• Plants,  quotes

    Watching Crops Grow

    Wheat

    “Why do farmers farm, given their economic adversities on top of the many frustrations and difficulties normal to farming? And always the answer is: “Love. They must do it for love.” Farmers farm for the love of farming. They love to watch and nurture the growth of plants. They love to live in the presence of animals. They love to work outdoors. They love the weather, maybe even when it is making them miserable. They love to live where they work and to work where they live. If the scale of their farming is small enough, they lie to work in the company of their children and with help or their children. They love the measure of independence that farm life can still provide. I have an idea that a lot of farmers have gone to a lot of trouble merely to be self-employed to live at least a part of their lives without a boss.” Wendel Berry.

    Wheat harvest is over for the farmers along the Colorado Front Range and the Eastern Plains. With the nice rains we’ve been experiencing those same farmers are now smiling as the milo and corn crops grow.

  • Candid Portraits,  Documentary/Street,  lifestyles,  People/Portraits

    A Bagel and Smile

    Bittany
    Brittany

    A welcoming smile can sure start the day right. I had two special smiles on ‘sunday morning. First I stopped at a local coffeehouse where one of my favorite baristas, Myra, greeted me with her smile. Dang, makes me wish I wasn’t old enough to be her grandpa. 🙂

    The next smile you’ll find at Rocky Mountain Bagel Works in Fort Collins. As you come in the door a hallway leads you to Brittany, or one of her co-workers, who greets you with a smile and warm welcome. Once you recover from her smile you must now decide what you want from the menu. An assortment of bagel flavors and cream cheeses, breakfast or lunch bagel sandwiches, coffee, lattes, smoothies. 🙂 It is a great way to start your day and fits the small budget and they’re local!

  • HDR,  landscape,  sunrises

    No Need to Compare

    Edited in Silver Efex Pro 2
    Cropped and edited in Silver Efex Pro 2

    All of us at times go back and work on images with the intent of improving or learning something new. A couple days ago I converted an image to black and white because of an article I’d read. This is a second image I worked on. It is an HDR image. I’ve cropped the rocks out and run it through Silver Efex Pro 2. When finished I asked a couple of friends which one they liked.  One immediately jumped all over the color version while the second one took time to study them,  choosing the black and white version. It was at that moment I realized it was unnecessary to compare.  Each version would stand on its own. Each will be liked or dislike for a thousand reasons.  There was no need to compare. 

  • sunrises

    A Good Week

    Sunrise at Arapahoe Bend
    Sunrise at Arapahoe Bend

    Well, it’s a new week. Seems like each week flies by faster. A friend gave me a copy of Outdoor magazine which was directed towards black and white landscapes. While reading one article I remembered a series of images I made of sunrises at Arapahoe Bend and Prospect Ponds nature areas. I was stirred to see what they looked like in black and white. After about an hour this is one of the images. Hope everyone has A Good Week.

  • coffee life,  coffee shops,  lifestyles

    No More Internet

    The Art of the Latte
    The Art of the Latte

    Going to throw some numbers at you.  I pay $50 a month for Internet service at my condo. That comes to $600 a year. I’ve been in my condo for 13 years now, so that means I’ve paid $7,800 for internet services at condo. That’s a nice chunk of money. When looking at those numbers, my mind asks the question, “What could  I have spent that money on?” Well, I could have used that money and gone to Spain with Earl and Bonnie, or down to Mexico with Paul or a weekend in Webster, preferably in April or May, or bought more unnecessary camera gear. Actually, all the above may be the real answer plus a new underwear.

    Most of you know I patronize local coffeehouses somewhere between 5-6 days a week. Yes, meetings would probably help. However, all of these coffeehouses provide free Internet. Six of these coffeehouses are within walking distance of my condo or quick bicycle ride. I’m a mobile person who carries along a camera, a Samsung tablet and a smart phone. I also have a 13″ laptop that is easy to carry. There is no reason I can’t just work off line then go for coffee or lunch and upload a post, check email, read my favorite blogs. So, I decided to eliminate my internet at home. It will require some adjustments such as working off line at home and better planning. We’ll see how it goes.

    It’s also a sad day as I offer prayers for the families of the passengers on another Malaysian aircraft going down. 🙁 I do hope everyone has a good weekend.