239) Sand Dunes Film

Shots from a color film roll (Agfa Vista 100) with my Contax G1. I took about 3 rolls of black and white film, but it is harder than one might think (and more expensive) to get b+w film processed these days.

238) Silhouettes Project

One of the skill tracts at the camp was fine arts. I co-taught fine arts the last week of camp, and came up with some photography projects, my favorite project being silhouettes.

237) The Great Sand Dunes

I was debating on how much to say about this place. The main reason being I was there on a weekend with Evan, and the main visitor center had maybe 20 cars in the parking lot, and we only saw one tent while we were out there (not including the camp ground). I didn't and don't want to spread the word about the place and be part of the cause in making it into another over populated park. But then I came to the conclusion that only a handful of people read this blog, and they would probably have heard about it from me anyways, so I will just go ahead and say what I want to about it on here.






Great Sand Dunes National Park has become my favorite place, maybe in the world. For starters we got in for free on a Friday, and didn't even have to pay for a permit to camp on the dunes. The only trace of people we saw while on the dunes was one tent in the distance, but no people. Tracks get swept away by the wind in a matter of hours, and in many places there is no sign of life at all.





It was hard to imagine this place actually existed, and in our country, no less. The dunes seem like they fit more into a novel or movie than real life. Everything about the dunes is like that; the way the wind blows to a deafening roar coating everything we had with sand and almost knocking us down to the absolute silence of the place. The way the light reflects off the sand in the very early morning and just before the sun goes down looks more like special effects from a movie than anything real. The dunes themselves seem larger than life, they instill a sense of awe as you approach. And the night sky was unlike anything I had ever seen before with raw beauty.





Raw beauty is probably the best way I can describe this park. It seems like life is stripped down to it's most basic here. You have wind shaping the land in a very obvious sense. And then you have heat and cold playing against each other in the day and night. It seems like there is no protection from any of these elements when you are there. I think the fact that you cannot escape this environment helps you appreciate what it really is all the more.

236) End of the Summer

Camp finished the other day, overall it was a great job. Some of the things I am thinking about right now that I miss are just the everyday simple things of camp. Waking up every morning in a cabin in the mountains or outside in some campground. Hiking or biking or kayaking or climbing on out-trips. Watching the moon rise over mountains and the stars at night. Taking pictures nearly everyday. Being with new people and the kids. And being all alone in a beautiful place.




Above are pictures of kayaking down the Arkansas, near Salida.






Rafting down Browns Canyon on the Arkansas.










Just some assorted pictures of people around camp during various activities.