Royal Gorge, CO

Looking down the bundle of cables that hold the Royal Gorge suspension bridge up near Canon City, CO.

Royal Gorge Bridge

The river below was 1,053 down.

Kenny and Karen

So while this isn't technically photowalking, it IS a photo I took this weekend at a new place I'd never been in Colorado. This is the Cheesman Pavilion at Cheesman Park in Denver. A very cool place!

I have some more photowalking type shots I did while at the wedding, and I'll be sure to post those soon.

Charles de Gaulle Museum

The Charles de Gaulle museum attached to Napoleon's Tomb in Paris was one of the most technologically advanced museums I've ever visited. It was very cool.

And it was empty. Absolutely empty.

Fishing in the Skye

Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Greyfriar's Bobby

This dog was responsible for the term "fido".

The legend goes like this: this pooch stood by his master's grave for 14 years after his death. He became so well known, people started calling him "fido", short for "fidelity". Ever since, dogs have been nicknamed "fido".

Cool story.

Talisker & Me

So we got this new golden retriever puppy, and he's just the right age to look like the movie posters from Marley & Me (even if not a yellow lab). So we decided to do our own version. Here's Talisker portraying the world's worst dog (though he's FAR from it).

Stairs

This was our view down the stairs whenever we left our hotel room in Paris. Getting our luggage up those stairs was an adventure all it's own. I probably did a lot of wall damage trying to get my suitcase full of Scotch whisky up and down.

Hotel Champ de Mars

This was the staircase leading to our room on Rue Cler in Paris.

Napoleon's Tomb

The lil' guy is in there, encased in six different coffins nested within one another. His tomb was a very, very cool place.

3 exposure HDR.

Napoleon's Tomb

Welcome to Napoleon Bonaparte's final resting place. It is very clear when you go here what France thinks of this man.

Scottish Graveyard

Graveyards in Scotland are the coolest! There were many, many graves here older than the U.S.

This was a three exposure HDR taken in Edinburgh, just off the Royal Mile.

The Seine

Now this is what I call the life. Hundreds of people hang out on the shores of the Seine River in Paris. I could get used to their kind of lifestyle, especially the food!

South American Art

This head was about six feet tall and made of stone. Inside the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.

Old Abandoned Truck

Mona Lisa

The world famous Mona Lisa painting at the Louvre museum in Paris. Suffice to say the painting is quite the disapointment when seen in person. I can't be more than 2 feet wide.

Notre Dame in Paris

Noisy as hell thanks to an insanely high ISO. No flash allowed. Shot at 3200 ISO.

What a beautiful cathedral though. It wasn't Westminster Abbey in London, but still very impressive.

World's Craziest Roundabout

The roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. This circle services 12 different streets, and it was NUTS.

Arc de Triomphe

Another view of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Looking straight up from beneath.

This was a 3 exposure HDR image.

Arc de Triomphe

This was one of the better stops we made in Paris. This is a 3 exposure HDR.

Old Abandoned Truck

Getting back to some Colorado photowalking, I went to a new place last weekend with a friend, not too far from my house. While there we discovered some old abandoned vehicles, including this old truck.

T.P. Under the Sink

Yeah, our room in London was really that small.

Inside Versailles

While in Europe we saw a lot of palaces. After a while it got a little old, and we found ourselves speeding through them a little faster. Then we got to Versailles, just outside of Paris. This is the grand pappy of all palaces. I went nuts there with my camera.

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

A three exposure HDR done from atop Edinburgh Castle in Edinburgh, Scotland. This place had medieval written all over it!

Worldwide Photo Walk - Fort Collins

On July 18th, 2009 I'll host the Fort Collins edition of Scott Kelby's Worldwide Photo Walk. We'll be cruising around the Colorado State University campus. The walk starts at 4 PM and goes until we're all wore out.

