Pingree Park

We had a family reunion (wife's family) in Colorado in 2011 .  Since my wife's uncle is/was a professor at Colorado State University he was able to reserve rooms at Pingree Park.  It is a beautiful place as you can see from the pictures below.

 There was lots of hummingbirds there.  The feeder put me in mind of a beehive because there were so many coming and going.  Patti actually got real close to the feeder and had one sit on her finger.  They were not afraid of us at all.

Drive up Mt. Evans

Most people that go to CO for vacation have hear about Pikes Peak and a lot of people go there.  However, Mt Evans (near Idaho Springs, CO) is about the same height as Pikes Peak and a lot of people have never heard of it.  We went there twice in 2011.  The first time we went it was really cloudy and when we got up the next morning (we were staying near to Mt. Evans) it was clear so we decide to go again.  The pictures below are from the drive up the mountain.  Note: The road to Mt. Evans is not as good as the road to Pikes Peak so if the drive up to Pikes Peak scares you I wouldn't recommend that you drive this road.

Maroon Bells

All of these pictures were taken on a hike we took at Maroon Bells in Colorado.  If you've never been there you are missing a beautiful place.  I was there one time in the fall when the aspens were yellow and it had snowed some....it was gorgeous.

 Here's a columbine...Colorado's state flower.  I love them...we have several around our house.

 The head of the lake with the Colorado mountains in the background.

 Hopefully someone can tell me what this is. I think it is beautiful.

 Almost at the head of the lake.

 Look at all the aspens.  I think they are pretty when in a big group like this.

 At the head of the lake looking back towards where we started.

 A stream along the way.....so peaceful.

 Again I don't recall what this is...I know Patti has told me but I can't remember. :)

Have left the lake and are upstream from it in this picture. I can remember standing taking this picture and thinking how peaceful it was here with the sound of the stream in the background.

Flowers on Grand Mesa

Even though today is the first day of spring it sure doesn't seem like it.  It was around 25 degrees when we got up this morning.  Since it doesn't seem like spring I thought I'd put up some pictures of flowers to remind myself that spring weather will eventually arrive.  All of these pictures were taken on the Grand Mesa near Grand Junction, CO.

Pawnee Grassland

All of these pictures were taken in the Pawnee Grassland in Colorado.  It was pretty cool when I took the last two pictures of the rattler.  I dropped pebbles on him and never could get him to  move.  I wanted him to move because he was lying right in front of the Pawnee Grassland entrance sign and I was afraid someone might get out to take a picture of the sign and step on him.

The grassland was really a pretty area.  We didn't have time to spend as much time there as I would have like to spent. Even though I've been to CO many, many times this was the first time that I had ever been there.

Colorado flowers

Just a few (and I mean few) of the pictures we took of flowers in Colorado last year.  They were absolutely gorgeous.

Rocky Mountain National Park Lakes

All of these pictures are lakes (some the same lake from a different angle) of lakes we saw on one hike we took.  I believe there were a total of three lakes (Dream, Nymph, and Emerald).  I thought Emerald Lake was the most beautiful.  However it was sprinkling rain when we were there so we were afraid to stay for very long because we don't have very good raincoats.

Panoramic

I have always loved photography and love to play with pictures to see what I can do with them.  When we were on vacation in Colorado I took several sets of photographs so I could construct panoramic views.  I tried Canon's Photostitch, Photoshop Elements 8, and a couple free software packages that I found on-line to construct the panoramics but the one that I think works the best is Microsoft ICE (and it is free).  I made this panoramic and published it to Photosynth so you could see what they look like. Photosynth gives it the appearance of being three dimensional.  You can also export the file as a two dimension picture. If you look at the above panoramic you will probably want to enlarge it a little and then either drag the photo or use the arrows (close to the wheel at the bottom) to see the entire picture. The picture linked above is 15 pictures that are stitched together. You need to keep the plane of the camera steady (not vary up and down).  I always turn on the grid display and try to keep the horizon in approximately the same area. If you take your pictures vertically you have more area to play with but of course it requires more pictures.  The pictures need to be overlapped at least 15-20 percent.  I probably overlap 30 percent just to make sure. I've not had very much luck with trying to make a panoramic picture of anything up close.  The problem with that is that the pictures are taken from different angles so the end result is that you will get a funny looking picture.  I haven't tried a lot so I haven't given up.


If you are ever interested in trying panoramic shots here are some pointers to improve your odds of success:

1. If possible, manually focus the camera and don't touch it again. Of course this won't work if you're taking things close to you.
2. Set the aperture and the shutter speed manually and take all the shots at the same setting.  If the light varies try to pick a average for the picture and set it there.
3. Don't let the camera set the white balance (Auto).  Use your judgement in selecting the appropriate setting.
4. Obviously you cannot have anything moving where the pictures overlap.  Otherwise the software can't find the overlapping area. 

After all of that I leave you with this video.

We're done

It is only fitting that the below picture was my final picture of our Colorado vacation.  I know my good friends George and Betsy would think seeing a waterfall was a good way to end a vacation.  This waterfall was just outside of Colorado Springs up a winding road..Cheyenne Canyon Road I believe.

Air Force Academy Chapel

All of these photos are at the Air Force Academy chapel in Colorado Springs.  There were several different areas in the chapel... Christian, Budda, Jew and I can't remember what else.