Water Droplets on a Leaf- Landgrove, Vt

Last weekend, while dining at the beautiful (and delicious!) Landgrove, Inn in Vermont, I had the great pleasure of photographing this leaf after a momentary sun-shower. It was a hot, hazy and humid night, and the rain couldn't have lasted more than a few minutes, thus, the droplets were able to hang on to their beautiful round shape atop this rather waxy leaf (a perfect surface)....such a peaceful and rare sight!

Train in Fraser- Grand County, Colorado

Trains have undoubtedly had a tremendous impact on the settlement and development of the western United States and have shaped the course of our country's history, demographics, population, etc. With this photo taken in the town of Fraser, Co., just before sunset on July 4th, I pay homage to the capacity of the train to shape our lives and landscape.

In Grand County, Co., the train continues to play an important role. In the past, it carried tourists and supplies into the mountains and carried out lumbar and other natural resources to Denver, Chicago and the East Coast. The trains also had everything to do with shaping my favorite pasttime- skiing.

Today, Winter Park Resort remains one of the only ski resorts in the world still connected to its roots via train. The historic Ski Train routinely takes skiers to and from Denver right to the very bottom of the chairlift through Moffat Tunnel, one of the most famous and longest train tunnels in the world! It runs throughout the year and enables modern day tourists to experience a little bit of the "old west."

With this photo, my aim was to capture the train at a "standstill," even though it was speeding past me while I was snapping away. I quickly toyed with the various settings on the camera, and although admittedly too many of the pics in this series came out blurry, or didn't capture the feeling I was looking for, this one did it for me. Although its moving so fast, it appears to be somewhat still. My hope was that the stillness of the train emphasizes the constant, enduring and inflexible character of the mountains in the background. I typically find myself trying to juxtapose everything in my photography, so my natural inclination was to capture the train and its speed to contrast the mountains; however, with this photo, I feel that capturing the trains stillness infact highlghted the mountains even more so.

This Little Piggy...Tabernash, Colorado

Every so often, I have to stop and remind myself not to take life, nor myself too seriously. While entering a store in Tabernash, Co., I saw this adorable pink pig-shaped BBQ just waiting in the parking lot for some customer to take him home and I couldn't help but smile and laugh. Thus, I snapped this shot to remind myself to laugh every day, at least once, but perferably much more often! I hope it brought a smile to your face as well! :)

Healthy Tree in the Sunlight- Winter Park, CO

There has been a tremendous outpouring of concern and press in recent years about the pine beetle infestation of the lodgepole pine trees, particularly in the state of Colorado. Indeed, many have speculauted that in the next three to five years, the pine beetles will have killed the vast majority of lodgepole pine trees in the region, which will lead to devestating impacts on the environment, various ecosystems, the overall landscape, and will ultimately change the shape of skiing out west for a long, long time.

Having grown up skiing in Colorado and now having a second home there, this has become a growing personal concern of mine, however, I didn't realize the severity of the situation until I was on vacation there last week. The amount of destruction is astounding. Where once healthy, green, vibrant, majectic trees stood thousands strong, now one finds brown sickly trees and far too many empty space where their kin have fallen. On one hike we took in Rocky Mountain National Forest my husband and I remarked how it looked like a tree graveyead; it was horribly tragic.

While I don't know enough about remedial measures, I am trying to educate myself and learn about the various ways in which the federal, state and local governments can try to encourage growth of new trees, while removing the millions of dead ones, and try its best to preserve the beauty and stability of this region.

In tribute to the lost trees, and those currently infected that will undoubtedly die, I took this photo of a strong, vibrant, healthy looking tree on Winter Park Moutnain, just basking in the sunlight and enjoying life.

Thought of the Day

"To me, photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place...I've found it has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them." - Elliot Erwitt