Full Moon, Mountain Light, Winter Flashback. 02-28-2024

Geraint February 28, 2024 4 Comments

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, under a full moon rise, as seen from our driveway. The dark shapes of the Sangre de Cristo foothills and the deep blue of a New Mexico crisp and clear sky made the full moon appear its brightest. Later that night the light from the moon kept me awake for a couple of hours from 1:30 to 3:30 am. So I played solitaire on the phone and eventually fell asleep from boredom!

Let’s call this “anatomy of a moon rise.” Click on images to enlarge.

Moon rise San Cristobal — Full Moon rising San Cristobal.

I love our commute to Taos from San Cristobal. I’ve said it many times, and I never tire of it. I shot the image below last night on the way home. There are more spectacular moments, but I enjoyed the way the tip of the peak was lit up.

El Salto, Arroyo Seco — Arroyo Seco, El Salto mountain light.

This image with the horses is from March 2014. We had lunch and a view similar to this yesterday, almost 2 years to the day.

This is the view of Taos Mountain mid-winter shot in El Prado (the meadows), a flashback to 2013.

Taos Mountain El Prado — Taos Mountain winter from El Prado.

Below is a scene long gone. There’s a 12,000-foot mountain in the clouds beyond the trees.

As always, thank you for looking. G

Blue And White, Taos Mountain, Fences. 02-21-2024.

Geraint February 21, 2024 5 Comments

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week blue and white, another sky over Taos Mountain and one man’s fence.

We’ve had a lot of days recently with blue skies like this. The old adobe buildings especially, and this church, lend themselves to photography on blue-sky days.

Blue and white at the Saint Francis church, Ranchos de Taos, NM.

Perhaps you prefer the black and white below.

Black and white Saint Francis church, Ranchos de Taos, NM — Saint Francis Church in black and white.

Driving to Taos a few days ago I saw this sight. I think that these were dispersed contrails from a couple of passing jets. It took three wide-angle shots stitched together to get this much of the scene. I didn’t get it all in as it continued and terminated on the horizon to the west over my shoulder. See below.

Here’s a cellphone shot out the car window looking west to the horizon. Highways in the sky.

clouds, contrails — Clouds or contrails?

Robert Frost wrote, “Good fences make good neighbors” in his poem Mending Wall. Below are abstract shots of one man’s fence in Arroyo Hondo, NM. In order of appearance along the roadside, from west to east.

Chainlink fence #2, Arroyo Hondo, NM. — Chainlink fence #2.

Chainlink fence #3, Arroyo Hondo, NM. — Chainlink fence #3.

Chainlink fence #4, Arroyo Hondo, NM. — Chainlink fence #4.

Chainlink fence #5, Arroyo Hondo, NM. — Chainlink fence #5.

I’ve driven by this window many times but never noticed the thoughtful pattern of the blue and green window panes. There’s always a first time for everything.

Arroyo Hondo church window and wall — Church window and wall in Arroyo Hondo, NM.

As always, thank you for looking. Have a great week. G

Big Sky, Mountains, Shadows, And Gorge. 02-14-2024.

Geraint February 13, 2024 12 Comments

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, a big sky over Taos Mountain (Pueblo Peak), shadows in Arroyo Hondo, and the high bridge spanning the Rio Grande Gorge in Taos, NM,

It isn’t hard to get a good shot of Taos Mountain. It’s more a matter of being there at the right time. I am very fortunate to have lived in this part of the world for the last 40 years. Here, I can watch the storms make their way across the plateau, morphing with the light, and arrive at any number of preplanned locations for that perfect moment.

Big Sky, Taos Mountain, Pueblo Peak, El Prado.

Vallecito Mountain/Peak was covered in about a foot of fresh snow this week. I had wanted to catch a shot of the snow-covered trees barely discernable against the peaks. When the sun came out it was about an hour too late, but I did manage to capture a nice cloud. The new snow tends to melt fast when temperatures reach 40º F. I’ll do better next time.

Vallecito Mountain light with new snow — Vallecito Mountain with new snow.

Long shadows on Our Lady of Sorrows, Arroyo Hondo.

Arroyo Hondo church roof shadows — Arroyo Hondo Church roof shadows.

Shadows on the wall of the same church an hour later. I went back today. The sun has climbed high enough over the last five days that the cross shadow is close to the bottom of the wall at the same time of day.

Arroyo Hondo shadows on church wall — Arroyo Hondo shadows on the Church wall.

I got in a two-mile hike with my son Dylan, a couple of days ago. We hiked down the west rim of the Rio Grande Gorge which has numerous vistas like the one below. Often the canyon is buried in heavy shadows with contrasty light. This time it was flooded with light. Bighorn sheep were found in the rest area parking lot. I didn’t waste any pixels on them grazing amongst the gravel.

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge spanning the Rio Grande Gorge.

As always, thank you for looking. Have a great week. G

Arroyo Seco, Arroyo Hondo, Winter Scenes. 02-07-2024.

Geraint February 7, 2024 9 Comments

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week two sides of winter in Arroyo Seco and Arroyo Hondo.

As they say… “if you don’t like the weather, wait for five minutes”. The scene in the second image was shot a few days apart from the first image and about a 20º F warmer difference in temperature. Looking outside today we’ve had rain sleet, snow, hail, and blue skies. Tomorrow?… tee-shirt weather, who knows!

Arroyo Seco Lane — A winter scene in Arroyo Seco, NM.

The weather in the mountains continues to leave a lot of snow in its wake. I heard that the ski areas are doing well from the last three storms that moved through the area. That’s good for the spring run-off and the farmers. The skiers are enjoying it and apparently, it’s good powder skiing, but that part is lost on me. I’m looking forward to the peace and solitude of cross-country, and snowshoeing again.

If you look closely in the sky, upper right, in the following image you can see a flock of birds, commonly named Pinyon Jays. I waited for them to come closer but they had other intentions. Last year we had very large flocks of Pinyon Jays in the thousands in our San Cristobal Valley. I just counted 157 in this shot, a small number of the ones I saw.

Arroyo Hondo, winter — Cottonwood and Willows, Arroyo Hondo, NM.

On the day I shot the image above I drove with the windows down from Taos, across the mesa. When I got to this spot I made a U-turn to photograph one of my favorite locations.

The Pinyon Jay was outside the kitchen window feeding off seeds on the fence that the squirrels stole from the bird feeders and dropped. I was watching the bird through the iPhone wifi tether app on my camera with a 300mm lens.

As always, thank you for looking. I hope it’s a good week where you are. To all my friends in California, stay safe. G

Geraint Smith Photography

Month: February 2024

Full Moon, Mountain Light, Winter Flashback. 02-28-2024

Blue And White, Taos Mountain, Fences. 02-21-2024.

Big Sky, Mountains, Shadows, And Gorge. 02-14-2024.

Arroyo Seco, Arroyo Hondo, Winter Scenes. 02-07-2024.