Last weekend I spent three days visiting the North Clear Creek Falls in Colorado. I’d gone by the falls many times and for some reason or other, not stopped in to see them. Always on the way to somewhere else, I would scoot right past them. Well, I finally made up for it with my friend, John. We camped for two nights very nearby, intending to do a full moon shoot. Willing to accept the potential for cloudy skies and rain, we headed out, determined to have a good time camping and catching up. It did rain in the early morning hours, but we’d already got the shots. This is from Wikipedia, and this is from 9News. Be sure to read the part about the Black Swift!
North Clear Creek Falls, Colorado.
North Clear Creek Falls, Colorado just after sunset.
North Clear Creek Falls, Colorado under full moon light.
North Clear Creek Falls, Colorado in black and white.
This week I thought I’d revisit some images from Tucumcari, New Mexico. I spent a couple of days there with my friend Ron a few years ago. It might be time for another visit soon. Maybe this winter for a change and to see what might have changed.
I like to shoot a lot of buildings and storefronts head-on. The perspective offers simple shapes and patterns.
The mule deer was on a previous photo tour/workshop into the high country of northern New Mexico. The old homestead in the second image belongs to my friend Harold Anderson of Jaroso, Colorado. I gave the image an old-world charm/glow to create some warmth to the forlorn scene. Over the years, Harold has been very generous with his time and resources for photography subjects on his property. Thank you, Harold. The third image is how a framed and matted print of the Bison with petroglyphs titled “Moving Through Time” would look like hanging. Let me know if you can’t live without it.
Mule deer in the high country of northern New Mexico.
I went to visit the Osprey a couple of times on tours over the last few weeks. This is the mom and three chicks. They are growing healthy and wise. Dad was off in the top of an old cottonwood tree, striking a stately pose and keeping a watchful eye on things. The second image below is a close-up.
Female Osprey (left) and three chicks on a nesting platform, Chama, NM
Female Osprey with three healthy chicks on a nesting platform, Chama, NM
A photo tour last week took us to Las Vegas, Fort Union National Monument, and Wagon Mound, all stops on the Santa Fe Trail. I’ve been to the fort many times. This time, my client Michael, and I had the place to ourselves. There were some park service employees rebuilding and fortifying the walls. They don’t count. And no rattlesnakes this time either!
The Mechanics Corral at Fort Union National Monument
I pulled this image of the American Bison a while back. I thought it would make a nice effect to overlay it on a petroglyph panel. The petroglyphs are in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. The animals depicted are deer and bighorn sheep.
American Bison overlaid on a petroglyph panel.
We’ve had some fabulous storms during this summer’s monsoon season, and along with it, some incredible lightning shows. Here’s one from the deck a short while ago. I don’t have to go far for a view and dramatic weather. Some of the strikes got so close my hair stood on end. My wife, Pami said I started to glow.
Lightning strikes on the ridge, San Cristobal, NM
Join me on a photo tour/workshop and I’ll show you some of my favorite places we visit.
Parked, while we photograph in Arroyo Blanco, Abiquiu, New Mexico.
From fog in the Arroyo Hondo Valley to a full moon rise over Taos Mountain. From a photo tour/workshop in Abiquiu and the Rio Chama Valley to a large cloud over the Taos Valley, Taos Mountain, and the Rio Grande Gorge.
It’s been all go for the last month with tours. I have a few more tours coming up and then a short break for a couple of days following up on some personal work. I’m grateful for the photography tours and workshops and the wonderful photography clients I get to work with.
In the first two photos, I got up and out early to shoot the moon setting. Well, it set, right into a big bank of fog. So I shot the fog lifting in the Arroyo Hondo Valley just south of where I intended to catch the moon. Fog is a rare occurrence in this area, but we’ve had so much rain recently that it was only a matter of time until it filled the valleys.
A foggy morning in Arroyo Hondo, northern NM
A tree in the fog in Arroyo Hondo, northern NM
In the following shot, I sat out on the deck waiting for the nearly full moon to appear from behind Taos Mountain. When it did, it had a pinkish hue to it from the fire smoke in the atmosphere. It was still beautiful nonetheless.
Nearly full moonrise over Taos Mountain from the deck in San Cristobal, NM
The cloud below formed very quickly and filled the sky from Taos to the west of the Rio Grande Gorge. I had to shoot three frames and stitch them together to capture the immense size. I liked the corkscrew-looking form. I’d not seen one like it before.
Rio Grande Gorge, with Taos Mountain and the cloud that developed into more rain.
Lastly, a fun panorama shot at the Rio Chama overlook in Abiquiu with William, a client on a cross-country road trip who stopped in Taos and joined me for a three-day photo tour.
Fun on a photo tour/workshop in Abiquiu, Rio Chama, NM
On a photo workshop last week I took my client to visit the Hawks in my previous week’s post. My client is an accomplished bird photographer. Well.., I was expecting maybe mom, pop, and the chick I saw on my last visit, but to our surprise, we spotted a whole family of five. Fledglings were taking to the air from the treetops, encouraged in their maneuvers by the parents. What a treat it was to see the adult male, female and chicks perform this ancient summer ritual at this roadside location.
Enjoy!
Male Red-tailed Hawk, on the wing, San Luis Valley.Female Red-tailed Hawk, sits in tree top, San Luis Valley.Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk lands in a tree.Male Red-tailed Hawk stands guard in tree top, San Luis Valley.Three juvenile Red-tailed Hawks sit in a tree top, San Luis Valley.Male Red-tailed Hawk, showing how it’s done and lands in a tree.Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk prepares to land on a tree branch near mom!.