If you live in the area, please come join us! It will be lots of fun. For more, and to register for the walk, visit the photo walk's web site:

http://worldwidephotowalk.com/fort-collins-co-usa

Eiffel Tower

I took this shot from underneath the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You see so many cliche photos of the tower, but rarely do you see any from underneath. I wanted to come away with both the cliche photos and some neat shots showing some of the different views you have.

National Monument, Edinburgh

Welcome to the National Monument of Scotland in Edinburgh. It began construction in 1822 up on Calton Hill, just east of downtown Edinburgh.

The monument was intended to be a replica of the Parthenon in Athens. Popular knowledge is that the monument was never completed due to lack of funding. There's even a sign in front that states this. But apparently the original plans survived and only show the 12 existing columns that you see.

So it begs the question, did the city really run out of money? Or did the designer really plan the monument to look this way? Or maybe, he never finished the plan, possibly due to the funding issue.

We'll likely never know. So it ended up being a cool place for locals to spend time on nice sunny days. And it's got a great view of Edinburgh.

Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS

I just got this lens and boy is it awesome.

Loch Ness

Not much to say here really. This is beautiful Loch Ness, Scotland's largest lake. We were driving along the loch on our way out west to the Isle of Skye, and stopped to take a quick photo. I climbed down over lots of moss covered rock and found a nice spot for a photo.

Eileen Donan Castle

While you may be tempted to pronounce this like the woman's name Eileen, it's actually Gaelic for "island". Just pronounce it "eelan" (go ahead, say it aloud) and you'll instantly see the connection.

We found that Gaelic is VERY similar to English, you just have to sound things out. I think given some time in Scotland you could actually understand the language.

This was taken on Scotland's west coast, on our way out to the Isle of Skye. This whole area speaks Gaelic fluently, and on the Isle of Skye, it's the first language.

Westminster Abbey Entrance

Westminster Abbey cathedral in London was probably the most incredible man made structure I've ever been to. Simply amazing.

Not only is the church itself impressive, but there are some impressive residents. Such greats as Charles Darwin and William Shakespeare are buried here, right in the middle of the church. There were countless other historical figures buried here. Quite the experience.

Hairy Highland Cattle

Meet my new friend Harold. We named him that. They say the hairy highland cattle of Scotland are friendly, and it's no joke. This guy followed us around like a puppy and would not leave us alone.

We became quite fond of the guy, and stuck around feeding him fresh green grass he couldn't reach for about a half hour.

We found him just outside the Cardhu distillery, who makes the bulk of the whisky that goes into the Johnnie Walker blended whisky. Cardhu is in Speyside, in the north east of Scotland.

Edradour Distillery

This is Scotland's smallest whisky distillery. There are three employees and they only make one barrel of whisky per week. To put this into perspective, Glenlivet distillery produces that barrel in just a few minutes.

However, these guys do it with gusto, and produce what I believe to be the finest Scotch whisky in Scotland. I plan to do MUCH more research on this though. You know, so that a can know what I'm talking about *wink*.

As an aside, I found on my tour of Scotland that nearly all the distilleries were in far out locations and were surrounded by lots of natural beauty. This is because Scotland went through a period of prohibition, and the only distilleries that survived were hidden, tucked deep into the countryside. You can see from this photo that they ended up in some beautiful locations.

Skye Bridge

More Scotland coming your way.

On our second day in the highlands of Scotland, we drove west out to the Isle of Skye. The landscape here is completely different from the rest of Scotland. Ever seen those "Aerial Tour of Scotland" type videos that show the jagged and jutting coastlines? Skye is it. I'll post more photos of Skye as I continue the tour.

This is the Skye Bridge, which connects mainland Scotland with the island. We stopped here for dinner before heading back to Loch Ness. We got a beautiful sunset the whole time we ate dinner (since sunsets last about three hours this time of year).

Of course one of the highlights of Skye for me was going to the Talisker whisky distillery, the only distillery on the island. Good whisky.

Beautiful place.

Quaint Scottish Countryside

So since life has been so busy lately and I haven't been photowalking much, I thought I'd start putting up a series of shots from a recent trip to Europe.

