On the patio outside work are several red umbrellas that offer welcome shade from the sun during the hot summer days. I waited until the sun had moved to the west side of the office building, so that the white marble is out of the shade. This gives a strong color contrast of the red against the white of the building and the blue reflections of the sky in the windows.
Three Red Umbrellas.
Continuing with the theme of red umbrellas, I moved under the umbrellas to make an image of the line of umbrellas receding into the distance.
Under The Shade Of The Umbrella.
I moved to another area that has umbrellas, stacked against a dark background, that enhances the color red.
Stacked Red Umbrellas.
In this final image, I found a spot where some umbrellas were reflected in the glass windows. Here I framed the reflections in one of the arches that recede into the distance.
It has been several months since making infra-red images. So this week was was an infra-red week. When shooting infra red, deep blue skies typically render as a dark gray and sometimes, as black. In this image, I used the “arch” of the foreground building to frame the lighter colored background building. With the deep blue sky, the building contrasted nicely against the sky.
Building 2 Framed, Arapahoe Station.
The building across the road is reflected in the window glass of this building. However, I have not noticed the unusual reflections until this week.
Unusual Building Reflection.
A few weeks ago, I noticed that the building across the road created a “peak” when reflected in building 2. I decided to wait until shooting infra-red images before shooting the monochromatic contrast of the peak.
Building Peak, Reflected In Building 2.
At the intersection of the road are road markings. So I decided to make this fun image. Nothing special about infra-red in this image. The camera records visible and infra-red in monochrome. So I used this capability to capture a monochrome image
Turn To Left And Right.
Out in front of the buildings are planters that contained grasses and flowers. Leaves of plants typically reflect plenty of infra-red, so they make ideal subjects for shooting. They render as white.
Flowers And Grasses In Infra Red.
Out in front of the building at Tuscany Plaza, a small tree was just catching light from the early morning sun. So this lit up!
Lit Up, Tuscany Plaza.
This steelwork at the plaza can always be used to create interesting compositions. The light color of the building, with the leaves of the trees, are rendered in contrast to the steelwork and the sky.
Saturday night, I was camping in the aspen forests on Kebler Pass. On the next morning, I found several Green Gentian flowers at the side of a creek. These flowers typically grow over 6 feet in height. Rather than attempting to capture the whole plant, I chose this detail of some of the flowers growing around the central stem.
Green Gentian In Aspen Forest.
At the base of Kebler Pass are several beaver ponds. In this image, I captured the reflections of the pine trees in the still water.
Pine Tree Reflections In Beaver Pond.
I have never seen so many summer flowers in Kebler Pass as in this year. The winter snows and snow melt contributed to the large fields of flowers in the area. Heading up the pass, several flowers were backlit by the morning sun.
Larkspur Flowers On Kebler Pass.
Fields full of yellow Mule’s Ears flowers covered large meadows and open spaces in the forests.
Mule’s Ears On Kebler Pass.
In this image, I attempted to capture the large variety of flowers on the hillsides.
Wildflowers On Hillside, Ohio Creek Valley.
The mountains were full of bird calls from a variety of different birds that spend their summer in the mountains of Colorado. Several specifies that I found included Rufous Hummingbirds, Cordillera Flycatchers, Robins and Sparrows. There were also some raptors that included Northern Harriers and Red-Tailed Hawks.
Indian Paint Brush flowers were found every where. I found a spot where several dozen of these flowers were growing in the shade
Indian Paint Brush Flowers.
Another flower that appears to be similar to a yellow paint brush is the Sulphur Flower. I found this single flower growing next to an aspen tree at the roadside.
Single Sulphur Flower Next To Aspen Tree.
There were several of these flowers also growing at the roadside. I don’t know the name of these flowers.
Flowers At Roadside, Ohio Creek.
Returning home, I drove along the Crystal River, stopping at a location where several large boulders sit in the river and shore. About this time last year, the river was almost empty. This year, with all the snow from the winter and the snow melt, the river was flowing vigorously. A couple of week ago, the river caused flooding of some houses along the riverside.
Vigorous Water Flow In The Crystal River.
That was the end of a fabulous weekend of mountain wildflowers and bird life.
Yesterday, I headed out to the plains in an attempt to find some sunflowers. I did find this one small patch of sunflowers at the intersection of two roads. With the late spring and rains, the sunflowers will probably flower late this year.
Sunflowers And Wheatfields.
During the course of the afternoon, storm clouds built up over the plains and started moving through the area. The was a gentle wind blowing through the fields of wheat.
Wheatfields Blowing In The Wind.
In the following image, I included a large expanse of the stormy skies.
Wheatfields Under Stormy Skies.
There were a few outlier clouds ahead and below the main body of the storm. Several of the clouds were lit by the low angle of the sun.
Storm Over The Eastern Plains.
At one location, the wind picked up a lot of dirt from a plowed field, creating a small dust cloud. Looking north above the dust, were some really nice storm clouds several miles away. This monochrome image showed the texture of the clouds.
Storm Clouds To The North.
On my way back, I passed by these grain silos. By this time the sun was very low in the sky. This provided side lighting on the silos and green fields, in contrast to the dark skies in the distance.
Grain Silos And Stormy Sky.
By the time I arrived back in Denver, the storm dumped a lot of rain in the metro area, accompanied by some hail.
This morning, Carey and I headed into the Rino District to make images of some of the murals. Many of the murals have been modified or replaced since my last visit here. So today, they are all new images. Soon after arriving, We passed one house where I found this notice in the alley.
Please Respect This House.
The following image is detail of a pupil. This is part of a long mural, some 50-60 feet in length, that is painted on a building adjacent to a parking lot.
