Road Trips

So we’re headed to Santa Fe in a few hours for some Golf, Mexican food and Margs! I can’t wait to get out and relax for a long weekend. This will be my first outing with my new camera…consider it a shake out period as I get used to all its features.

I found out this morning (I think) the D300 is set to automatically increment all file names sequentially. I am used to the D100 default of naming files starting DSC_0001.NEF after formatting each card. Looks like I still need to keep reading the manual; 1/3 complete as of last night.

Anyway, have a good weekend and enjoy one of my last available shots made with my D100; Coral Vases.  I took this shot while on a recent trip to Las Vegas.  This is one of many interesting things living inside my Cousin Wes’ huge aquarium.  I was only able to capture afew good shots because of all the swimmy things constantly traveling in front of my lens.

See you next week.

[LT]

Old and the New

I finally have my D300 in hand and I must say, it is one sweet camera.

First impressions out of the box was it is one solid camera. It just feels solid. Compared to my old D100 it seems rather plastic now. The second thing that just sticks out is the screen size. The D300’s 3 inch LCD monitor is massive! It makes my D100’s 1.8″ screen look like an old 13″ black and white tv! The third most visible feature I like on the surface is the new CF Card oor and release latch. The D100 had a manual pressure release on the door which made up the bulk of the thumb grip. Over time this has become loose and feels cheap. The D300 has the door where ones palm will rest which should keep all wear and tear from impacting it. I like this because it will increase the D300’s life.

Unbelievably I have not used my D300 a ton in the past week since I had it. I’ve taken a few test shots, family shots and took it to the club for a night of dancing to a live band. I will see how those shots came out…I was mostly taking them on the fly and yes, as I too was dancing.

Overall I pleased as a pig in slop. This is not an analogy I would normally use but hey, it’s true.

So here is a shot from the Old. This is the Old and from what I can tell original mailbox in the Hotel Gerome in Aspen Colorado.

[LT]

Valley of the Trees

I am so glad we had a change to go to Aspen this year…gorgeous scenery and the skiing was perfect. This past weekend we went skiing at an old haunt of ours, A-Basin (Arapaho Basin). A small but great locals ski area very close to Denver. I thought of taking my old D100 for the trip to see if I could get some more of my favorite snowy tree type shots; I’m glad I didn’t. It snowed the entire day and was so windy the shots would have been worthless.

Even though the skiing was great, I still miss Aspen and those frozen snowy trees. I may even have to create another series if I can get to the mountains soon.

Enjoy my last photo from my Aspen Colorado trees set; Valley of the Trees.

[LT]

Popsicle Sticks

I thought Popsicle Sticks was a fitting name for a sister photo of my Snow Cones.

I was asked if I was in a helicopter to take on of these tree shots from my Aspen Colorado trip. While a great idea, it is far from reality. While not trying to take away the magic of these photos, I was actually skiing with my Uncle on Aspen Mountain. Fortunately the skiing was great but the snow was better, and I’m not talking about the snow beneath our skis.

As mentioned in my last photo Snow Cones I have been hoping to capture scenes like this for a while…I love frozen blades and and snow covered branches…my own Popsicle Sticks.

I really need to get back up into the high country for some more snow and tree shots…soon.

[LT]

Snow Cones

There is something pure about the whites of snow. So cold and harsh but yet so lovely.

On a couple occasions I have been in places where the trees were covered with snow and ice in such a way as to coat each and every leaf or needle. The trees end up being pure white as if they were dipped into paint; beautiful. Each time I have been in a position to see such sights, I have been without my camera; not something a photographer ever wants. When I knew we were going to Aspen Colorado for some skiing and fun, I knew what photo I wanted and hoped they had the right snow to make a perfect image. I got two. Well, I got three but only two I feel are the best and two I feel are some of my favorite shots.

We had made a few runs and I was finally able to find some of the very snow coated trees I was looking for. Perfect. I hope you like Snow Cones as much as I do…look in on My Blog n the next few days when I will post my other favorite photo from this shoot.

[LT]

Tree Tops

It is hard to believe I took this photo only a few weeks ago in Aspen.  The weather was cold in Denver and yet as I look out my window today, the sky is clear and the temperature is almost 60 degrees; hard to believe it’s Februrary.

I do plan on skiing in the next two weeks…funny to be doing it again after years.  I’ve always loved skiing, but these days I just hate the drive…so many people hit the slopes on the weekend.   Best Friend Brian and I are planning a guys ski trip to Copper Mountain.  Not my favorite but hey, skiing is skiing.  It is like Fishing; better than work any day.

More photos to come…I have plenty from my recent trips to Aspen and Las Vegas.

[LT]

Where’s Dorothy

Traveling around the Colorado plains reveals things one might never see. You can drive for miles and only see fields of corn, grass, sunflowers and this time of year the green shoots of winter wheat. Every once in a while you run upon the broken and battered shacks someone once called ‘home”.

This old broken down shack reminds me of the house that was bashed about in Wizard of Oz.  I almost expect to see the ugly old Witch riding past on her bike.

I wonder where these people went to, did they leave, die or did they just out grow this house. It’s a shame to think this house may have been abandoned but without it, I would not have had an opportunity to made this photo.

[LT]

Weathered the Storm

Finishing with the shots taken of the small building in “Forgotten No More” I decided to investigate this one foot tall building I had been next to the entire time.  I couldn’t quiet make out what it was, small and flat with a couple ventilation tubes, a small electric pole and a jutting structure at on end.

I kept scanning the scene trying to figure out what this could have been.  Stumped I decided to investigate the structure at the end.   The end revealed it was a doorway which led down a set of concrete steps to a room sunken into the ground and then it hit me; aaah a Tornado Shelter!

My only experience with tornado shelters had come from watching movies and typically they are depicted as small flat double doors over a small cellar like hole in the ground.  I didn’t expect the complexity of this shelter’s door, concrete floor and walls.  This was very well made and other than wind stripped door itself, it seemed to have completely Weathered the Storm.

[LT]

Forgotten No More

If I had to place an emotion on this small building I would say “loneliness” as if this place was forgotten forever.

I am very intrigued with the photos I am taking for my new Relics of Colorado series. Not only am I getting to photograph things I’ve never seen, but I feel like I am capturing parts of History, capturing things that will eventually disappear.

Have these Relics been photographed before? Maybe, they are quite old but I also have to believe the photographs that may have been taken of this area are just as old as the scenes they depict. If this is the case, these photos will likely disintegrated well before the relics themselves rot away. This is a benefit of shooting digital. If I take care of the media, the images could last for hundreds of years. I’ve never considered myself a Historical Photographer but as I write this blog I imagine all of us are, at least indirectly.
For these Colorado Relics they will be remembered, captured for all time on media I hope lasts throughout. In either case they are Forgotten No More.

[LT]

Prairie-land Pyramids

As I hiked over the small area where I shot the Wheels of Change photo, I caught sight of something never seen before. Sitting there in front of me were these enormous farming machines, stacked up in the shape of two huge pyramids. They were very old and just sitting there like a metallic framework copy of the pyramids of Giza.

I shot them from many angles individually but thankfully I had the foresight to take 2 shots I used to make a perfect panorama. The downside was I totally forgot about pano’s when I was processing this shoots images. I had totally processed a separate shot of the large framework when I released I could combine two others and then I had what I wanted.

My Uncle who was with me at the time said they were “part of an old sprinkler or irrigation system that is taken apart and stacked together”. I wonder if they stacked them up this way on purpose or was the fact they look like pyramids a simple coincidence? Either way they were very cool to see.

Who knew Colorado had its own Giza, our own Prairie-land Pyramids.

[LT]