Fine Art Images from the American Southwest

Category: Photo of the Week

El Salto, The Rocks. 12-18-2024

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, the El Salto rocks are a familiar view for those familiar with Taos and El Prado (the meadows), where most, if not all, of these shots were taken.

This is another location I’ve photographed many times in different weather and seasons. You could call it my version of Monet’s “Haystacks.” I’ve done a similar series on the Arroyo Hondo Cottonwood and Willows. I hope you enjoy this view of El Salto (the Jump or Leap).

Mountain Light, El Prado
Mountain Light, El Prado.
El Salto rocks Taos NM
El Salto rocks Taos NM
Mountain light
Mountain light.
Mountain light
Mountain light with first snow.
Sangre de Cristos
Sangre de Cristos, the blood red light.
Mountain Light, El Prado
Mountain Light, and cattle, El Prado, NM
Mountain Light and clouds, El Prado
Mountain Light and clouds, El Prado.
Through the meadows to the mountains
Through the meadows to the mountains.
The Rocks
The Rocks and Snow.
The Rocks
The Rocks.
Rain falling
Summer storm on the mountains.
Winter sunset light
Winter sunset on the rocks.
El Prado
Across the meadows (El Prado).

I scanned this last image from a Kodakchrome 64 slide from one of my trips here in the 1980″s

Last light on the mountains
Last light on the mountains.

I hope you enjoyed the visit. If you’re interested in reading the article for which the Rio Chama image in my post last week was commisioned to illustrate the story, click here.

Have a great week and happy holidays. G

Something Warm, Old, And Cold. 12-11-2024

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week something warm, old, and cold. It’s as simple as that. I apologize for a short post this week. I’ve been busy shipping and delivering copies of my books, including archival paper prints, large archival canvas prints, and stock images. I still have a few signed copies of my book from this latest shipment, that can reach you by the holidays if ordered this week. They are also available from the Museum of New Mexico Press.

Something warm… although it was a cold morning when I made this image in the Bosque del Apache NWR.

Warm light on a cold morning, Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico.
Warm light on a cold morning, Bosque del Apache NWR, New Mexico.

Something old … not quite dead. The photo was taken of one of Pami’s floral arrangements shot a couple of years ago. I added the aged photo technique using a phone app and Photoshop.

sunflower in the throes of decay
Sunflower in the throes of decay.

Something cold … and also old … is one of the first pictures I shot on my first DSLR in March 2004, a Canon Rebel, 6 Mega-Pixel, prior to that I was still scanning 35mm slide film and black and white negatives and shooting digital on a 3.3 Mega-Pixel Nikon Coolpix.

El Prado snow fields
El Prado snow fields and horses.

As always thanks for looking. Have a great week. G

Rio Chama, Orilla Verde. 12-04-2024

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, the Rio Chama and the Orilla Verde in the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

Sometimes I come across a photo I’d forgotten about but the moment I see it I instantly recall every detail, the environment surrounding me, the feeling and gratification of the moment. It also took me back remembering the many trips I’ve made to this area.

The picture was recently acquired to illustrate an “Outstanding National Resource Water (ONRW)“. I hope you like it, and can feel the moment?

Rio Chama NM
Rio Chama NM.

While looking for the above photo of the Rio Chama, I came across the following images in a sub-folder, all shot in the Orilla Verde Recreation Area of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument.

Bald eagle, Ponderosa tree orilla verde
Bald eagle in a ponderosa pine tree.
close up of Bald eagle, Ponderosa tree orilla verde
Close up.

The squirrel was tempting providence …

Squirrel in the Orilla Verde NM
Squirrel in the Orilla Verde.

And the hunter …

Red -tailed Hawk lifting off in the Orilla Verde NM
Red – tailed Hawk lifting off in the Orilla Verde NM.

More occupants of the canyon …

Bighorn sheep, Orilla Verde, NM
Bighorn sheep navigating the canyon rocks.

As always, thanks for looking. Have a great week. G

Snow Geese, And Two Turkeys. 11-27-2024

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week a bunch of snow geese and a couple of turkeys shot in the Bosque del Apache around this time of year almost twenty years ago.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Snow geese, Bosque del Apache, NWR, New Mexico
Snow geese, Bosque del Apache, NWR, New Mexico

Formation flying is a thing.

Formation flying, Bosque del Apache, NWR, New Mexico
Formation.
Formation flying
Formation flying.

And stealth formation at the Bosque del Apache NWR, NM

Formation flying, stealth
Formation flying, stealth mode.

Two wild turkeys, and if you’d like to see more birds check out this post from last year.

Wild Turkeys
Wild Turkeys.

As always, thanks for looking. Have a great week and holiday. G

Leaves, Lots Of Them. 11-20-2024

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, Leaves. There are so many. They make for fun photo opportunities and good earth.

Pond Leaves
Leaves floating on a pond.
Forest with raindrops
In the forest.
Garden San Cristobal
In the garden, San Cristobal.
Aspen Leaves
In the Aspen Grove.
Snow fall on maple
Snow on ornate maple.
Ice pond
Cottonwood on ice.

and on water in the rain.

Lastly a composite image, between seasons on Upper Ranchitos Road in Taos.

Mirror Image,Upper Ranchitos road
Between Seasons or when Seasons Collide.

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

Winter Weather, Snow, Book Covers. 11-13-24

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, some scenes of winter weather, two new book covers, and snow. It’s been a cold week, but it’s warming up again. The heaters are cleaned and running, and the sun is shining. I hope it’s beautiful where you are.

Winter weather, Ranchos de Taos  pond
Winter weather, Ranchos Valley.

Last week we took a drive during the snowfall here. Little did we know that the 12 to 15 inches we received in San Cristobal amounted to about an inch in downtown Taos as you can see from the image of the little chapel on La Loma Plaza in Taos. We have been fortunate to get hit by lots of moisture this year in our village north of Taos.

