Water cascades over the top of the Evergreen Lake Dam, driven by high winds.

Gears to control a spillway or other valve at Evergreen Lake Dam.

Been ordering some new gear, and yesterday my new Olympus Zuiko 50mm f2 lens arrived. I didn’t have much time to play with it yesterday, but I did take a couple of photos. This is not by any means an exhaustive writeup or review, I need to use it more first. Immediate reaction though: WOW. This thing is crazy fast. Can’t wait to try it on my E-30 when it arrives next week. And I especially can’t wait to try it with my EX-25 for some serious macro work. I love this thing already.

And of course, I had to try a candid portrait with it. I need to work on this a little more, but I like it alot.

As seen through the trees at the base.

The inbox and calendar are starting to fill up with Senior Portrait requests. I am local to Lakewood High School, Green Mountain High School, Alameda High School and Bear Valley High School. Yearbook headshot deadlines will be upon you faster than you know it (indeed, I can’t believe school starts in roughly 4 weeks), so get your photoshoot scheduled today. We can do urban or mountain. Favorite locations include Red Rocks and spots along Bear Creek toward Kittredge. Rocky Mountain National Park is an option too, but additional fees would apply for travel time.

I have been around dogs for pretty much all of my life. Except for when I was at college, there has always been a dog in my home. I think the longest gap without a dog in my house has been maybe 6 months. Randall, the Bichon Frise pictured above, is the latest one to live in our home. Technically it belongs to our oldest daughter, but he lives here (as does she) and we all take care of him.

In taking photos of pets, I have seen a lot of similarities to kids. They can be incredibly cooperative, as Randall was above, or Schroeder, an Australian Shepherd we used to have. They can be extremely disinterested like Ozzie, one of our cats, or very excited like Daisy, our neighbor’s Weimaraner. Sometimes they don’t even mind an accidental finger in the eye. And much like kids, we don’t want them to be too far out of character when we get a photo of them. Just like anything else, we want the photo to reflect who they are, because that is what we love.

Rio (our German Shepherd) reminded us a few years ago that pets don’t live forever. I had her for about 8 years (I jokingly say I had her longer than my wife and kids), and she and I were pretty close. It wasn’t until she passed that I realized how few pictures I had of her. Being someone who likes to take pictures of anything and everything, it is a bit embarrassing to admit this. But I have precious few pictures of her, and it bothers me. Since then I have tried to capture more pictures of our animals. Or at least some signature photos that really bring their character to light. I am pretty satisfied with the results so far. The picture of Randall at the top was shot earlier this week, and I think captured him quite well. Possibly the best pet photo I have shot so far. I know my daughter will be happy to have it when Randall’s time comes, and that makes me both proud and happy.

This is one of the two major sandstone formations that comprise the Red Rocks Amphitheater in suburban Denver, Colorado. To me it looked like a guardian, protecting the lonely pine tree struggling to survive in the rocks. Order your copy today.

People look at the above photo and almost immediately ask “what’s up with those funky clouds?” I tell them that this isn’t a straight picture, it’s a reflection out of a mud puddle. “Ooohhhhhh, now I see.” The inversion of this image so that the mountain is pointing up totally throws people off. It’s kind of funny to me, but it also makes me wonder how good of an idea it was to flip it 180° to satisfy my feelings on what looks better.

Compare the shot above to the original below:

Which works better for you? Or should I not have gone through all this, and instead used a different image I captured, from a little further out, that really puts the scene in context?

Me being me, I naturally continue to like the first the best. I think if it makes people talk, then it can’t be all bad, right?

We received about 10″ of snow recently, so I took that opportunity to go get a new view of my normal surroundings (luckily my Sorel’s are good to about 12″ of snow). Got what I think is a great shot of this creek near my home. Converted it to a high contrast black and white in Lightroom. I wish it snowed more often.