more pretty rocks

My husband and i recently spent some time in Colorado Springs. He had a class to take for work, and it worked out for me to be able to be there with him. Colorado is one of those places I've wanted to visit for most of my life, but just hadn't made it yet. It's a stunningly beautiful part of the country and I'm so glad we got the chance to be there. I loved waking up and looking out the window to see Pike's Peak every morning (the non-cloudy mornings, anyway). Like this one.


It just so happened that some dear friends of mine were there at the same time (us from SC, them from Czech via NY…love the "coincidences" the Father arranges!) I got to spend some time with the whole family at the Garden of the gods…an open-to-the-public free city park with some truly jaw-dropping scenery. We mostly kept to the paths, but some of the rocks just asked to be climbed. Even when the sign said no.


One evening Dave & I drove through the park and took a "wrong turn." When we started heading back the way we meant to go, I found my favorite shot of the day: (go ahead and click on it…it looks better big!)

This next one made me think perhaps I had stepped into Narnia. That rock just needs Aslan to breathe on it and it will spring to life…


Always fun seeing what kind of lens flare you can get, shooting into the sun…


And even when surrounded with huge beautiful things, it always pays to keep an eye out for the small beautiful things…the little bits of beautiful the Creator scatters around.


Oh…and credit where credit is due: I've been playing around with some photo processing goodies I found here. The Narnia shot above uses her "Boost" and "Quick Edge Burn" actions. The rock climbing photos started with her Vintage action…tweaked into something different afterwards. Fun stuff that she's got done so I don't have to do all the niggly steps involved.