• fall season,  leaves,  Plants

    Back Home

    October 25, 2016
    Fallen Leaves
    Fallen Leaves

    It’s good to be back home. I left on Saturday morning from Surprise, AZ and drove to Las Vegas, NM. It was a longer day so my drive on Sunday was shorter. I woke early and left early which allowed me to arrive about 12:30 pm.  The drive north is almost a constant climb in elevation, even going over a couple of passes. The elevation change allowed for a scenic drive as I saw the colors changing as I moved through different elevations.

    I missed the slow gradual changing of colors and the dropping of leaves here at home. Many of the trees have lost leaves or are at the end of the color changing, leaving brown leaves awaiting the next wind to blow them off. But, if you’ve followed me you will know I love leaves as does fellow photographer Mark Graf. I found these while on me walk over to the coffee shop. Nature has a way of creating an infinite number of patterns and colors. I love it.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  sunrises

    Dust Spots

    September 12, 2016
    Sunrise on Peralta Trail
    Sunrise on Peralta Trail

    I arrived at my parents home yesterday afternoon about 12:15. I have had some wonderful weather for this trip. But, let me tell you the heat difference driving into Phoenix was a major shift for my body. It was a 100 degrees when I arrived.

    I awoke early and could see lightening north of the Superstition Mountains so I jumped in the car and drove out to Peralta Trail. I had to spend extra time on this image due to dust spots on the sensor. Frustrating.

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  • bicycles,  Cityscapes/Urban,  Transportation,  Travel,  winter scenes

    Drifting and Blowing

    February 5, 2016
    Blowing Drifting Snow
    Blowing Drifting Snow

    As I mentioned I was off line for a few days as I traveled with my sister to the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandle area for a funeral. We knew there would a storm moving through Colorado on Monday but felt it would be okay to travel.  We headed home on Tuesday morning thinking we would be just fine. As you can see we discovered some very high winds and blowing, drifting snow once we entered into the southeast corner of Colorado. These conditions lasted for about a hundred miles then we had much better roads and sunny weather to travel in. We just followed two semi trucks, figuring they knew what was ahead. The Fort Collins area receive 12 inches of snow. And, of course along with that comes the colder temperatures.

    Bicycling in the Cold
    Bicycling in the Cold

    Yesterday morning on my walk to coffee I noticed this man riding his bicycle. That’s not anything unusual especially in a college town. What was unusual is the temperature was 1 degree. I’m layered and shivering while he pedals away. I prefer warmer riding weather. Different strokes for different folks. Stay warm.

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  • Glacier National Park,  lake,  landscape,  National Parks

    We Are Nature

    January 18, 2016
    This image was taken in 2004 just afater the massive fires in Glacieer National Park. The haze of smoke is evident in the mountains and you could smell it.
    This image was taken in 2004 just after the massive fires in Glacier National Park.

    Back in 2004 I made a road trip on my motorcycle to the west coast. During the 3 week trip I road 4200 miles. I drove down the northwest coast of Washington into Oregon, ate seafood in Seattle and tried to cover as many National Parks as I could fit into the schedule. I camped along the road except for 4 four nights, setting up camp primarily in National Parks.

    I only scheduled one afternoon and night in Glacier National Park which is not near enough time to really see the park. I setup camp in one of the campgrounds near Lake McDonald but for the life of me can’t remember which one. The previous year was one of the worst seasons of fire in Glacier National Park. A 136,00 acres were burned that year. One of the largest fires was the Roberts Fire, which burned 57,570 acres, that is near the lake. I could see the barren and naked landscape across the lake. There was a fire burning nearby, causing a haze to settle into the lower valleys of the park.

    It’s cold outside this evening so I’m going through my archives and found this image that caused me to remember  the trip. I wrote about this trip before and have a color image or the lake, if you care to check it out. I converted this image to black and white with Silver Efex Pro using one of the presets then making a few simple adjustments in Lightroom 4.

    A final thought : I have in the past wished we had more respect for nature but I think I would rather we understood that “we are nature.”

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  • Art,  Art/Design

    I’m Out of Here

    November 25, 2014
    Voted Best of Show
    Voted Best of Show

    photocrati gallery

    Can’t take the cold anymore. So, my sister and I are boarding a airplane this morning and heading to Phoenix to spend Thanksgiving with our parents, our sister and our favorite brother-in-law. Checking the forecast we see temperatures to be near the 80 degree mark. I can live with that! My sister and I met Sunday morning for coffee and plan our attack. After settling on our plans we headed out to a woodcarvers show. My dad has been carving for the past 20 years and now Sheree has been bitten by the bug. She’s joined a local club who is sponsoring the show. I have seen some nice carving through photographs in my dads magazines but seeing these carvings up close will take your breath away. Here a few images from the show. I’m not taking a laptop nor expecting to be connected to the internet for the next week. Stay warm!

     

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  • landscape,  Travel

    The Wind Farm

    July 9, 2014
    Wind Turbins
    Lamar Wind Farm

    On my drive back from Texas I traveled along Highway 287. This is a pretty desolate stretch of road with seemingly endless miles of brown, dry prairie grass brought on by the severe drought. I was struck by the wind turbines against the blue skies and the open land so I had to stop. And, yes the wind was blowing. We are seeing more of these farms along the eastern plains of Colorado. This one is called the Lamar Wind Farm and is the largest in Colorado. It utilizes 108 GE 1.5 MW wind turbines. It resides on an 11,000 acre cattle ranch and only uses 2% of the land. So, each turbine takes up about one cow.  I did not count them but will go with what the website says.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  snow

    Cold and Wet

    April 3, 2014
    Snowplow on Wolf Creek Pass
    Snowplow on Wolf Creek Pass

    Well, I chose plan B and got a hotel in Cortez, Colorado. About mid morning the clouds rolled in and by the time I got to Pagosa Springs it was a mix of rain and snow. So far I’ve driven through rain, sleet, hail and snow. Plan A was to camp and plan B was a hotel, thus the decision for plan B. Snow plows were out on Wolf Creek Pass while only light snow and rain on Konosha Pass, Red Hill Pass and Trout Creek Pass. Been and up and down day! It has been a beautiful and scenic drive. I’m expecting the same tomorrow as I head to Phoenix.

    I found this small one room house in the South Park area. Sure has a big yard!

    For Sale: Large Yard
    For Sale: Large Yard
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