Privileged Passageways
As we are wrapping up our Four Corners tour, we at the studio are squeezing in our last treks. Yesterday, we visited Mesa Verde National Park. It almost felt like we were able to connect to a spiritual center as we walked. We are planning to tour this summer. What a privilege to be able to see the pit houses and communities that are nearly 2000 years old.
The photography challenge for today was photographing long distances in 65 mph winds.
Pro-tip: When photographing on windy days, be sure to use both hands to keep the camera steady and avoid blurriness.
Today we drove to Silverton and Ouray as our staff physician, and daughter worked. We traveled down the Million-Dollar Highway and stopped and took pictures. The waterfalls were mostly frozen and the snow was falling. We stopped at the visitor center in Silverton and wondered how the first person thought to try the San Juan mountains to find out if there was gold. Research for another time, I guess.
Tomorrow we are leaving. Again, that cracked inside feeling starts to creep in. At least it’s warm in Key West.
Colorado Dreamin'
Today, our solution designer has returned to his home office in Norman, Oklahoma. Translation: our son left our little family reunion to go back to school. Always feels like a tiny piece of my insides crack every time I have to say goodbye to the people I love. Luckily for us, he missed his morning flight and had to catch a flight four hours later. So, we got to visit the Aztec Ruins National Park (which we discovered is really a Pueblo ancestral site) and enjoy lunch provided by our contributing photographer and son-in-law. Ham and brie-mercy!
Our solution designer made his flight, and we hiked at a local wildlife preserve. We saw a Mr. and Mrs. Mountain Bluebird, a Ruddy Duck, and a Birddog-in-training named Annie.
Today’s pro-tip for taking photos on low-contrast cloudy days: use HDR Stack if your camera has the setting or take three pictures with different exposures settings: low, medium, and high. Then, create an HDR Stack in Lightroom.
The Studio is on the Move!
Today, we landed in Durango, Colorado to visit the rest of the team: our kids!
There are two new pro-tips for me:
1. There is such a thing as an overnight layover.
2. When on an overnight layover, your checked luggage does not go with you.
Now that we’re here, Lee has been taking action photos of us snow tubing. Pro tip: sports mode can be fun for beginners!
Three for Thursday Contest
Today in the studio, we are wrapping up our Three for Thursday competition. OP launched our Etsy store, KeyWestPics today, and all of the photography artists went head-to-head in a friendly competition. I entered a strong contender with my custom-framed Pirate Ship at Sundown on canvas.
Lee entered a split-photo wall image, US 1: The Beginning on canvas. Both were mounted by us using reclaimed wood from the lobster traps we picked up from Islamorada last weekend.
Pro-tip #1 for the frames: get a miter box.
Pro-tip #2 for US 1: 30-second exposure taken of cars driving by.
I feel that I have a pretty good chance of winning, because Toby, our cat, has promised his vote to me. However, it is up to the rest of our artist community to determine the winner. Unfortunately, our kids are not persuaded by kitty treats. Who will be the winner? We shall see…
Elizabeth