Late this afternoon, I managed to get down to the South Platte River to see the wildlife (birds). At this time of the year, Northern Shovelers migrate to Colorado. They are more skittish than the Mallards that we see, ane tend to stay out near the middle of the river
Northern Shovelers In the Platte River.
Nearby were several groups of Canada Geese grazing at the riverside. This guy caught my attention because he had some blades of grass caught in this bill that were backlit by the setting sun.
Canada Goose With Grass.
Several geese were taking advantage of light from the setting sun.
Canada Goose In Sunset Light.
Looking downstream, the sun was lighting up the trees along the banks of the river. I made this image of the reflections, just before the clouds obscured the sun.
Sunset Reflections In South Platte River.
Continuing alongside the river, I encountered a group of Buffelhead ducks. These are some of the smallest ducks in the US.
Buffelhead Ducks In The South Platte.
Another group of male Buffelheads joined the group. I noticed that they had formed a circular group of 5 ducks, so I made several images of this group of five.
Five Buffelhead Males.
Over the last couple of weeks, most of the trees and bushes had dropped their leaves. However, I did find these leaves just catching the last of the sunlight.
Sunset Light Catching Fall Colors.
Just as I arrived home, the sun had set over the mountains, lighting up the clouds with a deep red.
This week, it was time for another visit downtown. Near Union Station, the low sun cast streetlamp shadows on an adjacent building.
Streetlamp Shadow, Union Station.
Looking up, the I made this image of the sky reflected in the windows.
Concrete, Glass And Sky.
Heading across Commons Park, to the Platte River, I found this snowmen family. We had a snow storm earlier this week, with a few inches of snow in the city. Just after making this image the big guy on the right collapsed.
Snowmen Family, Commons Park.
From here, I headed towards the Highland Bridge, over I-25. Time for some more window reflections in the glass.
Ramp And Building.
At this bridge, I was greeted by a young lady, offering high fives to passers by. I obliged and then made my way across. Next to the bridge abutment on the far side, was an artist hard at work with a sketch pad.
Hard At Work, Highlands.
From this side of the highway, one can see Mile High Stadium, where the Broncos were playing football today. I tried to find a location where I could make an image of the stadium. Unfortunately, the skyline was very cluttered, so I abandoned that idea. I headed back over the highway on a different bridge. Several runners passed by on the wet sidewalk. I managed to capture an reflection of the last runner, just as the bus was pulling away from the bus stop.
Runner, Bus And Sidewalk Reflections.
There were still trees with their autumn colors. These colors were reflected in the Platte River.
Reflections In The Platte River.
A pedestrian had started crossing the adjacent bridge on foot. I waited until he had walked into the open space for this image.
Crossing By Bridge, Platte River.
The sun was about to start setting. I found one cloud that was catching the sunset light above this building.
Cloud Over Building, Highlands.
As I got nearer to Union Station, the sunset colors became more intense. This apartment block was bathed in sunset light, reflected from the base of the clouds.
Apartment Building, Union Station.
Crossing to the other side of the Millennium Bridge, the sun created its own fire in the sky!
Millennium Bridge Sunset.
I could hear the light rain train approaching Union Station. As I got closer, it was my ride back home. Time to go!
Saturday was a clear fall day — the day before a few days of snow storms in the forecast. I headed out to the eastern plains, near Bennett. I turned off onto a dirt road and headed east for a few miles. Soon I found some bales of hay close to the roadside. This field had been recently harvested, with tracks in the field leading over the horizon.
Hay Bales, Eastern Plains.
A few miles farther, the road turned north along the edge of a recently harvested field. By this time, the sun had dropped lower in the sky, lighting up the furrows of stalks in the field.
Harvested Field, Eastern Plains.
Close by, I found some hay bales stacked at the roadside. Exploring the haystacks, I made several images.
Hay Bales, New And Old.
At one spot, sun streamed into the space between the haystacks. Just like a cavern!
Inside The Tower Of Bales.
At this point, I turned my camera up to the sky for this image.
Bale, Sky View.
Soon it was time to head home. By this time, more clouds had filled the sky as the forecast snow had moved down from Nebraska. On the road to Bennett, the setting sun lit up the base of the incoming clouds.
