STARTING THE ADVENTURE

CRISP AIR, DOWNTOWN, BEAUTIFUL GREENS, SUDDENLY BE SURROUNDED IN THE MARCH FOR OUR LIVES PROTEST… HEATHER AND I HAD QUITE AN EXPERIENCE TWO WEEKS AGO IN DENVER, CO TO TAKE WEDDING PHOTOS! WE ARRIVED AT ABOUT 12:30AM SATURDAY NIGHT AS THAT WAS THE CHEAPEST FLIGHT WE COULD FIND. STAYED IN THE HILTON DENVER CITY CENTER WHICH IS LESS THAN A MILE FROM THE CAPITOL BUILDING. RIGHT IN THE HEART OF DOWNTOWN DENVER.

WEDDING DAY

IT WAS A HOT DAY WITH HARSH LIGHT FOR PHOTOS, BUT THERE’S WAYS TO MAKE DO EVEN WITH HARSH LIGHTING. WE FOUND SHADE UNDER LARGE TREES FOR THE FAMILY PHOTOS AND USED THE SHADE FROM THE BUILDLING AS WELL FOR PHOTOS WITH DEREK AND SARAH BY THEMSELVES. WE DID THIS NOT ONLY OUT OF COMFORT FOR DEREK AND SARAH, BUT ALSO TO AVOID DARK SHADOWS ACROSS THEIR FACES. WE ALSO USED FLASH OCCASIONALLY TO HELP BALANCE THE LIGHTING. THE WEDDING WAS HELD AT THE DENVER LDS TEMPLE. COMING FROM ARIZONA AND SEEING DENVER, ONE OF MY FIRST THOUGHTS WAS, “WOW, GRASS PRETTY MUCH GROWS JUST ABOUT ANY PLACE IT CAN HERE!” THE WEATHER WAS PRETTY CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT – IT GOT CLOUDY AND QUICKLY GOT A LOT COOLER AS THE EVENING CAME ON.

I USED THIS TRIP TO TRY OUT A CAMERA THAT I’M CONSIDERING PURCHASING, WHICH IS THE CANON 5DS AS WELL AS A NEW LENS, THE CANON 16-35MM USM III. THE CAMERA IS A WHOPPING 50.6 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA AND THE CAMERA FILES ARE HUGE (THEY AVERAGE ABOUT 144MB BEFORE ANY EDITING). THE DETAIL IT CAPTURES IS TREMENDOUS, BUT BECAUSE THE FILES ARE SO HUGE, IT SLOWED DOWN MY POST-PROCESSING WORKFLOW SIGNIFICANTLY. EVEN AFTER EDITING, THE FILES WERE STILL VERY LARGE, BUT I USED A SOFTWARE CALLED JPEGMINI TO LOWER THE SIZE OF THE EDITED FILES WHILE MAINTAINING THEIR QUALITY. THAT WAY, THE SIZE OF THE WEDDING PHOTOS WOULDN’T BE BURDENSOME FOR DEREK AND SARAH.

EXPLORING THE CITY AND DEALING WITH HOODLUMS

THE DAY AFTER THE WEDDING, HEATHER AND I USED OUR DAY TO EXPLORE DENVER BEFORE HEADING BACK TO ARIZONA. WE RODE LIMEBIKES AROUND TOWN AND GOT  TO EXPLORE. I MADE THE INITIAL MISTAKE OF THINKING IT WOULD BE OKAY TO RIDE AROUND WITH MY CAMERA HANGING FROM MY NECK BEFORE PUTTING IT IN MY BACKPACK. THE REASON IT WAS A MISTAKE WAS BECAUSE IT WAS ATTRACTING… UNWANTED ATTENTION (LOL). THE FIRST INSTANCE WAS WHEN I STOPPED ON A STREET CORNER TO TAKE THIS PICTURE:

THIS GUY ON THE BIKE, PRETENDED TO BE ANNOYED THAT I WAS IN HIS WAY WHILE TAKING A PICTURE. AFTER WE CROSSED THE STREET, HE WAITED FOR US CLOSE TO THE ARCH TO PASS. WE RODE AROUND TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARCH BECAUSE THERE WERE INTERESTING STATUES TO TAKE PICTURES OF:

AS WE RODE AROUND THE ARCH, HE CAME OVER TO THE SAME AREA AND ASKED ME WHAT TIME IT WAS. IT SEEMED LIKE HE WANTED TO SEE WHAT OTHER VALUABLES I HAD ON ME. HE THEN LEAVES US ALONE FOR A LITTLE BIT AND GOES OVER TO ANOTHER GROUP OF YOUNG ADULTS THAT WERE HANGING OUT IN THE SAME AREA. HE TRIED TO JOIN THEIR CONVERSATION, BUT THE ADULTS WERE LIKE, “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? F*** OFF!”

SOON AFTER, HEATHER AND I LEAVE ON OUR BIKES TO GO TO ANOTHER AREA OF THE PARK. AS SOON AS WE LEAVE, SURE ENOUGH, HE BEGINS TO TRAIL US AGAIN. I HAVE HEATHER GO FURTHER AHEAD AND CONFRONT HIM AND ASK WHY HE’S FOLLOWING US. HE DOESN’T DENY IT, AND I INFORM HIM I WILL CALL THE COPS IF HE KEEPS FOLLOWING. WE DIDN’T SEE HIM AGAIN AFTER THAT. AFTER GETTING A FEW MORE PICTURES AT THE STATE PARK OF THE CAPITOL BUILDING, I PUT MY CAMERA AWAY. AS EAGER AS I WANT TO TAKE GREAT IMAGES IN DENVER, IT WASN’T WORTH LOOKING LIKE A TOURIST AND BECOMING A TARGET, ESPECIALLY IN THAT AREA.

WE MADE OUR WAY TO THE BEAUTIFUL BOTANICAL GARDENS THERE, HAD DINNER, AND HEADED TO THE AIRPORT TO HEAD HOME. IT WAS A FUN TRIP, GREAT TO SEE OUR WONDERFUL FRIENDS DEREK AND SARAH ON THEIR SPECIAL DAY. HEATHER AND I WERE SURE EXHAUSTED BY THE END OF THE TRIP, BUT WELL WORTH IT! HERE’S SOME MORE PICTURES FROM THE REST OF OUR TRIP EXPLORING DENVER: