I just got back from relaxing and snowboarding in Breckenridge, Colorado. I’m accustomed to my petite Mt Hood Ski territory where you can get from one side to the other in just a couple of runs. This place was HUGE! This picture only represents a ¼ of the total resort. There are a total of four peaks and around 20 lifts. Peak 8 is on the right side of this photo and peak 9 is on the left. They both tower to nearly 14,000 feet. Peaks 7 and 10 would be outside of the frame. To complicate things I was attempting to navigate Ashley and myself with a Keystone Trail map. A big thanks goes out to the lady in the lift ticket office for handing me a map of the mountain 20 miles down the road. Saturday’s high was 7 degrees with a 15 mph wind. Not the conditions I would prefer, but tolerable with multiple layers and my flask. I will post more photos of the town later.

About the photo:

This was taken from the deck of our cabin that we rented. I combined two photos, one of the mountains and one of the sky to get the final image. Typically it would be at two different exposures, but they were both at 2.5 seconds. However, there was a 20 min gap between the two shots to allow for the sun to fully set. Also, there were power lines in the shot that I removed in Photoshop. Overall I’m pleased with the photo.  

I noticed this tree about 3 months ago when I went to a meeting for work. It is surrounded by a circular stone wall about four feet high and it sits in the middle of a field. Someone obviously went to great endeavors to ensure this tree remained secure through the years.  I thought it would look good with low fog and light illuminating it from behind. My original thoughts were that this photo would need to happen with a sunrise; because that is typically when you get a low light/fog scenario. Last evening however I glanced outside to notice the fog rolling in as the temperature cooled. Good thing this tree is only a couple of miles away from the house or I would have missed the setting light. I took several shots with different exposures, but the shot I finally selected was open for 5 seconds. If the field were green I could have combined two different exposures to get the best of the foreground and blue of the sunset, but no need with the field. I rarely go back to something I have already shot, but for some reason I don’t feel like I’m done with this tree…

I haven’t posted much lately. We just had Christmas this past weekend, so I guess I have been a little behind.

My nephew and I were playing around with a box the other day. It’s crazy; the kid has more toys than he knows what to do with. Books, toy remotes and cell phones, you name it and he owns one of them. But the toys he loves the most are boxes and pot and pans from the kitchen. Go figure…

The street photo was taken on the main street that comes into the neighborhood. I dodged the occasional traffic and to take this one. The shutter was left open for 4 seconds to get the rich colors and twinkle in the lights. Marry Christmas!