The end of April is already here, the year is flying by yet again.  Speaking of flying, here is an image taken prior to a flight…

Some of the things noticed this week include:

Rocky Mountain Regional Camera & Collectibles Show is on Sunday May 1st.

The opening date for IKEA is Denver was announced and it is on July 27th.  I am wondering when it will actually be possible to get within miles of there.

Photographer David duChemin was injured in a fall while in Asia, he is now back in Canada recovering.

A new look of captchas on the web now includes advertising.  Will be interesting to see how this progresses.

A good resource for business owners is Help a Reporter Out, free and something which could provide some good insight and trends and PR.

It is spring in Colorado, snow in the mountains, varying temperatures around Denver with periods of graupel as well.

A good quote I heard this week… There is no partial credit in business, you either did it or not.

Random Fact: 1 in 5,000 north Atlantic lobsters are born bright blue.

Today is Earth Day and with that there are some free items available.  You may have seen one posted on the blog this morning for a free CD download.  If you stop by Starbucks today with a refillable mug you can get a free cup of coffee as well…

World Pinhole Camera Day is tomorrow.  Did you know it is possible to make a pin hole camera out of a DSLR?

Gary Vaynerchuk was in town this week on a book tour for his new book The Thank You Economy, which was a great event.  I saw her at the Tattered Cover here in Denver.

Today is the last day to sign up for the Denver Bcycle program at the low rate of $49/year.  Memberships will go up after today.  Also remember there is a per usage fee as well.

Registration for the Small Business Forum in Denver is now open. (via @MileHighBusinessAlliance)

Denver Magazine shut down this week after being acquired by 5280.

Speaking of shutting down, I miss the diagonal crossings in downtown Denver.  If you have not noticed these crossings are quickly being removed in the city in order to allow for longer green lights, which will also lead to longer light rail trains being able to operate.

Random Fact: 7 million fewer Americans played billiards in 2010 vs. 2000. (via @darrenrovell)

As a 1% for the Planet member, Neil Corman Photography donates at least one percent of annual revenues to environmental causes. This Earth Day, we want to thank you for your support with the gift of free music. Download and enjoy 1% for the Planet: The Music, Vol. 1, a benefit compilation featuring 41 rare and exclusive tracks from artists like Jackson Browne, Josh Ritter, Grace Potter, and Jack Johnson—simply visit http://music.onepercentfortheplanet.org/redeem/ and enter code EARTHDAY11.

Once you’ve had a chance to enjoy the music, join us in giving back. Recently it was posted on the blog how last year the 1% contribution went to Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado —please consider supporting this deserving causes this Earth Day!

Today is Tax Day… well normally it is but due to the observed holiday in the District of Columbia taxes are due this year on Monday.

You may have noticed QR codes more and more.  I think this is a great use of the QR code, where you can scan the code from your smartphone and get the latest weather conditions at Lake Tahoe.

Now onto the bits for the week:

This weekend in Denver is Doors Open Denver, which showcases some of the architecture and architectural heritage in the city.  The event is free and runs from 10am-4pm on Saturday and Sunday.  There is also a photo contest associated with the event.  Thanks to Rachael Lyman at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce for mentioning this to me.

The ASMP Colorado newsletter was sent out this week, many great events coming up for photographers. Disclaimer: I am on the board of the local chapter.

Killing some time while eating this week came across the site Wanderfly via Stumbleupon.  What a great concept if you don’t quite know where you would like to travel.

Here is an interesting use of Foursquare for marketing. (via @indiearsenal)

If you are interested in sports photography, you may want to check out the upcoming workshop offered by Rich Clarkson at the US Olympic Training Center.

Photoshelter released a guide recently on How to Sell Prints.  Great information as always from Photoshelter.

Random Fact: You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.

Last month I went on a trip to the Lake Tahoe area.  As I was sitting in the Denver airport I looked down at the carpet on Concourse C and thought to myself wow that is interesting, so I posted the image on Twitter.

This got me thinking about my trip, as if you have been to a casino you know that the carpet is less than appealing which is done on purpose (I really do hope).  Some rumors I have heard on why the carpet is hideous in a casino is to keep your eyes up as you pass machines, to hide stains from drinks which fall as well as foot traffic.  What most people can agree on with the carpet is that it will not be installed in your house anytime soon.

With a couple of nights in Reno prior to heading to Lake Tahoe, I made it a small project to capture some of the carpets I encountered during my trip.  Are there any of these which you enjoy?

As I landed in Reno, I noticed this almost immediately leaving the airplane. (Sample A)

Now the carpet in the hotel room wasn’t too bad, but then again look what it is going against. (Sample B)

Now it was time to explore Reno.  With the first stop the National Bowling Stadium however first I had to walk through the casino to get out the door. (Sample C)

and then onto the bowling stadium. (Sample D)

With some weather moving into the area, I had a small window of opportunity to head up towards Truckee, which I did to photograph some of the areas near there.  After a short period of time the snow started falling and with chain restrictions quickly being which was my cue to head back to Reno to see what else I could find.

