A Creek Runs Through It

Grabbed this shot while out walking the dogs earlier today. Couldn't figure out how I liked the edit best: color, black and white or with the green tint.

What do you think?

This is a mobile shot edited with Snapseed.

Motorcycle Riding Pictures

You know, it occurred to me the other day that I hadn't written or posted anything here for far too long. I guess that's the price of trying to keep up with four different blogs.

Anywho, last weekend I took some pictures while out riding motorcycles with some friends. The trip was an overnighter and I didn't bring my dSLR because I didn't think we'd be stopping as much as we did, but I did have my handy-dandy Note II and GoPro.

If you want to read about the ride, click this link

This was our group at the top of Independence Pass between Leadville and Aspen, CO. This was actually one of those happy accidents that seem to pop up now and again and bring some unexpected joy into our lives. I had the GoPro mounted to the front of the motorcycle to record the winding twisties up and down the pass only to have it take this still instead of recording video. I still don't know what caused that since the camera is set to default to video, but it happened and it turned out pretty gritty and real. It's a fave shot on our club website.

Another of my favorite shots was this one of Sydney's bike on the side of the highway. She's parked it there while some of us pulled on colder weather gear and I happened to catch it with perfect light - perfect everything. I gave it a little edit with Snapseed to give it this vintage photo look. 

There are some of our bikes parked out in front of a restuarant - okay, okay, a saloon - in Leadville, Colorado. Leadville is considered the hightest city in the country if not the world and is a shadow of it's former self. Aside from passers-through, there really isn't much to this old mining town but some 19th century buildings and old west memorabilia. The black bike 'up front' is mine, the blue one belongs to Deb and the red is the same one from the image above. What I love about this image is the symbology: horses lined up in front a saloon. Modern internal combustion technology in front of a building built in the late 1880s. Dichotomy is amazing. 

  For fun, here's another edit of the CBR from above.

Motorcycle Friends

Some friends of mine came to town this August and I had a chance to go riding with them while they were here. Steve and Sash are a married couple who divested themselves of all their belongings and hit the rode. They live almost exclusively on their bikes, traveling around the county, making friends and enjoying the good life.

I didn't take a lot of pictures while they were in town but these are a few I was able to grab.

The first image is of South Park County, Colorado from Kenosha Pass. Then Sash's Vstar 650, my SV and a picture of Steve and Sash.

Not a Fire

Grabbed this little gem while out walking my dog. Once again I didn't have my dSLR on me and had to grab this with my Android.

The image is of a dead tree's branches reaching for the sky.

This was treated with Snapseed, as usual for photography on the go.

Cathedral on the Plains

While returning to Colorado from a funeral in Florida I took a little side trip to Victoria, KS and the Cathedral on the Plains: http://www.kansastravel.org/cathedralofheplains.htm

It was about 100° F out and we had dogs with us so we didn't stop for long. Just long enough to pop our heads in, grab a couple of shots and then walk the dogs around the grounds.

I'd hoped to grab a shot of a lonely church settled out amongst the rolling fields of Kansas, but the village of Victoria got in the way. Instead, I only grabbed these couple of shots with my phone.

Interesting story, according to a church employee, the area was settled by German-Russians. In the seventeenth century (?) Germans were invited to Russia to cultivate the land with the promise of no taxes and no military service for 100 years. When that time was up those families, who never assimilated, left Russia for the New World and promised of no taxes and free land to farm. Some of them came to Kansas.

This church was built by their descendants and has enough seating for nearly everyone in town.

The third image, the one of the tower, seems like it has that HDR halo around it commonly found in terrible HDR. None of my images are HDR. What you're seeing is the sunlight from the backlit tower making the sky around it a little lighter.

Tower One

Took the Pentax out for a while today and filled the memory card (a couple of times). That is, I didn't start off with an empty one, made some space by deleting a bunch of images, took a bunch of photos and then had to delete some more, etc.

