The Boulder Creek

For most of the covers I do for the kids books I'll use photo backgrounds merged with the artwork I produce. One of the new books I'll be working on this week involves a story about a family rafting down a raging river.

"Perfect," I figured. "The Boulder Creek is swelling right now and there should be some good places along the bike path to get some good raging river type of shots."

So, I set out this afternoon to try my luck.

I knew the creek was getting high enough that the city had put a ban on kayaking and tubing down the creek but I figured that would mean I'd just get that much of a better picture.

Little did I know that the creek has swelled so much that the local police had shut down all access to any part of the creek. The first spot I picked had yellow tape all around the entry ways and a lot of police presence. So, I headed up the canyon, out of the Boulder City limits hoping to find another spot to get some shots. No luck. The one spot I picked had a Sheriff's car parked out.

Not wanting to try and explain myself to an officer of the law or try and talk my way out of a ticket (I doubt any client would pay my fine as a "cost of doing business") I headed back east to Scott Carpenter park off of 30th street. I parked and took a little walk towards the creek. Seeing the yellow caution tape up but no police presence I ducked the tape and took a stroll down the bike path to a spot I thought would be perfect.

Crossing a small bridge I stepped off the path and found a spot below the bridge where I could get a few shots of the water. All in all, I think I picked the perfect spot and got some great shots.

I was safe, didn't get wet, and luckily, didn't have to talk my way out of a ticket.

Not a bad way to spend an afternoon away from the drawing board but still all in the name of art.