Picture of the Day, Sept. 30, 2009 (BONUS)

Well, even though the fall color tour is over, I thought I'd send out a bonus shot of the Crystal Mill/Pumphouse. This well-known Colorado icon is only found at the end of a very rough and narrow jeep road east of Marble. More description of this is found at the post below.

Colorado Fall Color - Sept. 27, 2009 (END)

Last day of the fall color tour today. We drove up Ohio Pass Road and all over Kebler Pass Road in search of good color. The best area seemed to be at the west end of Kebler. Later that afternoon, we drove through Marble to the the small mining town (near ghost town) of Crystal, where we photographed a Colorado icon - the so-called Crystal Mill (actually the pumphouse portion of an air compression system that fed to several of the nearby mines). You've probably seen it portrayed in Colorado calenders. There's a picture of it on my Web site, as it didn't make the picture of the day. That honor goes to a special grove of aspen near the west end of Kebler. The sun was low in the horizon, ready to set, and providing a soft sidelight. This single grove is considered one of the largest living organisms in the world, stretching for miles in every direction. Tomorrow we're homeward bound - thanks for joining us on this trip!

Colorado Fall Color - Sept. 26, 2009

Today, we toured all around the Crested Butte area. The fall color in the aspens is quite late this year based on the average. Yet we found several isolated stands of excellent aspens in their full glory. We also photographed several waterfalls, but the attached image won picture of the day status hands down. This was one of the last photos taken today. The sun had already set, but there was enough residual light that backlit the leaves nicely. Tomorrow, more aspens and we be traveling out the Jeep road to the Crystal Mill - a Colorado icon!

Colorado Fall Color - Sept. 25, 2009

Today, we started the fall color tour in the Crested Butte area. I spent the morning scouting out locations for the best color and then met Tim from Missouri later in the afternoon. I must say...the aspens this year are confused. Some have already turned and dropped their leaves - but most are still green and just beginning to turn (they're late by at least a week). However there are a few colorful stands, and this is one of them. The very best time to photograph forests are when they are out of direct sunlight. This stand was north of Crested Butte on a north-facing slope, so were in the shade. The color tone is simply amazing with very subtle coloring and without the harsh shadows had it been taken with direct sun.

Colorado Fall Color - Sept. 24, 2009

Today, I woke up at 3:30 AM in order to drive out to Maroon Bells for the sunrise. There were 40 other photographers lined up along Maroon Lake in order to capture the reflection - and this, on a Thursday morning! The clouds muted the sunrise quite a bit, so the Bells weren't quite as striking as normal. I decided to leave early and scouted around for nice-looking aspen trees. Very often, it pays to "take the road less traveled". I discovered an unmarked side road as I left the Maroon Bells area. This side road led to a trail, which led me to this path in amongst a beautiful aspen grove. I followed the path a ways and it took me deeper into the grove - a lovely way to spend the morning. The path reminds me of Robert Frost's 1920 poem, and a lesson I try to live. This afternoon, I moved the trailer to Gunnison in preparation for a photo tour I'm leading over the weekend.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth

Then took the other as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear

Though as for that, the passing there

Had worn them really about the same

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet, knowing how way leads onto way

I doubted if I should ever come back

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence

Two roads diverged in a wood

And I took the one less traveled by

And that has made all the difference

Robert Frost

Colorado Fall Color - Sept. 23, 2009

Today is the official start of our fall color week here in Colorado. I'll be ending the week by leading a photo tour around the Crested Butte area. Today, though, I'm camped near Buena Vista and spent the day scouting out good fall color locations in the Cottonwood Canyon area, west of Buena Vista. The conditions were a bit unusual, in that half the aspens hadn't turned yet and the other half were way past prime and many leaves had already fallen. I suspect they've had high winds lately, which will "do a number" on the leaves. Although I took a number of aspen pictures, none really "grabbed" me, so Cottonwood Creek gets the nomination for picture of the day. I used a polarizing filter to eliminate the glare on the water surface and about a 6th of a second shutter speed to turn the water "cottony", which helped depict a degree of motion. Of course, I had to use a tripod to get this shot.

