Greetings from San Cristobal, a week when the rains came and the bearded iris opened in its striking glory.
Down in the Arroyo Hondo Valley, the rain clouds came and opened up not only here but on the fires bringing cooler temps and much-needed relief for the firefighters around the state. So I thought of a celebratory picture of one of our beautiful bearded iris with raindrops against a backdrop of rain and reflections on the windowpane.
Bearded Iris in the rain in the garden, San Cristobal, NM
I’ve photographed this scene many times in all seasons. You may remember it. It is fast becoming my equivalent of Monet’s “haystack” series.
Cottonwood and willows along the Acequia in Arroyo Hondo, NM
The ramada below was something I came across many years ago and found it again digging in my archives this week. I like the minimalist simplicity, which was what caught my eye. The clouds and sky helped set the scene off.
Ramada on the road in Galisteo, NM
I’m happy to post a couple of uplifting images this week after the doomsday-looking pictures of the fire over the past few weeks.
As always, thank you for looking. I look forward to seeing you here a gain next week. Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal under a full moon eclipse and what continues to be another fire smoke-filled week.
Last week’s lunar eclipse didn’t appear for me as we were socked in with extreme fire smoke conditions on Sunday. I kept checking throughout the evening to see if the moon was visible. At about 10:15 pm, I saw the moon after totality had ended. Although I’ve witnessed the eclipse many times over the years, it’s always fun to see it each time it occurs.
The full moon Lunar Eclipse as seen from San Cristobal, NM, May 15, 2022
The fires in the area continue to threaten our beautiful mountains and communities. The damage to our friends and neighbors, wildlife, and landscape is incalculable. Of course, the government will put a price on the whole fiasco, but nothing can return the place to its original beauty only time.
When the fire flared up in tremendous winds last weekend, I took a drive to take in the current situation. In the images below, I came across the cattle standing in this particular posture, as they have done for several days now. I knew they would add context to the scene with Taos Valley and the Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak Fire raging in the mountains south of Taos.
Cattle in the Taos Valley with the Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak Fire
Cattle in the Taos Valley with the Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak Fire
Back home later in the day, I watched the fire rage on, destroying more of our beautiful landscape in its path, creating these pyrocumulus clouds.
Pyrocumulus clouds from the Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak fire, NM
Thick fire smoke at 6:30 am from the Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak fire, settled in and around our San Cristobal Valley and across the whole region. The mountains in the background, two miles away as the crow flies, appear and vanish throughout the days.
Thick fire smoke in the San Cristobal Valley, NM
Ok… enough of that. I’ll move on to another subject next week.
Below is a shot of the Saint Francis Church I stopped to visit with a client on a photo tour/workshop last week. The morning was cold and crisp. The light was pristine with clear skies, at least until after lunch. A good thing we choose the half-day morning trip.
Morning at the Saint Francis Church, Ranchos de Taos, NM
And before the wind came and disturbed my view of the lunar eclipse, it blew all the blossoms off the ornate crabapple tree in the garden. But not before this Swallowtail butterfly had its fill of the nectar. It was joined this day by thousands of honey bees.
Swallowtail Butterfly with blossoms.
As always, thank you for looking, and for the wonderful comments and compliments. Please send good thoughts to those affected by the fire and those fighting it. G
Greetings from New Mexico, a fire-ravaged part of our most beautiful state.
Currently, in New Mexico, fires are burning out of control, devastating humans and wildlife, landscape, property, and the environment. This week I want to share a few images of the awesomeness of nature and the power of the fires burning. The fires are on the east side of the mountains from where I live, here in San Cristobal, and have destroyed whole communities of people who have been living here long before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth. The area burning is a favorite place of mine to visit and photograph. I’ve met many people there, and all are open and friendly as any of my immediate neighbors are.
I just spoke with a friend who evacuated to Santa Fe, NM. He says he is safe and doing well but has no idea the extent of damage or lack thereof to his family’s home and property. We hear stories like these often, wherever fires and natural disasters occur. This time it’s a little closer to home. This fire driven by high winds is relentless and impervious to anyone or anything in its way.
I’ll leave you with these three images I shot yesterday. I shot many more pictures than these. It was an awful and yet awesome sight to behold. Perhaps it’s time to take care of the environment better than we have. Maybe, nature, the climate and the world can’t afford our bucket lists and indiscriminate consumption. I love where I live. I will tread a little lighter on the land day by day.
