The 52 Photos Project

I have created a new Facebook Group called The 52 Photos Project. The focus of this group is to Inspire and to be Inspired! Each week, you'll have a theme to follow. The idea is to think Out of the Box! If the theme is Weather, that could be a "Storm" or a Weathered Barn; so put some thought into it.

I'll try to lay out the whole month, but ONLY shoot the weeks theme the week it’s assigned! When posting your photos, please add in the comment section a short description, and the tech specs... Camera, lens, shutter speed, aperture, focal length, etc.

I encourage you all to get involved, comment on photos that move you, like photos that you like, ask questions were you can.

Each weeks deadline will be Sunday at midnight. I'll create a group album for that weeks theme and you'll post one photo to that album. The photo with the most likes will be the header for the follow week.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/52PhotosProject/

Week 1: Where You Live



I live in Fountain, Colorado - just south of Colorado Springs home of America’s Mountain - Pikes Peak. But for this challenge, I thought I would show you something just a bit different. When most people think of Colorado, they think the Rocky Mountains and for the most part they would be right. What they don’t know is that Colorado is actually a high desert. Pikes Peak tops at 14,114 ft above sea level, Colorado Springs is at 6,035 and Fountain is 5,554. So what does this all mean - well here in Fountain and on the east side of Colorado Springs - there is nothing but rolling hills and grassland prairies!

One of the things I love about Colorado is it’s wildlife. So this week I bring you the Pronghorn or more wrongly called an Antelope (which it is not) also comes with nick names such as: The Prairie Ghost or The Speed Goat! The guys are VERY tough to get close to as their eyesight is 8x that of humans and they are extremely skittish - just think if you had to live with an 8 power binoculars permanently attached to your face - not fun - you’d be on edge 24/7 also! They also have very large eyes with a 320° field of vision.

Both males and females can have horns; not antlers (Antlers shed yearly, horns are forever) but only males have the “prong” a forward-pointing tine. Males are further differentiated from females in having a small patch of black hair at the angle of the mandible (on the face). Pronghorns have a distinct, musky odor. Males mark territory with a preorbital scent gland which is located on the sides of the head.

The Pronghorn is the fastest land mammal in the Western Hemisphere, being built for maximum predator evasion through running. The top speed is very hard to measure accurately and varies between individuals; it can run 35 mph for 4 miles, 42 mph for 1 mile, and 55 mph for 0.5 mile. It is often cited as the second-fastest land animal, second only to the cheetah. It can, however, sustain high speeds longer than cheetahs.

Date: 1/4/17 11:08:22 AM
Location: Big Johnson Reservoir, Fountain, CO
NIKON D500 - 70.0-200.0 mm f/2.8
Focal Length: 300mm @ f/5.6 - 1/800 sec

Read more: https://nikonites.com/project-52-s/38567-52-photos-project-all-welcome.html#ixzz4WBB0wflb

Week 2: Fur



Rocky Mountain Mule Deer: The Mule Deer gets its named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. This doe was with a small group - and her buck was not far behind.

Unlike the related white-tailed deer, mule deer are generally more associated with the land west of the Missouri River, and more specifically with the Rocky Mountain Region of North America.

The most noticeable differences between white-tailed and mule deer are the size of their ears, the color of their tails, and the configuration of their antlers. In many cases, body size is also a key difference. The mule deer's tail is black-tipped, whereas the whitetail's is not. Mule deer antlers are bifurcated; they "fork" as they grow, rather than branching from a single main beam, as is the case with white-tails.

Each spring, a buck's antlers start to regrow almost immediately after the old antlers are shed. Shedding typically takes place in mid-February, with variations occurring by locale. Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting (also called pronking), with all four feet coming down together.

NIKON D500 70-200mm f/2.8G VR IF-ED
292mm @ f/2.8 400sec ISO 200
Location: Base of Pikes Peak, Colorado Springs CO

I started this project with the intent to go down and capture some of the protesters in the park and the “sad” was how our country has turned so soft with “everyone’s a winner” attitude that these folks forgot how to actually lose. When I got to the park where this “huge” protest was supposed to take place, all I saw a few well dressed people in their fancy winter coats carrying signs of displeasure and two cops making sure it stayed peaceful - boring!

However, that was not all that I saw there. On the outer edge of the park was a few of our resident homeless wandering around trying to see what was going on. I’m fairly confident hat they didn’t have a clue. Furthermore, when I looked at these two contrasting groups - the entitled privileged and the depraved underprivileged - I thought to my self, which was more sad?

Well the homeless of course; or so I thought!

