Greetings from San Cristobal, New Mexico. This week, the grandeur of Taos Mountain. The light, the storm, and the mountain’s ever-present beauty drew me here. It is why I stayed and continue to marvel at its grandeur. Whenever I commute to Taos, about 15 miles south, there is always something stunning to see that inspires me to stop and take a picture. Maybe even a nasty hail storm, although wild and scary to drive through, has its natural beauty.
Storm across the meadow to Taos Mountain, (Pueblo Peak).
A few minutes after stopping to take the image below, I arrived home to the roads covered in fingernail-size hail. Nothing like the golf ball hail other places receive but plenty big enough to strafe the trees and plants.
Moisture is a good thing despite the ferocious way it arrives.
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week I’ve included a late summer sunset with a rainbow in a super storm cloud.
Summer is almost over and autumn is upon us. The aspens and cottonwoods will shroud the landscape in a cape of gold, glowing against the blue skies in the pristine mountain light. At this time of year, the night skies are crystal clear. The moon, constellations, galaxies, and Milky Way light up the night sky like few other places on Earth. New Mexico will soon be a magic carpet ride into the throes of winter. It’s not too late to sign up for a fall photo tour.
The summer storm cloud picture below followed a week after my last post on the rainbows. Many pictures of this massive cloud were floating around on social media. Naturally, we are so fortunate where we live, that we only have to step outside into the garden for a spectacular view.
Rainbow storm cloud sunset San Cristobal, NM
Last weekend Pami and I drove to Salida, Colorado to the fiber arts festival. Pami did some shopping for alpaca yarns and I took a few images walking down the side streets and dark alleys!
Kayaks, Salida, Colorado.
Just over my shoulder was an artist painting a picture of these kayaks. This was his working palette.
Painters Palette, Salida, Colorado.
A dark alley in Salida, Colorado.
Honor Roll Wall, Salida, CO.
Brickwork with peeling paint, an alley in Salida CO.
Looking down, watching where I put my feet, was all I needed to see that “Love is all you need”… and water and food and housing…!
“Love is all you need!”
It poured with rain over the last three days. It isn’t over yet. I had errands to run in Taos so I stopped by the Saint Francis Church in Ranchos de Taos to add another image to my reflection collection. As I’ve said before, “I can’t resist a puddle!”.
Reflection at the Saint Francis Church, Ranchos de Taos.
I went to a friend’s open studio last weekend and also got caught up on gallery visits, it’s been a while. I liked the vase of flowers and took a quick cellphone shot. After tinkering on a cell phone app I came up with this. Here’s another image I did using the “Formulas” app on my phone.
Vase of flowers in a Taos studio.
I got a number of print orders this week. I shipped this image of the Cliff Palace ruin in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado to Florida. I printed one for myself to hang in my office. If you would like a print for your wall, message me here!
Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde, Colorado.
I saw the scene below today on my drive home from town. This guy was trucking along the highway so I thought I’d catch a shot of him as he passed the flashing road work sign that has been there for three/four years. Road work? No problem!
Road work? No problem!
Summer is coming to an end and colors are turning on the tips of cottonwoods and aspens. I still have dates available for private photo tours and workshops. Last year was outstanding. Let me know if you are planning a trip to the area and would like a personalized guided trip.
As always, thank you for looking. Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week the Super, Blue Moon Rise from the deck at home in San Cristobal. I said I would share the moon rise if the skies were clear. They cooperated fully, with the thin veil of clouds adding an air of mystery.
I’ll begin with the first glow I saw about five minutes before the moon appeared. It gave me time to adjust my settings and anticipate the next few shots.
Super Blue Moon Rise San Cristobal, NM
The full moon’s appearance over the foothills.
Moon and trees on the ridge.
Super, Blue moon rise, in all its glory.
Of course, every moon rise is a sight to see. I am always excited as the moon clears the mountains where we live. Also, there is nothing like having a bright moon that you can drive with your headlights off and see the driveway ahead and the whole valley beyond lit up. The upside is that it’s like daylight in the house, so no nightlights are needed. The downside, sleep may be elusive on such a night.
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, super rainbows and a supermoon moonrise, around the Taos Valley. The Blue, Supermoon is this evening. If it looks spectacular and we are not clouded over I will post a shot next week.
