Desert as alive as the jungle?
My rural land photography work often takes me out into the desert were very few signs of life exist. Sometimes I scare a jack rabbit from behind a bush. Sometimes black beetles back their way over the sand. Birds may soar overhead looking aimlessly for food or greener perches. Plants seem to be in abundance in some areas of the desert, like the one pictured above, but how much life is there? What does desert life mean? Is the desert as alive as the jungle?
Read MoreSlab City no longer like Easy Rider era
Slab City. It was a mysterious place floating in my mind for decades, ever since seeing Easy Rider. In my memory the movie showed Slab City as a place in California you can just setup and live, on empty slabs of concrete out in the desert. In preparing to go to Slab City recently, I read up some about it. It was supposedly still a lawless place where the police did not go, and were not wanted. I was actually concerned about safety issues trying to just drive through Slab City. I expected to be met with very unwelcome looks, as an outsider. Slab City, I thought, is not a place for casual visitors.
Read MoreABQ in long view
If are a subscriber to my business Facebook Page, then you see my regular Facebook Live videos from the many rural land real estate shoots I am on in remote northwest Rio Rancho and the unique views that area offers. Through the eye of my telephoto lens, you can see nearly all of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho sprawled out at the feet of the Sandia Mountains.
Read MoreSee a photo, stop and make the photo
It was a long day at this point when I was driving up a twisting and rising mountain road from Timberon, New Mexico back up to Cloudcroft, New Mexico. Earlier that morning I had made the 3.5 drive from Albuquerque to Cloudcroft. Checked in to the same B&B I stayed at last time I was in Cloudcroft (the excellent Crofting Inn). Made the hour drive down to TImberon and then spent 2.5 hours outside making photographs and flying my drone over a rural land real estate property.
Read MoreNamed for trees, spectacular for rocks
For me, the phrase joshua tree has always been associated with the famous U2 album from 1987 and its iconic cover art. There is actually no joshua tree in the photo. I finally got a chance to visit Joshua Tree National Park and soon realized that the eponymous trees are not the stars of the park by a long shot. The real attraction are the rock formations. Some tower, some are piles, they are all sitting there challenging you to climb them. This photo story presents a set of black and white photos of a lone climber on a rock face and a series of color photos one of which is made up of silhouettes of me, Jessica, Kiki and Artie!
Read MoreFive to Stay Alive
I have renewed my end of the year custom of choosing my Favorite Five Photographs of the past year. I first did this back in 2009, my first full year as a professional photographer spanning time in Tokyo and Florida. I kept up this custom until 2013. Then there was an absence as things meandered in my life and my business. However, I have reemerged in 2018 with my photo business having had its best year ever, and with a diversity of photos that once again made it very hard to choose just five.
My criteria for choosing are simple:
photos made in the 2018 calendar year (so some great Malibu shots just missed the cut that would have made it otherwise
Only one photo per category
There is something about the photo that appeals to me in a unique way
Below I will post links to all past Favorite Five years. I would really be interested in feedback in the comments on what you think of my 2018 selections, and as compared to my past years’ selections
Read MoreThe Most Iconic Road View of the West
I do not know if the movie Forrest Gump put this view into my mind, or maybe it was from a time long before, but certainly for years and years I dreamed of seeing this iconic western road view. I believe it to be the signature view from the road of the American West. A road that vanishes and falls and rises into the mesas of Monument Valley that looks alien, futuristic, and ancient at the same time.
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