City Stacks

The Denver photo shoot that I mentioned in yesterday's post took us briefly to City Stacks, a cool bookstore/espresso bar on Wazee Street. We were only in there long enough for my clients to use the restroom, then we moved on to another location. But this is the kind of place where you could spend hours just reading, sipping coffee and shopping. I love stores like this!

Denver's Union Station

A view of historic Union Station in downtown Denver (or to be more precise, the LoDo), which has recently undergone a huge interior renovation project and is now bustling with restaurants, bars, shops, and a posh hotel on the upper level. It's still a train station, though, so if you want to travel by train from Denver, this is your starting point! I was there on Monday for a photo shoot. My clients wanted to have their engagement portraits done in and around the train station, because they were instrumental players in its renaissance. It was not the first time I've been called upon to do portraits there, but generally I just use the outside of the building as a backdrop. I haven't actually been inside the building since before the renovation. I was amazed at all the changes inside! So many people and so much to do! Of course I'll have to go back there when I'm not working, just to have a drink and explore the newness of it all.

The Union Station's landmark sign is even better by night, but alas our photo shoot took us farther away from the building as darkness fell, so I didn't get a nighttime shot of it for you. I'll get one next time!

I'll be waiting right outside the door

This cute sculpture of a dog waits eternally for his master outside the doors of the Penrose Library downtown. He looks like he wants a treat!

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Captured downtown on Friday, July 24th.

It's a cruel, cruel summer

The last few days have been just plain hot. Cruel summer indeed. Yesterday afternoon was punctuated by a violent thunderstorm that dumped about a week's worth of water on us in 15 minutes, but an hour later we were all sweltering again. I'm trying to remind myself that 90 days from now things will look like today's photo, taken exactly five months and one day ago, February 26th. I checked the weather forecast and it looks like today is going to be about 90°F (32° C). I know that plenty of my readers live in places that get much hotter, but to us, 90° qualifies as obnoxiously hot! Hopefully we'll get some relief later in the week.

Sunday Style!

I was doing some senior portraits in Old Colorado City last month when this shopper wandered past. She looked so great, I had to get a picture, especially of those boots! I really like her leather jacket too. I wonder if she was a tourist. Apologies to the many lovely visitors we get here every summer, but I usually don't see tourists dressed quite this well! She was a real standout!

The Peak Cinema by night

Kimball's Peak Cinema is the only movie theater still operating downtown. For generations you could have your pick of where to catch a movie downtown, but over the years, as giant mega-plexes sprung up in the more suburban areas of the city, all of the older movie theaters closed down, until by the late 1980s only the Peak was left -- and it was hanging by a thread, showing second run flicks for a dollar (I saw "Weekend at Bernie's" there two nights running, it was so affordable! Don't judge. I still think that movie is hilarious.). At some point in the '90s a guy named Kimball bought the Peak, rehabbed it, and made it respectable again. Now the Peak is known for showing the smaller, more arty films, though occasionally they do show a blockbuster. Oh and they serve wine and beer, which is something you'd be hard-pressed to find at any big mega-plex around here. Seeing a movie at the Peak is a treat! As a photographer, I've done many a downtown photo shoot using its iconic sign for a backdrop, but I've never photographed it on its own by night. I really love this beautiful old Art Déco building and its cool neon sign from another era. It's a downtown landmark.

The Fine Arts Center by night

Our beautiful Fine Arts Center, an Art Déco jewel built in 1936, is photogenic both by day and by night. These photos were taken on Wednesday night around 8:45pm. The photo below of the new wing makes it seem as if the FAC is illuminated by colored lights, when in fact it's actually the varied color temperatures of the many different kinds of lights that are creating the effect. To the eye, the lighting looks white, but in photos (especially long exposures like this), the color temperatures show up as various shades of green, yellow or orange.

Breakfast for the ladybugs

On Tuesday afternoon I was checking out my vegetable garden when I noticed that aphids had infested my dill plants. For some reason, aphids really like dill. But do you know who really likes aphids? Ladybugs! If you don't want to use chemicals on your garden to get rid of aphids, just go down to your friendly neighborhood garden center and buy some ladybugs! (Note: big box stores like Home Depot don't carry such things. Yes, you'll have to shop the little guy. I got mine at Rick's Garden Center.) The ladybugs will come in a little mesh bag, or perhaps a plastic container. The first thing you should do is put them into the refrigerator, which will make them lethargic. When night falls, put the container at the base of the plants that are plagued by aphids, and open it up well enough for the ladybugs to find their way out.

I took these pictures yesterday morning around 10:00AM. As you can see, the ladybugs were hard at work munching on the aphids. In fact, hardly an aphid was left to be munched upon! Thanks, ladybugs! Problem solved!