It didn’t take long to find some more candidates for my project. (Sample E)

and at the casino next door… (Sample F)

Heading towards Circus Circus in Reno, there are two distinct areas, one for the games area and the other for the gaming.  I think it is obvious which one is this carpet belongs. (Sample G)

Heading back to my hotel there was still more carpets to be experienced. (Sample H)

(Sample I)

The second part of my trip brought me to Stateline, Nevada and Lake Tahoe.  If you are not familiar with the area, there are just a handful of casinos right on the Nevada/California border.  The casinos are frequented usually after a day of activities around the lake, whether in the mountains or lake level.  While a different clientele visits these casinos, the carpet still is similar to what was found in Reno. (Sample J)

With the following carpet there was the nice pattern, and it almost looked like it would be a good opportunity for a match game. (Sample K)

Lastly, the following carpet was found in a transition between two casinos. (Sample L)

Did you have a favorite of the carpet samples above?  Did you go for patterns or colors?

A few weeks ago, I walked past Union Station in downtown Denver.  The area around Union Station is in the midst of a huge construction project as it changes to a regional transportation hub for the Denver area.  You may recall just over a year ago, I captured the following image of Union Station during a spring snow storm.

A year later this is how the scene has changed, of course the snow is not the only difference.

The image Union Station Snow has been on display in a few shows the past year on Saturday April 16th it will be displayed in the Lone Tree Photographic Art Show.  The show runs through May 8th at the Lone Tree Golf Club and Hotel.

I will be in attendance on Saturday, and hope to see you there.

After a period of traveling and doing some remodeling in the gallery, the weekly rewind is back.

ASMP Colorado senior board advisor Rich Clarkson was featured in the Denver Post this past Sunday as he continues to photograph the NCAA and hold workshops during the year.

If you know of a Charity which could benefit from a free day of photography, applications are now being taking by photographer Rich Souders. (via @SoudersStudio)

The final Strictly Business 3 seminar was held last weekend.  Check out some of the tweets with helpful pointers on twitter by searching the #SB3 tag.

The New York City Photobook is now out featuring a photograph by friend Ahron Foster, who also has a birthday coming up soon.  Check out the book with his picture of Alex & Janel on the rooftop.

Lastly did you know, in the average lifetime a person will walk the equivalent of 5 times around the equator.

In October 2009, I went on a road trip with a friend of mine from Sacramento to Denver.  The final leg of the trip was Salt Lake City to Denver which I did on my own via Amtrak.  For 15 hours I was on the rails through some of the most scenic areas in the country.  During that day, Denver received a foot of snow which also fell in some of the mountain areas.  If you are not familiar with weather in Colorado, a large amount of snow along the front range does not always equal a huge snow west of the continental divide.  As I rode the train I took pictures of some of the scenes along the way using my phone as the only method of capturing and processing the images.  To get an idea of the ride and the snow east of the divide, I shot a short video after leaving the Moffat Tunnel which passes through the divide.

The challenge with taking the images on the train is you don’t control the speed of the train and where you will be at a specific time.  Additionally if you don’t have the camera or image capturing device against the window some reflections will show in the image as well, even limiting the subject matter more.  Putting through these external factors, I captured the images below during the ride through the Rockies.

By the time I the train reached Green River, Utah I had given up on napping as day time had joined the trip.

As I approached Grand Junction the snow started showing up in the hills on a wet day.

Leaving Grand Junction timing the shutter on the phone so that it would capture a road started became a challenge.

Near almost all of the train tracks I have seen there are power lines, and this line was no different.  Looking ahead while taking pictures allowed me to plan for this image as we continued to move east.

Continuing east bound along the Colorado River more snow is evident.

More roads near the tracks.

Nearing Glenwood Springs there were still the sign of fall colors in late October.

Every so often we would pass rail cars on the side which made a nice scene, if the car could be timed correctly in the frame.

As we progressed towards Denver extra track would appear on occasion allowing me to capture the motion.

Near Granby the scenery was quite amazing in the late afternoon sun and the hint of snow.

as the train continued along rivers towards the divide.

and one more as we passed a bend in the river.

After passing through the tunnel to the east side of the divide, darkness quickly fell and the snowfall amounts increased as well.

Once in Denver, we waited to back in to Union Station as Denver does not have a through track.

Finally after more than 14 hours on the train, we arrived at Union Station in Denver.

All of these images were taken with my iPhone with some with no editing and others using CameraBag with the iPhone to handle processing.  is there a trip you took where you captured the way on a small camera or phone?

As a business owner I feel strongly in giving back to the community and one way I do this is through the organization 1% for the Planet.  This organization brings businesses and environmental non-profits around the world together.  The premise is quite simple, 1% of the top line revenue each year is donated to the qualified non-profits. This may be one non-profit or multiple non-profits.

Last month I contributed 1% of my 2010 top line revenue to a non-profit organizations.  While there are many deserving non-profits out there, I decided to make a contribution to Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado for the second straight year.  The VOC provides “hands-on volunteer opportunities for Coloradoans to help protect, enhance, restore, and preserve our state’s natural resources”.  Using the natural resources in the state for hiking, camping as well as capturing photographs I feel that this is the right place to donate as a business.

On Thursday April 7th, the VOC will be hosting an open house to allow volunteers to learn about the upcoming projects this summer.  I plan to be at the open house to see what opportunities are available this summer and hope to see you as well.