Christmas tree lights
Above the mountain
Continuing with the winter theme, today I have a shot from atop a mountain in Beaver Creek, CO. I had arrived there and had some spare moments, so I was of course driving around and looking for things to photograph - which isn't hard when you are in the mountains, and it has been snowing. Everything is beautiful. I originally took a 5 bracket set for this one, but instead opted to take a single exposure and convert to black & white. It's probably a cliche, but snowy scenes do look great in monochrome.
Happy Holidays to all!
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a wonderful Holiday Season! Thanks so much for the visits, the comments, the Likes, and all that stuff. It’s been great fun for me and I plan to keep bringing you nice photos to look at each week!
I took this shot a year ago when I was in Beaver Creek, CO. This is a single long exposure (30 seconds) and the reason I wanted to share it today is that it has three elements in it that represent Christmas to me: the first being (quite obviously) the trees all lit up, the second being the snow (though it is not looking too good here due to the blurred cars passing by), and the third being the light trails of those passing cars, which to me symbolize how rapidly the Holidays come and go - they just whiz by!
Hope you enjoy your Holidays and thanks again for stopping by! I’ll be back next week with more exciting and beautiful pictures!
Winter stream
I love wintry shots from the mountains, and doubly so when you can find a nice quiet stream babbling through the scene. I caught this one in Beaver Creek, CO last winter, and felt it was appropriate since it is winter again. Plus, there just aren't many winter-looking shots to be had down here in Texas! Hope everyone is excited about the upcoming Christmas holiday and enjoying some quality time with your friends and family!
Also, I wanted to mention a new website I just got introduced to - it's called http://www.photowhoa.com and it is a daily deal site for photographers - check it out! It's really a great idea and I signed up for future notices - you should too! Currently, they are running a promotion on Easy Canvas Prints, which I recently reviewed here as well. You can find that review here on my site. Thanks and let me know if you have any questions.
Sunset in the mountains
Sunsets are hard to beat, photographically speaking. The light just does all the right things, and you get rewarded - assuming you have your camera ready, of course! Most photographers go out with a sunset in mind, since it is such a popular time of day to shoot. Is it your favorite? It’s certainly up there for me, though I am a big fan of morning light too. When Mother Nature decides to throw in some clouds for you as well, you feel doubly blessed. That was the case for me when I captured this image, which was taken on some country road outside of Beaver Creek, CO. I was meandering in the rental car, looking for interesting things to photograph, and was getting that itch that comes around sunset, knowing that I needed to hurry up and plant myself and start shooting. I was hoping for a stream or a pond in the woods, but never found one. The sky was nice and the light was fading, but no real clouds were around so I thought it was just going to be a regular old sunset in the mountains. As it turned out, these clouds materialized quickly, the light was fading fast, and I was stuck on this back road with no real way to frame the sunset. You see, the sun was hidden behind the mountains. So I just pulled over and hopped out, grabbed the tripod and camera, and set up to shoot. Very quickly the light came across those clouds as the sun went through its last hurrah, and I was glad to witness it because it faded just as quickly as it arrived.
Staring down a mountain
I was hiking around at the top of the slopes in Beaver Creek, CO and saw these guys as they were pondering their descent. I thought the clouds and the sky were awesome looking and grabbed a quick snap. Not a lot to say about this one - it's a pretty simple shot. I will add that walking in the snow is pretty hard when you sink up to your knees with each step! That makes it a little hard to compose a shot in a hurry - but, there are worse things, right?
Here it is in black and white - which looks better?
Church door reflections
It was just after sunrise in Colorado one morning, and I was walking around Beaver Creek with my camera, freezing cold but having a great time taking pictures. Funny how you forget about your discomfort when you are doing something you love. Anyways, I came across this church just on the other side of the hotel complex and walked around it looking for some cool shots. I took quite a few, and wanted to share this one of the front door. I like doors and entryways quite a bit, and when I saw the mountains reflected in the glass I knew an HDR was in my future!
Beaver Creek retail
On my recent trip to Beaver Creek, I spent a little time wandering around the village and checking out everything. There are lots of shops and restaurants and it really has the feel of a European alpine village. This is one of those stores - Karin's of Beaver Creek, which appears to sell home furnishings. I was really drawn in by the look of it with the Christmas decorations and all the texture and detail.
Sushi on the slopes
This sushi restaurant was at the base of the mountain in Beaver Creek, CO. It looked like a great place, but I never made it in. Truth is, as you can see, the name of the place is Foxnut. I have no idea what that has to do with sushi, or a restaurant for that matter, but if I found one in my sushi that would be a bad thing! Ok, that was offsides. Sorry. Anyways, I was walking by, snapping this and that, and the contrast of the brightly colored chairs against an otherwise bland scene caught my eye. I obviously went a little strong on the HDR processing on this one. Sometimes, I feel that it is warranted in order to accentuate something, and sometimes it's just plain fun! In this shot I liked the look my processing gave to the chairs, almost like they are about to melt. Also, it helped bring up some of the detail in the interior of the space. And yes, that is my reflection in the bottom left window.
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas ~ Happy Holidays
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season!
Christmas tractor
Nothing says Merry Christmas like a tractor all lit up! Found this on a back road outside Beaver Creek, CO. Enjoy!
Cold picnic
There was so much snow up in Beaver Creek, it was awesome! I really enjoy the snow, but being a Texan I don't have to live in it so perhaps my perspective is a little distorted! Just a quick snap I wanted to share.
Moon over mountain
Continuing my theme from yesterday, here is another image from atop the mountain in Beaver Creek, CO. After riding the gondola up there, I wandered around, just enjoying the snow, and the views of course. I came across this grove of trees, saw the moon up there, and had to capture it.
Snowboards vs. Skis
This is a quick snap I took on the mountain at Beaver Creek. There were folks engaged in all sorts of winter activities, mainly snowboarding and skiing though. I took quite a few shots of this style - sort of what I would describe as the alpine version of street photography. It was fun, and a definite change from my normal sort of HDR and landscape shots, but a good time nonetheless!
A Beaver Creek landscape
I had the good fortune of spending most of last week up in Beaver Creek, CO. It is a beautiful resort tucked high up in the Rockies. The views are fabulous, the snow was falling, and it felt like I was in a European alpine village. It was awesome. During the weekend I had some free time to explore with the camera, so of course I did. I got this shot while up on the ski slopes there in Beaver Creek. I took the gondola ride partway up the mountain and then spent a while shooting this and that. It was a blast. Coming from Texas, I rarely see snow so I enjoyed that quite a bit!