Thank you for everyone who stopped by the Downtown Boulder ArtFair, Highlands Ranch Arts Festival and Evergreen Arts Festival the past couple of months.  It was great to meet everyone who stopped by the booth and talk about the images on display.

I have added an additional show to the schedule for the month of September in Boulder which takes place on September 25th and 26th (Saturday/Sunday).  The Boulder Fall Festival is located along the Pearl Street Mall and features “food, brews and music with the added excitement of a Children’s Carni­val and more than 30 artisan booths.”

I do hope to see you at the festival in a few weeks.

If you have lived in Denver or along the front range of Colorado for any period of time you know snow in May is not uncommon at all.  So on the morning of May 1st two years ago looking out the window while working I decided to grab the camera and explore while the snow was falling.  As the weather had been warm the past few days there was not much snow sticking to the pavement however the grass was starting to get some accumulation.  I drove towards Washington Park and I had a location in my mind which I had photographed a few months earlier.  Driving south towards the park I noticed the steam coming off of Smith Lake at the north end of park and quickly changed my destination.  I started to walk around the lake and capture the elements of the snow and steam coming off the lake.  I had almost walked the entire lake when I found an interesting tree which I didn’t recall the other times I was in the park.  Walking back from the tree I liked how it framed the scene of the lake and light post and made the Snowy May Day photograph.

One comment I get with this image when someone looks closely is that the photo itself is color.  Depending on the size of the image, the first thought which goes to their mind is that the image is black and white until they notice the grass in the image.

This is not the last you will see of this tree in the Behind the Picture series.

The first question I get when someone looks at my photograph of Rainbow Curve is always, “Were you in an airplane?”.  When I let them know my feet were on solid ground for the photograph, I then get the follow-up question of “What time did you have to start climbing the mountain”?  Almost always they are surprised to know that my car is probably five feet away from where I was taking the picture.

The image of Rainbow Curve in Rocky Mountain National Park is one where I was in the right spot at the right time.  In September 2008, I was in Estes Park for the finale hike of the Team in Training season where I hiked Flattop Mountain.  Already being in the area, I decided to stay an extra day and photograph prior to heading home.  While planning the morning I was thinking of a few places which I could head to near Bear Lake and prior to sunrise started to make the drive up Bear Lake Road.  I was about halfway up the road when I just thought to myself that it would be difficult to clear the cloud cover you could start to see in the pre-dawn light.  In a split second, I found myself at a turnout and making a 180 for the risk of going up Trail Ridge Road for sunrise.  I knew from where I was it would be about 30 minutes to get up Trail Ridge Road, and that sunrise would occur in around 40 minutes.

As I backtracked and drove up Trail Ridge Road, I was wondering to myself if I had made the right decision.  That was until just around treeline when I climbed out of the clouds to clear skies.  The first thought was where could I pull off to capture this sunrise and that Rainbow Curve was maybe a 1/2 mile away.  The area at Rainbow Curve looks back towards the east and on a clear day you can see Estes Park and out to the front range of Colorado.  This morning it was just clouds.  Starting to set-up for sunrise with about 10 minutes to spare other people stopped as well to see the view.  Some of these people stayed for sunrise, while others continued up the road and towards Grand Lake.

As the sun started to rise above the clouds, I looked for different compositions using the mountains rising through the clouds to give a perspective that I was indeed close to earth and not flying across country in an aircraft.

A few weeks ago, gallery nrc and the other galleries at Tennyson Studios hosted the Art for Wapiyapi fundraiser.  This fundraiser was a silent auction featuring art created by the kids who attended Camp Wapiyapi this summer.  Camp Wapiyapi is for kids in families where there is a member of the family with childhood cancer.  The campers are partnered with an adult volunteer where they can build a unique one-on-one relationship during the week. The campers also develop a deep camaraderie with the other children at Camp Wapiyapi. Through these bonds they are able to draw strength, courage, and peace in addition to knowing they do not have to face their challenges alone.

There is no cost for the children to attend the camp, and through fundraising events like Art for Wapiyapi, the Wapiyapi Classic and various others throughout the year, Wapiyapi is continuing to grow the number of spaces they have available each summer.

During the four hour event in the galleries and parking lot at Tennyson Studios, I captured some images highlighting the event.

Silent Auction

View of the outdoor events

Music

Playing at the Bubble Machine

Counselors and kids playing, showing the end result of Camp Wapiyapi

In the end the event raised close to $10,000.

On February 27, 2009 the Rocky Mountain News published the final edition of the newspaper.  Knowing it would be a memorable day in Colorado history as the paper had been in existence for almost 150 years, I woke up before dawn in the pursuit of some copies of the paper.  I guess I was going a little overboard since the first location I stopped at to get the paper did not have their copies yet at 6am.  I finally found a stack of the News at a nearby 7-11 and purchased a handful as well as an edition of the Denver Post, which was the main competitor to the News.

