazing. I have taken many pictures of it over time, and this trip was no different. I decided to do a little research on the peak, and here is what I found. The peak is named after Joseph Hahn who was one of the first to discover gold here. Accounts vary as to whether he was the first or not. The summer after the initial discovery three men did venture back to see what treasures they could mine. Hahn along with George Way and W.A. Doyle all were among the first to find gold here. In 1865, the next year, a party of fifty men including Hahn went back to the site to set up camp. The camp was named Poverty Flats, and the nearby peak was named Hahn’s Peak after Joseph who was named the President of the Mining District. During the season they renamed the town after the peak giving it the name which it still carries. When winter came only the three initial explorers stayed in town. With supplies getting low late in the winter season they had to strike out or they would die. Way was the first to go, and he was never seen again. Both Doyle and Hahn had to leave in April to find supplies. Snowshoeing in terrible weather Hahn did not make it, and Doyle only barely did find shelter. The storms were so bad that both men were lost. Doyle gave directions to a search party who looked where he told them which was 10-15 miles away. Hahn was actually just under a mile away at the time although his body would not be found until the next November. The next season though brought normalcy to the village. The people started coming to stay making sure that they had supplies to last the winter. By 1881 the population was around 150 people, and that grew to around 500 by 1885. The town was actually the county seat for a time. Lawyers would snowshoe from Steamboat Springs to try their cases. The hard winters proved to be to much though, and the town started to decline by 1912. Some of the buildings from the early years are still in the town, but it is far from what it was at its peak. That is okay with me. I like the town the way that it is now. Gold mining has been replaced with recreational activities. Ranching and tourist attractions now make up the income for the residents. This is a little longer than I had planned to type, I learned a little more about a town that I have visited a few times.
Technical Data
For this shot I used Matt Kloskowski’s HDR Black and White preset to start with. I wanted a look with a lot of contrast. Many people think that post processing is wrong. You should make your shot in the camera. They point to the masters like Ansel Adams as examples. The thing about Adams though is the fact that he perfected methods in the darkroom to bring out the best in his photos. That is very similar to using the sliders in Lightroom to bring out the best in your picture.
Dave Wegiel Photography 