The inevitable

Yesterday I left the house around 4:15 to run to the garden center. This photo was taken as I waited at a red light, facing directly north. As you can see, it was nice and sunny where I happened to be, but a huge storm front was bearing down! By the time I got to my destination, about a 10 or 15 minute drive, it was raining. By the time I paid for my purchase and got back into my car to drive home, it was POURING. The rain was so heavy, my windshield wipers couldn't keep up! Thirty minutes later the sun was shining, as if nothing had happened. Typical!

The near deer

Yesterday afternoon I was driving on San Miguel Street just east of Cascade when this deer wandered out of the alley. Of course I stopped the car and got out to take a picture. I stayed a safe distance away from her, because I'm cautious around wildlife -- especially wildlife that's bigger than me! She took one look at me and started trotting in my direction, so I backpedaled to within arm's reach of my car door, thinking, "Oh man I do not want to end up on YouTube!" I don't know if she had murder on her mind, but I wanted to be able to jump in my car if things got weird. Ha! I managed to get a few shots of her as I backed up, then she suddenly changed direction and jumped a fence into someone's yard. Don't worry, she didn't get too close (these photos are all cropped in quite a bit), but it sure was an interesting encounter. She was a beauty!

Be careful out there!

On the way home from my studio Saturday evening, I came across this car accident on Uintah and Hancock. This is not the first time I've seen a bad accident at that intersection. It looks like this car was broadsided pretty badly. It's destroyed! Hopefully those people you see on the sidewalk are its passengers; they seem to be uninjured. (However, two fire trucks were deployed to this accident, so it's likely there were injuries.) The other car is pictured below. You can't see its front end from the photo, but it's completely crumpled. I believe there was a third car casualty on the other side of the intersection, but my memory fails me now.

It's a scary world out on the roads these days, people. Be careful! Stay alert and don't text! Not just to avoid causing an accident, but to avoid being hit by someone else who might not be paying attention. And please wear your seatbelt. There's no excuse not to. I hope all of the people who were involved in this accident are okay!

Sunday Style!

Look at this cute couple! I found them downtown last weekend at the farmers market -- they were all gussied up and on their way to the Pride Fest. Their names are Sarah and Chloe (hopefully I didn't get that backward). Chloe got that groovy paisley dress at the Buffalo Exchange (there's one in Denver), and Sarah's fantastic floral headpiece was handmade by Chloe. Such great attention to detail, down to the lipstick choices. They look adorable both individually and together!

The Stewart House

The Stewart House at 1228 Wood Avenue belongs to the Colorado College. (It seems rather silly to call it a house, because let's face it, this is a mansion!) Built in 1898-99 in the Italianate style by attorney Ralph Preston, it was soon purchased by Philip Stewart in 1902. Mr. Stewart was a businessman and politician who served as a trustee of the school. Late in life he deeded his home to CC, which took over the property upon his death in 1957. Stewart House has a history of hosting interesting people, most famously President Theodore Roosevelt, a great friend of Stewart's, on multiple occasions. It's now used as the residence for the president of the Colorado College, as well as hosting visiting guests and dignitaries.

Here's something to smile about

I'm a little late with today's post. I had a migraine last night that could only be described as vicious, so I went to bed early. Hopefully these images will make up for my tardiness! More pictures of flowers, you say? Oh but these aren't just any flowers! Let me explain: my photography studio is located in the Old North End, which is made up mostly of historic Victorian and Crafstman homes. There is, however, a strip of mid-century commercial buildings on North Weber Street, and I'm located in one of those. Directly across the street from my building is an empty lot that's been for sale for a long time. It gets almost no maintenance, and in the summer it becomes congested with milkweed. It's downright depressing. A few months ago I decided to throw some wildflower seeds down in the empty lot and see if I could improve its looks and give the bees and butterflies something to eat. So, one rainy April night, Pat and I donned ninja black clothes and surreptitiously walked around in the dark, strewing fistfuls of wildflower seeds in our path. It was quite funny, actually. Talk about guerrilla gardening! Alas, even though we had the wettest May in decades, as spring and summer progressed it seemed like nothing grew except the milkweed, which went waist high thanks to all the rain we've been getting. A few weeks ago, a crew came and mowed down the milkweed. It was so dense, it took them two days to do the job. I thought, "Well, even if our wildflowers were growing, they're dead now, thanks to these guys." Then yesterday Pat noticed some bright colors across the street from my studio. We rushed over to see if if was our handiwork, and YES! It was our little wildflowers! They're growing and thriving! I even saw a bee! It's a small start, but over the next couple of years I expect that the flowers will continue to propagate, and with some luck we'll have a much nicer view across the street.

African daisies... and wait, is that a bee I see? Pollinate, little bee! Pollinate!

