Photographer in Colorado

Once again, we had another big freeze in the weather forecast for this weekend. This afternoon, I headed up to Foxton to make some images of the ice that forms during the winter months. With all the big freeze weather that we have been getting this year, this makes it fun to photograph the ice that forms in the South Platte River.

During a cold winter, ice bridges form across the whole river, with water flowing under the ice. In places, the water cuts through forming ice canyons. We even have a Horseshoe Bend!

I explored a few locations along the river, looking for ice canyons.

In the Desert South-West, we find many different canyon types, even a box canyon. The ice canyons are no different…

There are occasional ice caves to be found as well!

There are a variety of ice canyons to be found.

Finally, a slot canyon to be found!

Heading back home, I drove through a snow storm and below freezing temperatures.

During the last week, the fountains at Arapahoe Station were activated again. This would be great for making images with ice. The water had been emptied, perhaps for maintenance, during the late fall. This week we had another big freeze. So when I arrived at the station, I thought “I must be in Iceland again!”. For there in the fountain was a big block of ice that looked like an iceberg!

Iceberg In The Fountain, Arapahoe Station.

Walking down to work, I passed by the second fountain in Spectrum Plaza. The sun was reflecting from the windows of the adjacent building creating patterns in the water. I like the way the blue cables and hoses under the water manage to shine through (upper right).

Fountain Reflections, Spectrum Plaza.

The rest of the week remaining below or close to freezing, until yesterday. Making breakfast, I noticed “Water Condensation, In The Kitchen”! Sounds like a murder suspect the board game Clue (or Cluedo)!

Water Condensation, In The Kitchen!

I made several images of the water droplets. In this image, the lines formed by the garage siding formed stripes through the droplets.

Lines In The Water Droplets.

In this image the camera was angled up to include the blue sky, creating an abstract, almost pointillist image.

Water Droplets And The Blue Sky, In The Kitchen.

I like the coral pink and orange colors that created two warm patches of color in the image.

Last Sunday, we had a warm sunny day with almost clear skies. Early Monday morning a snow storm arrived. Later in the week, I made some images of the fountains near Arapahoe Station while making my way to work. At this time of year, the light from the rising sun is reflected off the Cobank building, backlighting the fountains. After making several images, I chose this one because of the spout of water near the left side was almost disconnected from the remaining water below.

Fountains With Cobank Center At Sunrise.

Here is another close-up image with the reflected sunlight streaming into the left side of the fountain.

Fountains, Stop Motion And Water Splashes.

A few weeks ago, I made some images of the building with the strip lights in the back. Moving around the fountain, I found that I could make an image of the water spouts, still backlit, and include some of the same building.

Water Spouts At Spectrum Building At Sunrise.

Several metal tables and chairs are located nearby. In this image, I was careful to include sunlight that reflected off the background building, as reflections in the table and chairs.

Sunrise Reflections On Empty Table And Chairs.

Later in the week, this image was made to show blue shadows cast by the trees in the snow. Because the sun was directly behind me, I was careful to hide behind one of the trees so that my shadow was not in the image.

Shadows In The Snow, Tuscany Plaza.

So, what about the snow-storm that allowed me to create these images. Well, on the morning of the storm, I made the following image while waiting for the train to arrive at DU station.

Snow Storm At DU Light Rail Station.

This shows how heavy the snow was.  I noticed the gold spire of the University building was just visible in the background and felt to make some images.

On Saturday, I headed out to make images of bridges along the South Platte River. Carey joined me for the afternoon. I have wanted to spend more time to make images of the arches that support this bridge over the river. This is one bridge that does not have simple columns to support the roadway above. Instead, there are several sweeping arches with nice clean lines. Approaching the bridge from the south, the base of the arches can be seen reflected in the river.

Bridge Arch Reflections In Platte River.

The bike and pedestrian pathway follows the path of the river and passes under the bridge. This image shows some of the support arches for the bridge. The concrete work has been painted with two different shades of paint (white and pale gray) that can be seen in this monochrome black and white image.

Bridge Arches.

I made several images below the bridge, that shows more detail of the arches, that show the two-toned supports. The concrete that forms the roadway, is unpainted and shows a hint of a pale brown in this image.

Abstract Bridge Work.

The afternoon sunlight was reflected from the river to illuminate the underside of the bridge. With the flowing water, reflected light was constantly moving and creating dappled light pools on the concrete.

