In September 2008 I hiked in Rocky Mountain National Park as part of Hike for Discovery, which is now Team in Training.  Both of these raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.   Spending a couple an extra day at Estes Park I headed up towards Bear Lake for the morning but when I realized I was in the clouds decided to change those plans and quickly headed up to Trail Ridge Road.  Just before Rainbow Curve, I broke out of the clouds and was treated with the following scene at sunrise.

Rainbow Curve - Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

This image is available in the Rocky Mountain National Park gallery and is titled Rainbow Curve.

It is at this time every year I remind myself that it is about the future and not the past…

It is during this week each year I remind myself why it is important to wear a bike helmet.  I wanted to share this post with you again for this week which was also the LTW post last year.

Warmer weather is starting to appear, and how many times have you jumped on a bicycle without a helmet, whether it was for a short ride in traffic across town or many miles down a bike path. There are various reasons why you would not wear one; from it just being something else to carry when you get to your destination, it messes up your hair, you look dorky with it on and the countless other reasons. Well 22 years ago tomorrow, I didn’t have a bicycle helmet on while riding home from soccer practice and it impacted my life. I won’t go into the specifics about what happened and the injuries suffered but needless to say it has changed the thought process of using bicycle helmets for many people I know when I tell the story.

Here are some facts from the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute regarding injuries for bicyclists:

• There are 85 million bicycle riders in the US.
• About 540,000 bicyclists visit emergency rooms with injuries every year. Of those, about 67,000 have head injuries, and 27,000 have injuries serious enough to be hospitalized.
• A very high percentage of cyclists’ brain injuries can be prevented by a helmet, estimated at anywhere from 45 to 88 per cent.
• 770 bicyclists died on US roads in 2006, down just 14 from the year before. Over 90 percent died in crashes with motor vehicles.

Now I don’t want to scare you with the statistics as a bicycle is a great way to get around but throwing a helmet on your head is another thing you should do when out riding. Helmets vary in price, but some can be purchased for around $20.

If you don’t have a helmet, I encourage you to check out the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute website to find out more information. At the website you will find information on how to buy a helmet, how to fit a helmet, the locations where the use of a helmet is mandatory and until what age (you may be surprised at some of the restrictions) and much more.

When you are riding a bicycle always make sure a helmet is on your head, as you never know what can happen.

There are many options available for mounting photographs, whether it is a traditional frame, a thumb tack on the wall (ouch!) or a plaque mounting option. Images from Neil Corman Photography is happy to announce to provide a Photobox option available for photographs larger than 8″x12″.

The print itself is mounted to a sturdy MDF board using an acid free mounting tissue which helps keep the piece from yellowing. The image is then covered with a UV protective coating to ensure the image will not fade, with an end result of a beautiful non-glare Matte finish. When hung against the wall, the image sits flush against the wall.

The Photobox option is listed on the image size selection page, and may be seen for the Aircraft Departing image page which is the photograph above.

This past weekend was the final hike I will be on for the summer season of the Team in Training – Hike program.  The finale hike for the group is in two weeks and the kickoff for the Fall season is this coming Saturday.  For the hike this past weekend, once again for the fifth weekend in a row the conditions were less than ideal as it had rained overnight and was raining during the start of the hike.  For this hike we were just outside of Boulder and as finale hike is Grand Canyon we started hiking from the top to simulate a trip into the canyon.

Starting along Flagstaff Mountain Road we made our way on the Green Mountain West Ridge trail prior to starting to head down towards Boulder and the main trail heads.  Due to snow in the recent weeks there were quite a few trees which had fallen along the trail making it an interesting day either getting through the trees or dispersing around the downed trees to minimize the trail impact.  Upon reach the parking lots we headed back up towards the top along Gregory Canyon which was in good condition but then it started raining once again.  It was a good hike to end the season, and would like to thank Kelly for the following images since I didn’t have my camera with me on this hike.

The view along the trail while hiking outside of Boulder.

I am trying to avoid a picture taken by Cristy as documented by Kelly.

I now start hiking for the Fall season at Rocky Mountain National Park, and will begin the fund raising process.

You may have heard about the arts program at Edison Elementary located in Northwest Denver, and how a fundraising effort is in progress to raise $60,000 in order to save the program for the 2009-2010 school year.  As Edison Elementary is located near gallery nrc, I thought I would mention some of the upcoming events and what you can do to help raise money to save the program.