The rainbows began with the monsoon rains that we finally experienced in abundance in the San Cristobal Valley. I think our neighbors in other parts of the county were jealous. I posted numerous images of rainbows from our field and over the foothills on social media. I didn’t have to go very far, but you know that already. However, last Saturday, the big monsoon rains arrived for all of Taos County. I could see the skies beginning to clear to the south, so I headed in that direction, towards Taos and got set up for a shot with Taos Mountain and hopefully a spectacular rainbow.
Below are images of what kept my attention, with dozens of people who were stopped and precariously parked along the highway through El Prado (the meadows).
Double rainbow in El Prado, NM.
Supernumerary or rainbow bands are “extra bands, usually pale pink or green in color, often seen on the inside of the primary rainbow. They result from interference of light rays which emerge from water droplets in the same direction”. I hope that makes sense. I don’t know the science of it, but I like the results that occur. Here’s another shot from last July when I found out about these bands.
With the upcoming supermoon and a blue moon tonight, I took a client on a photo tour for a few hours around sunset yesterday. We were looking for something particular, but I knew we’d have time to scout a few locations. My ideal shot would be the moon rising over the Saint Francis Church in Ranchos de Taos. I’ve done it before, so I had that idea in mind with perhaps a different angle.
When the moon initially peaked over the ridge south of Ranchos de Taos, it looked nice, though the sky was a little hazy and not so blue (is it ever blue?) like this one when it occurred in March 2018. We took a few shots of the moon and the sunset and then headed to my planned location at the iconic church.
Supermoon rising over the Talpa ridge.
Supermoon rising over the Talpa ridge.
Last but not least the not-quite-full supermoon rises at the Saint Francis Church in Ranchos de Taos.
Supermoon rising at the Saint Francis church.
As always thank you for looking. I hope you’ll join me for the next Blue Supermoon in 2037. I’ll see you here! Have a good week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, I’m revisiting the Bosque del Apache in the quiet off-season before the bulk of the birds and the crowds of tourists and photographers arrive. I have the place pretty much to myself.
Here are some quieter moments in the Bosque del Apache, beginning with Hammer Hank, one of the resident Great Blue Herons with this prime location for skewering fish that make it into the irrigation channel. You’ve got to love these opportunistic fishers.
Great Blue Heron, “Hammer Hank”
The marshes are flooded awaiting the arrival of thousands of birds. If you get a chance to go there, you won’t be disappointed.
Little nooks and crannies provide hiding places and make for mysterious-looking portals to the underworld of the march banks.
Portal in the grasses.
Tumbleweeds are the ubiquitous and unofficial plant of New Mexico and the Southwest. Locally, they are known as mesa street sweepers. I have seen them with numerous pieces of styrofoam, cups, and plastic grocery bags attached.
Tumbleweed.
The marshes are often very calm, offering pristine reflections in the early morning light.
Marsh reflections.
I titled this “Cornbird” although I suspect it is a Pine Siskin. I caught it on the hop from one corn row to the next.
“Cornbird” in the cornfields.
Below is one of many sluice/headgates in the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge that divert water from the Rio Grande to the marshes.
Sluice or headgate.
And for those who like color, there’s plenty of that too.
Dawn in the National Wildlife Refuge.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s trip.
As always, thanks for looking, commenting, and all the wonderful compliments. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week a moonrise over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Black Mesa, the Capilla de la Sagrado Familia, and the iconic cemetery, near San Ildefonso Pueblo, NM.
Black mesa and Capilla de la Sagrado Familia, NM.
Rainbows have been intermittent this summer but they have been spectacular. Here’s one of my favorite scenes taken in El Prado with cattle and Taos Mountain (Pueblo Peak).
Rainbows in El Prado with Taos Mountain, (Pueblo Peak).
Walking Rain is a spiritual experience in my mind. If you visit New Mexico, primarily in the summer months, you will more than likely, see this phenomenon for yourself. Here are two shots I like.
Walking Rain (virga) at sunset across the plateau west of Taos.
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week on the road in northern New Mexico and southern Colorado. I spent a couple of days photo trekking last week discovering new sights and sites with longtime friend, and fellow trekker Ron. There are always new images waiting for us in familiar locations.
