Photographing secrets and textures of the forest
Wanting to escape the heat of the city yet again, going to over 7,200 feet in elevation to the forest surrounding the San Antonio Campground in the Jemez Valley area of New Mexico, brief relief was found walking among the tall trees and the moss covered rocks. Naturally I had my camera with me, and wanted to look for secrets and textures of the forest. I recently learned a new term for fallen trees, dead fall. How the tree in the above photo came to rest like that in a dead fall of horizontal symmetry is such a secret I was looking for. Large rocks sat in isolation with moss growing on them, and being mostly in desert areas of New Mexico, these were not often seen textures with life clinging and growing to the rocks. I imagine to the moss and such on these rocks, each rock feels like its own planet in a galaxy of trees.
Read MoreHole in one through a tree in Cloudcroft
Hiking in Cloudcroft, New Mexico I came across a fallen tree on the side of a steep bank. It appeared hollowed out at the bottom, but to my surprise, stooping over I could see light at the end of the tunnel. The tree is a hole in one hollow all the way up. I have no idea how this happens to a poor tree. It was interesting to imagine going up all the way through the tree and who knows what dimension I might come out on the other side! I thought black and white processing added to the mystery.
Read MoreGreen mountain landscape in a desert state
Revisiting photos I took at the Santa Fe Ski Resort as part of a car show with the BMW Car Club from the last day of summer last year, I found this landscape photo I had not yet shared. This area is where the ski lift would drop you off at in snowier times, but I hiked up to this viewpoint in the pleasant afternoon sunshine. Would you think this was a photo taken in a mostly desert state? Santa Fe is its own island world in New Mexico.
Read MoreThoughts through black & white
The surreal black & white HDR landscape photograph you see above is not at all what the client that sent me out to that location needs to sell the land. However, the twisted tree, the ominous clouds, and the fact the tree wa growing out of solid rock really caught my eye. So I paused for a moment to make a photograph for myself that interested me. I share it with you now to give you a moment of interest to look at it and find something in it that makes you feel. Tell me about it in the comments below.
Read MoreGetting titled for lens flare in Timberon tree tops
My third return to the very remote New Mexico town of Timberon was for shooting rural land real estate once again, but this time 12 properties in done day! This meant not being there my usual 90-minutes before sunset as that would not leave nearly enough time. Which in turn means no signature sunset HDR photos of the properties. Add to the fact that nearly all of these properties were nearly all covered in very tall pine trees. There was not only no sunset, but also no horizon to even see. What was my solution for getting creative shots? Tilt the lens upward and embrace the lens flare and sunburst effect from having an ultra wide 15mm lens looking right at the sun. What do you think of this style of photo and the unique effect of shooting tilted up at the sun?
Read MoreObscuring Monument Valley Beauty
In bookend visits to Monument Valley in Utah, I made a lot of photos being there for sunset one evening, then sunrise the next morning. I had time during these two forays into this stunning environment to look for other shots besides sweeping landscape photos, like this one with a twisted tree. There was so much movement and texture in this gnarled tree that I wanted to find a way to photograph it that really made it come through the frame. I set my camera on my tripod at its lowest leg extension for a below standing eye level perspective. This eerie tree composed this way as to obscure the beauty of the mesas creating a contrast in visuals.
Read MoreFrozen Treetops Over Dark Pools
Right on time to the weather forecast, snow began falling at 5pm on a Friday. By midnight it was a frozen landscape like I have never seen in Albuquerque, New Mexico before. There was not just snow cover, it was as if the trees and ground themselves had become snow leaving only dark ponds to contrast with all that white. I went out with my tripod to make these long exposure (5, 15, 30 second exposures) in black & white around my own apartment complex grounds.
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