“Live life on the borderline” greets visitors on the Columbus, New Mexico website. This very small town is after all very close to the border with Mexico, the closest I have been for sure. Some time ago my rural land real estate photographer work took me to this village in the far southwest corner of New Mexico. The most common way to get to Columbus would be to head due south from Deming, but I was coming from Arizona to the west. That drive redefined the middle of nowhere for me and a near complete lack of civilization and gas stations. Columbus can be a destination though, as it does have museums, parks, and a great hotel (Los Milagros Hotel) to stay at. I even found a good place for vegetarian food, the Borderland Cafe. If you have been to Columbus let me know in the comments below! If not, check out the map and take a visit for yourself.
Abandoned in part Lamy Train Station in New Mexico
Even in very, very small towns in New Mexico, one can still find active train stations picking up and carrying passengers in a more relaxed way of traveling long distances. Such is the case with Lamy Train Station that still has two Amtrack trains stop by each day. However, much of the station is now abandoned and is the final resting place of rusting train cars, engines, and cabooses. I have long enjoyed exploring abandoned places, or haikyo, so it was a very pleasant surprise to get to glance through the window of an old train car and wonder when it was last in service, and as always, what stories would it be able to tell?
I was back in nearly the exact same area of Valencia County, New Mexico as I was two weeks ago on another rural land real estate shoot and drone flight. Last time I shared these stunning sunset photos, this time it’s a drone video I made of the property. In another coincidence, when I had my drone up in Valencia County last time when I was just out on a drive, a train rolled by and I ended up making a drone video of it. This time another train rolled into frame just as I was setting up to get the final sunset shot. Just another happy coincidence!
While out on a Saturday morning drive in the M3, somewhere in the middle of the desert between I-40 and I-25, I stopped to get some drone shots of the M3 itself. with my DJI Mavic Pro drone. Just after launching the drone, a train rolled by and I quickly changed subjects! I took this surprise opportunity to capture a few trains passing in succession make their way through a wide open desert landscape. As I often say, you never know what you will actually see with a drone up in the air!
Abandoned train car in Tampa, Florida - Nikon D300 with Nikkor AF ED 80-200mm f/2.8D @ f/2.8 ISO 200 1/2500thI have been going through my photography archives from the past three years looking for images to update my various portfolios with. While looking for specific types of photos, I also found random photos that I had never edited, never given any attention to before, that for some reason now catch my eye (see above train photo). This gave me the idea for . . .
Photography Tip -- go through your photo archives to find hidden gems & to see how your photography tastes have changed
Not only may you find that what you think is an interesting photograph has changed, but if you have greatly improved your digital photo editing skills like I have over the past few years, you may find that you can save a photo that previously was left for the scrapheap.
Go through your archives this week and see if you find a forgotten photo that you now really like or even love. Post a link to it in the comments below!
