Getting variety from the same views rural land real estate
Here at Jason Collin Photography rural land real estate is a staple of my business, especially with Hemingway Land, now over 3 years working together! I had a huge 18 property shoot in Socorro County recently for this client. This type of shoot takes a lot of prep work, making sure I plot out the properties in the most efficient order, not any possible impassable roads, and then perhaps the biggest challenge, trying to get the photos to look somewhat different even though all 18 properties essentially had the same open views, and were all just empty, featureless land. How to get variety then? Well, have the clouds change helps. Then sometimes I frame the sun to the upper left, or the upper right, or I move the horizon higher or lower in the frame too.
My rural land real estate work takes me to all corners of New Mexico, but I had never yet been to the west-central area of New Mexico where I found the hidden gem of Quemado Lake. Far from any interstate, really far from any even major town, let alone city, it’s a place you have to go ou oof your way to find. It is definitely a place worth making an effort for, as it has a hiking trail that goes around the entire shoreline of this quite large lake. Plus, there are the traditional lake on-water activities. I share with you views from the drone and the lake side of this hidden gem.
While out watering the hedge in my backyard in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the sudden water shower revealed this sizable praying mantis! I put down the hose and went inside to grab my camera which fortunately already had on my Sony 90mm f/2.8 G macro lens. Not wanting to get attacked by the mantis, but still wanting to get as up close as possible, I eased into making photos of the mantis getting a bit close each shot until finally she/he looked right into the lens as you can see above! It was nice to use my macro lens for this kind of shot, as I mostly use it as my headshot lens.
Back in Torrance County New Mexico for more rural land real estate photography for Hemingway Land. The timing was perfect to shoot this property on a Friday, as Fridays are pizza nights for us, and where is the best pizza place in all of New Mexico? Well, right in Torrance County in the town of Edgewood. So in between shooting daylight and sunset and cactus shots, I got to eat my favorite pizza in the world! I call that a win-win and a great way to end the work week.
Reaching the near impossible for rural land real estate photography
In March I made a difficult 10 mile drive down very rough roads to reach several rural land real estate properties in El MorroCibola County New Mexico. I was hoping on my return in a fairer weather month the roads and conditions would be better, but in fact they were worse with more mud and more exposed lava rock to carefully find a way over in my Jeep! At least I had the experience of making the drive already to know what to expect. I detailed my first experience driving out there in great detail in this blog post. Thankfully, when I finally reached the properties (neither had a road to it, I had to drive across open desert) I was treated to good skies, clouds, and ultimately, a very nice sunset to make the headline images that help my client sell his rural land real estate fast.
Hustling to 20 properties in the Socorro County Desert
Typically on rural land real estate shoots for Hemingway Land, it is one property, one evening, starting about 2 hours before actual sunset, making 40 photos of the one property and often a drone video as well. Every now and then they get a bulk purchase and the shooting is very different like on a recent trip to Socorro County, New Mexico. There were 20 properties to shoot, I had to start early in the afternoon in order to finish with enough light, and I only made 3 photos per property. During these bulk shoots I am hustling like crazy from property to property, passing cows and big piles of tires truly out in the middle of nowhere miles from paved road, which in turn is miles from any kind of town. How do these tires get out here??
In the past three years, I have photographed hundreds of rural land real estate properties in New Mexico, and now I have photographed my first in Colorado. This property was a great introduction to Las Animas County and its mountain views and sweeping green pines. This piece of land in particular had a high point hill on it allowing me to get some exceptional views. If you would like to own these views, check out Hemingway Land.