While walking home I was thinking of how many people over the years had received the paper on the front door step of their home and that it could be an interesting photograph.  The one problem was that the sun was just starting to rise and where my porch is located it needs to be about an hour after sunrise for the light to hit the porch at that time of the year.  Once I was home I took a little nap, and woke up seeing the light was just about right at that time.  Placing the paper on the porch with a slight toss I worked to get the image I was thinking of on the walk home.  The front of the paper was quite unique for this final edition and I wanted to focus on the the memorable words “Goodbye, Colorado” gracing the cover.  This meant using a shallow depth of field for the images I took that morning.  While there is some color in the wood on the porch, I also changed the image to a pure black and white image as I felt this was appropriate for the story I was telling.

I picked the one image which I felt told the story best, and this is one of the more popular images which I have sold in the past year.

Camera settings: 1/3000 @ f/4, ISO 200.

Did you know that as of today there are 130 days until Christmas?  While it may be warm out right now shortly the temperatures will start to get cooler, the leaves will change color and the holidays will be here.  To help you get ahead of the holidays, the holiday card sets which are offered by Neil Corman Photography are on sale now through October 31, 2010 for $13, which is a $4 savings.

In addition, for 2010 a new card will be offered featuring the Union Station Snow image taken in March of this year.  In addition the three scenes from 2009 will continue to be offered.  These cards include Winter in Washington Park, Holidays in Denver and Clear Winter Day.  Look for the newest card to be available in September at this special sale rate.

This summer I will be taking part in a few art fairs in the Metro Denver area.  I hope that you will be able to stop by and visit me at one or all of the shows.

2010 Art Fair Schedule

32nd Annual Downtown Boulder ArtFair
(Pearl Street Mall)
Boulder, Colorado
Saturday July 17th — 10am – 8pm
Sunday July 18th — 10am – 5pm
Booth 1113 (just west of Broadway on Pearl St.)
More information

Highlands Ranch Art Festival
Highlands Ranch, Colorado
Saturday August 14th — 9am – 6pm
Highlands Ranch Town Center South

Evergreen Fine Arts Festival
Evergreen, Colorado
Saturday August 28th — 10am – 5pm
Sunday August 29th — 10am – 5pm
More information

Additional Viewing Opportunities

During the month of August, the images Top of the Dunes and Rainbow Curve will be on display at the College Hill Library in Westminster, Colorado as part of a group show of nature photography.  The library is located on 112th Street in Westminster and images will be available for viewing during normal library hours.

On Friday April 2, 2010, gallery nrc will celebrate its one year anniversary in Northwest Denver.  Join us during First Friday in the Tennyson Arts District from 6-10pm to help celebrate the anniversary.

During the course of the year we have worked with some great photographers and others who have helped the gallery grow. With so many people helping out we decided to ask a few of these individuals to show their work at the gallery this month. The first anniversary show features the photographic work of Jake Groenhof, Terri Johanson, Christopher G Rice, Aleksei Saunders, Daylene Wilson and Neil Corman.

gallery nrc is located at 4424 Tennyson Street.

If you have lived in Denver for any period of time, you most likely know March is the snowiest month of the year in the city.  While we will alternate between 60 degree days and snow during the month, this allows for the snow to melt quite quickly.

Last week we had one of these spring storms which brought some heavy wet snow to the city.  I took advantage of this and went out to photograph during the storm and also the morning after.  While I was out photographing I planned to be in the same area of Denver, lower downtown, during and after the storm.

Union Station during a spring snow storm.

Union Station and the light rail station the morning after the snow.

Even with April just around the corner I don’t think this will be the last of the spring snow in the city 2010.

During the month of February, these were the top iPhone pictures as indicated by your on Facebook and Twitter.

Shadow on the Ground

Walking down the sidewalk from the library to drop off some books, I noticed the morning light creating a nice shadow from the angled light.  Overlapping the gaps in the sidewalk it more for the image above.

Car Door Handle

On a cold morning a light frost gathered on some cars, and as I took out the garbage I noticed the frost on an old car across the way.  Playing with the angle, I wanted to capture part of the car but also the element of frost to help tell the story of the object.  It took a few times to get the angle I was look for, but the result was the whole car handle and just enough of the car and frost.

Inside a Light Bulb

On the windows at gallery nrc there are a set of cafe lights.  While playing with the phone, I was able to change the exposure and through the clear bulb have the camera meter on the filament which was generating the light.  The result was the hot light of the power being generated from the small bulb.

Check back in April for the top images from March.  You may view these images as they are posted on Twitter or our Facebook Fan Page.  Your comments and retweets help pick the top images for the month.