A Colorado Christmas Celebration

My family celebrates the Christmas holiday and we are now just one week away. It is time to finish up any last minute preparations and get ready to make merry. I am taking some time off to relax and enjoy my family. My 81 year old mom is visiting and we love to gab and catch up. Ric will be baking frosted sugar cookies that rival Martha Stewart's and Tara will be joining in on all of the above! So I'll wish you a joyous holiday with your loved ones and see you after Christmas! Peace, Julie

My Rocky Mountain home with a fresh dusting of snow.

A festive table sets the mood for Christmas dinner.
Grandma is hiding in the background.

A collection of plush white Christmas bears adds a bit of whimsy.

Oh Tannenbaum!

Fort Collins, Colorado twinkles with its own parade of lights in the distance.

That's me hiding behind the tree.
See you soon!

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Icy Forest in Northern Colorado

My boots crunched on the icy crust of snow. My breath steamed. The dogs' whiskers stood out in frosty contrast to their dark coats. My camera was inside my coat, warm and ready for the shot I was after. I had arrived. I took my camera out, pulled off my mittens, and fumbled with the settings as my hands stiffened in the frigid air. Satisfied that I had captured the moment, I put the camera back inside my coat and pulled my mittens back on over numb fingers. Calling to the romping dogs I turned and then headed back up the steep incline with thoughts of returning to my warm home and crackling fire. You may want to have a cup of hot chocolate ready when you view this shot.

Icy Forest
A snowy Rocky Mountain pine forest with an icy patina in Northern Colorado.
click here for purchase information on this photo

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Aspen Light in Black and White

You might recognize this photograph. It is not entirely new to my portfolio. What is new is the presentation. I was recently requested to change a couple of my most popular color photographs to black and white. And to make things even more interesting this person wanted squares. I love a challenge so I said I would play around and see what happened. The original photograph is here too so that you can compare. Tell me what you think.

Thank you Mark in southern California for being my muse!

Aspen Light BW
My Colorado photography studio is featuring a black and white photo of an aspen tree filled meadow with their white bark dappled in light.
click here for purchase information on this photograph

Aspen Light

Here is the original color and crop of the fine art photograph, Aspen Light.
click here for purchase information on this photograph

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

December 2010 Free Desktop Wallpaper Calendar

December 2010 is almost here. And if you are like me you are busy with all the preparations to make your holidays special. I hope that my wallpaper calendars make your life a tiny bit easier and fun. I wish you much joy and happiness each and every day. Happy Holidays!

download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for December 2010 here

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the above link
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size of this photo."
The file will then download to your desktop!

If you have enjoyed this year's desktop calendars you may also like the 2011 Landscapes of the West Wall Calendar. Most of the images you have enjoyed this past year are included in this handy wall calendar where you can save all your important dates. Each photo is featured in beautiful glossy full color. This is a limited printing of twenty and each calendar is signed. Click on the link below to find out all the details and purchase your copy today.

2011 Landscapes of the West Wall Calendar purchase information

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

November 2010 Free Desktop Wallpaper Calendar

November's calendar is a shot I took near my home in Larimer County, Colorado. This beautiful red sandstone mesa stands as a gateway to Redstone Canyon. The large old cottonwoods at the base of the mesa follow an intermittent creek bed and add seasonal color to the ancient sea bed. I particularly like to shoot photography when the weather is uncertain to get interesting effects and this foggy day transformed the landscape into muted shapes and colors. If you like this photo you might also like these similar foggy photos below. Happy November!

download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for November 2010 here

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the above link
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size of this photo."
The file will then download to your desktop!

Click on any of the following photos to find out purchase information.

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

September 2010 Free Wallpaper Calendar

We are on the cusp of autumn. Here in the Rocky Mountains, the kids are back in school, the aspen leaves are turning, and the blankets are going back on the bed. Fall has always been my favorite season. Maybe it is the memories of the smell of a fresh box of crayons for school that I still can not resist. Maybe it was the crunch of leaves under foot and jumping into a big irresistible pile of them. Maybe it was bundling up in a soft sweater and drinking cocoa. I think perhaps it is all of that. How about you?

download your free desktop wallpaper calendar for September 2010 here

Easy Instructions
After clicking on the above link
you will be at my Flickr page. Simply click on
"Download the Original size of this photo."
The file will then download to your desktop!

