Making photos of horses and robots and people for CNM
All of October I am working on a project for CNM making photographs of founders of companies in and around Albuquerque. Some of these people I have already known for quite some time, like Paul of Equiseq. And I also tangentially knew Chris of Build With Robots from an open house years ago. I really like photo assignments like this where with a simple one light off camera setup, can go into a new environment and have free reign to create the photo I like of each person. Thank you to Jen and CNM for choosing me as the photographer for this project!
Horses free in the world at twilight share a moment
At the end of a long day out in Cibola County, New Mexico on a pair of rural land real estate photo shoots, my evening end with a view of this horse dreamscape. I was rushing around to try and beat the increasing clouds that were blocking out the sunset, but I paused for a moment seeing these horses far in the distance, who I believe are looking right back at me. There was no fence between me and those horses, so I could have walked right up to them and touched them. That makes me think they are wild horses, free in the world. After a very hard day out in the field, for a moment, there was a shared moment of peace with those horses. We then each went our own ways into the twilight.
Driving back from a long afternoon of rural land real estate photography and drone flying down the very scenic Bluewater Road, with the interstate nearly in sight, these pale horses caught the corner of my eye. I have an axiom that a real photographer never passes up a chance to get a shot. So even though I was tired and had a long 2-hour drive still ahead of me to get home, I pulled my Jeep over and went back into my camera bag to take out the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 G Master lens to make a few photos of these horses. I approached slowly, as I always do to animals to let them know I am a friend and just want to share space with them for a moment. The horse in the top photo seemed to understand this as it obliged me by lifting its head up so I could get the shot you see.
While out on a rural land real estate photo shoot in Belen, New Mexico, I made some new friends. My dog, Kiki, was with me on this desert shoot as she often is. I noticed that she was noticing something in the distance to the east. I was focused on the west getting ready to make my signature HDRsunset shots. In the far distance I saw two animals moving. I thought they were cows as those are the most common large animal sighting in that area. One was really white though and I thought that is an odd coloring for a cow. Looking closer I saw they were in fact horses. I had already been to that area of the property and knew there was a barbed wire fence. I wondered if they would jump over it?
8325 Rio Grande Blvd NW Luxury Real Estate Horse Property
This was my second luxury real estate shoot for Mark & Susan Ryerson, and my fourth overall property I have photographed for them in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They are not just real estate agents on these shoots, they are photo assistants and drone visual observers making these photos and the video a true team effort on our part. That is why I recommend them as real estate agents. They are a dynamic husband and wife duo that are extremely professional and also very fun to be around
I have been to many places around the world, some considered wonders of the world, like Angkor Wat in Cambodia, some hard to reach, like the jungles in Borneo, as well as famous wonders in the U.S. like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Monument Valley in Utah ranks up there with the most wondrous places I have seen. I bookended my time at Monument Valley first with a sunset visit, then the next morning at 6am with a sunrise explore. The photos you see here are all from that very early even-pre-sunset time in Monument Valley. So early, no one was at the gate to even pay to enter! No one else had yet driven into the valley that morning. I had the view of the two Mittens and Merrick Butte all to myself for awhile.
I spent a bookend of twilight and dawn in Monument Valley in Utah. During the dawn, I met these wild horses, some of whom were just standing staring listlessly with their ribs and hip joints jutting out. Others equally as bony grazed on thorny brush. They seemed to not care about my presence, maybe too hungry? After the horse above had finished munching on that bush, I went and touched it and it hurt my hand even with a gentle touch. How that horse could chew on and eat it is beyond me. Even though it was sad to see them so skinny, it was still special to share the quiet dawn in Monument Valley with them, unexpected friends.
