Guest blogger Todd Caudle

This breathtaking photo of the Garden of the Gods with mammatus clouds was taken by my extremely talented friend, Todd Caudle. Todd is a well known scenic photographer in Colorado, and has published three books of his work (I own two of them!). If you like this photo, you should see the rest of his work -- it's mind blowing!

I know I say this a lot, but I'm serious when I urge you to support small businesses, and Todd is exactly that (just like me). He makes his living from his art. He is the opposite of the big, corporate box store. When you are doing your holiday shopping this year, consider buying one of Todd's GORGEOUS books.  Here is a link directly to his publisher, Skyline Press, where you can have one for as little as $9.95:  http://www.skylinepress.com/books.htm. If you'd rather have a calendar, click here: http://www.skylinepress.com/calendars_2014.htm.

I have known Todd for many years. We go way, waaaay back to when I was in high school and I used to shop at the record store where he worked, Big Apple. (I don't even want to tell you how many years ago that was!) Over the years I've watched Todd grow and thrive as a photographic artist, and am never short of utterly astonished whenever I see some new photograph he's taken. He's extremely prolific, braving the elements almost daily to capture the amazing Colorado landscape around us. Todd will do almost anything to get the shot!

I hope you enjoyed this picture! To see more of his work, visit http://toddcaudle.com/. (And it goes without saying: please do not "pin", screen grab, download or otherwise appropriate any of Todd's images. They are copyrighted. If you'd like to own a print of his work, click on the "contact" link and get in touch with him.)

The big chill

Here's my contribution to Skywatch Friday. As you can see, not much to admire in terms of the sky yesterday! I shot this through my car windshield while waiting in traffic on Austin Bluffs Parkway. I wasn't being lazy, I was cold! It was 6°F when I took this picture at 2:30pm, and I didn't want to spend even one minute outside to get a better one. Ha!

For more (and hopefully better) Skywatch Friday pictures from bloggers worldwide, click HERE.

Things are getting chilly

Chilly?  How about downright frigid! Yesterday never got above about 10 degrees (that's -12° Celsius), brrrrr! This image of a snowy street was captured by my friend Susan, who very smartly did not step outside her house to take it. No sir, don't go out there unless you have to! Today's high is predicted to be even colder; we'll be lucky to see 6°. (Never mind that on Monday and Tuesday, it was a balmy 60°.)  Crazy Colorado weather!  As I type this, it's only 2°. I guess winter is truly upon us!

The old Santa Fe Depot

This is the old Santa Fe Depot at Pikes Peak and Colorado, one of the two big train stations in town. It was decommissioned in 1972 and is now an office building housing many different businesses.  It's in my neighborhood and I drive past it almost every day, but this is the first time I've ever taken the time to photograph it (other than THIS post from January of 2009, but that was a picture of one of the auxiliary buildings, not the main depot). I tried to faithfully recreate the angle of the 1916 photo below, but because of a large retaining wall that's since been constructed it was a bit difficult. I did my best! I really like the Jacobean architecture, and I'm glad the buildings have all been well maintained over the years, instead of being left to decay. In fact, the depot is on the National Historic Register, which means it will continue to stand for many years to come.

This photo of the depot was taken in 1916.

Notice the Santa Fe Railways logo designed into the brickwork.

I wonder how many people sat in this very spot over the many years this station was active, waiting for a train.

The front façade of the main building.

Untitled

I was going through some old files last night and came across this picture that I took while on a family portrait shoot in 2009. (As you can see, it was a rainy shoot!) I must have forgotten all about it, because it never blogged it. I think it deserves its turn in the spotlight.  I really like the patterns and colors in this shot.

Small Business Saturday in downtown Colorado Springs

Yesterday was Small Business Saturday! I hope you found the time to visit some locally owned businesses to do some holiday shopping or dining. Big box stores are convenient, sure, but it's the mom 'n pop shops that are truly the backbone of every community. It pays to spend your money locally! As for Colorado Springs, our downtown had a busy day for certain. Many, many people were out and about, shopping, strolling, dining, and enjoying the seasonal ice skating rink in Acacia Park. I went out with my camera and took a few snaps for you.

The seasonal skating rink in Acacia Park will be up and running through January 5th. Here's more info (and a schedule): http://downtown80903.com/experience-downtown/event-calendar/skate-at-the-park.html 

It was a gorgeous day to go and hang out downtown.

These friendly folks were in Acacia Park representing the Downtown Partnership and handing out free shopping bags, maps of all the shops, skating schedules, and coupon books.

Santa and Mrs. Claus strolled around, greeting everyone.

There will be live music almost daily in Acacia Park for the entire holiday season, not to mention tons of special events. (For a schedule, click HERE.) Yesterday's band was Andy Clifton & Company. They sounded great! I loved the guy in the foreground, dancing with such exhuberance.

Even if you didn't make it to any small, locally owned businesses yesterday, there is still plenty of time before Christmas is upon us! To learn more about how shopping locally is best for the economy, click HERE.

The downtown post office

This photo was meant for Skywatch Friday yesterday, but I didn't get around to posting it. This is our main post office downtown, at 201 E. Pikes Peak Avenue. It's an imposing building, constructed in the Beaux Arts style between 1908 and 1910 on land donated by Winfield Stratton, an early Colorado Springs philanthropist, and dedicated to him. It's also listed on the National Historic Register, and though it's old, it functions as one of the busiest post offices in town.

Here's a picture of it in 1915 (my photo was taken of the west façade -- the right side of this picture):

And on a completely different note: today is Small Business Saturday. So all you holiday shoppers, don't forget to stop by your favorite locally owned shops and support the little guy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

No photo today, just wanted to wish all of my American readers a very happy Thanksgiving! We have much to be grateful for in this little house, and I sincerely hope you do too. Have fun eating all the great food, watching football, and relaxing with the ones you love!

Tamera

Eggnog! Eggnog!

Who doesn't love eggnog?!? It's one of the best things about the holidays if you ask me! Sorry for the crummy cell phone pic, but I didn't have a decent camera with me -- Pat and I were shopping for our Thanksgiving feast when I spied this magnificent array of eggnog options in the dairy case. Yum! And it looks like they finally have non-dairy options for me, yay! Pat loves eggnog so much that I once saw him down an entire carton of it in one sitting. (He didn't feel so great afterward. Ha.) I refrained from buying a carton of the non-dairy stuff, but I think I may have to sneak back today and buy one -- the pumpkin flavor. Yes!

The silent witness

I was doing some senior portraits downtown a couple of weeks ago, and as we were leaving my client spied this funny dog sitting in the bed of a pickup truck only a few feet away from us. Apparently he had been sitting there the entire time, watching us and never making a peep. He looked quite bored. I thought his face was so funny, I had to take a portrait of him too!