If you are planning to visit New Mexico this fall, check out my photo tour/workshops. Lets get started.
Saint Francis Church with hollyhocks.
Door number seven, Saint Francis Church door, Ranchos de Taos.
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week the Rio Grande Gorge, from its beginning to where it cuts deep into the canyon of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.
If you look closely, you can see the cliffs of the Rio Grande gorge uplifting left of center. I refer to this spot as where the river meets the rift. From this point, the river travels south, never leaving the Rio Grande Gorge. At the deepest point, the river is over eight hundred feet below the canyon rim.
The Rio Grande where the gorge begins, Colorado.
Below is a view of Ute Mountain with the Rio Grande as it makes its way through the Wild and Scenic Rivers Recreation Area of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. The sky and darkness in the canyon, with only the river and Ute Mountain, highlighted, made for a dramatic image. Click here for another view.
Ute Mountain with the Rio Grande Gorge.
Heading home on a photo tour with Scott last week, I couldn’t resist another picture of the red barn in the San Luis Valley. The barn, accompanied by a brooding sky, called for a black-and-white photo. I know the barn won’t be standing for much longer. It’s already losing its siding and beginning to corkscrew. With the high winds making direct hits and randomly carting off planks of wood across plains, more and more light gets through the building. In the background are a large field of potato plants and a center-pivot irrigation machine.
Red Barn, San Luis Valley, Colorado.
As always, thank you for looking. Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week some hollyhocks at the Saint Francis Church in Ranchos de Taos and a place where god has his eye on you, Farmington, NM.
The hollyhocks are standing tall at numerous locations around Taos. Though not as plentiful this year as in previous years, they remain the iconic summer flowers of Taos.
I shot the image below with a 3-megapixel Nikon 990 camera 20 years ago, in 2003, at the Taos Book Store on Kit Carson Road-a little trip down memory lane for me.
Hollyhock in Taos, NM.
The two icons that evoke the high desert southwest are the hollyhock with an adobe building. I made the image below of the Saint Francis Church Plaza with hollyhocks in 2011. Throw in some blue and you have this picture.
Saint Francis Plaza, Ranchos de Taos, NM.
Let’s go to Farmington, NM, in complete contrast to the scenes above. I still aspire to editorial photography. I’m only the messenger so please don’t shoot me.
In the first image, Jesus, who looks a lot like a young Charles Bronson, is working hard for us!
A sign in Farmington, NM.
There is farming in and around Farmington. There’s a lot more of the oil and gas industry there, employing many gentlemen, who God will want to meet after they die. To me, the message here is, live life, have fun, and party.
“Gentlemen’s” Club, Farmington, New Mexico.
“Gentleman’s Club” Farmington, NM.
I do like the light rays traversing the sky, highlighting the sign and the club.
As always, thanks for looking. See you next week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week a brief visit to the Taos Pueblo, the heart and soul of Taos, New Mexico, followed by two pieces from the “Intersections” series.
Standing the shade of the ramada/drying racks with a coolish breeze was pleasant, watching the as my guest took photos.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Taos Pueblo in the shade under the ramada.
Taos Pueblo Mission Church of San Geronimo. The building had just received a new coat of adobe mud. Here is a look at the Pueblo North House in snow, BC (before covid).
Taos Pueblo Mission church of (St. Jerome), San Geronimo.
Below are two of the latest images from my ongoing, “Intersections” series. These vistas are vanishing fast. Every time I come across a unique location I make a panoramic image depicting its current status. In the first image, about a mile from our home, our little “Valley Store” on the corner of Camino del Medio and Flora Dr. is closed now. There is one consolation, the trailer is not for sale or rent, so it may be around for quite some time. Eventually, who knows what will happen? I think it is the uncertain future of the old places that intrigues me most. I think it’s important to document such scenes and only wish I’d begun sooner.
Valley Store, San Cristobal.
Capilla de San Acacio, Road 15 and Road 12, near San Luis, Colorado. The resident greeter wandered up to say hello. If you look closely you can see him heading towards me in the first frame on the left and the last but one frame directly in front of me. It wasn’t much of a greeting. He walked around behind me, gave me the once over, and left the scene.
