My first visit to Carlsbad Caverns was all the way back in 2000 during my first attempt to move to California. I have two standout memories from that visit. The first was that it was on a weekday in March with no school groups and the caverns were virtually empty and it was doubly amazing to have them essentially all to myself. The second memory was dropping my (film) camera into the toilet in the visitor center! Fast forward to 2021 and the caverns were filled with few people using the recommended whisper voice, and my camera was digital and mirrorless, and I did not even dare take it into the restroom!
Photography sometimes take risks with amazing results
This is another instance of how my prolific rural land real estate work takes me to new and amazing places, like Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado. The client actually wanted pictures of the sand dunes, so I was being paid to be there to make these photographs. I thought I was wasting my time making the long drive from Alamosa (45 minutes away) to the sand dunes because cloud cover was very heavy and the sun was nowhere to be seen. However, in my experience, the skies do open up just in time, and that was very much the case this time. The risk was worth it and paid off spectacularly as I was able to make dramatic sunset images of the sand dunes, and I even stopped later once the sun was gone from the main park itself, for telephoto shots of the dunes from afar, which I will share in another blog post. My advice is, it is always worth it to take the risk to potentially get the photos you want. At most you will waste time, but imagine if I had stayed at the hotel and saw this sunset from the hotel window instead of on the dunes themselves?
While in White Signal, New Mexico on a rural land real estate photography shoot near midday, I saw in one photo a part of the sky that looked darker than it should. I had accidentally captured part of the sun ring. So I went to a clear spot on the property and pointed my the lens of my Sony a7R IV straight up and made the photo you see above. This was the first time I ever got to see such a large sun ring because of the sun being nearly directly overhead.
This is another instance of how my rural land real estate work allows me to see places I absolutely never would normally. On the way back from an extended series of property shoots in Chaves County New Mexico, just northeast of Roswell, while actually looking for another nature area but never finding it, this was a true stumbling upon (remember that site?) of Cocklebur Lake, a very, very dry lake. The skies were overcast so I knew then while making these photos I would ultimately convert them to black and white as the landscapes themselves were already nearly devoid of color. Walking on the dry lake bed, under a wide open sky, one could feel the yearning of the land for water. In that sense this dry lake felt like an old memory that you could only 5% remember. That’s what I feel a dry lake is to me.
While on the Road traveling for my rural land real estate photography work in New Mexico, with often long drives to and from locations, I like to break them up by visiting some of the off the beaten path attractions of the area. This time it was Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge, which judging by the very few other people there, is an overlooked natural landscape northwest of Roswell, New Mexico. I cannot say it was the most stunning wetlands area I have ever taken my camera too, but it was a nice break from the harsh desert and boring cattle land views on the long drive back to Albuquerque.
Time and opportunity to see rare sights in New Mexico
My work as the most prolific rural land real estate photographer in New Mexico takes me to many out of the way places one may never normally see. For example, Berrendo Creek is probably not on the itinerary of many people who visit Roswell. It is far from the alien themed main street and easy to not even notice driving by the country road it is on. I actually remembered from when I was last here over 2 years ago, and this time I had the time to stop by while there was still some light left in the twilightsky. Such is how I get to see many things in New Mexico in just four years of residing here.
Returning to Socorro County New Mexico for rural land real estate photography for the first time in 2021, an area I have been to many times before, I knew what to expect. It would be windy, very windy, Google Maps would show roads where there is only open desert, and eventually, the cows would come home. I experienced all of the above, but those challenges did not stop me from getting the results the client wanted with the right combination of clouds, light, and sunset. If you would like to own these views, check out Hemingway Land.
