Color: Valerie Morris

Color can play an important role in the world we live in. Especially our food, we eat daily. Color can influence our thinking, change our actions, and cause reactions. When food looks pleasing, it can raise our blood pressure, and appetite. The opposite could suppress the urge to eat anything.

For example, red in foods are very intense and energetic. It increases blood pressure and stimulates appetite. Whereas blue is associated with, the mind, body, and can produce a calming effect while slowing the metabolism. Lastly, green is associated with nature, and being healthy. For more information on which colors can influence eating habits go to http://astronutrition.com/blog/how_colors_affect_your_appetite

Color: Andrew Pusbach

Colorado is well known for its vividly colored wildflowers, lush green valleys, and beautiful mountain ranges. Whenever I visit the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area I am overwhelmed by the experience, between the stunning peaks, the crystal clear mountain lakes, and towering aspen trees.

 Despite their beauty, the Maroon Bells are considered to be two of the most dangerous peaks in the state. They are often referred to as the “Deadly Bells.” They have claimed the lives of many an ambitious climber over the years, however, this does not stop people from reaching their summits.

 The Maroon Bells are some of the most well-known peaks in the state, and as such, are photographed constantly. Due to this, the real challenge when photographing them is walking away with a unique image.

When photographing the Maroon Bells, I prefer to visit them during the summer rather than in the fall because there are fewer photographers. As I watched the morning unfold I began to notice the interesting clouds moving above me creating dynamic shapes and patterns in the sky. The image above was my favorite from the morning.

Information for The Maroon Bells Wilderness Area

Color: Matthew Moore

Color of Life © 2012 Matthew Moore

This week while pondering the concept of color I thought to myself "what better way to illustrate color then to get out and photography people and things at an event." In my experience, event's typically illustrate a sense of culture and diversity through it's vendors (via their items for sell—as in the image above), its performances, as well as those in attendance.

In Colorado, one is certain to find something going on just about every weekend in this state of over 300 days of sunshine.  I was lucky to discover that just about fifteen minutes from my home the 11th annual Colorado Dragon Boat Festival (CDBF) was going on.

The CDBF celebrates Denver’s rich and diverse Asian communities through performing arts and a marketplace as well as the main event—an ancient sport of Dragon Boat Racing at Sloan’s Lake Park.  This year the event is expecting around 52 competing teams.

Additional Links:

• More Images from The Colorado Dragon Boat Festival   
• More information about CDBF

Color: Brandon Chapin

What better to bring happiness to everyone then a carnival!  The sounds, smells, and colorful lights evoke some sort of childish reactions that, no matter your age will have you excited and ready to play the games and ride the rides.  When I go to a carnival, though, I always just wander around looking at the beautiful lights that have a color range bigger than my childhood box of crayons.  It is always fun to just watch the Ferris Wheel go 'round and 'round creating colorful light streak circles in the sky.

Decay: Andrew Wyman

     Civic Center Park, across the street from the Colorado State Capital in Denver, once hosted such prestigious events as the Democratic National Convention. More recently it was the site of the Occupy Denver movement (https://www.facebook.com/occupydenver). In the beginning of this movement there were people there that truly believed in what they were doing. Although, as time passed less and less of the true believers “occupied” this location.
     Now, on any given day, Civic Center Park is home to many of Capital Hill’s drug dealers and homeless. What these people leave behind is all one can see in the park at night.  While many in this nation still support and believe in the 99%, this trail of trash shows me the decay of a movement and of a society.

Decay: Matthew Moore

Life About To Be Reborn © 2012 Matthew Moore

Decay is an often ignored process, perhaps because it can be disgusting as well as boring in some cases. Yet if you think about its process from a bigger point of view it might just become exciting or exhilarating.

Decay takes something that once was alive or refined but is now dead or has outlived its purpose and turns it back into its raw state so that it can once again be alive or refined into a new purpose. An over simplification of this cycle is that of bread. For example, a seed is planted, it grows into a plant, it's harvested, crushed, and ground into flour, then mixed with water, and baked into bread to give life again.

Decay is just part of death but death is part of life.  When thinking about such things Emily Dickinson's poem I reason, Earth is short comes to mind…

I reason, Earth is short --
And Anguish -- absolute --
And many hurt,
But, what of that? 

I reason, we could die --
The best Vitality
Cannot excel Decay,
But, what of that? 

I reason, that in Heaven --
Somehow, it will be even --
Some new Equation, given --
But, what of that?

As Dickinson portrays, life is short and no one or thing can escape the inevitable—that death is the great equalizer and death as well as decay are only a part of life.