As always, thanks for looking. I appreciate all the comments and compliments. Thank you. G
I was on a photo tour last week demonstrating with a photography client the benefits of looking down and how it can often pay off with a rewarding image. In this case, looking down in a puddle on the flagstones, we captured a really nice reflection of the iconic San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos. Of course, it helped that one of the parishioners was hosing down the walkway, and I’ve shot this type of scene, many times.
Yesterday, I went up north for a short drive scouting some locations for an upcoming workshop happening for the next three days. I drove on a back road I’m very familiar with and found a male and female Red-tailed Hawk with their juvenile fledgling. The male was off on a power line pole to the east, the female and the chick were on a pole further west with a half-eaten rabbit. In the second image, you can see the nictitating membrane in the eyes of the mama and the young one as they both blinked simultaneously. This membrane allows birds to blink and clean the eyeball while still being able to see what is afoot. Here is a link to the nictitating membrane or “third eyelid”.
Red-tailed hawks, adult and juvenile in the San Luis Valley, ColoradoRed-tailed hawks, adult and juvenile in the San Luis Valley showing the Nictitating membrane.
A little bit of this and a little bit of that, from Ranchos de Taos, Taos Ski Valley, Ghost Ranch, Colorado, and the deck in San Cristobal.
I made this image of the ubiquitous blue window and shutters with hollyhocks in Ranchos de Taos. Hollyhocks are in abundance all around Taos this summer including the grounds of the famous St. Francis Church across the street from this scene.
We made a hike to the waterfall and streams coursing through the Taos Ski Valley to check out the wildflowers. Not a very long hike either. This little grouping of columbine comes back every year in the same spot. You can probably find a similar image from a previous year on my website.
Columbine with a waterfall in Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico.
We stopped in Ghost Ranch last week and saw that bits and bobs of a movie set were still standing. They’d even moved a dead tree that had fallen down a few years ago elsewhere to the middle of the set. (Thank you Mark Collins for the inspiration). We opened the doors and went inside. The light streaming through the holes made it sort of magical in a way. Thanks to the movie makers also.
Movie set chapel window, Ghost Ranch, NM
Looking through the window at another window, Ghost Ranch, NM
Movie set chapel, Ghost Ranch
Last week I spent three days working with a client from New York during his month-long cross-country road trip. One of the days was spent in Abiquiu and the Rio Chama Valley chasing storms, followed by a day in the Rio Grande Gorge and along the High Road to Taos. Our final day was spent crisscrossing the San Luis Valley photographing abandoned farmhouses, barns, and this old bridge.
Lobatos Bridge over the Rio Grande in the San Luis, Colorado.
The week ended back at home with a nice visual from the deck.
Rainbow over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains San Cristobal, New Mexico
A couple of days ago I headed north to Sanchez Lake, actually a stabilization reservoir, just south of San Luis, Colorado. I hadn’t visited in a while and as it was such a nice evening I wanted to go and check things out. There were some RV’s parked close to the lake on the east side just off the highway so I made my way around to the west side. To my surprise, I came across several American White Pelicans, I know not what the three on the left were up to, when a lone American Avocet strolled by, oblivious to me. I spotted some Grebes in the middle of the lake too far away for a decent shot, but a Killdeer came next wading in the mineral foam (not a pretty picture) on the edge of the lake. The winds picked up, the waders moseyed further down the shoreline foraging voraciously as they went. The pelicans swam to the middle of the lake. Later, when making a few images of the drying adobe mud in the dirt road ruts, I noticed an optical illusion. Is the mud concave or convex? Let me know what you see. As the shadows lengthened I made my way home stopping off at my favorite location, the red barn. The red paint on the barn is now more of a muted coral color softened by the grey, weathered wood and the sky seemed to dominate the scene begging for a black and white image. Except for the lone raven who sits in our cottonwood tree every evening waiting to greet me, that was that. Enjoy, I did! Stay cool if it’s too hot where you are. It’s been raining here for a week in northern New Mexico with more on the way.
American White Pelicans, San Luis Valley Lake, Colorado.
American Avocet San Luis Valley Lake, Colorado.
A Killdeer wading along the shoreline, San Luis Valley Lake. Colorado.
Drying adobe mud along the dirt roads, San Luis Valley, Colorado.
Red Barn with Ute Mountain and tumbleweed, in the San Luis Valley, Colorado.
Lone Raven in the cottonwood tree, San Cristobal, NM
An American Kestrel juxtaposed with a sign in a drive-by shooting!
American Kestrel, drive by shooting, Sunshine Valley, NM
It’s the “Summer of Love” in the world of dragonflies (I think they are dragonflies) at the Shuree Ponds in the Valle Vidal, NM. There were thousands of them cavorting with one thing on their minds! Addendum, thanks to my friend Larry, these are Damselflies. There were dragonflies too!
Damselflies at the Shuree Ponds in the Valle Vidal, NM
Damselflies at the Shuree Ponds in the Valle Vidal, NM
Some color on a porch deck in Madrid, NM
A splash of color in Madrid, NM
The church of San Rafael in La Cueva with blue sky and the coral tones of Negrita (Desert Globe-mallow).
The church of San Rafael in La Cueva, NM
Last but not least, if you’ll indulge me one more time, wild iris and mountain Golden Pea in a meadow in the Valle Vidal.
Wild iris and mountain Golden Pea in a meadow in the Valle Vidal, NM