I drove around the block to find a good place to park and observe. Sitting in my truck in a parking lot across the street from the local soup kitchen (next to the park), I saw this gentleman on a bench; dressed for the part, crutches to one side leaning up against his bags and backpacks, the whole works. I don’t exactly know what it was about him, sitting amongst a couple of dozen other homeless; but this man, big, bold, strong, dirty and distant - something about him compelled me to shoot my “sad”. I took out the big gun, a 200-500mm on a DX crop body and started shooting, watching - good shots, I felt good about what I had captured - this defiently works for “sad”.

That night going through the photos looking for that “one” shot for this challenge, I started noticing he was tinkering with something. A closer look reviled something that looked like an old cassette walkman?

I had my photo, I’m good, right. But something was bugging me? All day Saturday I felt like there was unfinished business. What was it about this guy, he’s just another statistical homeless person, or was he? I needed to know more. So Saturday, I picked up a new radio - clearly that old walkman had seen better days - even though I had my photo, I felt that some sort or payment was in order; was this guilt that I may be using him, or guilt that I am in a better “life position” than him; or my photojournalists need to just know more about that wich I know little?

Colorado Springs has over a thousand homeless people, what mad me think that I would ever find this guy again? But I had to try. So this morning I headed out to the soup kitchen, radio and extra batteries in hand - I needed to know more about him and I needed some closure before I could use his photo. As I made the loop around the block - there he was sitting in the exact same place he was two days ago - as though he had never left.

Please meet Virgil - a world traveler in his own right (he did mention that he made to Acapulco once). I introduced myself as a local photographer and that I had taken a couple of shots of him on Friday and noticed that he was trying to get his walkman to work. He stated it was taken away form him and tossed into a puddle - I mentioned I felt that it was fair that if I was going to use his photo that I should pay for it and offered him the radio I purchased the day before. He smiled the biggest smile reached out his hand, not to take the radio, but to shake my had and introduce him self as Virgil. No matter what life experiences and difficulties he may have seen - respect is one thing that has not eluded him.

We got to chatting, or should I say he got to chatting. The stories, blurbs of his life on the road and on the tracks - here, there, this guy was everywhere. I asked if he minded if I take a couple more shots - he was so appreciative that someone new was listening to his stories, he didn’t care what I was doing, he actually encouraged it. Oh, the stories this man has! We talked about how he lost all his fingers on his left had in a gardening accident in Canada. I asked about his foot (the one that was missing) he mentioned it was an accident on a train. He was standing on a coupler between two box cars when the train backed up to couple them together - if foot was caught in-between and smashed; he lost everything but his heel.

I asked him “why Colorado” and his answer was rather simple - between Acapulco, Alaska, Canada, Georgia and Main - Colorado was the most dangerous, he said with a smile! He mentioned that he actually hates Colorado, but between the brutal homeless people here and the extreme winters, he does not get comfortable or complacent. He said that’s how you die; to survive, you must “stay awake and alert” that’s why Colorado Springs!

But the one thing that kept sticking in my mind the whole time I listened to him was how happy he actually seemed to be, smiling and lashing as he described how he has lived a full life. Not one that you or I may define as full, but one that he does. So I ask you, sad - did I get this right or did Virgil?

Notes:
The Gazette reported that as of May, 2016 - there were 1,302 homeless people in Colorado Springs.

This is not the last we will hear form Virgil. I have plans on a more formal recorded interview - I still want to know more about his story - her deserves to have someone tell it!

FYI: I did give Virgil some extra cash (I always do when photographing the homeless) for allowing me to hear his story and take additional photos. As street photographers - we typical are out there to record what’s going on in our neighborhood - I encourage that you do the same, safely. Go outside find a story - tell that story - not only with light but with words. And if you uses a photo or two from someone underprivileged, compensate them for it - it’s the right thing to do!

Date: 1/22/17 10:17:51 AM
NIKON D500 w/ 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Focal Length: 67mm 1/1600 sec @ f/3.5 ISO 100

January 23-29: Blooming



Blooming in January is difficult, but in Colorado everything is either dead or covered in snow. So I headed to Phelan Garden, a nursery in town where I know I can always find something to shoot in the winter time! What cool about this place is the greenhouse roof acts like a giant soft box and always produce awesome light anytime of the day.

The center of a flower is called the Pistil, and it includes three parts: the stigma, style and ovary. The pistil is considered the female part of the flower because it produces the fruit of the flower. The stigma is at the top of the pistil, and it is usually flat and sticky. The style is a thin tube that connects the stigma to the ovary. The pistil is surrounded by the stamen, which is the male part of the flower. The stamen gives off pollen that travels down the style of the pistil to reach the ovary for the fertilization process.

Flower: White Geranium