Last warm day at the lake

The littlest rainbow.

The last warm day at the park.

Visit to Barr Lake State Park

Longs peak as seen from Barr Lake State Park, Brighton, Colorado.

Two fishermen at Barr Lake State Park, Brighton, Colorado.

Just a guy with a motorcycle and a camera.

I will never forget

Matthew Shepard died 17 years ago today from injuries he suffered five days earlier in a brutal hate crime in Laramie Wyoming. I will NEVER forget !



 

Tape it to the frigerator

Mom! Look what I made in school today! Can we tape it to the frigerator?

I tried to copy a photograph I took at Crown Hill Park. The painting didn't turn out quite the way I envisioned it. I need to paint more often.


8x6 oil on canvas panel.I learned I need some smaller brushes while working on this. A small canvas needs smaller tools to work with.

 

Feeling energetic

I've been more energetic the past few weeks. I drew up a list of some of the things I've done during the last 2 weeks.

• I worked at the wildlife refuge twice.
• I bought new cloths. 3 bluejeans and 6 shirts.
• Got my eyes checked. Happy to learn I don't need new glasses.
• Renewed my drivers license.
• Rode the motorcycle in the new express lane. Had to get a permit.
• Caught a cold.
Lake Lador, Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
• Distributed to friends copies of the magazine I published.
• Deleted a bunch of junk out of my Blog.
• Ran into a former work colleague.
• Attended the annual Home Owners Association meeting.
• Rode the motorcycle to Florissant, Colorado.
• Did 6 loads of laundry but not all on the same day.
• Met with my Cardiologist. He told me to eat more vegetables and get more exercise.
• Started walking on the treadmill and lifting the hand weights again.
• Watched the Little League World Series. They play hard, it's fast paced, and a lot happens.
• Shopped Dyson cordless vacuums but they're too expensive and I don't need one that badly.
• Watched some instructional videos about Adobe Lightroom.
• Reviewed the Canon 70D DSLR exposer compensation in the user manual. I want to try HDR again.

Over all it's been a productive few weeks.

 

Fossil tree

Last Saturday I rode the motorcycle from Arvada to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Florissant Colorado. It was a great ride. I didn't know until I got there that there was a motorcycle rally in nearby Cripple Creek on the same day.

I'm on the right. On the left is a 34 million year old petrified redwood tree stump.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Florissant, Colorado.

34 million year old petrified tree rings.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Florissant, Colorado.

I like to take photos of clouds.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Florissant, Colorado.

Laura Ingalls Wilder never lived here.
Hornbek Homestead, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, Florissant, Colorado.

Blue moon

I went out to photograph the sun setting over Eldorado Canyon Thursday night which also happened to be the night of the full moon. I was confident there would be a nice sunset because there were enough broken clouds there was also a lot of dirt, smoke, and water vapor hanging in the air. I really struggled to get anything usable but was able to snap a few good shots. I'm still finding my way around the Canon 70D but I'm not sure what was causing me so much trouble.

Sunset over Eldorado Canyon with the Canon 70D.

Facing east with the Canon 70D on a tripod. I used exposer bracketing to build an HDR image but chose only one of the photos. You can see the dirt and smoke in the air.

I took this photo just before sunset because I thought it was pretty. I used the Canon G15 point and shoot in HDR mode facing south. That land is on the other side of the highway and use to be Rocky Flats.

Funeral for a fireman

I watched the funeral procession for Denver fireman John Whelan Tuesday morning and took these photos.

Rocky Mountain Columbine

Conjunction

Conjunction of the moon, Jupiter and Venus. Venus is on the right.
June 20, 2015.

At the park

Blue Heron face off


Dwindling goslings started with 8 now there are 2


Domestic Mallards gone feral

Sunset at Arbor Lake

We need a little beauty today. Sunset at Arbor Lake, Arvada, Colorado.


Selfie in the park.

Lightning, thunder and hail! Oh my!

Lightning, thunder and hail over Arvada. This is about a 1/2 hour after video below. I brought the camera inside, then the cat and I went downstairs until the worst of the storm was over.

Lightning storm over Broomfield. This is second attempt at recording; I didn't have the camera set to video mode on the first attempt. (Note: this clip requires JavaScript to be enabled.)

Out for a spin

I took the motorcycle out for a spin this morning. I took Hwy 93 through Boulder to Hwy 66 east of Lyons then traveled east past Longmont to US85 at Platteville. I went south to Fort Lupton then west on Hwy 52 through Dacono to Hwy 118 at Niwot and rejoined Hwy 93 in Boulder. I stopped for lunch at the Sonic Drive Inn in Westminster and got gas across the street. It was a pleasant 120 mile ride. There were a lot of bicyclists on the highways today.

To art or not to art

Draw and paint from a photo.






Oh, it's not that bad.


Photo of Longs peak and Boulder flatirons from Standley Lake.


A value (light/dark/grays) sketch I made while there.

It's an ashtray!

It's an ashtray!
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It's an ashtray!
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Still life from photo

I'm not disappointed. I got the colors a little off but overall I'm happy with the result. Oil on canvas.