Colorado Fall Color - Sept. 22, 2009

As this was a travel day today, there were no pictures taken, so I dipped back into the images of the last two days and chose one taken by friend, Bob. This was also taken at the spot overlooking Bear Lake on the 20th. What really struck me was the intense reds and oranges in the aspen leaves, as well as the rich greens of the lake and browns of the tree trunk. The composition is balanced well and the rocks serve as an anchor at the bottom. If you want to get my attention, use lots of color! Bob did well here. Note this was taken with a Panasonic compact camera. It's not the camera folks, it's the one holding the camera!

Colorado Fall Color - Sept. 21, 2009

We were camping at the Elk Meadow Lodge & RV Resort just outside the south entry to Rocky Mountain NP and we had about an inch of snow last night and this morning. Clearing later in the day, Bob and I hit the road to capture some elk and take some short hikes. By the time the snow slowed and the sun came out, however, the elk were out in the center of Moraine Park (meadow), so were tough to photograph. Best times for elk are early morning or late afternoon, where they may come closer to the roadways. Just in case, I took Bob out to the Cub Lake Trail, where, after about a half mile, the cows tend to bed down late in the day. We also decided to take the trail to the lake since the day was proving to be perfect. The two-mile trail wound around a large moraine and then up a small valley passing through several nice groves of aspen. Golden aspen leaves littered the trail adding the perfect element for our fall hike.

Colorado Fall Color - Sept. 20, 2009

Sheila and I are on the road again - this time meeting long-time friend Bob in Rocky Mountain NP. We were hoping for some early fall color in the park and we weren't disappointed! The image above was taken just above Bear Lake about a quarter-mile up the trail towards Bierstad Lake. The day was overcast much of the time and we hoped for a nice sunset - but it was not to be. Still, the golden aspens were striking against the dark rocks. Hallett Peak is in the background (right side).

Midwest Tour - 5/31/09 (END)

Well, this brings us all to the end of our little midwest tour. We spent the last day with son, Chris, in Ft. Collins. While waiting for him, Sheila and I decided to take a short bike ride along one of the many bike trails in the SW part of town. As I passed a small wetland area, I saw this red-winged blackbird (have no idea where it got that name!) and made this photograph with my little Canon SX110 IS, which I'm starting to take everywhere with me. I even managed to capture a little highlight in the eye, which is a compositional plus.

I'd like to thank everyone who traveled with us on our journey! Until next time, au revoir.

Midwest Tour - 5/30/09

The very last stop during our Midwest Tour was Estes Park, CO, where we were attending another ham radio convention. This sunrise was taken from our hotel window with the Canon SX110 IS compact. This time of year is best for sunrises due to the start of the monsoon season. Afternoons are often too overcast or rainy to offer up nice displays of color during sunsets, so it pays to be the "early bird".

Midwest Tour - 5/28/09

This snowy egret decided to pose for us as we drove slowly through the Salt Plains NWR in northern Oklahoma. The gusting wind kept blowing its feathers this way and that. For you bird lovers, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (www.allaboutbirds.org) maintains a wonderful directory of birds. This shot was also taken with my little Canon SX110 IS at about 6X.

Midwest Tour - 5/27/09

Skipping a few days of transit from Ann Arbor to Claremore, OK, I present this succulent plant, which caught my eye at cousin Mike's place. This is part of wife, Wanda's, flower garden. The day was overcast, so perfect for close-up photography. I love the red/green complementary colors. This was taken with my small Canon SX110 IS compact camera, which, by the way, received a "best buy" rating from this year's Consumer Reports.

