Denver Winter...Finally!

So all "winter" long in Denver, we've had hardly any snow - a winter drought of sorts. There was a decent falling in late November, but from December 21st thru to March 21st, nearly nothing.

Now, here it is, March 26th and suddenly a blizzard comes thru town dumping well over a foot of snow. I've shoveled my walk twice since the early afternoon, and I will need to do it at least once more in the morning. Mind you, I'm not complaining as we desperately needed the moisture and I've missed the winter environment here anyways.

The pictures were taken during my drive home Thursday afternoon (yes, while I was driving...don't ask!). I drove the entire 12 miles in Low 4WD, never going more than 30 mph. Most ironic of everything I saw was a landscaping truck with a front plow and a sand spreading unit in the bed that was sliding all over the road, while barely moving at the top of the hill. The driver had to turn/slide into the center median and use that as friction to keep from going completely out of control.
Meanwhile, those of us with real tires on the vehicles were able to handle it. Though I wish people would learn that flooring it and spinning their tires as much as possible is not the way to get themselves moving.

While the next 2 days should be fun for the kids as they'll be able to snowshoe and sled some, I suspect much of the good snow will be gone by the beginning of next week since we're expecting relatively warm temperatures by the end of the weekend. Enjoy it while we can!

21 Days of Photos

For three weeks of a mostly mild March in Denver, I followed Clayton's lead in completing 21 consecutive days of photo shoots. This posting is a summary of all 21 days; clicking on any day will reveal the story behind that day's photo.

Though there were days that this challenge resulted in a late day scramble to get out with the camera and find a topic to get some shots of, it was a very valuable experience. More than anything, it got the camera back in my hands on a regular basis, which I had been missing for quite some time. Hopefully we'll continue this routine in different forms going forward. And, I have to get a filter for my latest lens as well as find a replacement part for my tripod - both of those would have been very valuable the past three weeks, not to mention with every future shoot.

Day 21: March 24






Day 20: March 23






Day 19: March 22






Day 18: March 21






Day 17: March 20






Day 16: March 19






Day 15: March 18






Day 14: March 17






Day 13: March 16






Day 12: March 15






Day 11: March 14






Day 10: March 13






Day 09: March 12






Day 08: March 11






Day 07: March 10






Day 06: March 09






Day 05: March 08






Day 04: March 07






Day 03: March 06






Day 02: March 05






Day 01: March 04

SOTD - Day 21

Wasn't my first choice of shoots today, but a late day at the office followed by a meeting left me keeping a close eye on options on the way home. Local playground presented a unique design to use for my final shot in this first of, hopefully, many challenges.

Specs
Time: 8:05pm
Shutter Speed: 1/60"
Aperture: F/3.5
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 18mm
Flash: Yes
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 20

A sidewalk along a local street caught my eye on the way home from a users group meeting tonight. Under normal lighting/conditions, these are beautiful white flowering trees.

Specs
Time: 9:45pm
Shutter Speed: 1/8"
Aperture: F/3.5
Exposure Comp: +2 step
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 18mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 19

Mallards, gadwalls, goldeneyes, great horned owls, hawks and a kingfisher all got some time from my lens this morning, with additional sightings of a cormorant and a great blue heron (not to mention a few dozen songbirds).
But in the end it was the last shots of the morning where I found this Northern Flicker pecking away at a small branch.

Specs
Time: 10:28am
Shutter Speed: 1/500"
Aperture: F/8
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 300mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 18

Staff person at South Platte Park (ok, it was Cindy) got out one of their critters to get some fresh air and exercise. I managed to get a couple of closeups before he scampered off.

Specs
Time: 2:29pm
Shutter Speed: 1/200"
Aperture: F/14
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 300mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 17

Played around with some night shots around the area, some with flash and some without. Wish I had my tripod to the point that I could have used it.

Specs
Time: 7:54pm
Shutter Speed: 1/60"
Aperture: F/3.5
Exposure Comp: +2 step
ISO: 1600
Focal Length: 18mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 16

A tree in full bloom outside my chiropractor's office caught my eye this afternoon.

Specs
Time: 5:59pm
Shutter Speed: 1/250"
Aperture: F/11
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 300mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 15

A few shots this evening of finches and this bustin' belly bird in the back yard.

Specs
Time: 6:47pm
Shutter Speed: 1/80"
Aperture: F/5.6
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 500
Focal Length: 300mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 14

Short day for shooting. Rattled off a few early morning before leaving for work, and then Cindy took the camera for Sarah's horse riding lesson. So just a few flash shots of some trees in the yard with the moon to choose from.
Keep in mind that we're still middle of March - what's with all this growth so early?

Specs
Time: 6:50am
Shutter Speed: 1/80"
Aperture: F/4
Exposure Comp: +1 step
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 75mm
Flash: Yes
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 13

Got some shots in the early evening after a tennis match. Kids playing soccer next to the courts with the sunset in the background caught my eye. Cleared it with one of the coaches before seeing what results I could produce. This was the best of the bunch.

Specs
Time: 7:02pm
Shutter Speed: 1/125"
Aperture: F/7.1
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 75mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 12

Played with some handheld water shots near a waterfall in South Platte Park (the camera was handheld, not the water...in case you were wondering).

Specs
Time: 2:41pm
Shutter Speed: 1/500"
Aperture: F5
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 320
Focal Length: 34mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 11

A good day for the family. We headed up to Echo Lake at the bottom of the Mt. Evans road and roamed around the snow there. The only wildlife was a herd of grey jays around where we ate some lunch. Then wandered around the trees in the area, where I got some great shots of the kids. But at the end of the review, settled on this one for the detail and clarity.

