Thanks to Jessica’s curiosity about the curious and the website Atlas Obscura, on a recent weekend trip to Las Vegas, New Mexico, we drove up a picturesque road to the United World College, checked in at the visitor’s center, and were handed a key card to The Dwan Light Sanctuary. This is a peaceful temple of sorts that uses architecture and prism widows to create a visual interior landscape of geometric design. I found it quite the unique space as my eye was drawn to both the architecture of the building itself, and the scattered light falling on its walls. This is a hidden gem of tranquility deep in northern New Mexico.
If you asked me, I would tell you that a tripod is a must for making long exposure photos. In fact, I have already shared some long exposure ocean photos from San Diego featuring the Ocean Beach Pier that were all shot with my Nikon mounted on a tripod. That said, if getting a tack sharp image is not needed, handholding a slightly long exposure photo, especially with a lens that has VR (vibration reduction), can produce some very cool shots. The latter was the method I used to hold my Nikon right above the incoming water at Imperial Beach, San Diego, California at sunset. Why do a long exposure? Because it makes the water look like stretched out cotton. In the above shot you might easily think it was taken from a boat in deep water, when in reality it was me in less than ankle deep water letting that few inches of water whoosh past me as the camera’s shutter stayed open for 1/6th of a second.
My job as a professional photographer in New Mexico takes me all over the state. After photoshoots, I sometimes have the opportunity to seek out unusual places in the remote area I happen to be. On a recent 4-day photo shoot in Silver City, I had the chance to visit City of Rocks State Park. This is a place definitely off of the beaten path, as Silver City itself is out of the way, and City of Rocks is another 30+ minutes drive into nowhere. The investment in miles is certainly worth it though, as you can see in these photographs this is a unique place of natural wonder. Out in the midst of flat desert is an appropriately named city of unusual rock formations. There are no set trails or paths in this park, you have to just wander. It’s fantastic!
San Diego and Ocean Beach in particular have many gems in them that may not appear on the front pages of many travel websites. Open up Google Maps and zoom in and you will see a place simply called Tide Pools. There are no signs in Ocean Beach pointing the way to them directly, and likewise no clear way of getting to them exactly. In fact one must scramble down a steep slope to a concrete wall, jump off it, and then there you are. Standing on a shore of black rock with all of the Pacific Ocean before you. It is quite a place to take in the sunset and get splashed by incoming waves! The tide pools are only visual, however, not like the ones I grew up exploring in New England that were full of aquatic life. Nevertheless, the Tide Pools of Ocean Beach, San Diego are a hidden gem worth finding.
What an event at Floor and Decor of Albuquerque, New Mexico! It seems people did not believe them when they said they really were giving away a brand new 2018 Chevy pickup truck! Well, with sales tax even paid too, they gave it away and Wizard won! I was talking with him just minutes before his raffle ticket number was called to be one of the five finalists for a chance to win the truck. He is a very nice guy and his motorcycle club advocates for children so he is a very deserving winner! This also made it seem more exciting to me having just met him a few minutes prior so it was not a completely anonymous winner to me. There were lots of other prizes, and I even won a Yeti cooler! Amazing job by Floor and Decor. This was one of the top events of the year in Albuquerque!
This rat rod style hot rod at a small car show in Rio Rancho caught my eye for where it was parked, as well as how it looked. I cannot say I had ever seen a parking space marked "SENIOR ADULT" before. Does that mean there must be a junior adult or a senior child space somewhere in the world? This hot rod was about as ratty as they can come, and I mean no offense by that! It looked awesome and make me think I needed a tetanus shot just for standing next to it!
Networking friend Jennifer has been coming to the JCP Home Studio which doubles as a workout space the past couple of Fridays for a dose of Insanity Max 30 with me and Jessica. After one such workout, I setup a few lights to have fun with some fitness photos. They each picked up a dumbbell and showed their strength!