Click on the image to enlarge. The first image is made from 15 images stiched together. The image is 8 feet wide.
A view of the Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak Fire, shot overlooking the San Cristobal Valley, NM
Calf Canyon, Hermits Peak fire here in New Mexico.
Greetings from San Cristobal in the presence of spring blossoms and under a crescent moon.
Sometimes everything is available in one’s backyard. These crab apple blossoms looked particularly beautiful after a drizzling rain. The ornate white blossoms were radiant in the morning light.
Crab apple blossoms, San Cristobal, NM
Ornate white blossoms in the garden, San Cristobal, NM
Spring blossoms are spotlighted by the sun, San Cristobal, NM
I’ve seen the following view during this phase of the moon most months here in the garden. I’ve created a few images like this in the past. Here is one and here is another one. The blossoms were so dark and the moon so bright and far away that I had to shoot two images to get them both in focus. The scene was easy to compute for the human eye. It required two images to create what my eye saw.
Waxing Crescent Moon with silhouetted blossoms.
Farther afield but very much in my broader backyard are the Rio Chama and Abiquiu Lake. I was on a photo tour last Sunday with my friend, Larry. It was a good day and yielded a few good images despite the fire smoke from three raging wildfires in the vicinity.
Rio Chama, Abiquiu, New Mexico.
Can you see the handprints? They’ve been there a long time, but they are more likely to be graffiti than authentic indigenous art. Cerro Pedernal is the mountain where native peoples went to collect obsidian for their tools. I have seen a lot of arrowheads and spearpoints in the area, particularly along the Chama River.
Under the big rock at Abiquiu Lake with Cerro Pedernal, (flint peak), NM
Greetings from San Cristobal, Fort Union, and beyond. The blossoms are bursting out, in perfect contrast to the dark grey clouds threatening rain. We can certainly use the rain, so no complaints from me.
This week I’m revisiting and re-editing some images. The first is from Fort Union National Monument on a trip there in 2006. I remember, unlike now, I was able to walk around the exhibits and make compositions quite freely.
There are signs now that say “stay on the footpath”, that’s where the rattlesnake in this picture was hanging out. The fort is on the last leg of the Santa Fe Trail. When the wagon trains got to Fort Union, it was still a couple of weeks of rutted roads tho Santa Fe. Don’t let the snakes put you off visiting. According to the ranger, this was the first rattlesnake he’d seen there in five years.
Mechanics Corral, Fort Union National Monument, NM.
The mission church at Santa Cruz resembles many of the other adobe mission churches in the area with its two towers, cruciform floorplan with large adobe buttresses. I liked the shapes in the darkness on this one. There isn’t a plumb line in the architecture, at least not in this image.
Before making this picture in 2008 I had never walked around to the “back” of the building. It’s a smaller buttress but reminiscent of the massive buttress at the San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos. Re-editing this image I wanted to impart the feeling of the coolness and depth in the darkness of the shadows. Standing in the shade was a welcome relief from the hot sun that was bearing down on the southeast side of the building.
Building detail on the Santa Cruz Church, NM
In 2007 I was captivated by the placement of these chairs. I embarked on a series of images over the ensuing months of the chairs and tables in this outdoor setting. I liked the unintentional randomness I found each time I visited. Today you will find the Farmhouse Cafe at this location.
Outdoor dining at the Overland Ranch, El Prado, NM
A found object, and if I can remember where I shot it, I will be a happy camper!
Bone and Ball, somewhere in New Mexico.
And now for the dinosaur. Ok, this is an attempt at humor. There is so much gone but not forgotten just yet. We live in a rural area where cellphone service is spotty. We have considered getting a landline again. Who still has a landline? I shot this image in 2010 in a Santa Fe gallery. I thought at the time, “one day, this will look like a piece of art.”
Telephone with wire no longer ringing, in Santa Fe, NM
As always thank you for looking. I appreciate all the kind comments and compliments. Stay well, happy and healthy. G
Greetings from northern New Mexico. A mobile home in our neighborhood (so New Mexico) with the moon rising over the San Cristobal Valley.
Mobile home full moonrise, San Cristobal, NM
And the next night from the driveway as the moon slinked over the ridge.