Stops in London, Paris, and throughout Scotland. Came away with some great memories and photos.

For this shot, we pulled over to go for a walk. We never expected to find this, and I'll bet no one even knows it's there besides locals. And they probably don't care, considering this view is nothing special in Scotland.

Taken in Invermoriston, Scotland, just a few hundred yards off Loch Ness.

3 exposure hand held HDR.

My Old Apartment

OK, continuing the "Flying Around Texas" theme, here's an aerial view of my apartment when I first moved to Texas. The following month I moved into my new house, but caught this shot before I moved.

To answer Rob's question: First off, if you've always wanted to fly, then go for it! It's the coolest thing ever. You'll need a minimum of 40 hours before you can test for your certificate (though usually it's more like 60-70 hours).

Once you're licensed, renting an airplane is usually a simple process. The FBO (fixed base operator) who owns the airplane will usually want you to do a quick flight with an instructor to make sure you're okay to rent. This is for insurance purposes. They'll go up with you and just observe. You'll do a few maneuvers and a couple landings, then you're cleared to rent whenever you want from them.

Back in 2001, a Cessna 172 ran around $85-95 an hour for an older plane ($125+ for a new bird). Plane rentals are usually "wet", which means the fuel is included. Also, when you rent an airplane, you pay by the time on the Hobbs meter, which records engine running time. So you don't pay for the airplane while you're sitting in the terminal having the cheeseburger you flew in for. I don't think hourly rates have changed much from back then.

Old School

I'm going to go a little old school today and show you a photo that I took back in 2001, shortly after I moved to Texas.

I took this photo just a few weeks after I moved to Texas. I went to Circuit City and bought my first digital camera so that I could document exploring my new home state.

I went down to the nearest airport and rented a Cessna 172 and went exploring. I snagged an aerial shot of Grainger Lake just outside of Austin.

Even though these photos were nothing special, I still like seeing them, because they remind of another life changing event.

Snow Play in Breckenridge

Ah yes, sledding in the mountains. This is why we moved to Colorado.

Science Bowl 2009 Trophy

I was the official photographer for the Rocky Mountain Regional Science Bowl 2009. Before the final round began in a large hall, I decided to set up and grab a few detail shots before the people arrived.

Lighting: 430EX camera left fired through a translucent umbrella. Vivitar 275HV fired into the banner, snooted with a roll of printer paper, and gelled blue.

Portrait Outtake

Trying to get serious photos out of a 2 year old is...um...hard.

Patches

Next up we have Patches. Also my dad's dog. She's a sweet old girl. We have no idea what breed she is. Just mutt.

Chloe

I got a new lens, the Canon 85mm f/1.8 USM. Wow, I really love this lens. This is one of the first photos I took with it.

This is Chloe, my dad's yellow labrador. Easily the most beautiful lab I've ever seen, and she'll have puppies soon. And I get one!

Look at the size of that softbox!

Got a new AlienBees B400 and a giant softbox. Just testing it out quickly in the living room after taking it out of the box.

Autumn In Rocky Mountain N.P.

Autumn In Rocky Mountain National Park

It's really too bad that the day I went to RMNP to shoot fall colors turned out to be really cold and overcast. We took a ride up Trail Ridge Road (12,500 feet high!) and it was snowing on us.

Still, the colors were amazing!

Sunset

Just another mundane sunset.

Yeah right. I love sunsets in Colorado.

Happy Fall!

Halloween is gone, but the colorful photographs remain! Happy fall!

Defending The Ladies

A male elk defends his ladies from a rival male. Taken in Rocky Mountain National Park.

More Autumn Colors

I shot this tree in the early morning hours on my way to work a while back. What you see in the foreground is a hay field, crops surrounding me on all sides. If you're from to the area, Ted's Place is just to the right of the frame.

Autumn Colors And Fog

I made this photo in the early morning hours in Poudre Canyon a couple weeks ago. I really love this time of year.