The second shift

I did some maternity portraits at Ute Valley Park today, and though the morning and early afternoon were chilly and gusty, by the time my clients and I got there the sun was shining and the wind had died down. Perfect! Ute Valley Park is a very popular spot in that neighborhood, especially in the late afternoon, when people are getting off of work. As I was packing up my gear to leave, folks were starting to arrive for their afternoon run, mountain bike ride, or hike, like this lady. It was the perfect afternoon for it.

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The old Waycott Opera House, built in 1901 and home to a popular bar called Mother Muffs these days, was looking mighty fine last Saturday afternoon when I was hanging out in Old Colorado City. It only gets better as it ages.

The Chairman of the Board

A few days ago I showed you the Block Captain, and now we have his favorite frenemy, the Chairman of the Board, sitting in exactly the same spot, no less. I spied them yesterday stalking a murder of crows together in front of Mrs. B's house (I don't think they were successful in their hunt, however). I wonder if they argued over who would get to sit on this prime spot atop the fence between our house and the neighbor's. Maybe they take turns 😉

Sunday Style!

This is my good friend Angi, who sports a cool, organic style that's all her own. What she wore for these pictures is classic Angi: a soft tunic sweater, leggings, cool jacket, messy bun, sensible but extremely chic booties, and her signature cat-eye glasses. It all comes together so well.

Michael Garman Gallery

The Michael Garman building in Old Colorado City, owned by the popular local artist whose lifelike sculptures are quite collectible around here. On the upper floors are a number of small studio spaces that have reasonable rent for artists. In fact, one of my photographer friends leases an airy, loftlike space up there. I think it's great that Mr. Garman, despite ever-inflating commercial and residential rents in Old Colorado City and everywhere else in town, keeps his within reach of creative people.

The Block Captain

This big, fuzzy guy hangs around the neighborhood and keeps an eye on things. There's another stray cat that he sometimes gets into arguments with, but this guy's the one we see the most of. He seems to particularly like our yard and garden. He likes our garden so much, in fact, that I caught him pooping in it the other day! It's a good thing he's cute 😏

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Another picture from our quick jaunt to Cheyenne Canon on Sunday. This photo was taken looking in exactly the opposite direction of yesterday's. That golden hue in the water is actually a reflection of a large rock formation high above. The late day sun was hitting the face of the rocks just so, causing a beautiful reflected image in the creek.

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Pat and I went to Cheyenne Canon on Sunday so I could do a little location scouting for a photo shoot. I took a couple of pictures for the blog while I was there. This one's my favorite.

Colorific luchador masks

Pat took this photo of Mexican luchador (wrestler) masks in Manitou Springs on the main drag there during a Christmas shopping errand in December. It's been languishing on my hard drive for a couple of months, and today was so dreary and freezing, I thought it was a good time to post it. The bright colors are such a nice pick-me-up. Great shot, Pat!

Motorcycle down

It's been very windy lately, which is typical, but last Wednesday was particularly gusty. I went to Starbucks to pick up a drink for Pat, and when I left the store, one of the two motorcycles that had been parked in front was lying on its side. Bummer! As I took this picture, I almost ended up lying on my side! Actually, a strong gust nearly blew me into another pedestrian. It was so windy!

Sunday Style!

I did some engagement portraits for a very stylish couple yesterday, and the bride wore these beautiful Louboutin "Decollette 554" shoes for some of the pictures. These perfectly proportioned jet black pumps with their familiar crimson soles have become a modern day classic. They do wonders for your legs! I would dearly love a pair but I will have to save my pennies first, since they run about $675. But still, a girl can dream.

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A fire escape crawls down the back side of one of our beautiful old downtown buildings. This one is on Kiowa Street, between Tejon Street and Nevada Avenue.

Snow in the Garden (Part 4)

I hope you've enjoyed my little series on the Garden of the Gods with it's pretty white mantle! Here are my last few shots. It's so lovely. I wish you could see it in person!

And since there's plenty of blue in these shots, let's call this a Skywatch Friday post while we're at it, shall we? For more groovy Skywatch Friday images from bloggers all over the world, click HERE. Have a fun weekend!

Snow in the Garden (Part 3)

More Garden of the Gods prettiness from last weekend. It's beautiful any time of year, and I assure you, it never gets old.

Snow in the Garden (Part 2)

I hope you had a nice Valentines Day! Here are a few more lovely pictures of the Garden of the Gods that I took last weekend after we got a few inches of snow. I'll continue this series tomorrow!

Snow in the Garden (Part 1)

Last week I showed you the Garden on a foggy day, and now I'll show you the Garden in the snow. Today I'll just post one but I'll follow up with more tomorrow.

A good day for a ride

Saturday was absolutely frigid and snowy, but yesterday was sunny and, though not warm, an improvement nonetheless. Pat and I took a drive through the Garden of the Gods so I could get pictures of the snow-covered rocks, which I'll post tomorrow. While there we came across a group of horseback riders. This pretty pony waited patiently while her rider cleaned snow from the other horses' hooves.

Sunday Style!

Today's subject is my handsome fella, Pat! It occurred to me that he looks mighty fine when he's all duded up to ride his motorcycle, so I think it's high time I featured him here. The details: Harley Davidson Road King, Levi's dark wash 505 jeans, Chippewa motorcycle boots, and First Manufacturing leather jacket. And ladies, don't even think about it, he's taken! 😉

Monochrome world

I don't think it got over 16° F today, and the snow fell and fell. I didn't venture far to take this photo. In fact, I didn't venture at all, I just stood in my back door. (Do I get extra points for actually opening the door?) It may be cold, but the snow is magical!