Light Reflections Under The Bridge.

Here is another view of one of the arches with dappled light reflections.

Light Reflections No 2.

We spent the next couple of hours under the bridge and in the vicinity of the bridge. As we left, I made one the final images that shows the reflections of the arches in the river. By this time, the sun had sunk quite low in the sky, creating a warmer light on the scene.

Three Arch Reflections, Platte River.

Carey was shooting 4k video with the Osmo for the afternoon. It will be interesting to see how his video turns out.

The Santa Fe Arts District has plenty of murals especially in the back alleys. Last Sunday, I stopped in the area while running some errands. The mural on this wall has recently been replaced. The color contrast of purple and yellow on this new mural is especially striking; this image represents about a third of the wall.

Purple Face, Santa Fe Alley Mural.

Nearby is another mural of three jellyfish created by an artist with the initials M.A.D. Fortunately it was relatively cloudy and this mural was on a shaded wall, so the colors were especially vibrant.

Mad Jellyfish Mural.

Further down the alley, a streetlight post was advertising the “Rag Antique” store… or should that be “Rage Antique”?

Rag Antique.

The next alley is one that I had not previously visited. Here is a mural of a green dog.

Green Dog Mural, Santa Fe Alley.

While making this image, I was greeted by three “live” angry dogs. These dogs were barking at my intrusion from the roof of an adjacent building.

Three Angry Live Dogs.

These steel stairs had a lovely orange-brown patina that caught my eye.

Stairs With Rusty Patina.

Finally, I completed a circuit that terminated close to the first mural.

This mural follows a different theme to some of the other murals, with a flower bud against some background vegetation.

Flower Bud Mural, Santa Fe Alley.

This was located very close to the first mural, so I decided to leave the area and continue with some errands.

Modern office buildings offer interesting reflections in their glass windows. This is probably because the windows are not flat by are double-glazed and filled with a partial vacuum. As a result, reflections in the glass have more abstract feel. I pass by this building every day while walking to work. One can see the abstract, wavy reflections of the nearby building in the background.

Building Reflections, Arapahoe Station, No 1.

Inside one of the buildings are stairs that can be seen from the street. In this image, the strip lights that light the stairs have some unusual and irregular arrangement.

Stairs And Strip Lights Inside Building.

From another angle one can see reflections from the glass as well as the stairs inside the building.

Building Reflections, Arapahoe Station, No 2.

In this final image, a nearby building across the street, is reflected in the glass, as is the blue sky with some hints of morning clouds.

Reflections Of Building And Blue Sky In Glass.

For all these images, I used a longer zoom lens that allows a smaller portion of the scene to be included in the final images. This allowed me to include more detail of the reflections and less of the surrounding blue skies.

This afternoon, I headed down to the South Platte River to check out the bird life. This beautiful female Mallard was perched on a rock at the shore.

Female Mallard No 1, South Platte.

Mallards are unique in that they have a metallic purple “speculum”. This is that purple “flash” that can be seen above the ducks feet. When this duck is in flight, this appears as purple tail feathers. Here is another image of the same duck.

Female Mallard No 2, South Platte.

Off course, there are always Canada Geese to be found. I was intrigued by this pair of geese in front of the row of yellow bollards that lined the street.

Pair Of Canada Geese, Yellow Bollards.

This goose stared right at me before resuming eating.

Stare From The Canada Goose.

Here is the same goose, framed by two bollards.

Canada Goose, No 2.

Heading north along the river, this pair of Mallards were busy feeding. That is the male in the foreground with the female in the background.

Pair Of Mallards, Feeding, South Platte.

There were plenty of Northern Shovelers in the South Platte River. These ducks are very skittish and take flight before some of the other species. I attempted to capture a Shoveler in flight. This was the best image that made.

Male Gadwall, No 2, South Platte Northern Shoveler, In Flight.

The Mallards frequently start flapping their wings while in the water. Here is one image from a sequence of images that I made. Here one can see the purple speculum in the tail feathers.

Mallard, Flapping His Wings, South Platte.

Finally, there was a single male Gadwall swimming among the Mallards and Shovelers. As the sun was getting lower in the sky, plants along the shore were reflected in the water.

Male Gadwall, No 1, South Platte.

Here is a second image of the Gadwall.

Male Gadwall, No 2, South Platte.

Enjoy!