Full moon rise over the Sangre de Cristo foothills, San Cristobal, NM
The birds I’ve seen the most this winter are always American Kestrels, and this year joining them en masse are thousands of Pinyon Jays. I have never seen so many Pinyon Jays. They are raucous and over the top loud. They devoured the birdseed in the feeders in no time at all. Usually, there is a handful. I’ve added a picture below of one individual.
American Kestrel
Pinyon Jay or as we like to spell it in New Mexico, “Piñon Jay”
I couldn’t resist the juxtaposition in a window in the photo below. Everything is for sale. I just take the photo.
Guadalupe in a Window
Drive-by shooting on the roadside. I do this a lot. Many scenes look like this here in New Mexico. Someone deposits the sofa making it someone else’s problem. If it’s in good condition, it will probably find a home. The fate of the couch is now left up to someone else. The original owner has absolved themselves of any further responsibility and saved themselves the trash dump fee. So New Mexico!
Roadside sofa, (so) New Mexico style.
Let’s end with a tranquil scene at Williams Lake in the mountains close to where I live. Last year was the first time I didn’t hike to the lake. It is a favorite hike and will be on the hiking agenda again this year as soon as the snow melts.
Williams Lake in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico.
Well, we did make it to the Monte Vista NWR in southern Colorado last week, a couple of hours drive each way from home. There were plenty of Sandhill Cranes, not as many as there will be next week and the week after. My only complaint (not really a complaint) the cranes were quite far away from the accessible areas. I got this first image as they flew overhead from one marsh to another. I thank them for that! Hearing the primordial sounds the cranes make made the trip worthwhile.
Sandhill Cranes, Monte Vista NWR
Driving north from home we ran into these two creatures having a chat along the roadside. I should clarify, the raven was doing all the yacking. The eagle had nothing to say and was unperturbed by the raven or our presence. Incidentally, this is a very large raven.
Bald Eagle and a Raven on the wire in the San Luis Valley.
It’s difficult to pass by this location on the drive to the grocery store. I whipped past this time but decided to turn around and make yet another image, (I have a lot of pictures from this location). One thing, certainly not the only thing about photography, it gets me outdoors and into nature. As cold and windy as it was, any time I am out in the environment it is a good thing.
Red Willows and Cottonwood, Arroyo Hondo, NM
Below is another favorite location, the “welcome tree” greeting visitors as they crest the hill rising from the Rio Grande Gorge. The tree accompanies the massive vista of the Gorge extending as far as the eye can see, that would be Colorado. I first saw this tree when I arrived in New Mexico in 1984. The tree, sadly, is on its last legs. I keep making images when I pass and I reckon I’ll be making images until it’s gone, that’s my way of honoring its presence after all these years.
The Taos “Welcome Tree” at the gorge overlook.
Last week this crescent moon made an appearance the day after the new moon, (no moon). It was 1-2% and difficult to spot. I found it by looking through the lens in the general direction suggested by my TPE app on the phone. The clouds gave way just enough at the right time.
Waxing crescent moon setting, taken from our front steps in San Cristobal.
As always, thank you for looking. I really appreciate all the wonderful comments and compliments. Have a great week. I’m planning on it. G
We’re on the road today, heading out to the Monte Vista NWR in Colorado. I’ll be looking for Sandhill Cranes on the migratory path north after wintering in the southern climates. Assuming I get what I’m looking for, I’ll post those photos next week.
The Monte Vista refuge is situated northwest in the San Luis Valley. This week’s images are of the Blanca Peak Massif visible from just about everywhere in the Valley. The mountain range can be seen from a hundred miles south at the Rio Grande Gorge rim when hiking a little south of the high bridge over the river. I’m posting three images of my favorite views today. One I shot in black and white. I liked it so much that I converted the two others into black and whites.
Click on images to enlarge.
Blanca Peak with the Rio Grande, Colorado.
Blanca Peak across the sage brush, Colorado.
Blanca Peak Massif from highway 139, Colorado.
Driving north from Taos, this mountain range looms very large on the horizon for the whole drive, drawing one onwards to where the highway ends in Fort Garland, right at the foot of these spectacular mountains.
As always, thank you for looking and all the wonderful comments. G
Greetings from a blustery and chilly afternoon in San Cristobal, NM
We begin in Abiquiu along the banks of the Rio Chama underneath a cottonwood tree, its branches extending over the red willows to the river itself. Cerrito Blanco (butte) just north of the village of Abiquiu makes a natural focal point framed by a large tree limb.
