This is a picture of a bank building on South Broadway in the metro Denver suburb of Englewood. At first glance, I considered it to be quite strange looking, reminding me of the high school art project gone bad. But because it's so odd-looking, I had to study it more. I had to give it a chance.

A few weeks ago I decided to try to photograph it. I made up my mind to look at it from every angle, determined to find a complimentary view. Approaching the building on Broadway, from either the north or south, didn't do much for me. But then I went to its west side where there's a small park next to it. That angle looked better, but the building still looked very out-of-place with its surroundings. But I shot lots of photos from every angle.

I assumed an unusual building like this must have a story behind it, and hopefully a formal name. When I finished shooting, I went inside the building with the intention of learning its name. Standing at the front door, just before closing time, was some old bag who looked, sounded, smelled and acted like the Wicked Witches (she was a big girl) of the North, South, East and West.

I asked her if she knew the name of the building. With all the sweetness of a sour, rotten grapefruit that had been soaking in sewage, she promptly told me it was the "Bank of Choice Building." I knew she had no clue what I was asking and only answered my question because she didn't have a baseball bat to smack me with instead. I also knew it was highly unlikely that the building's name was the same as its primary tenant, if only because I suspected "Bank of Choice" wasn't its original tenant. Undiscouraged, I thanked The Old Bag for her time, buzzard breath, stanky perfume, and turd-like attitude. Then I headed home to get online and find out for myself.

I quickly discovered the building's architect was Charles Utter Deaton. This is the same dude who designed the famous "Sleeper House" on Genesee Mountain, about 15 minutes west of Denver on I-70. The Sleeper House, also known as the Sculptured House, the Star Trek House, the Clamshell House, the Jetson House, and Flying Saucer House is the house seen in Woody Allen's film, "Sleeper." You'll note the obvious similarities between the bank building and the house. Here's a link to a Forbes article on the house and its history: (http://www.forbes.com/2002/09/09/0909how.html)

Deaton also designed the Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, MO. The complex consisted of both the Royals' (Major League Baseball) Kauffman Stadium and the Chiefs' (NFL football) Arrowhead Stadium. As a former long-time resident of KC, this coincidental connection caught my attention.

In any case, that doesn't make the bank building look any less like a giant bird dropping, left by the largest pigeon in the city. No offense intended, but the building looks too weird - where it sits. I think it would look better on a different lot.

I'm too lazy to find out for sure, but I'll bet the bank building was designed before the Sleeper House. It was old Chuck Utter's first stab at his vision. Lucky for him he got a do-over. As a fellow artist, I'm jealous because do-over opportunities don't come often, no matter what your medium.

On second thought, maybe the building's a good luck charm. I got a do-over, too. The straight-from-the-camera images aren't too exciting. But the charcoal images were the do-overs that really turned out much better. By isolating the image I think I've managed to remove it from the urban architectural prison it's sitting in now. Standing alone, it is a beautiful work of art.

If you wanna know how I made the image…
The image at the top of the post was developed in my Apple iPhone and Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom. The original RAW file was captured in my Canon 30D. I forget which iPhone should get the credit for the charcoal sketch-like effect. Regardless, after I shoot the original image, I sync it to my MacBook Pro laptop. Then, using Lightroom, I convert the image to a greyscale .jpg file and save it in a sync-with-the-iPhone folder. Then I sync it back to the iPhone. The iPhone (I forget which app) does the initial conversion to the charcoal effect. Next, I sync it back to my Mac, and grind on it with Photoshop for awhile - mostly resizing and resampling to enable it to be enlarged for a 16" x 20" print.

In an earlier post, I talk about a personal project I started that involves photographing some of the old motels along Broadway and Colfax in the Denver metro area. But as I travel around town I’m discovering other U. S. highways that cut through or near town so I’m going to creep the scope of this project. One of my recent discoveries is U. S. Highway 85. It starts in El Paso, Tx and runs north to the Canadian border where it’s re-numbered and goes further north well past Saskatoon. On the map, it looks like it follows Interstate 25 most of the way up from El Paso to Denver. But from Denver, it look like it strays away and follows it’s own path. This motel is in the Denver suburb of Commerce City, squeezed between Brighton Blvd. and U.S. 85. If it weren’t for the sign, most motorists wouldn’t likely see the place. But the Big Cowboy makes damn sure you don’t miss it. I think the place offers more than just low rates. The lack of a neon “No” before the word “Vacancy” could imply an infinite supply of rooms. Not many motels offer that kind of benefit. After seeing this fine establishment I decided to make plans for a summer road trip that will follow U.S. 85 up to the border - and maybe up through Canada. Who knows, the Hi U Inn could be a national chain - just on the verge of displacing Motel 6 as the value leader in hospitality!

