Fine Art Images from the American Southwest

Morning Moon, Evening Moon with Venus, Saint Francis Church, Shapes and Shadows, Aspen Buds, Taos Mountain.

I was up before dawn waiting for the waning moon to rise over the Sangre de Cristo (Rocky) Mountains east of our house. I spotted the two little stars first. If you expand the image you’ll see them. I’m sorry I didn’t look up their names. You’ll also see the “earthshine” on the moon.

Crescent Moon, and stars and mountain
Good morning waning moon, stars, and mountain, San Cristobal.

Two days later the waxing moon was setting over the plateau to the west of us accompanied by the crescent Venus. Venus is at its brightest right now. Soon she will set in the glare of the sun. Not to worry, she’ll be back in the eastern sky and will be joined by the moon before dawn. If you expand the image you’ll see that Venus is also in the crescent phase.

Crescent Moon, Venus
Good night waxing moon with Venus and clouds.

A couple of days ago I had a little time to pass waiting for an appointment so I made a quick circle around the San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos. I spotted the shadow of the bell and made this image.

Saint Francis Church
The iconic Saint Francis Church, Ranchos de Taos, NM.

I also caught this little scene from the west as the sunset warmed up the adobe and lit up the tower cross.

Saint Francis Church
Saint Francis Church belfry tower.

I’ve made a similar photo of this scene before. It was almost a year ago. In this version I like the three simple arch shapes tying it together. Here are the other images from last January.

Shapes and shadows, Dixon, NM
Shapes and shadows in the Village of Dixon, NM.

The weather here has been quite warm over the last couple of months and these buds on the aspen tree were tempted to bust out. They’re changing their mind this week as temperatures are destined to drop into the minus digits.

Aspen buds busting out, San Cristobal
Aspen buds itching to bust forth.

I ran up to the hardware store in Questa this evening. It took me a little longer than planned, but I did take my camera and couldn’t resist pulling over to make an image of the light on the cottonwoods before the storm. The forecast is for snow in the next couple of days. I will wait and see!

Cottonwoods Highwaay 522, Questa, NM
Cottonwoods, Highway 522, Questa, NM

One oldie but goodie from 2008. I came across this image last week going through my files looking for images of Taos Mountain. I thought it worth sharing again. Prints are available.

Taos Mountain Sunset
Taos Mountain Cottonwoods, El Prado, NM

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

12 thoughts on “Morning Moon, Evening Moon with Venus, Saint Francis Church, Shapes and Shadows, Aspen Buds, Taos Mountain.”

  1. I really miss stick season. The trees have disrobed and reveal themselves and the land beneath.
    All of these are really fine images. I am glad you pulled the last one out of the files. It deserves to be seen again!

    Cheers, mate!
    Gary

    Reply
    • Thank you, Gary. It’s a favorite season of mine. I hope we meet soon in your neck of the woods or mine. Thank you again for your beautiful calendar. G

      Reply
  2. A blogger said: “When you can hang your powder horn on the moon, do just that.” So says the weather wisdom compiled by Eric Sloane in Folklore of American Weather (1963). This one is attributed to “famous Indians” who apparently hunted when the ground was wet from recent rains. They saw this Moon as a dipper, that could either hold or release water. I would guess that powder-horn-packing Indians are a fairly modern development, or perhaps this is an updated version of an ancient saying once applied to quivers or bows.

    Reply

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