The image below, however, was captured and uploaded from mobile. The sky had some great texture tonight and I happened to be at the base of Plaza Tower One. Unfortunately, my dSLR was full so I grabbed this little gem with my Note II. I wish I'd left a bit more sky at the top, but what are you gonna do?

As always, edited (not much) with Snapseed and uploaded on the go.

Having Lunch

Went to lunch with a friend and grabbed this little gem without her knowing. I've since sent it to her and she was very pleased.

As always, edited with Snapseed.

Tug-o-War

I haven't posted recently since my computer went kaput, but I've been wanting to, so here's a couple of Android shots of Charlie playing tug-o-stick with Willow, the pit bull mix at the dog park this morning.

These are, of course, edited with Snapseed.

Fall in Colorado

As the saying goes, there's gold in them thar hills and last week I had a chance to grab a  few shots of the changing leaves. Years ago, I used to head into the mountains regularly, at least a few times a month, but when gas prices started becoming ridiculously high and employment started becoming ridiculously scarce, spending $60 just to drive into the mountains became a luxury, not a necessity. Let me be clear, $60 doesn't fill my 28 gallon gas tank, it merely provides enough gas for me to drive up and drive back and doesn't include any food I might purchase, lift tickets or overnight stays, etc.

Beer City Mountain

A year ago I took the motorcycle with me, thus reducing the overhead costs significantly, but I couldn't bring along my tripod or dogs, so this year I decided to take my truck, improving my capacity to bring long canine companions, extra gear, food and drinks. Normally, I'd ask to borrow a friend's extra car, since it gets roughly 25 miles to the gallon while my truck peaks out at 15mpg, downhill, with a tailwind. However, the car wasn't being very reliable and I was left with no choice but to take my gas-guzzling behemoth.

My first thought was to go for a short hike on a trail I know barely an hour outside of Denver, but after stopping to take a picture and sinking nearly up to my knees in some mud, I decided to forego being on my feet all day and just drive around.

Without a plan of action now, I headed up Guanella Pass near Georgetown, CO. to see what there was to see. And it was great. Aside from all the brown of leaves already gone, there were whole patches of vivid yellows against backdrops of deep greens.

I grabbed a few pictures before heading up higher and higher, essentially rising above tree line and arriving at the highest point of the pass: the Mt. Bierstadt peak viewing lot. With dogs in tow, I exited the vehicle, grabbed my tripod (even though it wasn't needed on a bright sunshiny day) and set out walking just to grab a few shots before moving further along the pass and then on to Kenosha Pass. However, I soon became distracted and kept wanting to move forward to take another picture and then another picture and then another picture and so forth. The next thing I know, the dogs and I were miles from the truck and we turned to head back before it became too cold.

On the way back down the mountain pass I pulled over at a scenic viewing location only to find a trail system majestically covered by aspens. I was very shocked and awed when I saw this trail leading off away from the parking area and will eagerly go back again in the future perhaps next fall, perhaps in the spring and perhaps this winter after it snows.

Anywho, here's one of my favorite shots from that unexpected jaunt:

Green, Gold and a Yellow Road

Same Road / Different Photo

This is a couple of photos of the road as you come into Roxborough State Park taken from different points.

One I treated in black and white while the other seems like a march made in heaven for sepia tones.

Both of them are Android shots and edited with Snapseed.

Fire in the Sky

I went out to catch something completely different from this, but once I saw the rays of light shooting up under the dark clouds, I couldn't help but turn the camera towards the mountains.

That darker straight line is the Cherry Creek Dam and those mountains are more than 30 miles away.

Where the dam meets the water, off to the left of the image, is the Cherry Creek marina and if you zoom into the image you can see the boats floating there as they spend another night tethered to the piers.

I really wish I would have known the sunset was going to be this magnificent as I would have sought out a better view. As it was, this was a happy accident. My only wish was the dam wasn't in the image. However, the walk back to the truck plus drive time, would not have given me enough time to catch this with the rays shooting up and out like they are and that made all the difference between this sunset and hundreds of others.