Snow, La Loma Plaza Chapel Taos
Snow, La Loma Plaza Chapel Taos.

St Clare’s statue was huddled under a cloak of snow before it slid off.

Saint Clare, Saint Francis church, Ranchos de Taos
Saint Clare’s statue at the Saint Francis church, Ranchos de Taos.

Sunflower seed pods wearing snow cap crowns.

Sunflower pods in winter weather
Sunflower seed pods.

The following are two of my images used on the covers of recently published books. I’m honored to share these publications with you.

Ranchitos road Taos, mirror image
Ranchitos Road, Taos, mirror image.

Lise Goett’s book of poetry, “The Radiant”

Lisa Goett's book cover "The Radiant"
Lise Goett’s book cover “The Radiant”

The second cover is from J.M. Mitchell’s Novel “Migrations of Butterflies and Lies”, Check it out here on Amazon

Ghost Ranch NM
J.M. Mitchell’s Novel “Migrations of Butterflies and Lies”

And the cover…

J.M. Mitchell's book cover Migrations of Butterflies and Lies
Book Cover.

You can also purchase a copy of J.M. Mitchell’s book “Migrations of Butterflies and Lies.” at Barnes and Noble.

If you are writing a book and would like to use an image of mine on the cover or inside, please get in touch. All proceeds go to a local Taos non-profit for kids.

And finally an autumn leaf on a winter pond.

Leaf floating on a pond
Leaf floating on a pond.

As always, thanks for looking. Have a great week. G

Pond Ripples, The Second Coming. 11-06-24

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week Pond Ripples, a photo I shot in a mountain lake almost twenty years ago, and a poem by W.B. Yeats.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Pond ripples in a mountain lake.
Pond ripples in a mountain lake.

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre   
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere   
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst   
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.   
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out   
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert   
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,   
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,   
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it   
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.   
The darkness drops again; but now I know   
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,   
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,   
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

William Butler Yeats

As always, thank you for looking. G

Pond ripples, bosque del apache NWR
Bosque del apache NWR

Red Barn, Awesome Comet, Snow. 10-30-2024.

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, the red barn and its neighbors, Comet Atlas, the Arroyo Hondo cottonwood tree, and an image from October 27, 2020, with the piles of snow we have unfortunately not received this year.

The red barn is deteriorating before my eyes. The siding might as well fall off while I’m standing there looking, and it’s also starting to twist from the prevailing winds.

Red barn with anthill and Ute Mountain San Luis Valley Colorado
Red barn with anthill and Ute Mountain, San Luis Valley Colorado.

If we ever get snow again the scene will look like this.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3) shot on an iPhone 13 Pro Max on October 13, 2024. I couldn’t resist the ease of what the iPhone can accomplish these days. The comet image is a little soft however, night mode on the phone is very good for handheld shots. It’s even better on a tripod.

Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (C/2023 A3)

Arroyo Hondo cottonwood, October29, 2024
Arroyo Hondo Cottonwood, October 29, 2024.

The same scene on November 1, 2018.

This scene below is on our deck on October 27, 2020.

Snow cover on the deck, San Cristobal, October 27 2020
Snow cover San Cristobal, October 27, 2020

As always, thanks for looking. Have a great week where you are. G

Powerful Bighorn Sheep, A Petroglyph, And More. 10-23-2024

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week, Bighorn sheep in the Wild Rivers Recreation Area, along with some random mages from the last few weeks. Autumn colors have been stunning this year, and I’ve been busy on photo tours with great photographers/clients. Now it’s time to settle in, light the fires, and enjoy the remaining colors and exceptional light around us.

These bighorn sheep in the Wild Rivers Recreation Area were head-butting each other. When I pulled up they stopped. The dogs had never seen anything like it.

Bighorn Sheep, Wild and Scenic Rivers Recreation Area
Bighorn Sheep, Wild and Scenic Rivers Recreation Area, NM.

Avanyu. A water serpent petroglyph along the Rio Grande south of Taos.

Avanyu, water serpent petroglyph
Avanyu, water serpent petroglyph.

The fall colors keep on giving in the woods near Hopewell Lake where I spent seven days this month.

Aspen Leaf, Hopewell Lake
Aspen Leaf, Hopewell Lake.

That cottonwood tree in last weekend’s storm in Arroyo Hondo!

Cottonwood, Arroyo Hondo, NM
Cottonwood, Arroyo Hondo, NM.

I was surprised to see these hardy plants thriving in the colder temperatures. It was the only group of this plant, that I spotted on my two-mile walk with the dogs.

Blanket Flower, Wild and Scenic Rivers Recreation Area
Blanket Flower, Wild and Scenic Rivers Recreation Area.

I took a short drive on the night that nearly everyone in the northern hemisphere could see the aurora borealis. This was the view I had from the foothills behind our house. I used an iPhone and stitched six images together. The next evening I was prepared with a camera and tripod but the northern lights weren’t visible.

Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights.
Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights.

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

Falling Leaves In The Forest, 10-16-2024

Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week falling leaves in the aspen groves around northern New Mexico.

Over the last three weeks, I’ve spent many hours in the woods on photo tours with clients from the East Coast, West Coast, Dallas, Houston, Albuquerque, and beyond.

One thing that always moves me is being overwhelmed by the golden light underneath the aspen canopy. Standing in the aspen groves with leaves falling all around is another.

In the following images, I wanted to create a feeling of standing amongst the aspens with leaves falling around me. I hope you like them.

Falling leaves and aspen trunks
Falling leaves and aspen trunks.
Aspen grove with leaves
Leaves and aspen trunks.

As always thank you for looking. I hope you have a great week. G