Project Athena - Day 360 (Night Photography)

Everything Evolves

As I was just gathering my equipment to head out to shoot on this warm summer evening, I decided to go ahead and post for today so when I get home late tonight, I can just come in and crash, then post tonight's photo tomorrow.

I have shot this bridge before, way back in the beginning of this blog when I was shooting lines as a theme. This shot is a slightly different perspective. I have to say I am still loving my Fujifilm camera and the way it is performing with these night shots. The bridge itself has also had some upgrades, with stairs added to the end of the ramps. I still think it is one of the cooler places to shoot in Fort Collins.

I find myself feeling a sense of sadness and pride mixed together to be bringing this blog to its conclusion. Doing something everyday for an entire year is a big deal for me cause often rebel against my own commitments when I start to feel controlled by them. But this has been different for me. I know there is a deeper purpose and that has been the fuel that has propelled me each and every day. I do have some what of game plan to continue shooting and sharing once this is done. I think, however, if I have to stay tuned to the end to find out exactly what that plan is, you should too. So, I will reveal it on day 365, assuming it is clear to me!

Project Athena - Day 358 (Night Photography)

The Final Week

This is the final week of Project Athena!! I think it's fitting that the theme I have chosen to close with is night photography. This theme should be a real challenge for me as I have not really taken many night shots over the years, but I am very excited about bringing this year long project to a conclusion with some great night shots.

Tonight, I shot in downtown Fort Collins, which is kind of a ghost town on Sunday nights. Still, I appreciate so much living in a place where I feel safe on the streets by myself after dark.

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Project Athena - Day 147 (Graves)

A Million Ways to Die in the West

“Cowboys and pioneers, come lend your eyes and ears.
I’ve got the need to testify.
Don’t try to fill your nest out in the open west
’cuz there’s a million ways to die.

Six bullets in the gut or just a paper cut
Too many ways to quantify.
They’ll cut your ankle off to cure a minor cough
’cuz there’s a million ways to die.
A million ways to die

It’s a hundred and one in the shade of the sun.
If you fall asleep, you fry.
A million ways to die
You can live like a saint but there just really ain’t
no avoiding a million ways to die.

Smallpox and bigger pox, and deadly tomahawks
Or God forbid you steal a pie.
They’ll blast you into shards for bein’ good at cards.
’cuz there’s a million ways to die.

Out on the desert plains it hardly ever rains
and you can hear coyotes cry.
They’ll eat you up and then they’ll shit you out again
’cuz there’s a million ways to die.
A million ways to die

With a whoosh and a whack there’s a knife in your back
’cuz you got a fancy tie...
A million ways to die
It’s a kick in the pants but you don’t have a chance
of escaping a million ways to die.
A million ways to die”

— Alan Jackson

I have to admit that I am happy to see graves as a theme come to an end. All this thought about death and dying has left me feeling somewhat raw.

In conclusion, today, I walked around the Fort Collins Grandview Cemetery, a place I have avoided my whole life. It was surreal in some ways seeing the endless sea of headstones and knowing there were bodies of people I once knew buried somewhere in here. I was looking in particular for the graves of some early pioneers that were once buried in some other cemetery but were moved to this one as the city grew. I ran across this old grave of Tillie A. Irvine from 1880. Turns out she was one of two victims who died in an historic fire in downtown Fort Collins, the cause of which remains unknown but it is suspected to have been arson. As if there weren't enough challenges to staying alive in the West back then.

From this perspective, I am very grateful for the time in which I was born and the sophisticated culture in which I live. Simple things like clean running water and warm winter gear just can't be taken for granted when I consider the grave obstacles faced by these early settlers.

Smiling to be in a warm cozy house with windows and doors that close all the way.

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R.I.P. Tillie A. Irvine

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 18-55mm lens • 26mm • F/4.2 • 1/1250s • ISO 400

Project Athena - Day 136 (Lens Flare)

Freedom in rebellion

“I see this life like a swinging vine
Swing my heart across the line
And my face is flashing signs
Seek it out and you shall find
Old, but I’m not that old
Young, but I’m not that bold
I don’t think the world is sold
I’m just doing what we’re told
I feel something so right
Doing the wrong thing
I feel something so wrong
Doing the right thing
I could lie, coudn’t I, could lie
Everything that kills me makes me feel alive”

— One Republic, Counting Stars

It will take two hands to count the internal rules I broke today with this post. First, I went dumpster diving on my computer to retrieve this shot that I took over a month ago! (So, no, I didn't shoot today, yet.)

I had trashed this file because apparently there was way too much thinking happening the day I assessed this image as unworthy and thought there would be no use for it, ever. Now that I look at it again, aside from it fitting the theme, the flares remind me of the quilt patterns that often hang on the outside of barns. Their placement actually add to the subject and accentuate what would otherwise just be the side of a big, old barn.

Now that flares are allowed in my picture vocabulary, I am growing fond of their appearance. What was once taboo is opening a new world of artistic expression.

Feels very freeing to break the rules and even more freeing to let go of the rules all together.

Drake Barn, Fort Collins, CO

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 18-55mm lens • 45mm • F/36 • 1/20s • ISO 400