The Zombie Horde!

I found Waldo!!!

The Denver Zombie Crawl.

Happy Halloween Ya'll!!!

Dracula's Toothbrush.

Few people know this, but vampires are fanatics about dental hygiene. It's true! Think about it, if they loose their teeth due to poor flossing or brushing, they can't eat. It's far from a vanity thing. Let that be a lesson to the rest of us!

Tourist.

Solo Leaf.

Red and Yellow.

A winter storm hit us before all the fall colors had disappeared, giving us a beautiful color palette.

Winter Is Here.

Fall colors and winter ice.

The Rodent Ansel Adams.

Let's put it this way, I went to a semi-prestigious art school and this Chipmunk (who didin't pay $25,000 a year for college) can outshoot some of the photographers that came out of there. His mastery of the rule of thirds is unparalleled. Ansel Adams would be proud!

Rocky Mountain National Park.

Call Of The Wild.

Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

This guy was large and in charge. King of the jungle hill, if you will. When we first came across him he was just lounging about pretty much ignoring our presence, while his harem grazed near by. But as we watched, two younger bulls approached and that did not sit well with El Jefe (The Boss). He let them know that he was not pleased and began *bugling to let them know they were on his turf.

*This is what their bugling sounds like... Elk Bugle

*I look at the picture above and imagine this sound coming out... Elk Bugle #2

Silas.

Best. Hat. Ever.

Silas is a truly unique character. He is a regular at the camera store I used to work at. He can easily be spotted around downtown Denver sporting his giant homemade Broncos cowboy hat, Elect Sarah Palin t-shirts and pins, all while toting a boombox which was usually blaring an assortment of Elvis or Charlie Parker tunes. He really was one of my favorite customers.

International Funny Hat Day.

I just made that up.

Never Too Early For Halloween.

Not even sure what is going on here.

In Stride.

16th Street, Downtown Denver. On the go.

Ghostly.

16th Street downtown Denver

If you read yesterday's post I talked about setting up a hidden studio strobe to catch some candids on 16th street. This worked fairly well and led to some interesting images. It's definitely something I'd like to work with some more and work out some the kinks.

Go Go Go!!!

16th Street in Downtown Denver.

Out of boredom on my last day at the camera store I concealed a studio strobe behind a doorway on the side walk to catch candids of folks as the passed by. Over the next few days I'll share a few with you fine individuals. To start it off, this is my favorite one. I believe he is a lab mix, he was just as happy as could be splashing around in the rain puddles.

When Woodpeckers Attack!!!

This female Northern Flicker (correct me if I'm wrong) was right outside my window this morning and served as my wake-up call. I have seen and heard her several times lately. They have a very distinct and piercing call that almost sounds like that of a Kestrel. She was quite enamored with the telephone outside my balcony and sat there talking for about an hour or so. There was a male on the next pole over whom I couldn't get a good picture of, but it appeared they were conversing back and forth.

Fall In Estes Park.

Truly one of the most beautiful places on earth.

It Was All Yellow.

Estes Park, Colorado

Being One With Nature.

The problem with taking pictures in "touristy" areas is that there will always be tourists there. We were in Rocky Mountain National Park and there were nearly as many people there as trees. Everyone had flocked there for the fall colors and the start of rutting season. Almost every time I'd pull off the road for us to shoot something three or four cars would follow suit as if we were their tour guide. They would point their camera in the same direction that we would and assume they were getting a great shot and hop back in their cars and drive off. I found this to be a little annoying but also very funny. I wondered if they didn't see a car pull off the side of the road would they actually ever stop to take pictures.

In this particular instance we pulled off the road to take some pictures, my girlfriend going to one way and me an other. You see, we are in the same part of the park but we both have different ideas and angles we explore. I decided to climb as small hill that had a clearing to get a wider view of the mountainside. No sooner do I reach the clearing when I a carload of people pulls up and this fellow decided he wants the picture I'm taking. He actually climbs(in the process, blocking my shot) to the exact same place where I was standing and began shooting, from the exact same angle, what I was shooting. This actually pissed me off. You have this giant park and you can't take your own picture? Anyway, I let it slide and walked off. The joke was on him, as the the angle of the sun led to tons of lens flare and thus not so pretty pictures. Plus, I felt he made for a pretty funny photo op and decided to use his picture instead.

