Sung to "It's A Rainy Day in Boulder"

It's raining again.  Neither of us clicked once yesterday.  Seems kind of strange to check into a hotel, get everything unpacked and not need to charge camera batteries.  

We are up! Here is our weather map at the moment.

Coffee is on!  Life is great.  

So, how about looking at some of the photos we took of the oldest church in Colorado.  We had not processed those images and since we did not shoot anything yesterday it gave us an opportunity to catch up a bit.  

The church was build in 1856 and compared to many mission churches we have visited this church seems really new! We met up with Michael, the church's caretaker, who gave us some historical information and invited is into the church to take photos. He asked if we could put together an image to replace the old on in the sign at the front of the church.  He wants one that incorporates the madonna and the church with the madonna placed up in the sky overlooking the church.  Tom said he could do that and did so last night.  It took some time (hence only my images today).

 

 

 

We are off to go back over the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. We are still hoping for a sunny sunrise on mountain sides but may find rain again. Either way, today we are shooting! We will head up into Wyoming tomorrow.

Hope everyone is staying dry, cool and shooting often.

Taos Again

We headed back to St. Francis Asis to get a different light on the church.  It was different!  The best part, however, is that Tom took up a conversation with the lady that owns the house across from the church.  We posted a couple from that house yesterday.  She invited us into her patio and back yard to photograph whatever we found interesting.  YIKES, it was gorgeous inside and we have loads of photos.  Tom's favorite shot was of her Fiat, parked just in such a position that he could play with his fisheye lens!

Her patio was just lovely.

The church was finally opened.  But, no photography allowed.  I really do understand their position, but . . . disappointed.  Bought a couple of postcards at the gift shop that show the interior.  The outside still presents photographic challenges with any extreme light.  The two tall trees are lovely but obstruct a good view.  The cross is smack dab in the middle of anything from the front, impeding a view of the door.  Any shadow is extreme.  Found out that every year in the first two weeks of June the parishoners get together and re-mud the whole church and walls!!  No wonder it appears so fresh.  You can still see the straw in the mud.  What a commitment!!

 

We finally gave up on the church and headed back to the older part of downtown Taos.  There is one street in particular that has some interesting galleries . . . Le Doux Street.  Many of the structures there are several hundred years old.  We spoke with a shop owner in the area and while she liked the idea of the older buildings she said it was almost impossible to drive a nail into that old adobe.  It was more like stone!

The photo below is typical.  While a long way from the Bario in Tucson, it made me feel at home.

The following photos represent an architecture that is very strong in Taos and one that is emerging with a refreshing lighter color.

White or cream adobe is not so popular here, but we see more evidence of it in the newer parts of town. With the brown adobe we saw a lot of turquoise trim.  With the lighter adobe the trim is a darker blue or a lighter white.

The street is the home of the Blumenschein Museum.  What a treat!!  Ernest B. was the artist who started the artists' migration to Taos.  He lived from 1874 to 1960.  His home has been restored with exquisite detail, complete with the art that he collected, the books he illustrated and the cups he drank from.  Very impressive. Of course, no photographs allowed.

This is the photo from the patio at the entrance of the museum.  Hey, ya do what ya gotta do.  Photography outside was "allowed".

We are finding that everyday there is the unsuspected fun shot.  For Tom it was the kitten at the church that followed him around.  For me it was a moth (?) that apparently has no feet as it cannot stop flying even when getting nectar from flowers.  

We made the trip up to Ski Valley.  It was raining so hard we just looked out the windows and drove back down without even one shot!!  Nice up there.

Then on to Alamosa where we have spent the night.  Along the way we stopped at what is regarded as the oldest church in Cororado, the Our Lady of Guadalupe in Antonito.  It was getting pretty dark and stormy, but we ran into the churck keeper and he would like some photographs of the front to use on a sign and other church booklets.  So, tripods out folks!  We went inside the church as well and will process the photos and send them back to him.  Tom has started processing his images.  I went to bed!!

Today we are headed to the Great Dunes Natioanal Park.  Going to mix Colorado brown sand with the black lava sand from Iceland that is still seeping into the bottom of my shoes!  Seriously, I am still emptying Icelandic black sand from my shoes!

Hope you are staying cool and shooting often.