Much of US Highway 50 follows the old Santa Fe Trail through parts of Kansas and Colorado. Last year, I traveled from Pueblo, CO to a farm near Haven, KS (southeast of Hutchinson) and followed much of US 50 to get there. I’d taken some pictures along the way, but forgot to take any notes about the location. This past week I decided to head back to Lawrence, KS to visit a friend and watch some of the NCAA basketball tournament. This time, I re-traced part of last year’s route along US 50 so I could find some of the places I shot. I found them, made note of their locations, and will do some research to find out what they are/were. Meanwhile, I found this old building - and managed to get this shot before being confronted by the likely property owner. Apparently, while no fence or trespassing warning signs exist, placing your size 9’s even an inch past an un-marked, virtual property line exposes you to a harsh scolding - and appreciation for Colorado’s gun laws - permitting you to carry a loaded gun in your car - so you can protect yourself from some maniac who mistakes you for a terrorist on a mission to destroy that which has already been destroyed.

This coming week , Denver and our Rocky Mountain ski resorts will be the center of the universe for anyone interested in snowboarding or skiing. Known as Mile High Snow Week, there are events focused on both the business and pleasure of all snow-related sports. For the 10th consecutive year, the Winter X Games will be held in Aspen, Colorado from January 27-30. Running from Jan 26-31 is the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show, billed as “the largest, most concentrated and authentic trade event in the snow sports industry.” Amazingly, up until last year, the SIA show was held in some hot, dry, over-rated desert town in Nevada, hundreds of miles from anywhere resembling a ski slope!

One of the most exciting and innovative events within the big event is Denver Big Air presented by Sprint. Big Air is actually two separate events, both featuring the big ramp pictured above. The first evening (Tuesday, January 25, 2011) is the Nature Valley Big Air Challenge. Fifteen different ski brands, each represented by a team of three of the best freestyle skiers in the world, will be competing for the title of Best Big Air Ski Team. The next day (Wednesday, January 26, 2011), is the LG FIS World Cup Denver Big Air event. The LG FIS World Cup is a worldwide series of competitions that includes five categories: (a.) big air, (b.) halfpipe, (c.) slopestyle, (d.) snowboard cross, and (e.) parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom. I have a feeling we’re going to see some extremely gnarly, badass moves made by an equally gnarly bunch of wild and outrageous competitors.

As this past week evolved, our local paper, the Denver Post, ran stories and some photos about the construction of the 101 foot-tall ramp. As a Denver and Colorado Event Photographer, my primary interest is in what goes on during an event – the focus is on attendees and participants. But my previous career as a Senior Project Manager for Fortune 500 companies has conditioned me to appreciate other aspects of the production of corporate, civic, and cultural events, especially involving logistical and creative challenges.

Constructing and positioning a 101 foot-tall, 300 foot-long, 80 foot-wide ramp isn’t something that’s done often, or easily – anywhere. I was pressed for time when writing this post, so from my quick search of the LG FIS World Cup’s Web site (http://www.fissnowboard.com/uk/venues/calendar.html?page=2) it looks like there are only 10 places on earth where this type of event is held, and most of them are at ski resorts, not in the middle of downtown. Adding to the challenge is Denver’s secretly mild winter weather. Yes, we get our big dumps of snow, but it melts away fast and we rarely suffer from single-digit temperatures or unbearable wild-chill indexes. We can get a sunny, mild, 50-degree day as easily as a cold one in the 20’s and 30’s with a foot or more of snow.

So far, there’s no snow forecasted for Denver in the upcoming week. The past and next few days are all about sunny and mild temperatures. I only saw two snow-making machines on the ramp and they didn’t impress me with their size. I hope those babies are nuclear powered. Otherwise, we may have an opportunity to hold the world’s first, Big Rollerblade Air festival!

