I spent three hours roaming the desert in Socorro County, New Mexico on a rural land shoot. I had five properties to get to criss crossing along a 7 mile path. My very last stop was back at the first stop, where I returned to get some sunset and twilight photos of the property. On the drive in I noticed this funky colored school bus up on a small hill. After I got the shots I needed for my client, I trekked a bit across the desert and up the hill to see if I could get a decent photo of the bus. It looks to be not so long ago abandoned from the quality of the signs still, but there are shrubs growing under and around it already.
I get to travel all over the state of New Mexico for my rural land photography work, which means I also get to stop and see places I would very likely not have seen otherwise, like El Morro National Monument. It is far from any highway, in a remote area of New Mexico and you can blink and miss it for sure. This is the second oldest national monument in the country and definitely worth the effort to visit this historical and natural wonder. Plus, it is very dog friendly!
Driving back to Albuquerque after a weekend of rural land real estate photographer in Angel Fire along the very scenic Route 66, one can find amongst an unbroken stretch of canyon, trees and river a place that very much stands out, the Johnnie Meier Classical Gas Pump Museum. Thanks to Atlas Obscura, a great website for finding strange and odd things, we knew to be on the lookout for it. There are not just old gas pumps, but any number of things from a past that is slowly being forgotten. For me seeing the old coin operated animal rides that I used to take in the 1970s and 1980s, it was a strong shot of nostalgia. Even the old cigarette machine jogged my memory to when you used to see them in every restaurant waiting room. And when was gas only 32¢ cents a gallon last?
I do not often eat out at restaurants, as I think it is the least value for money in nearly all of modern society. However, after a very long day of photography and drone video at 40+ rural land properties the day before in the middle of nowhere west of Taos, I thought Jessica and the dogs (well, they at least got free water!) deserved a treat. In our previous trips to Taos, we never got to stop at Overland Ranch, which is really just a very mountain-town looking style shopping plaza. This time we did and in it we found the Farmhouse Cafe with its wonderful outdoor setting.
This rat rod style hot rod at a small car show in Rio Rancho caught my eye for where it was parked, as well as how it looked. I cannot say I had ever seen a parking space marked "SENIOR ADULT" before. Does that mean there must be a junior adult or a senior child space somewhere in the world? This hot rod was about as ratty as they can come, and I mean no offense by that! It looked awesome and make me think I needed a tetanus shot just for standing next to it!
When I first got my DJI Mavic Pro drone in November 2017, the first place I really flew it was in Taos, New Mexico. Driving there I had no idea there was a mini-Grand Canyon just on the edge of the town, so to my great surprise was the Rio Grande Gorge revealed to me! I thought the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge would be a great place to fly the drone, but having such little flying experience and with it being so windy when I visited the bridge, the drone stayed in its case that time. Fast forward to the present, with dozens of flights of experience, having already flown under the Bixby Bridge, with the weather at near ideal conditions I did not hesitate to fly over the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge this time!
Networking friend Jennifer has been coming to the JCP Home Studio which doubles as a workout space the past couple of Fridays for a dose of Insanity Max 30 with me and Jessica. After one such workout, I setup a few lights to have fun with some fitness photos. They each picked up a dumbbell and showed their strength!
