Photographer in Colorado

So John (Clute) asked if I was ready for the snow — see comments on last week’s post. Yes! On Tuesday we got dumped on again with 8 inches of sticky wet snow. Wednesday we were greeted by snow sculptures in the trees. Here is our Blue Spruce.

[Note: I seem to have got ahead of myself. This is actually week 13 and not week 14… The Crane Festival must have messed with my internal calendar!]

Snowfall Sculpture

Our neighbor’s bushes were groaning under the weight of all that snow. The branches were drooping over the fence under the weight of all that snow.

Drooping Under The Weight

One of our Burning Bushes had accumulated some snow on delicate branches. A far cry from the burning red foliage that we see with the fall colors.

Snowy Bush

Wednesday was a snow day for many in the metro area. For me, it was a regular work day for me. Here are those frozen balls. What a contrast to last week’s post of the same balls in the morning sun!

Frozen Balls

The bicycle rack at the light rail station was the most impressive feature of the day — an unusual snow sculpture.

Bicycle Snow Sculpture

The ramp leading to the train has a pattern cut into the fence. The snow picked out the detail in the pattern.

Relief In Snow

The sunny bench greeted us with a Good Morning!

Good Morning Sunshine

Finally, close to the office, these trees were reflected in the pond.

Snowy Reflections

Enjoy.

This week, the weather took a wild ride — nothing unusual for Colorado. Tuesday was sunny and 60’s. Leaving the parking garage at DU, the morning sun caught these balls to cast long shadows on the north wall.

Garage Balls

On Thursday night and into Friday, the snow was back, dumping some 8 inches in the neighborhood. By Friday morning, the window in the parking garage had accumulated some snow and condensation.

Snow In The Window

Leaving work later in the day revealed 8 inches of fresh snow that continued to blow around.

Evening Snow Storm

A traffic cone had blown over in the snow. The light reflecting from the cone gave a nice glow in the pocket of snow.

Glowing Cone

Previously, I have made motion blurs of these trees. With the overcast weather, the light was weak enough that I could create blur for half a second. I like the effect of the blur on the background buildings as well as the trees.

Tuscany Plaza Blur

At the side of the building, a yellow light glows in the doorway. This entrance is frequently used by people taking refuge from rain and inclement weather. No one there Friday — they had already gone home.

Glow In The Doorway

This post is lucky thirteen. It is almost  one quarter of the way through 2010!

This past weekend, we attended the Crane Festival in Monte Vista with a group of birders from Audubon Denver. Soon after arriving, we made our way to the National Wildlife Refuge south of Monte Vista. Compared to previous years, the weather was much colder. There was  plenty of snow on the ground and ice on the wetlands. During the evening hours, the Sandhill Cranes and other water fowl fly in to the wetlands, where they are safer from predators (such as coyotes).

Sandhill Cranes At Sunset

In the fall, Sandhill Cranes migrate to Bosque del Apache, in New Mexico, where they spend the winter months.The Monte Vista refuge is one of the locations where Sandhill Cranes stop on their annual migration to the summer breeding grounds that stretch from northern Colorado, through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho to Canada.

We returned to the same location in wildlife refuge the following morning just as the sun was rising over the Sangre de Cristo mountains. The cranes were backlit against the rising sun.

Sandhill Cranes And Misty Sunrise

Soon after sunrise, the cranes flew out to fields in the area where they feed on grain and other tasty goodies. Here they fatten up in preparation for the continuing migration later this month.

Later the same morning, we made our way to the Ski-Hi center, where we joined many other birder visitors for a Raptor Tour. We climbed aboard two school buses for a guided tour to see various raptors that live in the area. The guides pointed out various raptors, including Red-Tailed Hawks, Bald Eagles (our national bird), Rough-Legged Hawks and a Northern Harrier. Along the way, we stopped at one location where two Red-Tailed Hawks had taken up residence in a nest. Here we got out our binoculars, scopes, etc to get a better view of the birds.

Birders On The Raptor Tour

After the tour ended, other activities related to birding included lectures held at the Middle School.

Monte Vista Middle School

We attended a lecture on Bluebirds in the one hall where seating comprised of yellow chairs.

Yellow Chairs

The lecturer, Kevin, showed a video of bluebirds nesting. This showed the development of a family of bluebirds from the laying of the eggs through incubation and rearing of the nestlings. Finally, after two weeks, the young bluebirds fledged. The remainder of the lecture dealt with the national effort to raise bluebirds and monitor the breeding of the species. Kevin brought these nesting boxes to show the various birds that make use of the nesting boxes. Volunteers purchase and maintain the nesting boxes throughout the year; they also monitor the progress of breeding through the season.

Mountain Bluebird Nesting Boxes

We attended a second lecture by Gail (from Hawks Aloft). She gave an excellent presentation about the various raptors that make Colorado and New Mexico their home, either full-time or part of the year. Gail was also the tour guide on our bus earlier in the day.

After attending this lecture we rejoined our group and made our way back to the wildlife refuge for the evening fly-in. The sun was setting, just catching the mountain peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range. Here we found a group of cranes feeding in front of the distant Blanca Peak, one of the 14’ers in the mountain range.

Cranes In Front Of Blanka Peak

On Sunday morning we left Monte Vista. I had eyed this unusual building at the edge of one of the irrigation ditches that are located in the San Luis valley. This appears to be one of many pump houses that may be found in the area.

Irrigation Pump House

We briefly visited the Alamosa wildlife refuge, but bird life was very sparse for this time of the year. Late spring and summer are better seasons for this refuge.Soon after we headed back to Denver, encountering a snow storm along the way.

