Colorado

Do a trip report here....go to another city and want to relate it to what KC is doing right or could do better? Give us a summary in here.
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Roanoker
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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The rock hill is not blowing smoke. It is sitting under a wispy cloud.
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I wonder what we'll see when we get there.
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I like the light and dark contrasts in this one.
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And I always like what appears to be driftwood.
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Sometimes my son gets in the picture.
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Soft and hard.
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More rocks ahead.
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I guess we're there.
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There is nothing here for scale, but I remember that this was a really big hole.
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I didn't want to crop this shot in order to arrive at my desired 4:3 aspect ratio, so I added portions of the picture to itself at the top.
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On this one, I added portions of the picture at the bottom so as not to lose any rock detail.
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I added more sky to the top. Nice arch.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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This shot gives you a better idea of the arch's size. I didn't know the lady under it.
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The familiar black branches.
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A giant sat on this pine tree.
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I took this picture of my son while I was standing under the big arch. He is in its shadow.
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And here he is standing under it.
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Now he is walking on an interesting path. (That tree is trying to grab him.)
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He is learning to share the path with others. :)
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Love that twisted wood.
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I tilted the camera a lot when I took this picture. Not sure why. I first rotated it back to "normal," but I like it better the way the camera caught it.
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Somebody threw away two perfectly good Dixie cups.
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I'm glad that whatever created these tracks did not greet me.
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The rocks on top have big noses. :)
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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Following the crowd.
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Staring at the sun, I guess.
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Dead wood.
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Rock people and real people.
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I like the flower/weed background more than the main picture.
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Those rocks in the distance look like a wagon train.
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We're making our way to the Landscape Arch.
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It was a long trek to the famous arch.
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We didn't follow the people to the top of the rock.
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There's the Landscape Arch.
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Closer.
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Odd rock.
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Roanoker
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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Hiking to the Landscape Arch took a long time, so you'll have to see several pictures of it.
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Looks like two boats.
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We were not alone.
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Portrait-oriented pictures are always a challenge.
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Those asters be everywhere, and I'm glad. These look a little weather-worn, but they have character.
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Another challenge.
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This is actually a portrait-oriented image, with a larger portion of itself on the right.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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I learned the hard way that you must take water with you on these hikes.
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A son in the sun.
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There seems to be a natural attraction between mountains and clouds.
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Looks like a road atlas picture.
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Pretty rocks.
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Different landscape.
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I think the rock in the middle looks like the ancient Egyptian queen, Nefertiti.
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This place is called Park Avenue.
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I like the way this couple is shown emerging from the shadows.
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A closer view of an earlier picture.
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Rain?
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Maybe so.
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Roanoker
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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More rocks to view.
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Almost in a dream.
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Baklava.
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High rise.
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Praying Mantis of the rock world.
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Nice scene.
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Gnarly frame.
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Lots of little flowers. Just in time for Valentine's Day!
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The clouds are trying to outdo the scenery.
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Road Atlas cover.
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Nice river.
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You can drive and view.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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Another atlas cover.
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The river has a nice view.
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Notice the campers.
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Boat people.
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Nice river to navigate.
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Who is building those arches?
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It is a new day (October 4, 2010), and we have new things to see.
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Rocks and grass. I'm happy.
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My son, preparing to take a picture.
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Now he's just on edge. Don't slip!
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Where do the clouds end and the land begin?
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I had to sneak into a picture at some point.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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Nice canyons.
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This almost looks like another planet.
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Found some flowers.
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Fascinating crack.
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Eventually, I'll get tired of this location. (You are not seeing all of the pictures.)
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No roller-skating on this!
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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Nice pictures of Canyondlands. The dirt road that winds into the canyon on one of your pictures is the White Rim Trail and is a great jeep - mountain bike trail. 100 miles of some pretty remote country - for both bikers and 4-wheelers, it's kind of a holy grail thing to complete it. As you might suspect, it's a lot easier in a jeep.



http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/whiterimroad.htm
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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Highlander wrote:Nice pictures of Canyondlands. The dirt road that winds into the canyon on one of your pictures is the White Rim Trail and is a great jeep - mountain bike trail. 100 miles of some pretty remote country - for both bikers and 4-wheelers, it's kind of a holy grail thing to complete it. As you might suspect, it's a lot easier in a jeep.

http://www.nps.gov/cany/planyourvisit/whiterimroad.htm
Thank you for the information and link, Highlander. It would be fun to take pictures while navigating that trail. I'm afraid such an endeavor would be way beyond my capabilities.

Here are this week's pictures.

