• lake,  landscape,  mountains,  reflections

    Mary’s Lake

    October 14, 2022

    Our first stop on our Peak to Peak highway drive on Sunday was Mary’s Lake. Hardly any breeze so the lake was smooth as glass. Every plant still in the shade, had a coat of light frost on it. Marys Lake is part of the Colorado-Big Thompson Project. There are 2 dikes on the shoreline of Mary’s Lake, located approximately 2 miles from Estes Park, Colorado. Mary’s Lake serves two primary purposes: it acts as an afterbay for the Mary’s Lake Power Plant, and it helps regulate Colorado-Big Thompson Project water on its way to the Estes Power Plant.  I guess another purpose is to provide beautiful reflections.

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  quotes,  reflections,  Reservoir Ridge Natural Area,  sunsets

    I needed this…

    September 5, 2022

    I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.

    John Burroughs

    I awoke early yesterday morning, couldn’t go back to sleep so I got up earlier than I wanted. It has been a busy day but a very good day so I needed this sunset and the quiet at Claymore Lake last night. Hope everyone is having a good Labor Day weekend.

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  • clouds,  landscape,  quotes,  reflections,  sunsets

    Need for Beauty

    November 29, 2021
    Sunset at Rigden Reservoir

    “Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”

    John Muir

    Drove to the Arapaho Bend Natural Area. Sun had just set. No wind. A subtle pink color in the clouds to the north. Walked to the edge of the reservoir and setup my tripod. Waited and watched. I was given the gift of this moment. Just what I needed. Beauty does that.

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  Plants,  poetry,  sunsets,  writing/reading

    The Journey

    November 28, 2021

    Above the mountains
    the geese turn into
    the light again

    Painting their
    black silhouettes
    on an open sky.

    Sometimes everything
    has to be
    inscribed across
    the heavens

    so you can find
    the one line
    already written
    inside you.

    Sometimes it takes
    a great sky
    to find that

    first, bright
    and indescribable
    wedge of freedom
    in your own heart.

    Sometimes with
    the bones of the black
    sticks left when the fire
    has gone out

    someone has written
    something new
    in the ashes of your life.

    You are not leaving.
    Even as the light fades quickly now,
    you are arriving.

    David Whyte

    As David Whyte’s poem suggests I arrived in time for the sunset offered by Nature.

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  • landscape,  natural areas,  Pineridge Natural Area,  sunrises

    Hazy Morning

    July 12, 2021

    No clouds this morning but plenty of haze from the smog and smoke drifting from the west coast. Unable to smell them but sure can see their effects. Interesting how the camera sensor does not record the red/orange sun in the sky the same as the reflection in Dixon Reservoir. Hope you had a good weekend and a great week ahead.

    Started reading the book Nomadland by Jessica Bruder and finding it interesting. At times it’s sad, at times disturbing, at other times informative and other times funny.

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  • Candid Portraits,  Fujifilm X-T3,  Fujifilm XF16-80mm f4.0,  lake,  landscape,  lifestyles,  natural areas,  reflections,  shadows,  sunrises

    What the heck

    August 20, 2020

    Getting ready for some morning fishing time

    On one of my walks at Dixon Reservoir I noticed this man just getting started with some fishing. The rising sun offered me a wonderful silhouette so I paused, took a deep breath, composed, took five images. Probably three too many but what the heck. For me the mood of this image tells a story about this man’s love for fishing.

    My bicycle ride to and from Mugs coffee shop takes me across the campus of Colorado State University. I was surprised this morning at the number of parents dropping off students at dorms. I’ll guess 90% were wearing masks but I imagine that will change when mom leaves. It also brought more awareness of the vast differences we have in our attitudes towards this pandemic. What the heck, maybe these freshman need to become fishermen, standing six feet a part. Yes, I know, I’m thinking out loud again.

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  • Art,  Art/Design,  leaves,  quotes,  reflections

    …don’t know

    May 1, 2020
    Reflection is the focus point

    “…the difference between confusion and ‘don’t know’ is that confusion can only see one way out and that way is blocked, while ‘don’t know’ is open to miracles and insights.”
    Joyce Rupp

    This image was taken a few years ago while on a rainy walk. I was surprised when I looked through the viewfinder because of what the camera and lens saw was much different than what my eyes saw. My eyes saw the leaves and reflection both in focus but with the lens stopped down due to the low light, the focus was on the reflection. It was a great photography lesson for me. But, it also teaches that what others will see is not necessarily what we will see.

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