Specs
Time: 12:34pm
Shutter Speed: 1/1250"
Aperture: F5.6
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 280mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 10

A couple of good days in a row with the wildlife. Got a couple of goldeneyes along the South Platte River that turned out nicely, but the rarity of this one led to its selection for the day's shot.

Specs
Time: 4:54pm
Shutter Speed: 1/400"
Aperture: F7.1
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 300mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 09

Better luck than the prior day. A few minutes hiking around South Platte Park revealed this beauty to me. All was good until it took flight and I had to lower the camera to see just how close I came to getting whacked by a passing wing.

Specs
Time: 6:01pm
Shutter Speed: 1/332"
Aperture: F6.4
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 300mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 08

Tough day - 10 minutes late in the day and even then was pressed for time. At least I got the camera out though and was looking for the shots...

Specs
Time: 6:35pm
Shutter Speed: 1/160"
Aperture: F9.1
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 200
Focal Length: 55mm
Flash: Yes
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 07

When I looked out in my backyard this morning, I saw something rare and precious sitting peacefully. I snuck up on it and had to take a few pictures before it got away. Wonder if it will show up anytime again soon.

Specs
Time: 7:33am
Shutter Speed: 1/166"
Aperture: F5.6
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 55mm
Flash: Yes
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 06

Seems like it was only a week or so ago that I was looking at a crescent moon above Venus in the western sky. Now a nearly full moon in the eastern sky.

Specs
Time: 6:05pm
Shutter Speed: 1/50"
Aperture: F/11
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 300mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD - Day 05

Despite it being a very warm day here, it was slow on the photo shoot side of life. Late afternoon, shot some closeups of my dog and then a few more of her in "watchdog" mode, but went with one of the shots out of my patio window early morning. Would have liked a male to show up, but I had to deal with the hand dealt to me...

Specs
Time: 8:05am (Daylight Savings Time!)
Shutter Speed: 1/395"
Aperture: F/7
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 640
Focal Length: 300mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD – Day 04

Got out early today and went looking for owls. Hit and miss given that there are likely eggs in the nest so I knew that finding an owl sitting out on a limb wasn't a certainty (is anything with wildlife a certainty?). I ended up finding some other critters to say cheese though. While I don't usually take pictures of mallards, this particular one caught my eye as it was walking along the top of a low running waterfall.

Specs
Time: 9:29am
Shutter Speed: 1/512 sec
Aperture: F/8
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 300 mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD – Day 03

Day 3 of the Habit building photo exercise. Got home before sunset Friday and started by taking a few shots in the front yard, including one that was a finalist for the chosen shot. But then moved to the back yard and took some shots of our already budding willow (but the plant theme has already been abused). Then I found a wild / possessed animal (not a cat!) that was begging to have its picture taken while playing one of its favorite games.

"Catch Me If You Can"

Specs
Time: 5:21pm
Shutter Speed: 1/64 sec
Aperture: F/9.1
Exposure Comp: 0 step
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 18 mm
Flash: No
White Balance: Auto

SOTD – Day 02

Wow – two days in a row! This is a my continuation of Clayton's original "challenge" of posting the best shot of every day in a 3 week period. Again, I didn't get my shoot in until the late afternoon/early evening as I was on my way home. This was taken at the very east end of McLellan Reservoir in Littleton/Highlands Ranch. Although very similar in style and tones as my day 1 shot, I picked this one for the contrast of the lit foreground (via flash) with the very distant orange'ing sunset sky over the front range foothills. If you look closely in the detail, you can see some of the fresh green growth from all the warm dry weather we've had. Reminder: it's early March… Already the trees, bushes, and some flowers are showing spring growth which is worrisome since we certainly (hopefully) are not done with the winter yet.

Specs
Time: 6:03pm
Shutter Speed: 1/197 sec
Aperture: F/9.9
Exposure Comp: -1 step
ISO: 800
Focal Length: 55mm
Flash
Auto White Balance

SOTD – Day 01

So my friend Clayton has essentially challenged himself to capturing and publishing a shot-of-the-day for 3 consecutive weeks. So I decided that, against my better judgment, I'd participate in this myself. Why is it against my better judgment, you ask? Well, it's highly unlikely that I'll be able to get myself to take a picture each and every day without it being of my kids or dog. That and it's already day 2 and I didn't get a shot off during day 1. But a challenge is a challenge, so I shall endeavour to succeed.

A few clarifications of what will hopefully follow for each of the next 21 days.

• My workday does not take me outside of the metro Denver area, so unless it's a weekend I'm likely shooting in/around residential or businesses.
  
• I don't typically manipulate my photos after downloading them from the camera. If I have made any adjustments, then something terrible has gone wrong to provide me with the time and/or patience to spend on that process.
  
• Unless stated otherwise, all shots are taken using a Canon Digital Rebel XSi, using either a Canon 18-55mm IS lens, or a Canon 75-300mm lens.
  
  

So, here is my first entry – my Day 1.

It was taken just after sunset in metro Denver, along one of my drives home (I follow several routes depending on traffic conditions). One nice thing about Denver is that despite the sprawling metropolitan environment, the city has abundant natural area that has been protected / sustained. Fortunately I was driving by one of these and the scene looked like something I could get a decent shot from. By no means am I claiming that this is my best work, but it's a start for this adventure.

Specs:

• Time: 6:05pm
  
• Shutter Speed:    1/80 sec
  
• Aperture: F10
  
• Exposure Comp: -1 2/3
  
• ISO: 800
  
• Focal Length: 50mm
  
• Flash
  
• Auto White Balance
  

 

 

Whew!

One down - Twenty to go!