• Wednesday May 6th – 10% of sales are donated from the restaurants, Duo (2413 W. 32nd) and Red Trolley (2639 W 32nd)
• Friday May 8th – Artists for Edison – Art Show and Silent Auction – 6-10pm. Namaste (3945 Tennyson Street)
• Monday May 11th – 10% of sales are donated from the restaurant, Patrick O’Carroll’s (3961 Tennyson Street)
• Wednesday May 13th – 10% of sales are donated from the restaurants, Shazz (4262 Lowell) and Bang (3472 W. 32nd)
• Now until Friday May 15th – Optique of Denver (1580 Blake Street) will donate 10% of all sales
• Wednesday May 20th – 10% of sales are donated from the restaurant, Venue Bistro (3609 W. 32nd)
• Saturday May 23rd – Run at Sloan’s Lake – More Information coming soon.
• Sunday May 24th – MADE Festival – The Oriental Theater (4335 West 44th)

Events are being added, so check out the Arts for Edison website for more information and how you may help.

Have you ever photographed with a camera which required either a negative or positive film?  How was that experience?  Is this something which you think you could do once again easily and produce the same results you get right now with digital?  With a film camera there is not the opportunity to check the histogram for exposure, adjust the white balance and look at your result.  It all comes with instinct and knowledge of exposure and judging a scene when shooting with film.

Why do I ask these questions?  Since it is a good check to make sure you understand the basics of photography and can produce a consistent result no matter what type of camera you are using.  I was also reminded of this and how important it is to have this skill with the release of the new Sports Illustrated Slide Show book which looks at past covers and the corresponding slide.  What you will notice is that cropping needs to take place to fit the need of the cover, but also you see how important it is to know the exposure and factors for making a proper image.  Now just like with digital during the printing process some tweaks do have to be made, but think about how difficult lighting conditions can be at a sporting event plus throw in the limitation of 36 frames on a roll of film as well before having to change cameras or rolls on the fly.  People say that with digital so wide spread now in the industry knowing the basics is not as important, however having the technical skills in place will always improve your image and let you concentrate on the many other factors which must be considered when creating an image.

A fun project which I do is to shoot film every so often for fun and see what result you get with your images.  You may be surprised at the result, but it also makes sure you are sharp with the basics and remember everything which must be considered as there is no “cheating” or “chimping” using film.  By keeping fresh on the basics, your photography will continue grow and the results will just become natural as is the case in the new SI Slide Show book.

When browsing the website you may have noticed Images from Neil Corman Photography now has note cards available for purchase.  Twelve different note cards are available and each one is printed on a high quality art linen card stock with a parchment envelope included.  The cards cost $4/each or they may be purchased as part of a multi-pack of 6 cards for $20.  Two different multi-packs are available, the first consisting of images from Colorado

and the second images from the Western United States.

If you are in the Denver area you may also stop by Denver Photography Gallery – gallery nrc to purchase the cards as well.

Custom note cards are also available which is a great idea for your business or holiday cards. Also if there is an image on the website which you would like to see as a featured note card please let Images of Neil Corman Photography know and we will see if we can add this to our new note card line.

With the rollout of the new note card line Images from Neil Corman Photography is offering a 10% discount on all items purchased through Friday May 15, 2009.  Enter discount code MAY09NEW in the shopping cart in order to receive this discount offer prior to payment.

As the weather has been getting nicer I have been taking the opportunity to ride by bicycle up to the Denver Photography Gallery – gallery nrc instead of driving.  While it is around seven miles and on a mix of bicycle paths and city streets it reminds me of an article I saw in the newspaper earlier this year discussing the US Bicycle Route System which is this weeks linking the week site.

While riding seven miles is different than throughout the country, it is somewhat similiar.  Here in Denver there are plenty of bike routes which are published, and while I am heading to the gallery see the signs indicating I am on D-6 or D-1 heading the gallery.  On a smaller scale this is exactly what the US Bicycle Route System is planning on doing throughout the country.  Marking bicycle routes is a smart move for education to both bicyclists as well as drivers so they are both aware of predetermined routes which exist and improve safety.

The latest edition of the Images from Neil Corman Photography newsletter is being prepared and will be sent out next week.  Are you subscribed to the free newsletter delivered directly to your e-mail inbox?

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