Simon Ruin highlights an amazing canyon hike in New Mexico
Even on my tenth visit to the Navajo Dam and Navajo Lake areas of San Juan County New Mexico, I still found another hidden gem to explore for the first time. The San Juan River connects the lake and town, and in the middle are “holes,” day recreation areas, most of which are accessed on the south side of the river. I wanted to check out the northern side of the river, which led me to the Simon Canyon Trailhead which culminates at an old Navajo ruin atop a huge boulder. It was used as a kind of fort and is surprisingly well preserved. Climbing around the area on boulders myself I photographed it from all angles. The hike out there from the trailhead on its own, with its stunning canyon views, would have been worth it alone, but with the ruin to see at the end, this is a definite hidden gem you should work into your San Juan County travel plans! Check out the full history in the photo below and at the bottom of the page a Google Map to get you there yourself!
Having recently graduated and wanting headshot portraits to celebrate the occasion, Maria visited the JCP Home Studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico with her mom to have a variety of photos made, some with her master’s white collar on, some with different sashes, and some with cap on or off. It is a complicated process to have the cap just right, the sash just right, and especially that white master’s collar is particularly troublesome to get to stay in place! In the end, Maria chose 7 headshot portraits and I am very pleased with the results were were able to get. It was a true team effort with myself, Maria, and her mom all helping to get these photos! Thank you Maria for choosing me as your grad headshot portrait photographer!
Award Winning Landscaping Photographed for a Calendar
The past two weeks I worked with the Albuquerque Water Utility Authority on a fun photography project to photograph the ten winning xeriscape yards around the city. Home owners submitted their landscaping for consideration, and once the winners were announced, I went out to each property to photograph the yards to be featured on the Water Utility Authority’s website and in an upcoming calendar. The winners were from all corners of the city ranging from Four Hills, to the west side, to right in the middle in Nob Hill. Likewise, some yards were professional designed, while others looked more natural and wild. I also got to see an agave in bloom for the first (and only) time in its 10 year life. I forget the exact name of the agave featured below, but it was something like cow’s ear and is a very special agave I was told. Thank you to the team at the Water Utility Authority for choosing me as the photographer for this project!
Pageant Photography Photo Session that got results
Evee’s grandmother called me asking if I would go to Los Lunas, New Mexico (about 30 minutes away) to make pageant portraits of the precocious 4-year old. I am always straight forward with potential clients about my experience in a certain area of photography, and even though I had not made pageant photos before, I am experienced with off camera flash outdoors, which is the kind of out of the box pageant photos Kim wanted for Evee. Most pageant photos are made in studio, so these photos I made for Evee in her own backyard have already helped her move on to nationals! Fun fact about Evee, if she had $10 million what would she want? Watermelon. Thank you Kim for choosing me as your photographer and for Evee taking a break, occasionally, from being a ham, to let me make these pageant portraits of her. I should really do an outtakes post from the shoot because Evee can make some serious fish faces!
From Porsche photos to candid family portraits in the Sandias
Julia first contacted me about a year ago to make photos of her dad and his stunning new Porsche Taycan. This time it was photos for the whole family with a candidfamily portrait photo session in the Sandias in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You would not be able to believe it from the photos, but it snowed overnight and in the morning where we shot it would have been totally snow covered! By the late afternoon it melted and we had our candid family portrait session as scheduled. It was a fun time in the mountains making portraits. Thank you Julia for continuing to choose me as your family’s photographer!
Rainy day views of the USS Lexington in Black and White
A rainy vacation day did not stop me from venturing out with my new Sony 24mm f/1.4 G Master lens to visit the site of the USS Lexington in Corpus Christi Bay. The rain meant having an adjacent seawall empty of other people for clear shots of the massive ship. I am always looking for unique perspectives of oft photographed subject matter, and the views from the seawall afforded that opportunity. I also go to catch a glimpse of a sea turtle swimming by!
Walk into 1923 at the Pioneer Museum in Chloride New Mexico
New Mexico is full of hidden gems, like the Pioneer Museum in the very small (population 10) ghost town of Chloride, New Mexico. When the store went out of business in 1923, it was sealed off, and essentially became a time capsule for the period. All the shelves are just like they were that last day it was open in 1923. The current owner gives a fascinating history of both the contents of the store and its former owners. Chloride is not exactly on the beaten path, but what hidden gem is? If you are visiting Truth of Consequences, this is a great day trip to make as the roads leading out there are great for driving as well. Have you been here?