Midwest Tour - 5/23/09

Today was the wedding of good friends, Bob & Joyce's younger daughter, Rachel. The ceremony was held in the Ann Arbor Christian Reformed Church in Ann Arbor, MI. While I was not the wedding photographer at this ceremony, I did manage to take several neat shots of the happy couple. The reason this one caught my eye was the look of anticipation and joy (plus maybe a little relief?) in their faces. I also managed to catch the cross and colored reflection from the stained glass. The relatively low 1/40th shutter speed added a sense of motion as they exited from the stage. The reception and dinner following the ceremony ended a perfect day. Tomorrow, we head back to Indiana.

Midwest Tour - 5/22/09

Sheila and I spent the day biking along the Huron River Bikeway in Ann Arbor. Canadian geese were clamoring all along the route - some with little chicks. About halfway along, we saw this swan swimming near the shore. Later in the afternoon, we spent some time searching out a couple new lighthouses south of Detroit to add to our list. The second lighthouse required a 3.5-mile bike ride around an isolated island to be able to view it. Tomorrow, we have a wedding!

Midwest Tour - 5/21/09

While I was helping Lee with his EMC seminar and photographing the IEEE EMC Society "EMC Fest" today near Detroit, Sheila was off hunting up a few more lighthouses. Rather than show you a picture of "geeks at work", I'll let Sheila provide the picture of the day. This is a shot of Lorain Light in Lorain, Ohio, on the shore of Lake Erie. The catamaran provides a bit of color to the composition. The date of construction is in question, but most reliable sources indicate the current building was probably constructed in 1917. It is now owned by the Port of Lorain Foundation.

Midwest Tour - 5/20/09

The photo of the day today goes to Bob & Mary's daughter, Lynn. This is a spiral galaxy with an attached worm hole photographed through her dad's 80-inch double-helix telescope.

Ahem, actually, this is a shot of red food coloring dropped into a fish aquarium of water. I let her use my Canon 5D with 100mm macro lens to shoot upward towards the water's surface. A white shelf board was propped up behind to provide a uniform background. Lynn told me this was a "project for school", but I believe it was really her creative side at work. The image was processed with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. Pretty cool abstract!

Midwest Tour - 5/19/09

Today, I spent the afternoon photographing Bob & Mary's daughter, Lynn, for her senior pictures. She'll be graduating next week and will be majoring in theater and visual arts. Lynn is also a very talented artist and we had earlier commissioned her to paint typical Colorado wildlife on an old saw blade we found earlier in an antique store. Here's her completed work - nice, eh?

Midwest Tour - 5/18/09

Back to my "Iris Project". I finally located a blue iris that was in good health down the street and around the corner from where I'm staying in Indiana. Knocking on the door and introducing myself, the owner gave me permission to photograph her blue iris - probably shaking here head when I wasn't looking... With the help of my able assistents, Bob and wife, Sheila, who held the white backdrop, I was able to photograph an iris portrait of each in the field (in situ, for you latin enthusiasts). So I now had a collection of red, white, and now blue irises. Well, what else could I do but combine them into a single panel - and just in time to celebrate the Fourth of July! This is still a "work in progress" as I'm not entirely satisfied with the background color or purity of the white backgrounds. But, I'll keep trying different things until it looks right. Here's the result as of today.

Midwest Tour - 5/17/09

As a break from iris photography, I elected to document the lowly maple seed. Here's one propped on some magnolia leaves for a contrasting background. Maple seeds are truly unique in that they form almost a perfect auto-rotating helicopter as they descend from their perch high in the tree. The ground here is littered with them.

As a diversion, here here are some links about maple seeds:

How to Make an Auto-rotating Maple Seed from Paper: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/TRC/Aeronautics/Maple_Seed.html

Exploring Science and Design with a Maple Seed: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~jwmills/EDUCATION.NOTEBOOK/maple/maple.html

The Journal of Maple Seed Science: http://www.cs.indiana.edu/~jwmills/EDUCATION.NOTEBOOK/journal/journal.html

Probably more than you needed to know about maple seeds!