Surrey Ridge

I know I haven't posted too often recently, but I also haven't been taking too many pictures lately.

Oops. I've just been in a funk and not feeling artsy. I apologize.

These were taken yesterday near Surrey Ridge at the Douglas Co. open space dog park. The one image (and since I'm posting this mobile I have no idea which one it is) is grainy on purpose. I added grain to the image on purpose but might have overdone it a little.

What do you think?

[Edit: looks like it's the middle one]

Old Chevy

While out walking the dogs this morning I ran across this old Chevy truck. Well, not really a  truck so much as station wagon.  Since I've never seen it before I decided to go ahead and grab a couple Android shots while it was there.

I treated the picture and two separate ways both using Snapseed. One is basic black and white and the other I added a sepia style tint to give it an older feel.

Yesterday at the Park

Just a few more Android shots. These are from yesterday at the local state park. The weather was overcast and chilly giving me some great texture in the sky. Once again I wish I would have brought my dSLR with me while out walking the dogs.

As you can see, I edited fairly liberally with the Snapseed app and gave a couple of the images a little old-timey feel.

Rando -- Random Images from the World

It's been a month or so since I downloaded the Rando app from the Google Play Store. I read about it in a post on Google+ and decided to give it a try. It's a fun little app reminiscent of chatroulette, but so far, without all the penises.

The premise is simple: take a picture, upload it up to the internet aethyr and receive one in return. The names, no connections, no nothing. You take pictures. You send pictures. You receive pictures. That's all there is to Rando.

As they state on their Play page:

Description

Rando is an experimental photo exchange platform.

Give, receive and collect unique photos from random people from all over the world.

A rando must be sent for one to be received. It's about gifting rather than sharing.

You will never know who received the rando, they will never know who sent it.

You will know the location of where it landed, the receiver will know where in the world it was taken.

Build your rando collection with unique cultural sights from around the world.

We deliberately haven’t incorporated social features into the application.

No likes, no comments, no direct communication.

Just Rando.

And that's exactly what it does: Rando allows you to take an image with your cell phone (in this case Android) and send it off into the wind. Only other people with the Rando app will receive an image and only after sending an image themselves.

First Random Picture I Sent

For a month now I've been sending random images into the universe: pictures of the area where I live, what I'm eating, my dog, the leaves on the trees and anything I think others might want to see. Or might not want to see. Unfiltered, unedited and unknown, that's the beauty of Rando!

Let's be honest, when I first heard about Rando I thought it was something akin to Chatroulette and recipients would be receiving unwanted pictures of penis' and other items no one really wants to gaze upon while toodling around on their device.

Unlike the Instagram square that made all the hipster's pants wet, as you can see to the right, the images are all round, creating a new challenge to framing and capturing content. This also gives Rando it's own unique look, different than the four corners look of nearly every other image on the internet.

Using the app is as basic as you'd think. Without post-editing, watermarks, frames or filters you just launch the app, touch the round button at the bottom, the image is recorded and then uploaded to the aethyr.

Boom! You're done.

Well, sort of.

In the upper right hand corner of the Rando screen are a series of grey dots --  one atop the other -- each one corresponding to an image you took awaiting delivery somewhere in the world. As images come to you delivered randomly from the Rando-verse, red dots will build up at the top of your Rando stream awaiting delivery from a queue to your device. Simply swipe downwards and the images come in one-by-one, or rather, swipe-by-swipe.

Tapping on a delivered image flips the image showing a map of the image's point of origin. I've noticed not all images have locations and I'm not sure if that has to do with GPS not being turned on or some other setting that doesn't seem to exist.

That's right, Rando's settings are very limited -- as in, there are none.

