Precious Metal

   For sometime I've been wanting to go back to Guffey, CO to photograph the numerous old cars and trucks sitting around. As some of you may know old cars and trucks are a favorite of mine to photograph. But before I started photographing, the family and I stopped at a small coffee shop called Rita's and had a small lunch. Great little place that has good sandwiches. there was also some local art hanging on the walls and shelves. After lunch we headed out and I noticed a bunch of No Trespassing signs painted all over the place. so we loaded up in the car and drove over to the Guffey Garage to get permission from the man who owned all the old cars and trucks, and the one who posted the No Trespassing signs. I know who the man was because I used to live northwest of Guffey in the 90's. His name is Bill. When I asked Bill for permission he thanked me for asking him. Bill told me that most people will go over to the vehicles and open them up without asking and sometime causing parts to come off. After getting Permission off we went.

   I started off with taking a few photos of two cars a 1950 Buick Super Eight and a 1948 Studebaker Champion Deluxe. When I took these photos I was lying on the ground. I really like this perspective when I photograph vehicles.

   The next one I went on to photograph was a 1954 International dump truck. When I was trying to photograph this truck I had a problem, I was not able to get the entire truck in the picture. The truck was between another truck and a truck cab. There was also some seat frames in front of the truck. I went ahead and took a few shots. When I got the photo processed I pick out the better of what I took and this is what I came up with. It came out better than I thought it would. The green on this truck is really unusual but it make it stand out.

   I was on to my next vehicle and that was a 1940's Chevrolet truck. Once again I was lying on the ground to take my photographs. I was able to photograph the entire truck, but the one below is the one I liked best. I like how the grass is growing between the bumper and the truck. The front tire is almost completely hidden from the grass. The grill looks to be in relatively in pretty good shape still. The headlight and windshield aren't broken which is amazing.The boards on  the back of the truck are in pretty bad shape.

There were several vehicles here, but the last one I want to share with you is a 1950's Chevrolet panel truck. This truck just stands out to me and what makes it stand out was the sun visor over the windshield. The lettering on the side reads C & G FOOD STORES. Once again  was on the ground shooting at an upward angle. I wasn't as close to this truck as the others when I was taking the photograph. I do like the clouds in the background in this picture. The body on this truck had some minor dents, but what do to expect from a vehicle that's 60 years old.

I had a great time photographing these old vehicles here in Guffey. To see the rest of my photos go to my Facebook page. These old cars and trucks are a favorite for me to photograph. I am always on the lookout  for these old abandoned cars and trucks, whether they are in a field, a barn, a junkyard or someones yard. 

2012 Cripple Creek Ice Festival

Decide to take some photos today of some of the ice sculptures before going into work. There are several ice sculptures along Bennett Ave. in Cripple Creek, CO. This years theme is a "Military Salute Carved in Ice". Some of the sculptures are of Uncle Sam,  an Eagle, U.S. Marine Corp. logo, ice slides, a maze, The Vietnam Wall, and more. The most popular one is probably the Vietnam Wall. The artist of this piece is taking names from people and he is carving them in the ice wall. I heard from a co-worker that there were people out there putting names on a clipboard for the artist to carve in the ice wall. Here are some photos that I took of the Vietnam Wall ice sculpture.

The other ice sculpture that is going to touch a lot hearts is the Fallen Soldier Memorial. This sculpture stands at least 10 feet high and is all carved out of ice. The only thing they forgot to add were the dog tags hanging from the gun. This sculpture was a favorite of mine. Here is the photo of the Fallen Soldier Memorial that I took. I tried to take this without having any of the casinos in the background.

Another favorite sculpture that I liked was the Prisoners of War logo. What I liked about this sculpture there just happened to be a United States of America flag next to it. This I think made the picture. This was probably my favorite photo that I took today. I think it turned out really good.

The last picture that I am using is the head of an eagle. I am standing almost directly under the sculpture. I wanted to try to get as much of the sky and clouds in this shot but I ended up getting some of the building in it. The picture still turned out pretty good.  I always try to get clouds in a photo if I am going to process the photo as an HDR. Well here is the picture.

All the photos in this blog were processed through Photomatix and I also used Corel Photo Impact to remove some of the noise in the photos.

Downunder Restaurant Project

It’s been awhile me since I last wrote in my blog. My mother has been asking me to keep with it. So here we go.

Back in November I was approached by one of my co-workers that works in the Downunder Restaurant at the Midnight Rose Hotel and Casino. She came to me asking about my pictures. She told me that she was given a budget to decorate the restaurant. I told her that I have many photos to choose from. We got together with the Food & Beverage Director and a Food & Beverage Manager. I showed them what I had. They said they were looking for some pictures to brighten up the restaurant a little. They  also wanted some photos of the local area. We picked out some photos, and from there I went to work. I was also given the go ahead to sell the photos. I asked what percentage do you want and they told me none its all yours. They also gave me start up money for the project.

I had no deadline to meet, but I gave myself a deadline of the day before Thanksgiving. I wanted the pictures up before the holidays. With the holidays coming up the restaurant is also used for parties. I finished the project the day before my deadline. I spent a total of two weeks on the project. I was surprised that I was able to get it done so quickly. All my supplies and prints were shipped rather quick.

I have gotten several compliments on my work from my co-workers and customers of the Downunder Restaurant. Just the other day a customer came up to me came up and told me that she liked my work and then told me “I had no idea that you were a photographer”. I told her that I’ve been one for about 5 years.

So if you get a chance Stop by and look at them. I would be glad to take you down to show them to you.  Here are a few photos of them on the walls in the restaurant. Sorry the pictures are so bad. The lighting sucks down there.