Spruce Tree House
Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
( Click on image to access high resolution virtual tour. Not for mobile devices.)
Oct. 7, 2023. 4:30pm. — For several years I had wanted to photograph wall murals of the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde. Spruce Tree House, the third largest cliff dwelling (Cliff Palace and Long House are larger), was constructed between about 1211 and 1278 CE by the ancestors of the Pueblo peoples of the Southwest. The dwelling contains about 130 rooms and 8 kivas (kee-vahs), or ceremonial chambers, built into a natural alcove measuring 216 feet (66 meters) at greatest width and 89 feet (27 meters) at its greatest depth. It is thought to have been home for about 60 to 80 people. The cliff dwelling was first discovered in 1888, when two local ranchers chanced upon it while searching for stray cattle. Today, it is known as one of the best preserved cliff dwellings in the park. Due to the protection of the alcove, 90% of the material you see such as walls, wood, and plaster are original.
Normally open to the public, in August 2015, a rock fall at Spruce Tree House cliff dwelling prompted park officials to close the site for visitor safety until an analysis and hazard assessment could be conducted. After that initial evaluation was completed in September 2015, it was decided that the entire site should be closed to the public in October 2015. The incredible resolution of this photo allows the viewer to again experience some of what it was like to be able to walk amongst the ruins. Clicking on the image above will launch a virtual tour that zooms into the photo. While the automated tour will take to a few of the areas, you can over ride the auto tour with the buttons at the bottom center of the screen to zoom and pan around the image to your hearts content.
This is an focus stacked & stitched image shot with a Canon R5, 600mm lens at f/11, 1/640th sec. exposure, ISO 400. It is made up of 2651 images with many of the images being Focus Bracketed images processed to yield 255 individual Focus Stacked images, 15 rows x 17 columns 30% overlap in portrait orientation.
The original image is:
- 4.47 Giga-pixels
- 54,348 x 82,325 pixels
- 181″ x 274″ 300 PPI (15 ft. X 22 ft., 10in.) un-cropped image size
- Available in 1:1.5 ratio (slightly cropped) from 12″ x 18″ to 48″ x 72 ” as Print, Standard Plaque, AlumiPress or PlexiPlaq.
- Can be cropped to other ratios per customer’s requirements.
- Wall Murals as large as 15 ft. x 22 ft. (300PPI). Call for price quote.
- Wall Murals as large as 30 ft. x 44 (150PPI). Call for price quote
Click here to purchase this image as one of our VAST Photos Museum Quality prints.
Consult Price List for 1:2.5 ratio size options and cost details from our Duraplaq product line.
Duraplaq Mounting Options
Our DuraPlaq mounting options offer a higher quality, wider range of sizes and materials. Especially for the HD Metal AlumiPress products. Consult Price List for 1:3 ratio size options and cost details. Contact us for a quote on your specific size and mounting options needs.
- Standard Plaque prints are available in four Finish Choices. Finishes are acid-free and ultra violet (UV) light protected, shielding it against fading and deterioration and can be wiped down with water or any ammonia-free cleaners.
- We highly recommend the Metalized Paper for prints, plaques and PlexiPlaq products. This special paper does an excellent job of bringing out the detail of the photos.
- All of our plaques are produced by Duraplaq on photo quality High Density boards. Numerous Mounting Styles are available along with many Edge Treatments.
- Approximate lead time for shipping of Prints is 1 week. Plaque mounts and other options 2 weeks.
The above sizes and mounting options are a small subset of the overall mounting options we have. We offer all of our photos on a variety of mounting options from just prints, framed, plaque mounting, Aluminum Prints, or Plexiplaq. We also offer Tri-Panel, Quad-Panel or Wall Clusters & Splits. Most of our Gigaramas are available as wall murals. We also license our photos for various commercial applications.