Studio like results for portraits in the park in Albuquerque
In addition to making candid portraits of Indu’s 1 year old son, I also made group portraits of her extended family at Altura Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The sun came out from behind the trees in a few of the shots just right to add an amazing visual element to the portraits. Since I use the same lighting I would in studio out on location, the results are spectacular portraits combining the best elements of outdoor and in studio photography. Thank you Indu for choosing me as your family’s photographer!
As a top three rated commercial photographer in Albuquerque, I mostly have business clients. However, I do enjoy having lifestyle photoshoots when people contact me like Indu did to make photos of her son as he turns 1 year old. We met in Altura Park (a location I have been using more and more) to make candid photos of her son. Since a 1 year old does not really ever sit still, it is my photography philosophy that it is best to just let the baby do what he/she wants and let me make candids that capture the baby’s personality. Maybe the smile will not be perfect, maybe the baby will almost never once even look directly into the camera, but the photos 20 years from now I really believe will make the parents smile more than a posed photo attempting perfection.
Creative and Covid-19 safe Commercial Portraits in ABQ
It often happens when I shoot at a great new location for the first time, like the Hotel Parq Central, other clients see those photos and want to use it as a location too! Such was the case for Marian, and since she was coming all the way from Ruidoso and needed a hotel to stay at anyway, it was very convenient for her to just take the elevator down right to our shooting location! The purpose of the shoot was to create commercial portraits that were not too corporate or like other traditional speaker photos, especially for speakers who speak about librarians. As you can see, not a single bookcase in any of these photos! In a relatively short time, I was able to make a large variety of photos for Marian thanks to her being open to my ideas, the well designed areas of the hotel, and the unique perspectives a 50mm f/1.4 lens creates. In fact, I never did a shoot this varied exclusively with a 50mm lens before.
It was not at all like how I thought my first home buying experience would be, but after a 3-month long ordeal, I am now a first time homeowner! We had been renting this house for a year and agreed to sign another 1-year lease. Well, just before we could do that the owner decides to sell the house! So it is either buy the house, or move! And that is how I became a home owner. No being courted by real estate agents, no discovering your dream home, no holding a sold sign, just kind of happened out of necessity. It’s a great house, in a fantastic location in Albuquerque, and will continue to be the home of Jason Collin Photography for the near future. Too bad we cannot even have a house warming party due to Covid-19!
Smokey the Bear spokesanimal for preventing forest fires!
A recent commercial interior photo shoot took me to Ruidoso, New Mexico for the firs time, which in turn by taking the scenic route took me to Capitan, New Mexico which to my great surprise is the home of the real Smokey the Bear! Who knew? Smokey has his own historic park detailing his life story. His life definitely started out very sad, being orphaned in a forest fire and being found burned and clinging to a tree (see photo below). This early tragedy led him to a life as an ambassador for the forest serivce and a spokesanimal for preventing forest fires. He served in this role for 25 years! What an amazing story and to discover it right here in New Mexico.
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?
Atlas Obscura is a great website for finding hidden gems and odd places when traveling. This is how Art Cartopia Museum came on my radar on a recent rural land photography shoot in Trinidad, Colorado. This museum is free (though donations encouraged) and dog friendly indoors and out, and open during Covid-19 for guests wearing masks. What can you see at this museum? Art cars of all kinds, styles, and designs! A van covered in eyeballs? Yes. A huge skeleton driving on top of a car? Yes. A dentist’s dream (or nightmare?) car? Yes. Oddities abound in car form. The owner as one would expect is friendly, a character, and makes you feel like you are the very first visitor ever to the museum, which to me is always a sign of a great host, making you feel like you are the first visitor ever!