Sunset Near Bennett.
Behind me, the sky was relatively clear, but those clouds were racing across the sky.
Racing Clouds.
Nearby, I spotted a horse mounted on a mailbox. Here, I made my final image of a silhouette against the sky.
Mailbox Horse Silhouette.
A few hours later, the snow arrived, but that is a story for another day!
After a weekend of work around the house, it was time for a welcome break. A cold front had arrived over the weekend, bringing very strong winds, with many autumn leaves blowing off the trees. Despite this, I headed downtown to the Convention Center. A short walk took me to the Theater District, where I found this sculpture. Looking out from the inside made for an interesting image with blue and white.
Inside The Sculpture, In Blue.
Passing by some windows to the center of the building, I was intrigued by the reflections of the two sculptures
Performing Arts, Reflections.
Continuing down 14th Street, I found some pictures painted on the sidewalk. I am not sure of the significance of the pictures — probably the remains of an event days earlier. After making some images, this young lady stopped to wait for passing traffic at the intersection, so I made a composition that included her and the pictures on the sidewalk.
Waiting To Cross The Intersection.
Further down the street, I found some “pipes”.
Pipes.
At this point, I was close to the Tattered Cover bookstore. It had been a while since visiting this store, so I spent a half hour browsing. Heading out, the sun had dropped below the layer of clouds that had been covering the city for most of the day. This low sunlight just created some amazing light for the remainder of the day.
Late Afternoon Building Reflections.
From here, it was a short walk to Commons Park. Climbing to the top of the mound, I could get a clear view of some of the clouds lit by the setting sun
Commons Park At Sunset.
Heading back to the light rail station, one has to cross the Millennium Bridge, that was having some maintenance work done. While waiting for the elevator, I made this image of room full of exercise bikes in the Da Vita building.
Exercise Bike Room.
Looking up, the sunset sky and clouds were reflected in another Da Vita building…
Last weekend was spent camping in the mountains. Heading towards Gunnison, I turned onto the Ohio Creek road to check the fall colors of the Cottonwood trees along the creek. It was too late to find some decent fall colors in this area — the previous week would have been a better choice for visiting. I did find this Halloween decoration at the entrance to Mill Creek Ranch. This ranch always seem to have fun with bales of hay close to Halloween.
RIP, Gunnison.
Continuing on, I took the road that followed the Cimarron River. The late afternoon light cast long shadows on the river banks. I made several images near the river, when I noticed one deer grazing along the banks.
Deer By The Cimarron River.
After camping the night at Ouray, I headed up towards Yankee Boy Basin to find some Aspen trees. Very soon, I found many trees that had dropped their leaves for the season. Heading back to Ouray, the morning sun had just started to light up the valley to reveal Aspen forests down below.
Fall Colors Above Ouray.
I headed out of Ouray following the same roads that I had traveled the previous day over Owl Creek Pass. The Cottonwood trees along the creek had started to turn to the fall colors.
Cottonwood Trees, Owl Creek.
The western slopes of the mountain had aspen trees in various stages for fall color. In this image, the aspen colonies had dropped most of their leaves to reveal the pale gray trunks.
Fall Colors On Mountainside, Owl Creek Pass Road.
Along the roadside, there were still plenty of aspen with their yellow-green fall colors.
Aspen Colors, Owl Creek Pass Road.
I like this image where the morning sun lit up the aspen trees in a dark corner of the mountain road.
Fall Colors Along Owl Creek Pass Road.
I stopped farther up the road to make this image of the aspen trunks with a hint of yellow fall colors lurking in the background.
Aspen Trunks, Owl Creek Pass.
Last week brought the first major snow of the season to the mountains. The cold weather and the winds had accelerated the fall of leaves from the forests. However, while driving through Kebler Pass, I found one spot where the aspen still had yellow leaves, with snow on the ground.
Aspen And Snow, Kebler Pass.
This was one the last images that I made on the return trip home.