Here’s the link to the SnowShow: http://siasnowshow.snowsports.org/ . And here’s a link to info about a free and useful Smartphone (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, or BlackBerry) application that effectively serves as the complete program for the show: http://siasnowshow.snowsports.org/Attendees/SmartphoneApp/ .

This image was made with my iPhone and a great photography app named Pano. Pano is for making panoramas. It’s exceptionally simple to understand and easy to use. More importantly, it makes spectacular images. I’ve been practicing with other images and have been on the lookout for appropriate subjects. Fortunately, Colorado has a lot of subjects, namely every mountain range, lake, and alpine valley in the state. In the past, I haven’t gone skiing with my phone (for fear of losing or breaking it), but, this time, I wanted to take it to try some shots at the top of the ski lifts. Because of the intense, bright sunshine, it’s very hard to see the Pano screens on the iPhone. Pano has an on-screen alignment guide that you use to align your shots and process (stitch together) the panorama. Although I could barely see the screen, I did manage to string together at least one good set. This view is from near the top of one of Breckenridge’s peaks, looking east. Come on out to Colorado Ski Country - and bring your iPhone!

Since June of 1891, the Manitou and Pike’s Peak Cog Railway has taken visitors to the top of Pike’s Peak to enjoy beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains. It’s a comfortable and enjoyable ride to the top with breathtaking views around every bend. The train takes visitors to the to the summit of the peak year-round. At the summit, the line simply ends - there’s no room for the train to turn around. The train can travel forward or reverse and has controls on both ends for the engineer to operate. This image was taken while I stood in front of the (stopped) train at the summit. A late spring storm was rolling in from the northwest, and would soon bring lightning and a snowstorm. Luckily, our train started back down the mountain before the action began.

Last week, while I was shooting an event in Denver's LoDo (lower downtown) district, I had finished the shoot and was heading back to my car which was parked near Union Station. I was going to go scout other locations for some night shots of Denver's skyline. As I was loading the car with my gear, I looked over at the station and decided to walk around it and see if I could come up with some creative shots. As I moved around the building and looked through my viewfinder, noting grabbed me. The building's neon, the street lights, and nearby building's neon combined to cast orange and red tones on everything - not the color balance I wanted. But the light/dark contrast of the lights, shadows, and night told me to think in black-and-white. As I gazed down this street at the Station, this shot came together quickly. The effect I wanted was to make an image that looked like it might have been taken 50 or 60 years ago when Union Station was in it's prime. Except for the modern-day vehicles, I think I came close. Once again, black and white proves to be timeless.

About a year ago, as I was in the process of moving from Kansas City to Denver, I made a number of trips back-and-forth, either in a 24-foot Budget rental truck or my old Jeep Cherokee. On the first trip, I shot across I-70, trying to go as fast as I could travel. Like most folks, I first thought the trip to be rather boring. I didn't think there was much to see. But starting with the second trip, I decided to take the US and state highways, traveling through dozens of small towns. The trip took much longer, but there were plenty of great subjects for my camera. Schoolhouses, like this one, are mostly all gone, but a few still stand. Some have been converted to barns and other farm shelters. Most are just left to slowly deteriorate. The majority were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Those that still stand are a testament to the hearty and strong pioneers who first settled across the Great Plains.

Continuing on the theme of hotels. especially haunted ones, is the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO. Stephen King once stayed here. In fact, during his stay here he developed the idea for his book, The Shining. The subsequent move used another hotel in Oregon for scenes so the Stanley Hotel isn't the actual subject of the book or hotel. But the hotel's owners have done a great job of capitalizing on the story - which makes it one of the top tourist destinations on The Front Range. It's a beautiful, old hotel. Wonderfully maintained, clean, and elegant. It's open for business so anyone is welcome. When you walk in the building, the smell of aged - not old - wood overtakes your senses. The gift shop is full of cool stuff related to the book/movie, but none of it seems cheesy or campy. Well-preserved, highly functional, elegant, and stately is how I'd describe the place. I'm jealous because I doubt anyone would describe me using those words. Make your reservation today. Visit the Web site at http://www.stanleyhotel.com.

