Project Athena - Day 133 (Stairs)

Rhythmic Spirals

“Progress has not followed a straight ascending line, but a spiral with rhythms of progress and retrogression, of evolution and dissolution.”

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The grand finale of stairs! Not one, not two, but three spiral staircases on the outside of the Old Main building on the Colorado University campus in Boulder. I could only fit two at a time in my camera frame but I thought this perspective, lying on the sidewalk shooting upward, was more interesting than the standard picture I've seen of these landmark stairs.

Today, I found the CU campus so inspiring and beautiful, I may even add it as a theme unto itself. The fall foliage was vibrant and fiery, the diversity of people stimulating, and the a architecture fascinating.

Spiral Stairs at Old Main Building, CU, Boulder

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 18-55mm lens • 18mm • F/7.1 • 1/40s • ISO 400

Project Athena - Day 132 (Stairs)

Box Canyon

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.”

— Bill Cosby

I didn't get out to shoot today. Bummed. I guess I let life get in the way. But I did make it to the store to order new contacts which feels like a step in the right direction towards achieving my goal of seeing the world in an new way. Tomorrow is another day.

I took this shot in June while in Southern Colorado. Hope you enjoy.

Box Canyon, Ouray, Colorado

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 18-55mm lens • 18mm • F/22 • 1/1.6s • ISO 400

Project Athena - Day 131 (Stairs)

Stepping Up...

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

— Martin Luther King

I was hoping to capture a ghost running up the steps of the legendary Northern Hotel staircase but alas, no one wanted to be famous today.

It has been a long while since I have been inside this historic building. I remember this stairway being way more majestic and regal back in the days of my youth. Maybe that is because I had never been to any place more elegant than the old Northern Hotel before graduating high school. Still, it was fun to see the transformation of this landmark. The stained glass still exists in the ceilings exactly as it was when I celebrated my high school graduation at the fabulous restaurant that once attracted the very affluent of Fort Collins. The rooms are now apartments and Starbucks, of course, has a piece of this prime real estate on the lower level.

Wouldn't it be awesome to see it restored to its glory days?

Staircase of Northern Hotel

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 18-55mm lens • 40mm • F/20 • 1/1.3s • ISO 400

Project Athena - Day 130 (Stairs)

Historic Harmony Mill

“My soul can find no staircase to Heaven unless it be through Earth’s loveliness.”

— Michelangelo

This industrial building was built in 1886 as a flour mill by some prominent Fort Collins citizens who thought the other flour mills in town were gouging them on grain prices. I am not sure there was a stairwell as part of the original building but I love the overall architecture with numerous windows, a corbelled cornice and these fantastic seven flights of stairs to the top floor.

Harmony Mill Historic Building, Fort Collins, CO

Nikon D3200 • Nikon 18-55mm lens • 48mm • F/32 • 1/50s • ISO 400