Saturday, May 1, 2010

Last Saturday's Adventures

The wild ride on Saturday proved to be quite fruitful.

Our Photography class started out in the college parking lot ~ early in the morning ~ already an excitable bunch. Teacher Dan drove, with an agenda in mind, and we headed north to Fairview Canyon.

We were ready for shooting adventures. 

We drove over the mountains on some pretty slick roads.  Fairview Canyon this time of year is pretty good, but with snow the night before it was a bit icy.

The streams of winter melting snow were sparkling and beautiful.

The only real problem was the freezing-wind that made it too cold to stay out of the car for very long.  Every early shot of mine was rushed as I tried to work around my gloves and chattering teeth...Chchchchchhch...
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Dan drove us into Clear Creek.  A little town that was build around 1870 for coal miners. I loved it.


































 We drove to the top of the little tiny town and then walked down the empty streets taking photos of all kinds of interesting things. Old things and new things.  Contrasting colors, playful lighting on roof lines, telephone poles and mailboxes, and crazy icicles.

You would be just setting up a shot, when a big sheet of icy snow would fall down from a neighboring roof and make you jump.  Hanging out in a ghost town will do that to you.

It is strange to be in such an empty place.  We took liberty with our cameras and there was quite a bit of trespassing  Oh, well.  That's part of the job/experience, right?


































A door to where? 























Gnarled icicles and a sweet little nest under the eves.  Look at what she used? Amazingly inventive. 























Some of the paint was old and falling off everywhere, and then you would have something like this,quite Scandinavian.  Just need some skis?

































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The Mailboxes.

I think everyone took pics of these mailboxes.  We were all over them (probably the lines, shadows, rust) and everyone came up with a different view.  Some of us even stood in the same place and with different lenses came up with vastly different shots.

This was mine. (I posted it on my flicker and the girls from England/Scotland said they had "only seen these in films?")






















































We spent some time at this tiny little cemetery.

Sandstone headstones and wire fences in a windswept lonely canyon.

There were very unique stones and epitaphs, old silk flowers, and the new growth of iris peeking through the soft soil. Many of these headstones speak of a terrible mining accident in the early 1900's. 
























































Yes, always hearts, see it?
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We drove into Helper, another strange small town. Spliting up into groups ~ with an hour to use ~ we canvased the town and took as many photos as we could shoot.

We shot everything!

Later at lunch we sat with a laptop and looked at what everyone saw through their lens.  


































They say that there are more ghosts than living people in Helper.  See the one I found?


















A few more interesting shots from Main Street Helper.























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We stopped several times on the way back~ tooling with composition, lighting, how to share stories in what we were seeing.  We looked at farm equipment, horses, geese, and hay bales ~ You know, old and small town. 

It was a real treat to have the whole day with an expert to show us how it's done.

Dan is trying to get the horse to pose for him?  Or get out of his way?  Not sure.
















































































and the day is done...

It was a really long day and the students were worn out, but we learned so much from getting in and working out each and every shot.  It was well worth a weekend! More of my photos will be posted on my flicker...


(Sign up for a photography class ~ no matter your skill level ~ you won't regret it!)

from my little lens
in the barnyard of life,
jj
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