With all due respect to St. Louis, MO, Denver has always seemed to me to be more deserving of the title, Gateway to the West. Sure, west of St. Louis are plenty of towns like Kansas City, Wichita, Dodge City, Omaha, Ft. Worth, Ellsworth, and Abeline, with storied pasts firmly rooted in western folklore. But I grew up in the farthest western state of California. Living in Merced, CA which is about 75 miles west of Yosemite National Park, The West meant mountains and deserts, not The Great Plains. What's my point? The point is, ever since my first visit to Denver, back in the late 70's, I considered Denver to be the gateway to the west, especially because it sits right at the base of The Rocky Mountains.
People travel from all over the world to visit Denver, many of them come here by car. While old motels can be found anywhere in the US, I believe those in Denver have a unique nostalgic value. The old motels you'll find on Colfax, Broadway, and other major US highways (not Interstates) aren't particularly different or unique architecturally. But they are unique in terms of the memories and stories about the millions of people and families who came or traveled through here on vacations. Back in the day, when they were new and vigorous, travelers probably barely noticed the architecture. They were just happy to be in Colorado on vacation. I can't help but assume that, if there's such a place as one haunted by good ghosts, you'll find plenty of them here. The Ghosts of Happiness, Excitement, Joy, Recreation, Discovery, Fun, and Love hang out in places like the Hill Top Motel on Broadway.

Scattered around the West are buttes of all sizes and shapes. I found this one while I was trying to find a spot on a creek to wade-in and fish. There are plenty of streams to fish in Colorado, but a lot of them are on private land so you have to look hard in some cases for a spot to fish. While I never found a good spot to fish that day, I did find this butte to photograph. And, as a bonus, I actually find a perfectly good set of hip waders. They were just laying next to a big boulder. I don't know how someone could, but I think they were forgotten there. I'll hang on to them until someone shows up to claim them.

About an hour west of Denver on Interstate 70, at a little over 11,000 feet is the The Eisenhower-Johnson Memorial Tunnel, the highest elevation vehicular tunnel in the world. This image shows the west portal entrance to the tunnel, looking down from U.S Highway 6, just a few feet down from Loveland Pass. I grabbed this image on July 12, 2009 - during the height of the summer tourist season and well past the last snow of spring. Nonetheless, there was still a fair amount of snow at higher elevation. On a normal Sunday afternoon, the eastbound lanes would be nearly packed with bumper-to-bumper traffic - a combination of natives and tourists making their way back down to Denver. But on this particular afternoon, all the eastbound traffic was jammed up on the other side of the tunnel due to an accident (an RV caught fire on the long, steep grade leading up to the tunnel). Mikey, who was driving 45 miles ahead of me, sent me a text message informing me that he was stuck in the middle of the jam and had just come up on what was left of the RV. He suggested I detour off I-70 near Dillon and take U.S Highway 6 up, over, and around the tunnel. The beautiful summer day and the perfect position of the sun help light the scene, one which I'm sure everyone else loves to photograph.

When I moved to Colorado, I should have spent more time looking for an apartment. In my haste, I chose one with a few great features and one bad one. Although it's on the top floor, and on the end, and has a great western-facing view of the Rocky Mountains' Front Range, it has one very annoying feature. It sits about 50 yards from a very busy and awfully LOUD highway. From about 5:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. all we hear is the constant roar of traffic. We have a great balcony - nice and large and shaded. But it too faces the highway. When we sit out there, we have to practically yell to hear each other.
But, on the 4th of July, I discovered one great thing about the apartment and the deck. We had a front row seat at the Highlands Ranch fireworks display. As soon as I heard the first "boom" outside, I grabbed my camera and tripod and set up on the deck. This was my first attempt at photographing fireworks. I didn't think much of the original images, but this afternoon I spent a few hours with them in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. The slideshow is the final result. I hope you like them as much as I do. You can see the entire set of full size original images HERE.

This year, the first day of summer also happened to be Father's Day - and one of the first sunny days in the mountains since we moved here. On this day, we headed for Leadville with plans to eat lunch at Quincy's, a great little restaurant that serves fillet mignon, salad, and a baked potato for only $8.95. This scene is along Highway 91, south of Copper Mountain and north of Fremont Pass. On this particular day, June 21, 2009, there was still plenty of snow above the timberline. Even at mid-day, the sun was shining from the right direction and the clouds were puffy and bright white. I know my earlier posts claim that I'm only going to shoot black and white. Pardon me for not being able to resist on this one. And by the way, there may be more...