The torch is lit

As it is with every Olympics, the torch atop the Olympic Training Center is blazing mightily and will burn continuously for the duration of the Games. If you live in Colorado Springs, you should drive by the OTC and check it out, by day or night -- but especially by night.

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A street scene from earlier today, on Pikes Peak Avenue in front of the Peak Cinema. I have to admit that it bugs me so much that I cropped out the top of the marquee, I feel the need to post another picture below with the marquee intact!

A foggy day in Palmer Park

To add to the last two posts, Pat and I drove through Palmer Park after hitting up the Garden of the Gods on Sunday. It was so foggy in Palmer Park, all but one of the pictures I took were worthless (yes, there's such a thing as too much fog, photography-wise!). This is the only one that came out worth a darn. A bit austere, but I like it.

A foggy day in the Garden

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we had heavy fog on Sunday, which is quite unusual for dry, dry Colorado! Pat and I took a spin through the Garden of the Gods to admire it in its rare misty cloak. It wasn't just foggy, it was cold to boot -- only 20°F. Brrrr! I know you can't really see them, but in the top photo there are two pairs of pedestrians on the sidewalk in the distance, and two rock climbers high above them. Gotta hand it to us hardy Coloradoans. We're not going to let a little fog and freezing temperatures ruin our Sunday plans!

The trees high up on this rock face are covered in frost. It's so pretty!

Garden of the Gods in the fog

Yesterday before reporting to my brother's house for his annual Superbowl party, Pat and I took a spin through the Garden of the Gods and Palmer Park in the fog. We rarely get such atmospheric weather here (it's so dry!), so you can usually find avid shutterbugs out and about in the Garden of the Gods when there's fog. It casts such a mystical spell over the place -- very different from what we're used to seeing! This is just a teaser. I got a few nice shots and I'll post more tomorrow.

Sunday Style!

I'm barely making this post in time! It's been a crazy day, what with the Superbowl and all. So without further ado, here are some of the cool people and things I saw at the Ent Center for the Arts' first big opening, "Floyd D. Tunson: JANUS". Mr. Tunson is a highly respected and very beloved local artist, and he was the perfect choice for the inaugural show at the Marie Walsh Sharpe gallery at the Ent Center. There was a huge turnout for Floyd! Tons of people! Above and below are a couple of students, Jasmine and Camille (sorry girls, I had to cut your heads off in the second picture because of the way my cell phone crops things). Scroll down for more.

Those are metal grommets on this woman's dress. How cool is that?!?

This lady had an Issey Miyake handbag! She told me that she bought it in Japan, but you can get a "tote" version of it HERE at the MOMA store.

The man of the hour, Floyd Tunson, looking as cool as ever! He's been a well known artist in these parts for decades. I know Floyd from my years working at a pro camera shop downtown long ago, when he was a regular customer (but he wouldn't remember me, I'm sure) -- at the time he was an art teacher at Palmer High School and his students loved him. He's only become more popular and venerated in the years since. Oh and he has always been this cool!

It was very crowded in the gallery, but I managed to get a snapshot of the largest work when the crowed eased up for a moment. I really need to go back when there are fewer people around. Openings are fun, but it's hard to concentrate on the art when so much is going on.

Last but not least, my brother Chuck thought I should be on the blog today too, because I successfully pulled off wearing four prints at once (five, if you count the fishnet knee-highs that I had on under my jeans!). That's a 1960s flowered cardigan, a black on blue brocade blouse, jeans with striped patches, and a black lace handbag. It's rare indeed that I make an appearance on my own blog!

First Lutheran Church

I've been a very busy bee the last several days, but today I took a few minutes to grab a picture of First Lutheran on my way home from the studio. According to their website, First Lutheran Church of Colorado Springs was founded in 1892 but has only occupied its 1515 North Cascade location since 1959. There's a VERY mid-century sanctuary building next door to this one (for a photo of it, click HERE). I always assumed that this was the original building but I was wrong. The parishioners worshiped in this old mansion only briefly, from 1959 to 1966, when the newer building was dedicated, but prior to all of that they occupied various locations downtown over many decades. As for me, I've done a couple of weddings at First Lutheran, and I can say that the colonnade sure is nice for bridal portraits. 😊

The old and the new

Il Vicino's facade is always eye catching, especially on a sunny day. Pat and I recently saw an old photograph of this section of Tejon Street, and there was a small, one story building crammed in between the Ritz on the south and another building on the north, both of them much taller. We couldn't figure out whatever happened to the smaller edifice, but the next day we were downtown we realized that it's Il Vicino. It wasn't recognizable in the old photo because now it has such a snazzy facade!

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It's February, can you believe it? The first day of each month is Theme Day for City Daily Photo bloggers like me. February's theme is tired, and since I've been too tired to take a picture to represent tiredness, I can't contribute this time. 😉 I do, however, have this great picture that Pat took in Manitou on November 29th, and I think it's rather boss! I don't know how old these steps are, but my guess is that they were probably constructed a hundred or more years ago. They lead up from Manitou Avenue to a public path through a residential area.