Fine Art Images from the American Southwest
505-501-4880
Greetings from Taos, NM. This week views across the Taos Plateau Volcanic Field. I gathered some images for another project and thought I’d share them here. I hope you enjoy them.
Click here to learn more about this geological feature in our area.
As always, thanks for looking. Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week a gallery of random abstraction in and around the block. I have many more of these taken on personal trips, photo tours, and neighborhood walks so future posts may occur. Mostly shot on an iPhone, I am constantly reminded of what a wonderful and spontaneous piece of equipment it is.
Click on an image to expand and click off it to go back. Enjoy!
As always, Thank you for looking. My thoughts are with friends experiencing the wildfires in New Mexico and California. Have a great week where you are. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM, and beyond. This week a hike up Guadalupe Mountain in the Wild Rivers area of the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Last week we went down to the river. This week we hiked up to a vantage point that gave us views of the gorge and the Blanca massif in Colorado, a great view to accompany lunch. Unfortunately a smoky haze somewhat obscured the distant 14,000 + ft peaks. So instead we looked down, watching where we stepped for the morning emergence of rattlesnakes and bouquets of wildflowers.
Indian Paintbrush were in abundance at the trailhead, individuals, and clusters.
At about 8500 ft above sea level the Indian Canyon Fleabane took over the nooks and crannies in the boulder fields to the summit overlook.
That was yesterday. Today I took a quick jaunt up a watery trail in the Hondo Canyon to check out the creek crossings. I didn’t get far. I left my hiking poles in the car. Below is a solitary wild Columbine. There were many more. I liked this single bloom glowing against the rock.
A leafy green plant, Rowan I think, of which there were many.
A spot on the creek running alongside the trail, not one of the crossing points, but a picturesque little falls.
Lastly the Cottonwood in Arroyo Hondo, you know the one, in a sleet and hail storm last week. I got pelted and had to dive back into the car.
As always. Thank you for looking. Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week features the day of April 17th from ten years of my archives.
I hope everyone had a good week. April has been beautiful in northern New Mexico,,, so far. I know I said I wouldn’t say anymore regarding my feet but I’m averaging 2-3 miles a day and getting 4-6 mile hikes in. I’m so happy with my two new feet.
Over the last month, my friend, David, and I have been hiking stretches of the road through the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument that traverses the gorge rim and skirts around the base of Ute Mountain. We have hiked a different section each week with the mountain always present, beckoning. All being well, this summer will culminate in an accent of Ute Mountain.
Back to the present that began in the past, here are pictures from April 17th taken from my photo of the day archive from 2006 to 2016.
Beginning in 2016 and working back to 2006. This day we had snow and I made this image. It makes a beautiful print. A couple of hours after taking this photo, the snow was all gone.
A roadside Descanso, San Ildefonso, 2015. The internet says “Descansos are deeply rooted in Southwestern Hispanic culture. The word means “resting place” and is believed to refer to the days when coffins were transported by horse and cart or carried by hand over many miles for burial in a camposanto.”
Some vistas around Taos have since been transformed… developed. 2014
Here’s a shot of mine and Pami’s shadow in Arroyo Hondo on the drive home from Taos back in 2013.
Here’s a former living plant that grew out of a crack in a rock in the Orilla Verde Recreation Area of the now Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, 2012.
A ubiquitous Taos Raven. They are known to perch in ones or twos. This raven was probably calling for or waiting on its better half. 2011
I’m still searching for the original high resolution file of this picture of Garetto Rivas, so I’ve added a higher resolution second image from the same day below this one. I’ve forgotten the name of his gorgeous blond horse. The second horse in tow and in training is named “Beauty”.
The image below was scanned from a Kodachrome 64, transparency shot in the mid 1990’s and published on my website’s photo of the day archive on April 17, 2009.
Just around the corner from my former gallery in Arroyo Seco was a yoga studio festooned in Tibetan prayer flags. I recall shooting this one out of my car window in 2008.
I shot the image below in 1990 and published it on my website in 2007. It has since been published in a couple of local magazines.
On April 17, 2006 I paid a visit to the National Cemetery in Santa Fe NM. It’s the only time I’ve been there. Since then I usually post this image on social media on Memorial Day.
As always, thank you for looking. I hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane. You can see more from my photo of the day archive here.
Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal, NM. This week blue and white, another sky over Taos Mountain and one man’s fence.
We’ve had a lot of days recently with blue skies like this. The old adobe buildings especially, and this church, lend themselves to photography on blue-sky days.
Perhaps you prefer the black and white below.
Driving to Taos a few days ago I saw this sight. I think that these were dispersed contrails from a couple of passing jets. It took three wide-angle shots stitched together to get this much of the scene. I didn’t get it all in as it continued and terminated on the horizon to the west over my shoulder. See below.
Here’s a cellphone shot out the car window looking west to the horizon. Highways in the sky.
Robert Frost wrote, “Good fences make good neighbors” in his poem Mending Wall. Below are abstract shots of one man’s fence in Arroyo Hondo, NM. In order of appearance along the roadside, from west to east.
I’ve driven by this window many times but never noticed the thoughtful pattern of the blue and green window panes. There’s always a first time for everything.
As always, thank you for looking. Have a great week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal in the beautiful mountains of northern New Mexico.
I threw virtual darts at the archives this week, and the following images popped up. Northern New Mexico has continued to excite me for forty years. Here’s to many more.
The first two shots were taken during drives around the extended neighborhood, with the first on an evening photo shoot with friends from Kansas City.
Nearby is a more expansive view across the meadow to the mountains with winter colors.
I did a one-day shoot for AAA New Mexico Journeys Magazine eight years ago in Bandelier National Monument. The Alcove House pictured was accessible with an exciting climb up numerous, 30′ ladders. It was well worth the ascent with a backpack and tripod.
The Quarai Ruins at the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument yielded this image on my third visit to the site. I created this image with three shots stitched vertically, in effect, a vertical panorama. This location isn’t technically northern New Mexico, more like central NM but I like it.
Refrain from stacking stones in Chaco Culture National Historical Park. I heard the Park Service tore it down shortly after I shot it. I know it wasn’t there on my next visit.
I enjoy a nice glass of wine when reading a book. Reading “House of Rain”, in the landscape it depicts was a perfect pairing. Thanks to Craig Childs for the many virtual adventures.
One of the first panoramic shots I made of our mountains has been hanging in the waiting room at our local hospital ever since.
Below is the full moon shot in the Rio Grande Gorge. I love that I can stand on top of the highest point (Wheeler Peak) in New Mexico in the morning and spend the evening deep in the Rio Grande Gorge, watching the full moon grace the ridge cradled by a bare piñon tree.
As I become more mobile I’m looking forward to working with a number of new and repeat photographer/clients. Join me this spring, summer, and fall on a photo trek around some of the best photo locations northern New Mexico has to offer.
As always, thank you for looking. Enjoy your week. G
Greetings from San Cristobal Valley. Winter is beginning to settle in, with temperatures dropping to single digits and a decent amount of snow. Not at all the amount we are used to, but we’ll take it.
Last week, on my way home, I just had to pull over to watch the shadows move through our valley. Ten years ago, I shot this same scene. It became the centerpiece in our galley and home and has been a best seller since then. I don’t think I could ever top it though I keep trying. As you can see, the foreground is overgrown, with the meadow obscured.
Here is the same view, one of my iconic images from ten years ago. Here is the same location in fall 2020.
That cottonwood and willows in Arroyo Hondo, I can’t seem to pass this spot without making an image.
Early one morning this week I went south to the adobe mission church of Saint Francis in Ranchos de Taos. This iconic building always looks good with accents of snow and a dramatic sky. One important feature of this image… I arrived in time to get a photo before the parking area filled with cars.
Below is an image from December 2010 on the road that connects the villages of Arroyo Hondo and Arroyo Seco. When I had my gallery in Arroyo Seco I drove this route most days. It’s a sweet country road with close-up views of the surrounding mountains. It is an especially beautiful, and magical drive when the hoar frost covers the trees and landscape.
If you plan to visit New Mexico this year and have a desire to improve your photographic skills, and see locations off the beaten track, look me up and consider a photography tour/workshop. I’ll look forward to meeting and working with you in some of my favorite places in the area.
As always, thank you for looking. G
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.
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.
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.
A found object, and if I can remember where I shot it, I will be a happy camper!
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.”
As always thank you for looking. I appreciate all the kind comments and compliments. Stay well, happy and healthy. G
It’s been a busy week, so I’m making a short blog post of an epic wolf moon rising in color and black and white, over the Sangre de Cristo section of the Rocky Mountains in southern Colorado. The moon was huge when it rose behind the snow-capped peaks. I was on a photo tour with my client at the time. I think we positioned ourselves just right. I had a good idea where the moon would rise drawing on my experience from my many trips throughout the area. That said, I used “The Photographer’s Ephemeris” to confirm the location. It’s a wonderful app. Click on the images to enlarge.
Of course, I can’t drive past this spot without stopping to take a photo, if it’s remotely nice. The forecast calls for snow on the peaks again this evening. I’m looking forward to it. We need it!
A minimalist composition of a bench overlooking the boat dock at Abiquiu Lake. We were photographing the stark reflection of Cerro Pedernal in a glassy lake. I always remember to look in the opposite direction.
As always, thank you for looking, for all the comments and compliments. Have a good week. G
Morning clouds yesterday over the Sangre de Cristo, (Rocky Mountains) from the dining room window. I love my views from the various rooms in the house. I saw a goldfish endeavoring to escape the fishbowl. You?
The high winds morphed the clouds rapidly into a badger! I’m sorry but I often see badgers in the clouds. All and any interpretations are welcome here!
If you are interested here’s an interpretation of Badger Totem.
The following image is the snow-capped Virsylvia Peak in the Latir Peaks Wilderness. Not from the dining room window but a short drive north to the Colorado state line.
A familiar sight on the drive to Taos, a Red-tailed Hawk in its usual place. This power pole or at other times a treetop across the street offers this raptor a view of what I suspect is a choice hunting spot. It’s gratifying to see the same bird day in and day out. I would miss this creature if it wasn’t there.
Not a spectacular photo but I photograph what I see and like. I found this figure under my car in downtown Taos. I liked it so I’m posting it. At first, I thought it was a Lego® figure, no, but it was definitely a flattened figure becoming one with the road.
Coming up next Monday is the “Wolf Moon”. Here are five sequential images of last year’s Wolf Moon rising over Vallecito Peak from Arroyo Hondo, NM. I wish now I’d turned on the video camera. Maybe I’ll do that with next Monday’s upcoming Wolf Moon.
As always, thanks for looking. Have a great week. G