Good thing you don't have to drive your car over these potholes.
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A sign says this is the Grand View Point Overlook. It is certainly a grand view.
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Notice my son standing on a ledge at the right.
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I have no idea who this person is, but he provides scale.
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Don't step back!
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Holy rock.
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This is as close to flowers as I could get this time.
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Well, I thought it was interesting.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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Used to be a tree.
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Notice my son standing on the ledge.
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You will see a hiker in a white shirt. If you follow the slope to the right, you can barely see my son standing on the highest point, on the horizon.
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Almost flower-like.
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Son is climbing back down.
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Canyon denizen.
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Oooo. Rain.
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You can see the whole storm!
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Another denizen.
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That cloud looks like the inside of a washing machine. Maybe it is.
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The rain provides a nice perspective.
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I think these fissures were caused by lightning strikes.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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Continuing...
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General rain and a focused, narrow downpour.
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I do like that big crack in the earth.
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Everything seems at peace in this direction.
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We were not alone.
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Turned back to the rain and fussy clouds.
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The clouds try to outdo the magnificent scenery.
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Other people take pictures, too. :)
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Now I'm standing where they were, taking my picture.
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I think this is the Green River.
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It is easy to take a lot of pictures here.
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Now for something a little different. The mud-cracked ground.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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I experimented with Photoshop more this week.
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These things look like buildings.
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It was fun to watch the rain slowly move on.
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More of same.
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One, lone little puddle.
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Note the winding road.
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I think a sign said this was an inverted dome.
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The play of clouds and sun created interesting lighting.
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Same place, another view.
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I think another sign said salt was involved in these piles.
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I like the lights and darks in this one.
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Can you believe this road? I like the way the background and "frame" turned out. And the color.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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The day is coming to an end, so sun and clouds make for interesting lighting.
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This picture is superimposed on a larger version of itself. Now we have mountains in the clouds.
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Almost looks good enough to eat.
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Don't fall!
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Closer.
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Death wish.
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Swirly road again.
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Other people were there to enjoy the scenery, too.
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I took many pictures of this rainbow, but I will show you only one.
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Ominous clouds.
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I think we got wet.
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Eerie hole.
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Re: Colorado 2010 II

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These are the last four pictures from the end of October 4, 2010. This one was taken from the passenger window. You can see rain spots.
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Tiny rainbow.
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I love these layers and the way the light affects each.
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A silhouette of sorts.
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The next 8 pictures start a new day, so it is a good time to start another thread, "Colorado 2010 III."
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Colorado 2010 III

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If pictures are missing, see them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/115393943@ ... 327286316/.

It is a new day, October 5, 2010, and we are driving through Canyonlands. There was a big sign near the site of this picture that said
"Hole in the rock."
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Here is another view. What you think you are seeing is not really there. I cut a section of the original picture, put a smaller version of the
entire image behind it and then cut out the "hole" in the top image. It was just an experiment.
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I suppose you can see all sorts of things in this big rock. It even looks as if it has a tiny door at the bottom.
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This is called the "Newspaper Rock." I suppose it does contain the news of the ancient day.
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Just driving through.
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Still driving.
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A beaut of a butte.
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These remind me of doll cakes. I always wanted one for my birthday when I was a little girl, but I never got one. A real "storybook" doll
was placed in the middle of a rounded cake, which was decorated to look like her dress, or ballroom gown.
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Last edited by Roanoker on Wed Feb 19, 2014 9:22 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Roanoker
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Re: Colorado 2010 III

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We are driving through the Canyonlands.
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This is a small section of a larger picture.
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More experimentation.
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Road atlas cover. (Not really.)
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It's a national park.
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Just a view.
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Well, I liked the foliage. And I wanted to try another shape.
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The big rock in the center is known as the Wooden Shoe Arch.
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More to see.
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A sun-blessed butte.
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If you look closely at the far left, just under the little bush-like thing, you will see an artist.
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Big door knobs. I need to stop now. I am seeing faces in the rocks.
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Re: Colorado 2010 III

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The artists (top left) are more obvious in this picture.
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This looks like a shelf of books. I'm sure they are "hard" to read. :D
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It was the grass in this picture that I particularly liked.
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This is a not terribly successful experiment. I placed the entire picture within an enlarged portion of itself.
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There is the Dutch Shoe Arch again.
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Another dead branch. (I do like those things.)
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The asters were nice, but they were scattered all over the place. So I applied a filter to "crackle" them up a bit.
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I just now noticed an irrigation pipe at the bottom of this picture. And I experimented with another shape, against a blend.
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This object is bigger than it appears!
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I picked this picture because I liked the enchanting trees.
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Not exactly what you'd expect among desert scenes, but nice nonetheless.
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Here is a little of both. (Wasn't I clever in allowing the road to flow out of the picture? 8) (You can see the air vent under the car's
windshield reflected on the road. Too lazy to clone it out.)
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Roanoker
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Re: Colorado 2010 III

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This picture is now almost impossible to understand. I created it, and I can hardly figure it out myself. I put a portion of the original
picture in the background and a reduced version of the entire picture directly in the center. The size of the resulting picture below was
16"x12", at 72dpi prior to upload. The reduced image (stuck in the middle) was 14" wide. I feathered the picture "box" in the middle and
cut away the extraneous edges. I scooted the background so that the road would somewhat match the bottom of the centered picture.
Then I cloned out the ugly stop sign from the background on the left and fluffed in some grass and trees. I won't remember this after
a few days. : )
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This is a portion of the original picture, which had an ugly fence and building at the top. I had to sacrifice some pretty flowers, but it had
to be done. I experimented with various filters to make the picture look more like a painting, but nothing looked as good as the original,
so I left it alone.
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It is a new day (October 6, 2010), and we are visiting the Mesa Verde National Park. I like the font used on the sign.
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I got carried away with my fascination for branches.
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Always on the lookout for a frame idea.
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My son said these are nodules in the sandstone.
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This visitor center fits in with its environment.
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As I recall, I sat in the car and my son took all the pueblo pictures.
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A step back.
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Wrecked pueblo.
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Another view of the same locale. (I don't recall an entirely white sky, but that's what the camera saw.)
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We missed the guided tour. The entire picture actually ends where the treetop begins bottom left. I feathered and cut away portions of
the top picture to reveal the trees in a larger section of the picture underneath. All this to keep to a 4:3 aspect ratio without losing detail.
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Re: Colorado 2010 III

Post by Highlander »

Finally back in Colorado.
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