I don't know what the little white flowers are, but they sure are pretty.

The soil, once a parking lot, is mostly sand and gravel. Only the hardiest of plants will grow in it.

Poppy on the left, bachelors button on the right. I love it! Keep on growing, little plants!

The Airplane Restaurant

I finally got a chance to eat at the Airplane Restaurant, something I've been meaning to do for quite a long time. My friend Susana and her nine year-old daughter Isabella, visiting from out of state, agreed to give it a try with me. It was great! It's exactly what the name implies: a restaurant inside a decommissioned airplane. It's a 1953 Boeing KC-97 tanker, to be exact, and it was converted into a restaurant 13 years ago. The plane only holds about 42 people, but as you can see, it's butted up to a building with a large dining room that'll accommodate a couple of hundred more, so this is actually quite a large restaurant. The entire place is decorated with an aviation theme, with lots of cool posters, collectibles and photographs decorating every surface (there were even jet engine sound effects in the ladies room!). Obviously the plane is the most popular place to dine, so if you want to sit there, reservations are recommended. (Note: you have to climb up a flight of stairs to get into the plane, so I'm pretty sure that part of the restaurant isn't wheelchair-accessible.) The food is basically hearty American fare, nothing too exotic, and the service is very friendly and fast. The servers are called "co-pilots" and wear airline uniforms. We thought that was pretty cool! Our server, Daniel, even let Isabella into the cockpit to "drive" the plane. She got a huge kick out of that! Overall we had fun and thought it was a pretty unique dining experience, and a fun memory for my friends to take home with them.

The first thing you see when you walk through the door is a mannequin dressed in a captain's uniform, and a life-sized poster of an airline cockpit, among other aviation memorabilia.

If you're an aviation nerd, this place is for you. So much cool stuff!

Inside the plane! We got there very early in the lunch rush, so it wasn't full yet.

Our friendly "co-pilot", Daniel, posing with Isabella for Susana's camera.

A detail of the lunch menu. I believe the plane in the photograph is literally the plane we were sitting in! How cool is that?!?!

A co-pilot serves lunch.

My lunch. No, that's not a charred burger. It's a vegetarian patty made with black beans, and it was quite yummy. I really appreciate that they had a vegetarian option. It's not always easy being a veg!

One more look at the plane. I'll definitely be back!

"We love our Grandma!"

And your Grandma loves you! :^)

A fun discovery for Colorado Springs history nerds

On Sunday, Pat and I went downtown to grab a cup of coffee. We parked our car on Bijou Street between Tejon and Nevada, in front of the old Colburn Motor Tours building. It's now almost completely renovated, but the original sign was revealed at the beginning of the process, which you can read about in THIS blog post from January of last year. Anyway, something about the sign caught my eye, so I approached to see it a little better, and what I saw made me really excited: it was signed by E.W. Arveson! What's the big deal, you ask? I'll tell you what! If you're a long-time reader of this blog, you may remember a few posts I've made about Rose Arveson, the so-called Miracle Rose Lady, most recently in THIS post from last March. Rose's husband, Edward Wallace Arveson, was a sign painter in Colorado Springs for many decades, starting around the 1920s. He was obviously the one who painted this sign! A few months ago, the Gazette's Bill Vogrin found another sign downtown by Mr. Arveson and wrote about it on his popular blog, Side Streets. If you compare the sign in Bill's photo to the Colburn sign, clearly it was created by the same artist. They're even the same shade of yellow with bold black lettering. Although it was a little creepy seeing his signature (basically I think everything about the Arveson family is creepy), I think it's pretty cool that I found another one of Edward's "masterpieces", right under our noses!

The historic Manitou Springs Penny Arcade

The old-fashioned Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs is a local institution going back for generations. If you grew up here, you have fond memories of this place, no matter how old you are! When I was in college my best friend Janet worked at the Arcade, and most nights I'd hang out there and wait for her shift to end so we could go out afterward.

The Arcade has games and rides dating way back to the 1920s, if not older. But they also have cool pinball machines from all eras, classic '80s video games like PacMan and Centipede, and current games of all types as well. They even have pool tables and and old photo booth (remember those?). It's a blast to hang out there. I am forever doing engagement portraits or wedding portraits at the Arcade, but it's been ages since I went there just for fun. An opportunity arose last week when some friends visited from out of town with their nine year-old daughter. Of course the Arcade sprang to mind, what a great place for a kid to spend a rainy afternoon! There were plenty of families there with children of all ages, but I was surprised at how many adults were there just to play games. We had a great time. I even played Skeeball (I assure you I'm consistently dreadful at it but I always have fun trying). I wandered around and took a bunch of pictures while my friends tried out all the games.