For a while I thought I noticed Rando's coming in similar in construct to Randos I sent. For example, if I sent a picture of the sunset, I'd receive a picture of the sky. If I sent a picture with a face (mine or my dog's) then I'd receive a picture with a face. If I sent a car, or other large man-made item, I'd receive an image of a large man-made item. This doesn't always seem to be the case, though. However, it was noticeable and now I pay attention to how closely the images are in subject matter. If this is true and not me just seeing patterns were there are no patterns, it means there's an algorithm out there selecting pictures and the service isn't completely random at all.

I've also noticed, most of the images seem to be coming from South Korea and the eastern half of Europe. Very few are from the western hemisphere and I've seen absolutely none what-so-ever from the southern hemisphere. At least, not that I can recall. Maybe the app just hasn't caught on yet.

The Good -- Or, Why I Like Rando

Random. I like random. More importantly, Rando is a view into how other people see their own worlds. Sure, there are pictures of books on tables, cups of coffee, ashtrays and other completely random bits of the world.

Rando I sent earlier today

For example, yesterday I received an image of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes, but the package was written in Korean. The flip side of the image does, in fact, show the image originated in South Korea.

There are no watermarks, no post-processing and no userIDs. It's completely random. Like playing 5 card stud -- you play with the hand you're dealt. Since there are no watermarks there is no way to attach an URL or social media information aside from taking a picture of something with the URL or social media contact information. You cannot load a pre-existing image from your gallery to Rando, either. Point. Shoot. Send.

You have no choice in where the image is delivered. The Rando servers take care of the delivery duties by some sort of mathematical magic to which I'm not privy. Like I stated earlier, in order to send and receive the Randos, each user must have the app. There is no way to share the image to social media after receiving it or to save it to your device, but with a recent update, Rando now has a folder on your Android system to store your images. The only current method to save received images is by taking a screenshot while the image is prominent on your screen.

Maybe I'm different, but I like the randomness of not exactly curating a stream of photographers or styles.

The Bad -- Or, Things That Could Be Better

I have no idea why Rando insists on notifying me where my photos were sent. Unless there's a way to like the image or to communicate with the recipient, knowing where it went is pointless. Just knowing it's out there in the interverse is good enough, especially considering the whole purpose of Rando.

Being able to click the map and opening the corresponding Google Map would be a nice feature. Then the recipient could zoom into the location and learn more about where the image came from. Or, perhaps the corresponding search results/Wikipedia page for the location. Right now, I think the map would be easiest since a map screen shot is already shared.

Also, why the red dots and the having to pull the screen down to get new randos to show? I'd rather they just load, perhaps with a red dot next to them or with an outline of red (or whatever color) indicating they're new to my stream. Having to slide the screen down each time is cumbersome. Or if we must, can't a screen slide load all the images instead of one at a time? Maybe this is just a personal preference, but to me it seems more streamlined as a workflow.

For a while I thought it would be nice to edit images before sending them, even adding filters ala Instagram and it's clones, but then I recalled how I really like the raw unedited method of not being able to edit images. SOOC, or straight out of the camera, at it's finest. Kind of like going back to the most basic point and shoot film camera of our, well my, childhood. Knowing the image is WYSISYG really forces the photographer to pay attention to what s/he's doing since there is no option to "fix it in photoshop." From what I've received in my Rando stream, it appears most people aren't taking care to properly expose an image so I might be in the minority in this regard.

The Ugly -- Or, the Potential to Be Ugly

Since the images are completely random (I'm not sure if Rando keeps them and any identifying markers) there is always the potential for abuse. I'm not talking nudity or pornography, but rather pictures of abuse, pictures of a violent or child-pornographic nature, and anything else I can't think of at the moment.

The End

I like Rando. It's fun without hassle. It's the ultimate shoutout to the universe: this is my life! From a sociology perspective, you can see how other people live their lives as they choose to show you, and with the app's claims to randomness, there's no reason not to show the universe anything.

[I'm pretty sure there's something else I wanted to write, but for the life of me, I can't recall what it might have been. I'm sure it will come to me when I use the app later. Expect an update.]