Last Friday, I took an alternate route to the light rail station, via Orchard Street, to explore different scenery. These images were made just before sunset. The color blue and reflections was the theme for this shoot. Outside the office stands this streetlight.

Streetlight And Blue Sky

A nearby building is glazed with dark windows. This makes an excellent source of reflection from the blue sky. This pond rendered some wonderful abstract reflections.

Abstract Reflections In Blue

The sunlit clouds also reflected off the windows.

Blue Sky And Cloud Reflection

The setting sun lit up this tree, also reflected from the windows.

Sunlit Tree Reflection

Proceeding to the light rail station, I climbed the overpass stairs. This offered an elevated vantage point above I-25 with the clouds lit by the setting sun. The highway was busy with automotive commuters on their way home for the weekend. Also, there is the light rail making its way southwards.

Sunset Over I-25

Here is the overpass that leads to the parking garage on the other side of the Interstate.

Light Rail Overpass

Finally, the last rays of the setting sun picked out these clouds, creating a spectacular sunset.

Sunset And Clouds

Enjoy.

This week I am posting some images that I made last week. Last Saturday, we went down to the Platte River for an afternoon stroll. Angela with the objective of viewing new water birds. Myself to capture some images. Whilst walking beside the river, we were rewarded with a new experience. We met Robert, who was panning for gold on the banks of the river.

Robert, Gold Panner

Robert explained how panning is done. In fact, he was using a sluice box as the first step of the process; this can be seen at the bottom right of the above image. He explained the process to Angela. As an ex-mining engineer, I was familiar with the process. Robert has been panning the area for several years. This is probably a good time of year to pan the Platte… but Robert said the water is very cold! When the snow melt starts in earnest in the coming weeks, the water level in the Platte River will rise by several feet.

Robert

Here is a close-up of Robert’s sluice box. Looks like plenty of material from the hardware store went into the box. The first step is to screen the gravel by passing through the green screen (at the back). Robert then transfers the gravel that falls through the screen to the top of the sluice box. Water from a pump flows over the gravel. Lighter sands and gravels are washed away. Heavier materials, including tiny flakes of gold, are trapped in the riffles in the base of the box.

Sluicing The Gold

We left Robert and continued along the riverside. There were several puddles of water that have frozen during the winter, trapping colorful leaves and stones under ice.

Frozen Under The Ice

In the distance, I noticed something colorful and headed towards the area. Someone had run the supermarket cart and buggy down the bank and into the river.

Abandoned Buggy

Heading back towards the parking lot, I noticed this colorful garage adorned with graffiti.

Orange Garage And Graffiti

Nearby, at an adjacent house, was this window box. The plants were looking worse for wear and withered from the cold winter.

Window Box

We both enjoyed the afternoon walk, made more rewarding with our encounter with a gold miner. Angela commented that there are some really interesting people here in Colorado.

Last weekend we had another snowstorm in the metro area. During the morning commute, there was a thin layer of snow remaining at the DU light rail station. These two pieces of real estate were snowed under.

Real Estate, Snowed Under

Please take your seat! Enjoy the view and the rest of the day.

Please Take Your Seat!

Later in the week, I took vacation day for mid-week snowboarding at Keystone. There was fabulous snow and untracked powder… if you knew where to look. On the return home, I stopped off at Silver Plume to take a look at some of the original Victorian era houses. Silver Plume is one of  mining towns where silver mining took place in the 19th century. There seems to be a thriving community of antique stores in the older buildings. Santa Claus was busy, sitting on the ladder!

Santa In The Window

Some of the original main street businesses are now homes. Here is one of the windows, decorated with colorful drapes and what appears to be Buddhist manuscripts.

Colorful Manuscripts

At the entrance to one of the stores a pair of antique chairs sit on display.

Antique Chairs

The Silver Standard Building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as noted on the placard. This building houses the US Post Office.

Silver Standard Building

The interior of the Post Office is adorned with period pieces. Original photographs hang from the walls. Also, just inside the entrance are these ornately sculpted mailboxes. Each mailbox appears to have some form of combination lock that allows access to their contents.

Brass Mailboxes

Enjoy.

Thursday was a vacation day that I spent snowboarding at Keystone. The weather was perfect – mostly cloudy, with periodic snow showers and occasional sun. After a day riding the bowls and trails, it was time to return home. A snow storm arrived at Loveland Pass.

Winter Clouds Over Loveland Pass

Returning towards Denver along I-70, I noticed ice fountains along the west-bound lanes. I just had to find somewhere to head back west.

Silver Plume Ice Fountain #1

I have been wanting to make images ice formations like this for the last couple of years. This is one of several images that I made.

Silver Plume Ice Fountain #2

Whilst stopped, off the edge of the highway, a tow-truck stopped right behind me. Maybe the truck operator thought I was having problems. After seeing that I was making photographs, he asked if I could make a picture of him against the ice with his his cell phone. I obliged and he went on his way.

Silver Plume Ice Fountain #3

Another…

And another!

Silver Plume Ice Fountain #5

Finally, I headed back until, at Silver Plume, I stopped to take a look at the rail yard for the Georgetown Loop Railroad.

Silver Plume Rail Yard

During the warmer months of the year, this narrow gauge railroad runs tourist trains between  Georgetown and Silver Plume. This section of railroad is unique in that the train completes seven circular loops on the journey over a distance of a few miles.

Rio Grande

Finally, here is the detail of the original Rio Grande boxcar that was used on the narrow gauge railroads in Colorado.