Geraint

Moon and Venus, San Cristobal. I was outside at 6 am with the tripod and camera set up, cuppa tea in hand, ready for one of the last good views of Venus in the dawn light at this time of year. She rises closer to the sun from this point in her orbit. I thought I was ready, as my phone app giving the precise location indicated I would observe the celestial event slightly north of where I had set up. Well, next time I won’t stand so close to my parked vehicle’s magnetic field. I stuffed some hand warmers in my gloves, it was 7º F, and with my tea in hand, I waited. My set up was spot on target. At 6:23 am, coyotes in the village made their announcement loud and very clear across the valley. At 6:24 am, a waning crescent moon peeked over Taos Mountain. At 6:29 am, Venus joined her. This was the most heart-stopping sight that I have seen in a while. Then, around 7 am when my heart started pumping again, when my hand warmers stopped making a difference, I went in and had more tea. Thanks for looking. G

High Road to Taos. We made a few images on a short trip to Dixon, in the Rio Grande Valley last week. After exploring Dixon for a couple of hours, we drove a short way up the hill into the Sangre de Cristos Mountains. We passed by Picuris Pueblo, which is still closed for the safety of the tribal members, and stopped at the little chapel of Sagrado Corazón. Then on to the village of Llano de San Juan where we visited some familiar pinto ponies. Black and white seemed an appropriate choice for this particular day. G

I hope you enjoyed the tour and my first expanded blog, “Photo/photos of the Week.” As always, Thank you for looking. Stay safe and be well.

Geraint

Out with the old and in with the new! After 15 years and 3 months of posting a photo of the day, I’m going to start a photo of the week with an occasional post from the road. If you are already signed up you can look forward to a photo in your email every Wednesday evening. It’s time for changes and it feels like the perfect moment in time to change. I’m looking forward to moving on and have you share in the new developments. The archive pages have been updated for you to continue enjoying your favorite photos. The purchase print pages will be updated more often with new images added in easy to view categories. Photo tours are still on the agenda for 2021, with safe travel between locations in separate vehicles and socially distanced shooting on-site, not too difficult to achieve out here in the west. I hope you’ll enjoy the improvements and I look forward to your continued friendship. Happy New Year.

I made this image in the Bosque del Apache on my last trip there. Thousands of cranes and snow geese thronged around the marshes and pastures. Overhead at dusk, the light levels got low and the cranes in this shot were partially silhouetted against a pale sky. I gave the photo a distressed look using an app called Formulas. I personally like the effect, it gives me a sense of cold with snow falling. The nostalgic look reminds me that I haven’t been there for a couple of years. Thanks for looking. G