This bus sits off the side of a dirt road not far from Winter Park Resort It certainly appears like whatever the bus hit won the battle. I'm assuming it slid down a cliff. Regardless, I think the real mystery is why it sits where it does. Junk ends up in some strange places.

Years ago I grew Bonsai trees but had to give it up because Lenny the Dead Cat ate too many of them. I found this bush/tree growing on top of a ridge in the high country. I shot it a couple of months ago when it was still winter there so i don't know if this thing is dead or alive. What attracted me to it was the natural pruning. While it's actually over ten feet tall, it still reminded me of what a cyprus Bonsai might look like after years of deliberate shaping.

OK, it's not really Mt. Reardan. But I was so focused on getting the shot that I forget exactly where I was when I took it. I think it might be Mt. Gugot on the Continental Divide straddling Park County and Summit County. I know it's west of Kenosha Pass on US 285. I'll resolve the question in a few weeks when I head back there because I'll be scouting camping and fishing spots near the Divide in June.

Immediately after reaching the summit of Kenosha Pass, traveling west on US 285, a spectacular view of the vast Taryall Creek valley awaits you. A few weeks ago, we took a day trip to Fairplay(so Jenni could see South Park in Fairplay) and beyond to Buena Vista, then north for a late lunch in Leadville. I pulled off on the side of the highway and grabbed this shot. The spring storm clouds seemed to congregate over the many mountain ranges surrounding the valley and with the sun over my shoulder, it helped light the image I wanted.

My friend Kevin, who specializes in motel renovations (ccsrenovationsinc.com), came to Golden with his crew to work on the LaQuinta there. Knowing I'd recently moved to Colorado, he E-mailed me and we made arrangements to go fishing Saturday. I picked up Kevin and Charlie, one of his top crewmen, and we headed to Hot Sulphur Springs and the Colorado River headwaters. Between the frequent springtime rain showers and the raging current, the fish won the battle. Nevertheless, Kevin got a chance to try fly fishing for the first time and he appears to be hooked. By lunchtime, we had enough fishing and decided to just spend the rest of the day driving the back roads. Just south of Steamboat Springs, we found Colorado Highway 131 which runs south to Wolcott off of I-70. Along the way is Finger Rock.

I'll bet this is one of the most-often photographed buildings at The Academy. It just begs to be photographed, both inside and out. Luckily, it's a great black and white subject. On this day, it was cold and cloudy which made it easier to photograph (except for the cold part). The clouds blocked the sun which would have reflected sharply off the bright aluminum skin. And I liked the intersecting lines on the surface which you see all around the Chapel and parade grounds. From what we saw in the short film (inside the Visitor Center), the Cadets spend lots of time on those lines. Thanks to all the great men and women who serve our country, past, present, and future.

While Independence Pass is still closed for the winter, Colorado Highway 82 is open nearly to the top of the pass. When these mountain pass roads are closed, it limits the traffic so it's a lot easier to slow down and look around. Once again, I forgot to pay close attention to where I was so I can't be positive of where I was when I took this photograph. I think the town was Brumley. This is looking east across the Arkansas River Valley, south of Leadville. Obviously, I've enhanced this image a bit, but I got the effect I was looking for when I imagined this shot.

No offense to anyone who takes pictures of Colorado in color, but I think that's the easy way to do it. While I appreciate doing things the easy way, I can also appreciate, usually more so, the benefits of having to learn things the hard way. In other words, experience has proven to me that life's best learned lessons have more often been the hardest learned. Given this logic, I've challenged myself to limit my Rocky Mountain photography to black and white. Fortunately with mountain ranges, contrast is as much a visual element as color and size are. And during Spring in the Rockies, the contrast of dark and light clouds, snow above the timberline, and a wide range of shades of green below demonstrate contrast well. Since Rocky Mountain National Park is less than an hour away from my front door, I thought I'd drive up there and begin practicing. The image above is my first try. I'm sorry I didn't pay attention to the name of the peak. I'll try to remember to find out and post it here when I do.