Fall Colors.

How Photographing Furry Varmints Is A Threat To The Neighborhood..

This is where we are as a a society. I am out minding my own business photographing a big group of prairie dogs when some wannabe neighborhood defender takes notice. You see, I was photographing in an area near a day care center and even though my lens was pointed AT THE GROUND, he decided that I posed sort of threat to the kids. So he he drove by me one time and pulled up to the stop sign about fifty yards past me and I noticed he was trying to take a picture of my license plate. He must have been too far away because he busted an illegal u-turn and pulled up right behind my car and began taking pictures of me, my car and my license plate. As he slowly rolled by I started yelling and gesturing towards the animals "I'm taking pictures of prairie dogs, for god's sake!" He then pointed at his phone like he was calling the cops or had some sort of evidence with a big grin on his face. At this point I had already finished shooting and was putting my gear away. He pulled up to a stop sign a little up the road so I decided I would try to explain myself to him and even show him the pictures to put him at ease. As soon as I approached, he gunned his engine and sped off as if I was coming to hurt him or something. Are people really this paranoid? Is a guy who is nerdily photographing a bunch of damn prairie dogs that scary to where you can't just pull over and ask "What are you shooting?". I understand keeping an eye out for suspicious people, but give me a break. Use some common sense.

Stark.

Occupy Wall Street.

So, we had a huge Occupy Wall Street protest down 16th Street yesterday in Denver yesterday. I had the idea to bring a sutdio strobe out on the mall to capture a few of the protesters. I hid the light in a doorway so nobody knew it was there until they were right on on it. Of course after setting all this up the many of the protesters decided to leave due to the rain, but I did manage to get a few.

Autumn In The Rockies.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Turning A New Leaf.

Aspen leaves after a rainstorm in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

Sometimes I Feel Like Somebody's Watching Me.

Bighorn sheep in Rocky Mountain National Park.

It's Good To Be The King.

Bull Elk chillin' out in the park. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's laughing at how good he has it. Surrounded by his ladies. Looks like a smile to me. Oh, how the ladies do swoon for him. Gotta keep an eye on the competition. We were told by a park employee that these two much younger elk were trying to challenge the big bull for his harem of lovely elk babes. But after an altercation the previous day, the two elk decided it was in their best interests to keep their distance as well as a chain link fence between them and the big bull.

We came across this wild heard of elk as we were driving through Estes Park, Colorado. They had decided to make their temporary home on the town's little league baseball fields. There were roughly twenty-five elk in total with one big bull, three younger bulls and the rest being the cows that make up the harem belonging to the big guy. It was an interesting scene as the elk did not seem troubled by all the folks standing nearby with cameras in tow. In fact they seemed to relish it. This was my first up close encounter with elk and I was surprised at how relaxed and even lethargic they appeared. Being a close cousin to deer I expected them to be much more antsy, nervous and spastic, but as it turns out they are the polar opposite. The pictures don't do justice to their size. These are big animals and could definitely do some harm if they wanted to. But they seem to be much more inclined to lay out by the lake and catch some rays.

Truth In Advertising.

Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. And do you know what happiness is? Happiness is the smell of a new car. It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard on the side of a road that screams with reassurance that whatever you're doing is OK WE HAVE PRETZELS!!!. You are OK. - Don Draper

Not So Pretty In Pink.

And Now For Something Completely Different.

To be honest, I am no fashion shooter. It's just not something that I have done a lot of. I have nothing against it, it's just that I am not a great director and it's really hard for me to get across to a model what I would like for them to do. Plus, there's the added stress of taking a beautiful individual and accidentally making them look horrible due to poor lighting and angles. Those photographers that are good at it are a different breed and I applaud them for their skill. I would like to get better at this genre, not so much to become a fashion shooter, but to better understand lighting and directing. Not that I think Vogue is going to come calling anytime soon, but I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome of these images. Tawanda was a wonderful model to work with as she just rolled with it and was able to throw out some pretty nice "looks".

Model - Tawanda

Stylist - Willam Crawford