18 posts tagged “photography”

Random Photos

Sep 18, 2009
2 comments

First, a picture from Homestead Meadows I didn't get posted last time.

Which reminds me of a former boss of mine. No, he didn't look like a llama. Well, actually he kind of did, but that's not the point. I was dispatching for the fire department one night. He asked me how the fire I had dispatched was progressing, and I told him it was a three-alarmer.

He said, "What's a three-alarmer?"

I said, incredulous that he wouldn't know, "It's when you have to dispatch three sets of fire apparatus."

He said, "Oh, well, I knew what a one 'l' lama was. That's like the Dalai Lama. And I knew what a two 'l' llama was. That's like those pack animals in South America. But I didn't know what a three 'l' lllama was."

[Insert groaning here.]

Pictures of a very strange statue outside the main library in Fort Collins, CO. He reminds me a little of gollum.

Ghost Swinger

Playing with the time exposure on my camera.

The one on the left is for comparison. The one on the right was with a longer exposure and I purposely moved the camera.

The Penultimate Collection of Mesa Verde Pics

Jul 5, 2009
8 comments

I just like using the word "penultimate".

Mesa Verde National Park

Just a landscape shot I liked.

Cliff Face

5 comments

This cliff face is very unhappy. He had aspirations of becoming a mountain, but instead, he's just the side of a canyon. His mother is very disappointed in him.

Mesa Verde National Park

Yucca 'n take the plant out of the desert, but yucca n't take the desert out of the plant.

Mesa Verde National Park

A sad, burnt tree, trying to peer down under the overhang into the cliff dwelling below.

Mesa Verde National Park

A paved path from the bottom of the stairs at this site to the ruins. The Ancient Puebloans climbed down the rock face without equipment, and we have to have stairs and a blacktop path. What a bunch of weenies we are. On top, you can see a forest of dead trees, these killed by a fire. Nothing but charcoal.

Mesa Verde National Park

Another shot of the largest dwelling, The Cliff Palace, this time taken from across the canyon.

Taking a walking trail down into one of the canyons, you can see a lot more verdant version of the terrain here. It's a lot cooler, a lot wetter, and a lot greener. You can really start to get a feel for what it must have been like throughout the ruins before the climate changed and the stream dried into arroyos.

At the bottom of the train was another of the hundreds (thousands?) of ruins sites in the region.

And you know what comes after the penultimate post? That's right! The ultimate post!

Yet More Mesa Verde Pics

Jun 25, 2009
8 comments

Mesa Verde National Park

A cloud's shadow over the cliff face.

Stacked Stones

Stacked stones are common in the Southwest. Sometimes they occur naturally, with the rest of the rock eroding away around the stones. In other cases, they have obviously been stacked by a person. I don't really know what the significance is, though I know that sometimes the little piles of stone mark an otherwise unmarked trail.

Mesa Verde National Park

Once, a tree. Now, charcoal.

Mesa Verde National Park

More dramatically dead trees. Can you tell I like these?

Mesa Verde National Park

A view down into the canyon. It's hard to tell a sense of scale from this picture, I think. It's huge, but it all blends together at a distance.

Mesa Verde National Park

It's easy to see how the Ancient Puebloans got the idea of building their home here. With the natural overhangs everywhere along the canyon wall, it must have seemed like the place was made for them.

The Crack in the Earth

It's broken. We should send it back.

Mesa Verde National Park

More ruins.

Mesa Verde National Park

"You think we could hold this wall up if it decides to fall down the rest of the way, Hank?" "Not really, Fred."

Shards of the Past

Some pottery shards and corn cobs. Yes, it's an ancient trash pit.

Kiva

Another kiva. You can see where the fire pit is, bottom center, though it's full of dirt.

Mesa Verde National Park

1 comment

Who needs Stairmaster?

I have about two more posts of these, so I hope you're not bored of them, yet!

America's Religion: Entertainment

Apr 26, 2009
9 comments

America's Religion

Image of a church in downtown La Junta, CO. The windows have been walled in, and it has been converted to a video store. I'm not a fan of religion, but that seems creepy to me, anyhow.

Colorado

Feb 16, 2009
4 comments

Here are some pictures I've taken in Colorado over the last week:

Views of Golden

Castle Rock

Apparently, there are only three or four names for geologic features. There are about eighty different features called Castle Rock throughout the southwest.

My new (to me) jeep.

CCC Worker

Red Rock Park

Three views of Creation Rock (on the left) and two of Ship Rock, at Red Rock Park.

Red Rock natural amphitheater

I was amazed by the number of people jogging and running around the amphitheater. This woman was using the giant steps on the side to work herself into exhaustion. I'd rather stay fat.

Coming soon: A brief view at the Denver Zoo. Hey, that rhymes.

Red Mountain Pass

Aug 29, 2008
8 comments

I'm so far behind, I'm now posting pictures I took at the beginning of July. On the way back from Denver to New Mexico, we took the long way around, driving westward, then south over Red Mountain Pass. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Pics from the Road

May 17, 2008
3 comments

Just a couple of pics I took from my phone camera today while Strix was driving.

Fluffy

1 comment

View through the sun roof in Strix's PT Cruiser.

Leaning Tower of Groom

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The leaning water tower of Groom, New Mexico. It's not as famous as the leaning tower of Pisa, nor as famous as the other famous structure in Groom, being the mildly disturbing giant cross, but I find this more interesting.

I Can Has Bobo?

Jan 27, 2008
11 comments

Strix took this picture recently of our fourteen-year-old cat, Baudelaire, or Bobo for short. I took it over to icanhascheezburger.com to pimp it out a little.

Judge Mental Cat

4 comments

Yet More Pictures from the Train Ride in Colorado

Dec 11, 2007
3 comments

Here are yet more pictures from the train ride Mom and I took on the Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. These are from the trip back from Cascade Village, and they were taken through the soot-covered window of a moving train, so forgive the quality.

Straight Down River

Much of the line runs right along the side of a mountain, so those who are afraid of heights might not want to look down.

Straight Down River

Another Oh-My-God-We're-Gonna-Die shot.

Out Yonder

Probably my favorite scenary shot from the trip.

Full Steam

A view of the steam engine ahead of us on a left turn curve.

A couple of more straight down into the river shots.

Steam Engine w Sunburst

A similar left-hand turn allowed me to take this shot of the steam engine ahead of us, but this time with quite the sunburst.

Steam Cloud

This shot wasn't an artifact of the light or anything. The white cloud to our left is steam from the engine, drifting away.

Lake

A rather pristine lake we passed.

And that's all! Sorry to take so long to get them all posted. Thank you for indulging me.

In conclusion, I'll say that it was a lot of fun! Strix and I will definitely have to do this together sometime, preferably in the summer when we can stay in the open observation car longer and take prettier pictures. I've heard that it's really nice to do when the leaves are changing, but that you have to book during those weeks well in advance.

Train, Retouched

Dec 9, 2007
9 comments

One of my most talented neighbors (perhaps my most talented neighbor) Michelley-Chelle retouched my picture of the train with the unfortunate shadow across the nose to lessen the shadow. Here is the result: