Kickin' it old skool

Captured in Denver on June 4th... gotta love this guy kickin' it old school style in his 1970s Cadillac. Smoove!

The USA Pro Cycling Challenge

Another photo by my friend Walt Palmer, who was among the throngs of cycling fans watching the Prologue of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado Springs on Monday. This image was captured on the corner of Colorado Avenue and Walnut Street. The Challenge has six stages after the Prologue; today they should be on Stage 5, which starts in Steamboat Springs and ends in Breckenridge. What a route! I'm so glad the Colorado Springs is part of such an epic new tradition. Hopefully next year I'll be able to attend the Prologue and take a few pictures myself. Thanks Walt for guesting on the blog!

USA Pro Cycling Challenge Prologue

On Monday the USA Pro Cycling Challenge kicked off in Colorado Springs with the Prologue. It was a very exciting event for our rabid local cycling community! Hordes of fans turned out and lined the route to watch some of the world's biggest names in cycling whiz past at astonishing speeds. Since I shot two (TWO!!!) weddings over the weekend, I spent most of Monday on the couch, recuperating. Thankfully my good friend Walt Palmer was out and about with his camera that day, taking tons of great pictures of the action. He graciously loaned me two for the blog. Here's the first one, taken under the I-25 bridge on Colorado Avenue.

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Some late summer flowers captured at the Briarhurst Manor while I was there for a wedding rehearsal last Friday.

Wendover Will

One last image from Pat's adventures at Speed Week at the famed Bonneville Salt Flats last week. The flats are situated near the town of Wendover, which straddles the Utah/Nevada state line. This image was taken on the Nevada side -- this is Wendover Will, a famous landmark since 1952. He's 64 feet high and uses over 1,100 feet of neon tubing! You can read more about Wendover Will HERE.

Faster than you can imagine

Another image from Pat's trip to Bonneville Speed Week last week. A few moments before this photo was taken, this car was probably traveling hundreds of miles per hour! I can't imagine going that fast.

A spectator sport

Pat and his friend Joe traveled to Utah last week to attend the fabled Bonneville Speed Week. Here's a photo Pat took of the spectators and participants all lined up to watch the race. Pat says the course is five miles long, so you can imagine this line of race enthusiasts stretching all along that length in the hot sun. That's dedication!

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Another image from Pat's trip to Bonneville Speed Week. Pat believes this racecar is vintage 1960s (we think it's the STP Streamliner). I just like the shape and color of it. Imagine driving it!

Bonneville Speed Week

This week Pat took a few days to make a whirlwind road trip to Utah for SCTA Bonneville Speed Week, a dream of his since boyhood, when he read a book about the Blue Flame. The many obligations of wedding season kept me grounded at home, so I equipped him with a decent camera and a couple of lenses and sent him off with our good friend Joe. One, he had the time of his life, and two, he came home with some pretty cool pictures! I'll feature some of them here on the blog for the next few days, starting with this shot of a vintage camper trailer, which I covet! Many participants of Speed Week bring campers to use as their base of operations. I personally love these old school trailers and would love to have one. Doesn't it look cool sitting out there on the salt flats?

Watch your step!

Does cactus grow in the Colorado Springs area? Yes it does. I know this prickly pear looks cute but it's actually pretty darn lethal, mostly because it doesn't get very big at this altitude. When something's only six inches tall, you don't see it until you're about to step on it. And if you happen to be wearing canvas or open-toed shoes, you will have a painful surprise. All I can say is, watch your step!

Sister Cities Mural Project

Apparently this mural has been in place since 2005. Silly me, I only noticed it a couple of weeks ago! It's on Tejon just north of Pikes Peak Avenue, on the east side of the street, and it depicts Colorado Springs' relationship with our sister city, Nuevo Casas Grandes in Chihuahua, Mexico. I always thought our sister city was Fujiyoshida, Japan, so this is news to me. I looked it up and found that we actually have several sister cities! Who knew?!? Here's the list: Fujiyoshida, Japan; Nuevo Casas Grandes, Mexico; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan (say that three times fast!); Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Smolensk, Russia; and Bankstown, Australia.

Anyway, the mural is part of a project between Colorado Springs and Nuevo Casas Grandes, and it was painted by (surprise!) Kim Polomka. If you look closely you can see Pikes Peak in the background. Also featured are Pueblo Indian ruins, pottery, and corn. Very cool!

A goth night sky

The last few nights we've had a beautiful night sky. This image was captured on Thursday around 10:20pm from my front yard. Click on it for a larger view, so you can appreciate how wonderfully spooky the clouds are. Pat remarked that it looked like a Bauhaus album cover. Bauhaus is one of my favorite bands, so I can appreciate a night sky like this one.

Calhan, Colorado

I haven't blogged in a week! Sorry readers, but wedding and portrait season has got me burning the candle at both ends lately. No time for fun stuff. Here's a photo I took last Tuesday in Calhan (about 35 miles east of Colorado Springs), while scouting locations for a fashion shoot. They get this kind of sunset there every single night. Isn't it spectacular?

The sun is up, the sky is blue

...for a few minutes, anyway! Lately we've had torrential rain every afternoon, which is typical for this time of year. Yesterday in the parking lot at my studio I noticed this bit of blue sky reflected in a puddle. I had to get a shot of it for the blog! Of course later on it rained, but it was nice to see blue skies for a bit.

Shoes that defy gravity AND description

Ummmm, how to describe the shoe on the right? I spied it in a shop window as Pat and I took a postprandial stroll to Independent Records to buy some new music. The red color caught my eye, and at first I was drawn to it just to marvel at the dizzying height, until I got a closer look -- then my bottom jaw hit the sidewalk. After we left Independent, I was sufficiently fascinated to approach the window again and take a picture, after which I felt a little dirty. Because, my friends, these are simply the sluttiest shoes I've ever seen in my entire life. Sorry to use such a vulgar word! It's just that I can't think of any other term to describe them. Truly, it boggles the mind to think that anyone would dream these up, let alone wear them! To anyone who can actually carry off these magnificently tacky shoes, I salute you.

The Earle Flagpole

One of the four larger than life tigers encircling the base of the Earle Flagpole on the Colorado College campus. These bronze beasts have stood watch over their scholarly domain since 1931.

Cutler Hall

This is Cutler Hall (originally known as Palmer Hall), the first structure ever built on the Colorado College campus, in 1877. Heck, for the first few years it was the only building on the Colorado College campus! It currently houses the admissions and financial aid offices, but this beautiful structure has served many purposes over its lifetime, including classroom, library and administrative offices. I'm glad the college has kept this stately building, though it's razed and replaced a few others over the years that I wish it hadn't. Cutler Hall is clearly a keeper! I love the ornate cupola. One of these days I'll see if I can go up there and get a shot of the campus from its perspective.

Here's what Cutler Hall looked like in the 1890s. As you can see, other than the landscaping it hasn't changed much in the last century.

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One of the photos I originally took as a candidate for Theme Day (see yesterday's post). This is the back of the Arts building on the left and the Bemis Art School on the right, at the Colorado College. What a striking combination of forms and colors!

August theme day: postcard worthy

It's the first of the month -- theme day! This month's theme for City Daily Photo bloggers is postcard worthy. I initially took some photos of a couple of buildings on the CC campus, but though they're nice, they're not postcard worthy. I decided instead that the view we're famous for here in Colorado Springs is really the best subject, and since we don't have any snow on the Peak this time of the year, I used a photo you're probably already familiar with ;o), taken on the 17th of April, 2008.

All over the world, CDP bloggers are sharing their postcard worthy views. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants!