Morning Clouds San Cristobal, NM
Morning clouds rising over an old adobe home, cottonwoods and the national forest, in the San Cristobal Valley, NM. I went out to watch the moon set across the plateau. I decided to drive up into the foothills for a better view and found this scene in the valley. The moon had vanished into the clouds on the western horizon. This was the payoff. Thanks for looking. G
Morning Clouds, San Cristobal, NM – 2096
Chapel of San Cristóbal, New Mexico
Chapel San Cristobal, in the valley of San Cristobal, New Mexico. The Magpie knows a good spot when it finds it. The soft filtered sunset light attracted the Magpie and me. An evening drive through the village and foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, softens the heart and nourishes the soul. Thanks for looking. G
Valley Rainbow, San Cristobal
Valley Rainbow, San Cristobal Valley northern New Mexico. I walked out the door into the pasture and watched the rain and golden light traverse the valley under a forming double rainbow. If you’re interested, the pot of gold is under the San Cristobal post office on the right. Happy hunting, and thanks for looking. G
Full Moon Rising, Columbine Hondo Wilderness, NM
Full moon rising, Columbine Hondo Wilderness in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico. Crystal clear this evening. The sky, the moon and a glass of Talisker from the Isle of Skye. Not bad in my world. Thanks for looking. G
Perseid Meteor Shower, Milky Way
Perseid Meteor Shower, Milky Way. Well, one meteor on this particular night and we only saw five all told. I had used Mars to set the camera focus point when this resulting image occurred. The fireball at the lower end combines with Mars for an obliterating effect in its termination. The streak above to the right is caused by the flashing lights of an airplane. I had meant to post this image a few days ago after it happened. My apologies. Thanks for looking. G
Here’s another image from August 13, 2016.
https://geraintsmith.com/potd/pages/archive/august_16/aug_13_16.html
Random Piece Of Culvert, San Cristobal Valley
A random piece of culvert in the San Cristobal Valley, looking suspiciously like a piece of field art. I admire it sitting there day in and day out, for a couple of years, still shiny and out of place. Scenes and subjects such as this get my attention and inspire me and really float my photographic boat. Thanks for looking. G
Rainbows Over The San Cristobal Valley
Rainbows over the San Cristobal Valley. When simply heading to the mail box, or anywhere else for that matter, it is compulsory here in New Mexico to pull over and look at a rainbow. We waited for the second rainbow to fully form but the storm was moving very quickly and it didn’t quite make it. The main rainbow lasted for about twenty minutes. Not a bad way to spend twenty minutes during the day. Thanks for looking. G
A couple more images.
A rainbow and the local church in San Cristobal last summer.
Fire In The Sky San Cristobal, NM
Fire in the sky over the San Cristobal Valley, NM. Below is a piece by Willa Sibert Cather, from “Death Comes for the Archbishop”, shared by a friend on my Facebook page who was inspired by this photograph. Thanks for looking. G
“The sky was as full of motion and change as the desert beneath it was monotonous and still, — and there was so much sky, more than at sea, more than anywhere else in the world. The plain was there, under one’s feet, but what one saw when one looked about was that brilliant blue world of stinging air and moving cloud. Even the mountains were mere ant-hills under it. Elsewhere the sky is the roof of the world; but here the earth was the floor of the sky. The landscape one longed for when one was away, the thing all about one, the world one actually lived in, was the sky, the sky!”
—Willa Sibert Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop
Magpie Moon, San Cristobal, NM
Magpie moon, in the cottonwood tree San Cristobal, NM. The moon rose crystal clear over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico as our resident Magpie mimicked my calls seemingly oblivious of the splendor around us. Further south, the moon rose shrouded in clouds of fire smoke. It set this morning, around 4:30am resembling a blood orange through the thick smoke that settled across the valley. As always thanks for looking. G
Looking Down At The Drying Mud
Looking down at the drying mud following a rain storm in San Cristobal. It didn’t rain much and not for very long. The next morning I was fascinated by the shining light on the mud in the roadside ditches. Thanks for looking. G
Abandoned Adobe Home Under A New Mexico Sky
On the hill, abandoned adobe home, under a New Mexico sky. I pulled over when I saw the clouds, anticipating they would develop into some impressive lenticular formations. Not this time, but I liked the soft light at midday in San Cristobal. Thanks for looking. G
Mule Deer In The Meadow
Mule deer in the meadow, San Cristobal, NM. This deer and its family joined us for dinner this evening. Of course, we ate vastly different meals but the company was delightful. Thanks for looking. G
Our San Cristobal Valley Under The Setting Winter Sun
Our San Cristobal Valley under the setting winter sun in northern New Mexico. A few steps up the embankment afforded me a view of the last rays of light on the fresh snow in the San Cristobal valley and the surrounding Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Thanks for looking. G
Winter Evening In The San Cristobal Valley
Winter evening and sunset in the San Cristobal valley. My twenty minute commute from Taos to home is not really anything like a commute, with stop and go traffic, more a delightful way to spend the time listening to some tunes on the iPod and take in the ever changing winter evening light on the landscape. During those twenty minutes there is always time to stop and stare and make an image, if only for the record that implants it in memory. A poem below. Thanks for looking. G
Leisure
What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this is if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
William Henry Davies
Dennis’s Tree, Light Under Dark Skies
Dennis’s tree, light under dark skies, in the San Cristobal Valley, northern New Mexico. Watching this tree over the years, reflect the evening light and changes in seasons in the valley brings to mind, in some small way, what Monet might have experienced painting his haystack series. Thanks for looking. G
Snow, Sunflower Sunset, San Cristobal
Snow, Sunflower Sunset, San Cristobal, New Mexico. The snow was still falling, the sun bust out through a momentary gap in the clouds. The light in the valley turned into these beautiful peach tones. And like I said a couple of days ago “the San Cristobal Valley melted under a glowing sunset, through the falling snow.” This was it. Thanks for looking. G