Pupil On The Wall.
At a nearby restaurant, these two guys were busy preparing the barbecue for the day. I waited until their reflections could be seen in the window.
Owlbear 2836.
I have visited the following location several times. However, today was the first time that I could make a decent image without cars obscuring the murals!
Astronaut Stairs.
The Meadowlark Kitchen had not opened for the day. I like the reflections of various artifacts in the windows — this is a stark contrast to the vibrant colors of the building, and the pug wearing headphones!
Meadowlark Kitchen.
Behind the Central Market are several murals that I have captured in the past. However, I could not help but laugh at the expressions of these two squirrels that the artist had painted.
Squirrels In The Alley.
This mural has men climbing ropes that extend above the window. However, I was amused by the text in the bottom right of the image.
Men Climbing Ropes, And Had A Lot Of Tacos.
I continued down the nearby alley to make images the contain reflections of various murals.
Mural Reflections In The Alley.
This building contains a pool hall. In the reflection, the mural figure has covered his face with his hand. Is he confused by the selection of cocktails, billiards and food?
Cocktails, Billiards, And Food – Confused?
Looking back, Carey was working on some images in the alley.
Carey Working The Alley.
In this final image, I chose detail around a gutter down-pipe drain. The artist has made the spout part of the image. This include the detail of liquid dripping down below the spout.
Gutter Downpipe Drain.
Soon after capturing these images, Carey and I headed into the Denver Central Market for a coffee and bit to eat.
After looking through some images made during the week, I decided to pick images with a theme of architecture. At Arapahoe Station, there are three buildings that were completed in the last decade or so. In this image, I included the oldest and youngest of these buildings. I like the mix of curved and straight lines of these two buildings. For most of the week we had some high altitude clouds that provide a nice texture to the sky in this monochrome image.
Station Buildings, Arapahoe Station.
Where I work, the building surfaces are covered with marble. The building has some really angular features that create some interesting images.
Marble Arches.
Here is another image that I made to include some different angles.
Marble Boxes And Windows.
This image reminds me of some of the futuristic sea-going ship designs, where the angled surfaces are designed to reflect away radar reflections. This is one building where I have made several images over the last few years. These images just need to be collected into a coherent folio, but that is a project for another day!
This last weekend was the first week of summer. Friday was the Summer Solstice. With the low temperatures over the weekend, it was more like a Winter Solstice! Anyway, we had plenty of overcast weather with rain at the weekend. Also, snow was forecast in the mountains.
Originally, I had planned to head up to Mt. Evans, but the road was closed — probably because of the weather and the wind. So I headed over the Guanella Pass. Heading up the pass from Georgetown, the road follows South Clear Creek. I stopped to make some images of the creek at a location where I found some orange gravels in the creek.
Here is an aspen forest, with fresh new green leaves, close to the location. Yes. No snow-storm and no creek!
Early Season Aspen Forest In Guanella Pass.
With all the snow that we have had this last year, the rivers were flowing strongly. This creek was no exception, with trees under water.
South Clear Creek With Orange Gravels.
Above this spot, the creek splits into two forks.
Fork In The South Clear Creek, Guanella Pass.
Heading farther up the pass, one can hear the waters rushing down the creek. I this log bridge close to some small waterfalls by the roadside.
Log Bridge Over South Clear Creek.
Farther upstream, the creek makes its way around a bend.
Bend In South Clear Creek.
And then flows past this large boulder before heading down by the log bridge.
Boulder In South Clear Creek, Guanella Pass.
Higher up the pass, beavers have been busy over the years constructing dams
Beaver Dam On South Clear Creek.
Over the summit of the pass, a snow storm was busy over Geneva Peak. During the course of the afternoon, the storm was busy dumping snow. At the roadside, there were occasional flurries, but it was not cold enough to stick to the roadway.
Summer Snow Storm Near Geneva Peak.
Farther down the pass, the Geneva Creek was full of snow melt.
Giant Boulder Along Geneva Creek.
At this location, a few feet from the creek, the flow of the water was quite deafening!
Water Rushing Down Geneva Creek.
Apparently, we have not reached the peak of the snow melt!
For the last two weeks, many rivers in Colorado have filled due to snow-melt in the mountains. On Sunday, I headed out to Foxton, on the North Fork of the South Platte River, to make some photos of the river. The North Fork is fed from snow-melt and also water from a tunnel to the Dillon Reservoir. At this time of the year, the volume of flowing water can make for some great images. In this image, I used a long shutter speed to capture the flowing water.
Water Flow On North Fork Of South Platte.
Typically, several logs, and other debris from the forests, in carried downstream, to get snagged in boulders and other obstacles in the river.
Logs, Trapped By Boulders.
I found a location where water flowed around some of the larger boulders in the river. Some of these granite boulders measure some 12 to 15 feet in height. In this image, there was a pine sapling growing at the bank of the river. I carefully composed this image with the background boulder and sapling aligned and centered in the frame.
Pine Sapling At Bank Of Platte River.
As the water flows downstream, it divides and flows around boulders. In this image, the water flowed over some low boulders, creating foamy turbulence around the larger boulder.
Turbulent Water Around Giant Boulder.
Moving downstream, I found a flowering place that was growing in a fracture running through pink granite.
Flowering Plant In Granite Boulder Crack.
Farther downstream, is the confluence of the north and south forks of the river. The south fork did not have the huge water flow compared to the north fork.
Boulder In South Fork Of Platte River.
One location on the north fork has erosion pockets in the granite walls of a narrow canyon.
Erosion Pockets Along The South Fork.
For most of the late afternoon, the weather was overcast. This allowed for some great images without deep black shadow.