Approximately four hours south is the Bosque del Apache (Woods of the Apache) NWR. This world-renowned National Wildlife Refuge is the wintering grounds for thousands of Sandhill Cranes and Snow Geese. Areas of the refuge are flooded to create marches which attract many more birds and waterfowl. The refuge is open year-round, but if you want to see it at its best then plan to visit between November and January.
Reflections in a marsh at the Bosque del Apache, NM
Besides the winged ones, the refuge is teeming with other wildlife. Bobcats, coyotes, elk, mountain lions, (I’ve yet to catch a glimpse of one), javelina, snakes, and this mule deer with many of its cousins!
Mule Deer, Bosque del Apache, NM
Below is one of numerous Great Blue Herons that frequent the area. Each bird seems almost territorial over its pond. I pretty much guarantee this bird will be here at this time, on this pond every morning, patiently waiting and watching. Patience and steadfastness are traits I like to aspire to. I think I’ve got the patience factor down.
Great Blue Heron, morning in the Bosque del Apache, NM
Sandhill Cranes are the biggest attraction at the refuge. Here at sunset visitors wait for the fly-in when the cranes land in the marshes to settle in for the night, safe from predators. In the morning at sunrise, they lift off in small groups and take to the skies bound for the pastures and cornfields up and down the refuge and the nearby Rio Grande. It’s quite a spectacular sight. If you want to be truly amazed, be sure to catch the thousand upon thousands of snow geese lift off simultaneously at sunrise. Here’s a short video I shot a couple of years ago. Pardon the ad at the beginning. There are some more images from the Bosque del Apache here.
Sandhill cranes, sunset at the Bosque del Apache
These birds watch and call to their family members as they fly in.
Sandhill crane, Bosque del Apache
Sandhill cranes, in-flight at the Bosque del Apache NWR, NM
Before dawn is the time I like best on one of the loop drives. While all the visitors are watching the snow geese and cranes fly out, I enjoy the rest of the refuge pretty much to myself. I’ve watched the lift-off many times. I also enjoy the refuge throughout other times of the day. When the many photographers and crowds are gone for lunch in nearby San Antonio and Socorro, again I enjoy the refuge mostly to myself. I prefer a picnic and solitude, in the presence of raptors perched high up looking for their lunch below.
Red-tailed Hawk roosting, Bosque del Apache NWR
The tree in the center is a popular roost for bald eagles. There’s one in the tree in this photo.
Eagle roosting tree, Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM
Yesterday evening I made my monthly trip out to photograph the almost (98%) full snow moon. For all intents and purposes, the difference was barely noticeable unless you squint your eyes. Sometimes it’s a marked difference, but as you can see in the second photo imperceptible this month.
I prefer to photograph the moon in the evening before it is full because the sun is still up illuminating the landscape as the moon rises behind our mountains. This gives a nice balance of light on the moon and mountains. Here are some more moon images which happen to be available as fine art prints. If you click on the link you will get the idea.
“Snow Moon” rising, Vallecito Mountain
I began this particular evening west of Taos near the Rio Grande Gorge bridge. I saw the moon appear behind a southerly ridge and made a few hazy images. As I quickly headed back east toward the mountains the moon began to vanish again below the ridgeline. I turned north and was able to place the moon directly behind this peak and watch it rise again. The lighting now was crisp and clear, and the mountains were gently illuminated. Naturally, I know this approach as I’ve done it so many times before. TPE (The Photographers Ephemeris) phone app helped me pinpoint where precisely the moon would appear and at what time. I use the app as a backup. Sometimes I’m slightly off. But not this time. The app confirmed it.
“Snow Moon” rising, over Vallecito Mountain
The image below is from a few years back after a wind storm broke the trunk of an already weakened tree, weakened by the creation of a stabilization dam on the Rio Costilla in the Valle Vidal. Despite its demise, I think it made for a nice image.
Fallen Tree, Valle Vidal
Below is an image of one of my favorite abandoned homesteads in the San Luis Valley. I’ve met the owners of some of the empty buildings who have made me feel welcome. There are other homesteads sitting out there open to all the elements. I keep visiting this place and suspect just like the impermanence of many other things in this world, it will be gone soon. For now, it continues to live a long life giving great pleasure, at least to me and a few of my adventurous photography clients.
That favorite old homestead, San Luis Valley
Here’s to a great week ahead with the potential for snow here in northern New Mexico. Enjoy your week where you are. And, as always, thank you for looking. G
