The Craftwood Inn

A detail of the front of the beautiful Craftwood Inn, located in Manitou Springs.  Normally I'm at the Craftwood to shoot a wedding, but on Thursday evening I was there to cover a high school graduation party.  This particular student was graduating from the Fountain Valley School, a private prep boarding school just east and south of Colorado Springs, and his closest loved ones came from far and wide to celebrate with him at the Craftwood.  It was a great group of people!

I've always thought of the Craftwood Inn as a great place for carnivores because they're known for serving exotic game such as bison, antelope and the like.  But I've just learned that their chef is (ironically) a vegetarian, so they have wonderful vegetarian entrées every day of the week as well.  The next time Pat and I have a special occasion I'll be suggesting the Craftwood :^)

Shove Chapel facade

I blogged about Shove Chapel almost two years ago, promising to show you a bigger picture of it sometime, but never did. Sorry about that! I finally got a nice, close snap of it while I was there on Thursday afternoon for a wedding rehearsal.  Isn't it beautiful? You should see the inside!

A scolding from Mr. Robin

Mr. Robin sat in the tree in our front yard on Wednesday and gave me a piece of his mind. I can only surmise that there must be a nest of little Robins nearby for him to protect, though I couldn't find it. He certainly did not like me standing around in my own yard!

Flowers in our future

Can you tell what these people are doing?  They're planting flowers!  Yay!  Our downtown medians and planters will soon be full of blooms and foliage.  Summer is around the corner!

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While at a wedding rehearsal at the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel on Friday, I snapped this picture of the enormous, elegant cross on the east wall behind the altar. No matter how many weddings I shoot there, the stained glass never fails to take my breath away.

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One of the many sculptures dotting the plaza next to the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel. This one honors WWI overseas flyers.

All dressed up and somewhere to go

It's that time of year again: wedding season! I've got weddings stacked up for the summer, starting with one this weekend. Yesterday afternoon I was at the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel for a wedding rehearsal, and as I was leaving I saw dozens of cadets and their dates, dressed to the nines and posing for pictures in front of the impressive architecture. They must have been on their way to the traditional Ring Dance. I paused to snap a picture of this handsome group, (who were in turn posing for what looked like a couple of proud, camera-wielding moms), and they jokingly gave me a hard time for my paparazzi reflexes. Of course they didn't know that they'd soon become famous for being featured on my blog ;^)

Hooked on books

A shot taken inside Hooked on Books, a popular used book store on Academy and Maizeland.  I just loooooove that particular homey, musty smell of a bookstore, don't you?

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Spring came a bit early this year, thanks to a very mild winter. The mallow in my front garden is already in full bloom.

Not so angry bird

 

The cheery bird statue that lives on the southwest corner of Tejon and Bijou, catty corner from Acacia Park.

TAPAteria

Yesterday I took my mom to lunch at TAPAteria, the authentic tapas restaurant in Old Colorado City that we've been dying to try out.  It was wonderful!  Above is a picture of the carne adobada that my mom ordered.  Isn't it pretty?  I would give you a personal opinion of it, but since I'm a vegetarian I didn't try it (but it sure looked good).  I ordered the tortilla espanola and it was delish -- loved it!  Fresh, tasty, light.  (And extremely reasonably priced.)  I highly recommend this place. If you're not looking for a typical heavy American meal, tapas are a great alternative. And so European, which I love.  Good stuff!

A super moon

On Cinco de Mayo, Pat and I went out for coffee after dinner and ended up cruising through the Garden of the Gods right around sunset. We noticed that there were a lot of people at the High Point (the aptly named highest point of the park), and many of them had cameras. Hmmmmm. The sunset was gorgeous, and upon turning around in the opposite direction we could see that the moon was rising in the east.  It was the "supermoon" we'd been hearing about all week!!! When I realized what was happening, I knew I had to get a picture of the gorgeous, enormous full moon rising over the city skyline at twilight. We rushed home and grabbed one of my cameras, then sped through the city to get to our special vantage point high above downtown. Whew! We missed the moment when the moon was at its largest by only a few minutes (darn it), but I think I got a gorgeous series of shots nonetheless. This is the best of them. Could you see the supermoon from where you live?

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A few days ago Pat and I took a little drive east of town at twilight.  I managed to capture the gorgeous sunset from a country road just before the color disappeared into the night.

Larger than life athlete

Now that the US Olympic Committee has taken up residence downtown (in the building just visible in the background of this photograph, actually), there are a couple of these colossal athlete decals to be seen here and there, stuck to various edifices.  It's an Olympic year.  Are you getting excited for the London games?  I sure am!

The Mystery Machine!

 

I was in the middle of a shoot with a model last Saturday when a perfect replica of Scooby-Doo's Mystery Machine van pulled up and parked in front of the building next door to my studio. Needless to say, it caused quite a stir! Of course I and everyone else in the immediate vicinity whipped out our cell phones and cameras and took pictures. I have no idea whose vehicle this is or why it's done up like the Mystery Machine, but I love it! It made my day!

Acrobatic entertainment

Pat and I went to roller derby a couple of weekends ago with our friend Joe (and our hometown girls beat Albuquerque, yippeeeeee!).  The halftime entertainment was, of all things, these two acrobats. They were great!