Last Friday was First Friday, when I visited the Sante Fe Blvd art’s district. As usual, the district is humming and buzzing with so many people out for the evening. So when Saturday came around, I thought, “What was the day after like?” After completing some construction at home, I headed down to the area to see what could be found. The late afternoon sun created some shadows on this red brick house.
Shadow On Red Wall.
I headed down one of the alleys. At one end of this mural, I found some peeling paint.
Blue Hand And Peeling Paint.
Further down the alley, is a building with a black painted wall. The reflections in the windows that I found interesting. And then there are those yellow eyes.
Eyes On Black Wall.
Nearby was a huge mural. I chose to make an image of one small part of the blue flower.
Blue Flower Mural.
I like this guy on the hammock. This must be the mural artist with his spray can after completing this piece!
All Good In The Hood.
Crossing over the street to another alley, I passed one building that was painted a lime green. So now, what could I find the contrast with this vast area of green? A dumpster!
Dumpster And Green Wall.
Another late afternoon shadow on #842.
Shadow On 842.
Further down this alley was a building with a pink wall. However, When I saw those two statues…
Two Statues And Pink Wall.
After heading back to the main street, I found this yellow chair, with a floral decoration.
Yellow Chair.
During the visit, I only encountered a couple of dozen people meandering through the streets. However, the exception were the restaurants, some of which were packed.
Last weekend, I headed to the mountains to view the fall colors. Heading down Ohio Pass, I stopped at several locations to capture the Colorado gold colors!
Colorado Gold And Blue Sky.
Strong winds were blowing for much of the day. Below these aspen trees, the wind had blown down several leaves. I found this composition where the leaves fell among some small pine saplings.
Aspen Leaves And Pine Saplings.
There were still plenty of green leaves in the aspen forests. In this one forest, I found one colony of trees with yellow leaves in the middle of the green.
Yellow And Green Aspen Forest, Ohio Creek.
There are a few areas, where some trees have red and orange leaves.
Orange And Red Aspen, Ohio Creek.
Lone Red Aspen In The Forest.
Making my way back up the pass, I found one spot where the forest presented a palette of colors.
Aspen Forest Palette, Ohio Creek.
At one location, several aspen trees grow at the edge of a scree slope.
Aspen And Scree Slope, Ohio Pass.
I headed out west when a storm started moving in. When the sun broke through a gap in the clouds, it lit up the storm over West Beckwith Mountain.
Yesterday, I headed downtown to the Highlands to enjoy the fall weather. The Highland Bridge crosses over I-25 and is the main pedestrian and bike thoroughfare to get there from downtown. It has been a while since last visiting, and a large apartment block cluttered the skyline, so I soon headed back towards Commons Park. The late afternoon sun lit up the bridge against a deep blue sky, so I made a monochrome version for this image, to show this tonal contrast.
Highland Bridge Structure In Monochrome.
Along the South Platte River, the late afternoon sunlight creates a lot of interesting reflections and opportunities for abstract compositions. In this image, the reflections caused light to shimmer in the shadows of the bridge.
Bridge Pier Reflections In Platte River.
Along the banks of the river are steps that remind me of a Greek or Roman amphitheater, but with an inverse curve. Most people had moved out the shade into to sunlight, but I did get curved leading lines, and those reflections in the river.
Steps Along Platte River.
Across the river is a tall apartment block that created plenty of abstract reflections in the water. The reflection of the tree interrupts the repeating patterns of the building in this image.
Apartment Building Reflections.
The bridge that carries Speer Blvd always creates reflections of the trusses in the water.
Speer Bridge Reflections.
In this image, the pedestrian bridge and apartment block is reflected in the river.
Abstract Bridge Reflection.
Now that the water levels have fallen from the high water levels, there is less turbulent flow over this weir. This provides some interesting reflections from the ripple patterns.
Reflections Over The Weir.
A longer lens allowed me to make a tighter compositions of a small area of one of the reflected buildings.
Abstract Reflections In The Platte River.
Finally, it was time to return home. On the Millennium Bridge the setting sun created warm reflections in the glass.
Sunset Glass Reflections, Millennium Bridge.
In this final image, I stood right under the bridge tower, making this image looking straight up.
Millennium Bridge Tower.
Managed to get some of those reflections along the tower as well!
