Vodkapundit - Photoblogging

Photoblogging

Posted by Stephen Green · 15 February 2005

One of the things I love most about Colorado Springs is, this view is taken from a pretty average gas station next to a perfectly normal suburban medical building, with a parking lot filled with completely average cars.

I've been here eleven years now, and I still haven't gotten used to the idea that it's possible to get used to this kind of daily beauty. It'd be like attending the wedding of Teri Hatcher and Meat Loaf, and telling the groom, "Just wait, Meat -- she won't seem that special."

I won't get over the simple joys of living in the shadow of Pike's Peak, not if I spend 50 years in this town. Of course, I don't expect to get used to the wonder of having married Melissa, not if we're married 50 years. And if you think that last line is a belated Valentine to make up for not getting her flowers, truffles, and dinner -- well, you're wrong.

Love my town, love my girl. That's all.

NOTE: Click on the pic for the glorious full-size version.

ANOTHER NOTE: Not the actual full-size version. That one is 2000 x 3008 pixels, and takes up almost 3meg of my hard drive. Had to shrink it down so it would fit on your monitor and not bust my bandwidth charges.

ONE LAST NOTE: Gratuitous puppy picture here.

UPDATE

Sometimes, you just can't get the shot you want.

In some ways, I'm pretty happy with today's Pike's Peak picture. The framing is almost spot on. The bottom third is plain parking lot - and the drabness and darkness of it leads your eye straight up through the shot. The middle third is the slightly less humdrum office park view. The top third is the Peak in all its snowcapped glory. And the shot really is divided into near-equal thirds. Not at all bad for a handheld snapshot.

The line of the roof on the left lines up with the small foothill in front of the Peak, making for some nice contrast and continuity. The parking lot is gray, the buildings are beige and orange, the mountain is blue and white -- and all of the colors are well-represented, given that it was a fairly quick exposure (F10 @ 1/400th).

One thing, however, I'm not at all happy with. The shadow on the medical building (to the left) almost completely robs it of detail. With the winter sun to the south (the picture is facing west, and unless the mountain moves, there's no correcting that), there was no way to escape the shadow. I could wait for summer, and take the same picture again in morning light -- but by the time the sun is in the right place, the snowcap will have melted.

See what I mean? Sometimes, there's just no way to get the shot you want.

Comments

Hey, I've been in the Springs for 16 years and I still think it's awesome. I'm planning on staying here as long as I can.

Posted by: Stephen Swanson at February 15, 2005 10:15 PM

After living next to Mt. Ranier and close to Mt. St. Helens, mountains don't impress me unless they have to potential to kill you.

Posted by: Scott Janssens at February 15, 2005 10:17 PM

Good to know some one knows where the roses are.

There's beauty in the mundane, obviously it's been there for thousands of years, I just wish I have the mind to notice it more often.

Aghh, Feb in Detroit just doesn't do it.

Posted by: aaron at February 15, 2005 10:41 PM

Yea, but can you tell me why everytime I roll through Springs the cars on I-25 become raving, lunatic killers on wheels? Even up north in this ol' dusty cow town the drivers are sorta courteous and drive by the rules of the road. And what is with the ridiculous formation of endless stop lights after exiting 25 south just to get to Nevada? It used to be better.

Posted by: Jason at February 16, 2005 12:18 AM

Well, I would think the full size version would be about 3-5 miles X 2-4 miles. But that's just my perspective.

Posted by: Michael at February 16, 2005 06:13 AM

Thanks for the pic. It's nice to be reminded of home now and then.

Posted by: Andrew at February 16, 2005 07:33 AM

Good shot, Steven. One of my favorite shots, hanging on the guest room wall right now, is of Pikes Peak in summer. I actually laid down in the middle of the road in Garden of the Gods, and shot through a bed of blackeyed susans in bloom. No snow up top, but the phrase "purple mountains majesty" comes to mind. Visitors always comment on it.

Your comment about the everday beauty of the Springs is spot-on as well. I have other shots taken from the Residence Inn parking lot, looking over the Target towards Cheyenne. It was after one of those crazy summer thunderstorms that roll down the mountain and depart quickly, leaving perfect cloud formations for the setting sun to illuminate. Dramatic mountaintops, impossibly bright yellows, oranges, and pinks, and a red neon "TARGET" sign in the foreground. Very impressive to a flatlander like me.

Posted by: Rob at February 16, 2005 07:54 AM

I'm from the Great Plains originally and I've always wanted to live in the Rockies, but somehow I ended up living in Cincinnati and marrying a local girl who won't leave. Even this town and the surrounding area is beautiful. I'm used to grass as far as the eye can see and now I've got trees and rugged hills. The greens in the spring and summer are absolutely beautiful here.

Posted by: Cigar Jack at February 16, 2005 08:26 AM

That is why God invented Photoshop.

Posted by: Kelly H at February 16, 2005 09:52 AM

I went to Garden of the Gods the other day to take a few rolls of 35mm, and I can't wait to see how they came out.
I do so love living here!

Posted by: chad at February 16, 2005 10:01 AM

How come there hasn't been anything in the scandal sheets about this alleged romance involving Mr. Loaf?

Posted by: triticale at February 16, 2005 03:08 PM

Yes, nice town. I liked climbing in Cheyenne Canyon and having to give blood plasma to eat in 1974. Ah the memories.

Posted by: Mark A. York at February 17, 2005 05:55 PM