Not So Fast

I for one certainly thought we were done with any and all remaining fall color in Rocky Mountain National Park for the 2021 season. Heading out in Moraine Park yesterday morning to break in my new Nikkor 105mm Macro lens, I stumbled on what is the last remnants of fall color in RMNP. Just a small reminder of the great autumn season we had this year and a beautiful subject to test my new lens on. Technical Info: Nikon Z7 II, Nikkor 105mm F 2.8 VR S lens

Ok I admit it. I was wrong. I put a fork in the autumn season in Rocky Mountain National Park and declared it officially ‘brown season’. I was wrong but still mostly right. It most certainly is brown season in RMNP but there are still some minuscule pockets of autumn hanging on in Rocky which I happily discovered yesterday while out hiking in Moraine Park.

With my new 105mm Micro S lens freshly delivered from Allens Camera in my pack, I headed out looking to find some nails to try my new hammer on. Small intimate fall color scenes always work well with macro scenes, I figured we were passed that and was thinking more along the lines of frozen water and ice to test this new lens on.

After photographing a beautiful sunrise from Moraine Park, I headed off in search of something to point the shiny new 105mm macro lens out. It was a pleasant morning, mild with a slight breeze and lots of fresh snow on Stones Peak in the distance. As I ringed the perimeter of Moraine Park looking for intimate scenes and small subjects, there were still lots of signs of our just departed fall season.

Scanning the hillsides lots of brown leaves still clinging to the bushes and underbrush but no signs of any lingering color until finally I spotted a tinge of orange and red along the base of pine. There it was, a few vines creeping along the ground with a mix of brown and red leaves.

While not the highlight of the fall season, I dropped my backpack and broke out the 105mm macro to break it in and enjoy what will surely be the last of the fall color I will photograph in Rocky in 2021, or will it?.