White Water
by vtruan

Comment:
Very well taken, Van. We need to get together in Salida to do some shooting and then all of us can go out to eat!

Fire Starters
by vtruan

Comment:
This is so hauntingly lovely, Van. It is just so beautiful. I love the glow in the clouds about the lightning. Your lightning shots appeal to me so much more than some of the others - you can still see some detail in the clouds and they have such atmosphere. So many of the other shots are just pure black with some lightning bolts in them.

Shoo Fly
by vtruan

Comment:
I like how you caught this little bug just before it landed. You have a way with your extension tubes, Van. I got some a while back and can use the 12mm one okay but have great difficulty achieving focus with the 25mm one. Have never taken a single decent picture with it. Can't imagine stacking them.

Peaceful in my Garden
by vtruan

Comment:
This is pretty, Van - very zen and very excellent composition!

God's Little Things
by vtruan

Comment:
Very nicely done dandelion shot. I think all living things are God's mysteries. The whole idea of life is so amazing and wonderful. We are made out of the same ingredients as rocks and dirt yet we are alive - thinking about it always amazes me. Even something as simple as this dandelion - it was one life and now with all the seeds ready to blow off it has the potential to be MANY lives again. By dying it will be reborn many times. Whenever I start thinking about stuff like this I start to wax philosophical!

Speedo
by vtruan

Comment:
Cool hummingbird shot, Van! It is nice to see one that isn't the same as all the others. Really like this a lot.

My Spooky Old House
by vtruan

Comment:
Wow, Van - that must have been some storm! I love your sky shots, you have a way with the sky and especially with these mammatus clouds. The duo tone you chose for this really enhances the mood for the picture - very melodramatic. I can't wait to see your house someday - Jack and I need to get to Pueblo to visit you and Kristyn! Big old houses fascinate me - especially the ones that look haunted!

A few weeks ago when Jack and I were out walking we finally saw some of these mammatus clouds in the valley - they weren't as dramatic as the ones you get in Pueblo but it really surprised us to see them. We've never, ever seen them here before. It was a time when we were having some severe storms.

Nature and Man - An Abstract
by vtruan

Comment:
Van, this is so beautiful - so ethereal and unreal looking. I'd love to be able to take lightning pictures like this. No matter what I try mine always suck. I love the layered dark look in the sky above and the stop light (or train stop light) just adds that wonderful extra touch that ads to that lonely, stark feeling. It's gorgeous!!!

Message edited by author 2006-09-27 01:55:07.

Pleasure? at the fair.
by vtruan

Comment:
This picture made me laugh when voting on the challenge and again while looking at it now! These people all look terrified - can't imagine why people do this for fun!!! You'd never catch me on a ride like this. I like B&W conversion - ads to the terror atmostphere a lot. Your fair pictures are always nice.

The nth Root of Shapes
by vtruan

Comment:
I like these shapes, Van - am surprised that didn't get higher than it did. It was one I thought had a LOT to do with school days geometry. Many of the others that scores more highly didn't really seem about schooldays geometry. My voting really missed the mark on this challenge - most of the pictures I scored highly didn't do that well. Are these the same blocks you used in another challenge? I like them - if I saw a set somewhere I'd buy them!