Lathrop State Park in Colorado is notable for several reasons. First, it was the first state park in Colorado. Second, it is made up of not one, but two lakes! Martin Lake is for power boats and water skiers, while Horseshoe Lake is for more peaceful ventures like canoeing and kayaking. No matter which lake you choose there are stunning views of Spanish Peaks. The drone’s eye view shows how close these lakes are separated by a narrow strip of land combining for a very unique state park in Colorado! Have you ever been there?
I recently spent a lot of time in view of the Spanish Peaks. Names simply West and East Spanish Peak, you can find them in Huerfano County, Colorado. These photos were made in March, but there is still plenty of snow covering the mountains. The approximately 13,000 feet tall peaks were a constant as I spent four days photographing rural land real estate all over the area. They would certainly be an amazing view framed in a living room window!
If you live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, you are living in a pretty unique geographical and topographical setting. To the east, the border is the Sandia Mountains. To the west, the Rio Grande River. Then just beyond the Rio, you will see a few short looking black tips in the desert. If you did not know it, they are actually volcanoes. So in less than 20 miles you have mountains, river, volcanoes. Can you name another place like that?
I often have opportunities to photograph the Sandia Mountains of New Mexico from unique viewpoints that no one else can get because I am on private property photographing the land for real estate clients. Add to that exclusivity for this series of photos the fact the land was in a more established neighborhood setting with a hilly topography and I was able to make a close-up photo of the mountains with some flora in the foreground. In another photo I got lucky and capture a flock of birds flying by. Then of course hovering right over the mountaintops were some dramatic clouds to add that still little bit extra to make these some of my favorite photos of the Sandias yet.
El Vado Lake a hidden gem in Rio Arriba County New Mexico
Rio Arriba County New Mexico is one of my favorite places to visit for my rural land real estate work in particular because of the spectacular scenery of and around El Vado Lake. This lake is part of a state park (open seasonally). The water level changes radically with the seasons. I have been at the lake and was shocked at just how low it was at that time. In these photos and drone video I would say the lake is pretty high and near its full volume. Another unique thing about this lake, is that if you are coming from the south, one option you have is to take a 16 mile dirt road right to this southern point of the lake. The dirt road is well maintained, so pretty much any vehicle with a little ground clearance could do it in the dry, and is my recommended way of visiting El Vado Lake. If you are looking for a hidden gem of a lake in New Mexico, use the map below to visit El Vado Lake yourself.
In December I had two opportunities to visit White Sands National Monument, and they could not have been more different. The first was on a weekday late morning, and the desert was empty, the sand was pure free of footprints, and there was not a cloud in the sky. On the second visit it was near sunset time, the sands were covered in footprints as it was very crowded there (well for White Sands at least), and clouds added to the landscape story. Clouds and low sunset light shadows definitely add drama to photos of White Sands. However, there is nothing more mesmerizing to me than the footprint-free ridges of the sand dunes at White Sands for producing landscape photos. What set of photos do you prefer: these black and white footprints, or the stark white and blue footprint free dunes photos?
This was my first visit to the actual Saguaro National Park, though my second time photographing these statuesque cactus in Tucson, Arizona (check out first photos). This time I wanted to focus on the height and unpredictable arm shapes of the saguaro, shooting in vertical orientation, framing them to extend up and out of the frame. What makes the arms of these saguaro grow in these twisting shapes? It was fun to imagine and anthropomorphize what they looked like and what hand signals I thought they were giving! What do you see in the shapes of these most revered cactus?
Adorn your walls with saguaro
Add a conversation piece to your living room wall, office door, or restaurant with one of these saguaro cactus fine art photos. Use the button below to contact me today for fine art print options.
