Where to take the waters

HOT SPRINGS POOL, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 11, 2009

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 at 28mm
1/8 sec. f3.5
ISO 1600

I had to brace the camera on a walkway railing in order to get reasonable sharpness at 1/8 of a second with the lens wide open. Not as much mist was rising from the pool as usual on a January night, because the air temperature was comparatively warm at 30 degrees and there was no wind.

Mountain clouds

MOUNTAIN CLOUDS, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 63mm
1/1500 sec. f11
ISO 200

During our five days in Glenwood Springs, blue sky rarely broke through the snowy overcast. When it did, we were struck by the rapid clearing of low cumulus, then its equally rapid return as the wind shifted. The mountain sky of the Rockies is a deep, deep blue seen almost nowhere else.

Rooftop sign

ROOFTOP SIGN, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 138mm
1/1000 sec. f11
ISO 200

This rooftop neon sign, a landmark of downtown Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is a favorite roost for flocks upon flocks of the local pigeons. The morning I shot this picture, only one bird was in residence. All the others were out for breakfast.

Storefront

SUMMIT COFFEE HOUSE STOREFRONT, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 80mm
1/45 sec. f11
ISO 200

The Summit Coffee House in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, is the place to go for breakfast and lunch, and also to catch up on one's e-mail. In fact, most people I saw there bought a cup of coffee just so they could plug into the place's free high-speed wireless Internet.

Not 13'-4"

OVERHEAD CLEARANCE SIGN, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 125mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 200

No comment is needed, is there?

Frigid lifeguard

LIFEGUARD SHACK, HOT SPRINGS POOL, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 200mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 200

Rather than collect suntans, lifeguards shiver in heavy woolens and goose down in snow-capped shacks during the winter at Glenwood Springs' 90-degree outdoor hot springs pool. If a bather should get into trouble, the lifeguards must leap fully clothed to the rescue -- there's no time to shuck their duds.

Icicles

ICICLES AND CHIMNEY, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 50mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 200

Many commercial buildings in Colorado have no gutters, meaning that icicles form easily on the edges of roofs, and some of them can grow so long (these were nearly three-footers) that they fall with a mighty clatter and imperil passersby below.

Freighter to the rescue

UNION PACIFIC SD70M LEADING CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 13, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 75mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 400

When one of the two locomotives pulling Amtrak's eastbound California Zephyr failed, the Union Pacific Railroad lent a SD70M freight engine to help haul the train over the Rockies to Denver. Here the train stops at Glenwood Springs, Colorado.

Relic of the Rio Grande

BENCH, AMTRAK STATION, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 13, 2009

Pentax K10D
Sigma 17-70 at 70mm
1/350 sec. f11
ISO 400

Old railroad depots are great places for photography, notably the former Denver & Rio Grande Western (now Amtrak) station in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. The interplay of light and shadow on the oak bench caught my eye as I was waiting to catch the California Zephyr for home.

Cowboy Italianate

CUPOLA, HOTEL COLORADO, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
SMC Pentax-DA 50-200 at 115mm
1/1000 sec. f11
ISO 200

One of the most striking examples of Victorian-era Italianate architecture is the 1893 Hotel Colorado in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, a loose replica of the Villa Medici in Rome. This shot of one of the two cupolas with Christmas decorations shows the careful detail of the style.

Clouds and sun

CLOUDS AND SUN IN THE SOUTHERN SKY, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 180mm
1/4000 sec. f11
ISO 200

Mornings in the Rocky Mountains affords interesting interplay among the clouds, the sky and the sun as the overnight overcast breaks up. I wish, however, that I had reduced the exposure by 1 or more stops to prevent the highlights in the white clouds from being blown out.

The first robin of winter

AMERICAN ROBIN, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 200mm
1/250 sec. f11
ISO 200

We spotted this robin in front of our motel on a hillside in snowy Glenwood Springs, Colorado, on a cold January day. Whether the robin got lost on his way south or he just liked the place, we don't know. But he preened and shook his tail and sang as we took his portrait.

The man in charge

CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR CONDUCTOR, GLENWOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO, JANUARY 12, 2009

Pentax K10D
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200 at 160mm
1/60 sec. f11
ISO 200

Just as the train started its slow roll out of Glenwood Springs, its conductor spotted me taking his portrait. Just after I snapped it, a broad smile appeared on his face and he gave a small wave. Nonetheless, he looks properly commanding and conductor-like in this shot.