“USA Lite” taken 6/21/2020
Read Photo Diary
USA Lite FFotD_2020_173
Author: Finious
Springs Kum&Go FFotD_2020_172
“Springs Kum&Go” taken 6/19/2020, edited & posted 6/20
A sign at a “Kum & Go” convenience store in Colorado Springs. (Hey, I didn’t name the place, that’s just the way they spell it.) They use the ampersand symbol for a bunch of stuff, even their door handles were big ampersands. I actually took this photo yesterday when stopping to grab a snack and thought the Colorado Springs painting on it was pretty cool. Other side had a bunch of generic slogans.
Batcab FFotD_2020_171
“Batcab” taken 6/19/2020
This somewhat bizarre car was stopped in front of me at a stop light today around Colorado College. I thought of it as the “Batcab” because of its bright yellow cab-like color; but it wasn’t otherwise made to look like a cab. Besides the weird batarang spoiler and the custom batman logo replacing the logo of whatever actual make ol of car it was (which I could not easily determine) It looks like there are other little spoilers or fins or antennas or SOMETHING on the roof?
Pike’s Peak After Spring Snow Redux
“Pike’s Peak After Spring Snow Redux” taken 4/21/2018
Changed crop & processing a little of this old photo from a couple of springs ago. I really need to go back and do it from scratch as it is a little TOO over-processed now (lots of added noise). But I like this crop better.
Review: The Wind Through the Keyhole
The Wind Through the Keyhole
by Stephen King
The Dark Tower series #4.5
View book info on GoodReads
My Rating: 
5 out of 5 stars
First Published: April 24th, 2012
Read from: July 1 – 7, 2019
A Storyteller’s Tale
It’s been a LONG time since I’ve read any Stephen King. Not sure why, as I’ve always loved his work. I read the Dark Tower series several years ago, and enjoyed it for the most part. With the books of the series ranging from 3 to 4 stars of 5 and at least one a definite 5. Anyway, for whatever reason I have managed to pick up other authors’ works instead of King over the last few years, and somehow never managed to read this story added after The Dark Tower series was concluded. I’m glad I finally picked it up and read it, as it is one of the best tales by an author who is undeniably one of the best story-tellers of our day.
Read the Full Review
Chicken ‘Loris
I remember a guy named Chick. I honestly don’t know if that was his real name or nickname. And his gal named Deloris. A married couple whose first names were Chick and Deloris. I don’t think I ever knew their last names. To me though Chick and Deloris was never their name. To me they were Chicken ‘Loris, and always will be.
Apparently as a wee rugrat I had once misheard “Chick and Deloris” and combined it in my head, morphing it into “Chicken ‘Loris”… A single animal in two parts. They and the family just adopted my version of their names, and they all came to use that among themselves, at least when we were together.
Continue reading Chicken ‘LorisSTOP! Redux
“STOP!” taken 4/29/2007 near Victor, CO
A small sporty Saturn Sky dwarfed by a nearly three-story high dump truck carrying a load of ore to be processed at the Victor, Colorado gold mine.
Another go at this old favorite. Reprocessed the mediocre relatively low res jpg that was all I had for an original and used a 16×9 crop which really helped increase the juxtaposition of the small car and huge dump truck by filling most of the image with the truck. I also applied some vignette. Don’t know why, but I like that darker, faded look 9 times out of 10 it seems. Yeah, I know it used to be created by poor lenses, and maybe it’s an overdone affectation… Still, I usually find I like a photo better with it applied than without.
Flying South Redux
“Flying South” taken 12/31/2014 Denver, CO
Another reprocessing of an old favorite. This was an accidental quick shot that came out a little better than I expected, considering. I was trying to take a closeup of the bird on the wire directly out the apartment window when I noticed geese flying up in the background, swung and tried to widen the angle a little as I shot with no chance to play with aperture or shutter speeds. The result is of course that the geese are out of focus and blurry, but I think it adds to the shot and feel of one bird watching others leave for the winter.
Pretty much identical composition and cropping from my old first attempt, just cleaner and more pop using Lightroom, and a little more dramatic with some added vignette.
No Entry Redux
and explore the tunnel-like alley beyond.
“No Entry” taken 8/21/2006 Boston, MA
Another new look at an old favorite. I completely reprocessed this one, starting from only a relatively low res JPG I took in June 2006 on an old Nikon of a photogenic alley I stumbled across while walking Boston’s Freedom Trail. My original attempt at this was very similar, but this time I did a single exposure monochrome tonemap instead of just desaturating my original exposure, added some lightroom magic, then cutout & pasted the unaltered street sign. I also made an even narrower 16×9 ratio vertical crop, and a 5×7 ratio horizontal crop, having trouble deciding which I liked. Ended up coming back around to the original composition with just a little bit of cropping to emphasize the framing of the street light at the top.
Desert Rust Redux
“Found this abandoned and shot up car in the desert when ATVing in Tucson.”
“Desert Rust” taken 11/21/2005 Tucson, AZ
original “cutout” post-processing 8/21/2006
Decided to go through and collect and retouch some of my old favorite pics. Here’s the first to receive some Lightroom TLC originally taken on an old lower res Nikon, and processed with an ancient Paint Shop Pro app, but still not too bad.