Etsy JulieMagersSoulen

Grandmother Pine

Grandmother Pine stands where the cold winter wind blows the strongest. The gale is channeled up a steep narrow canyon and breaks over the ridge exactly where she stands. Her trunk is thick and twisted. Her branches are short and sturdy. She barely notices the brutal blast that pushes me about like the fragile being that I am. She offers sanctuary to every creature under her thick boughs where the air is quiet and the light dim. She stands protectively over all who accept her embrace. Thank you for your shelter, Grandmother Pine.

Thank you for your patience regarding my computer difficulties. I am up and running smoothly again, although a bit behind. So my return is a little slow, but I will catch up and have many new photographs as the week progresses. Check back often.

Grandmother Pine
An ancient and twisted ponderosa pine has withstood time and the severe weather on a mountaintop in Colorado.
click here for purchase information on this photo

Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Winter Garden

The winter garden is monochromatic unlike the chaotic cacophony of color in the summer garden. A frosted leaf or branch becomes the focal point, etching an abstract pattern against a cedar wall. A single dried flower against a backdrop of white invites one to look closer to see the abstract beauty of a seed. Have you been to a winter garden? What have you seen?

Frosted Coneflower
A single dried and frosty coneflower stands bravely against the elements of winter.
click here for purchase information on this photo

Icy Cherry
The branches of a young Canadian choke cherry, lacy with frost, trace intricate lines before a cedar wall.
click here for purchase information on this photo

Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Branching Out

Today I want to share one of my very favorite pieces of art on Etsy. This framed photograph is stunning and the frame is a lovingly restored vintage window frame with original hardware. The pairing is exquisite! This is a one of a kind piece that would look beautiful in your living room. Please click on Made by Swirly Girl today and check out her wonderful assortment of cards, coasters, and matted photo art.

Branching Out Matted and Framed Photo Art
This signed and dated print of "Branching Out", a fine art photo of a tree silhouetted against a brooding sky is professionally framed with double matting and set in a vintage window frame (with new glass)with original hardware. The wood on the frame has been stripped of it's original paint and lovingly coated with beeswax for a rich natural luster that brings out the wood's aged patina and grain.
Ready to hang on your wall!
click here for purchase information on this framed fine art photo

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade madebyswirlygirl.etsy.com

Sunday Morning Gallery - Autumn's First Kiss

In the Colorado Rockies it has been an unusually wet and cool summer. It almost seems as if we are skipping summer and going from spring right into fall. I should not complain. I am really not a hot weather person. But to see the foliage starting to turn seems just a bit too soon. Having said that, I love autumn in Colorado. The nights turn crisp with clear brilliant starry skies and the days are still warm and sunny. Here are a couple early autumn photographs for your pleasure.

Red Leaf Brier

Autumn Tree

Etsy Buy Handmade JulieMagersSoulen

Sunday Morning Gallery - The Nature of Abstraction

Fine art photography has grown into a true art form of its own. One only has to look in the finest art galleries to find "photos" of fantasy worlds, surreal landscapes, or abstract art. The digital age has given powerful tools to the skilled photographer to be able to create something beyond what the lens sees in reality. Because of this creative well spring, I have become more and more fascinated with abstractions in nature photography. It seems the only limits are the ones we place on ourselves.

I hope you enjoy my dabbling and let me know what you think.

A summer weed goes to seed in the golden light.

Friends in colorful summer shirts sit at a glass patio table creating an instant Monet.

A springtime tree in bud creates fractals in the blue sky.

The winter woodstove shimmers with heat.

Friday Favorites - Trees

In the Presence of Trees

(Oak)

Tree
I named you once.
Oldest soul I have ever known,
standing sentry over the sunflower
field behind the school, your rings were
innumerable. Tree I named you, but that
name is long forgotten, a secret only the slow
stumble of childhood retains. Adults cannot know
the names of the trees. Not the true names
bestowed by fey children with grass
in their hair.
If they knew
they would
never be able to replace them with subdivisions.

(c) 2008 T. Soulen

Kenna Foster



Clancy's Classics



The Eye




Gary Heller Photography


For more Friday Favorites visit:

Allie Art: Photography Benefitting Children
Handicrafts

Remember that if you start your own Friday Favorite blog to send me your link. I will add it to my post and we can start a "gallery walk" on Fridays!