While attending a pop-up market at WESST, hidden way out back with no one around were these skeletons propped up to be made to look to be driving farm equipment. It was extremely creative and unnerving in a way to see skeletons on benign human objects like a tractor. I had my Sony a7R IV with me of course with the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens on to get these detailed shots focusing in on the skeletons and their respective rides. The werewolf in the top photo unnerved me the most. Who thinks to make a werewolf skeleton?? Well done to the team that created this Halloween display!
While at the Cottonwood Mall waiting for a pet costume contest, kids in costume started also ambling in for their own contest that would follow the pet one. One kid really stood out as he was in complete makeup to look like the killer clown from IT. He was standing right next to me and it was kind of unnerving, but also amazing as I surely never had this level of costume for Halloween as a kid! I asked if I could make a photo, and got permission to make these quick natural light portraits. Even with all the makeup, the Sony a7R IV’s amazing eye autofocus nailed the shot shooting at f/1.4 no less.
What was your favorite Halloween costume as a kid? Let me know in the comments below!
On a recent rural land real estate shoot just west of Grants, I was able to take a detour to nearby Bluewater Lake State Park in a semi-official capacity, as the client wanted drone video of the lake to include with the property drone video. I had never even heard of this state park until I got this photo job neighboring it. In satellite view on Google Maps it did not look that impressive. However, my impression was instantly changed upon driving up, and essentially being able to drive right to the very edge of the lake itself! As you can see, the lake’s name is indeed apt, as its water is a deep blue. And, the park was entirely empty. I had it all to myself to enjoy for nearly an hour. Well, there were a lot of prairie dogs around, and some cows in the distance, but I do not mind animal friends for company. This is another hidden gem that is a short escape from Albuquerque. I highly recommend checking it out, especially on a weekday afternoon when it might be empty!
For the second year in a row, the day we went to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, was the one day there was no mass ascension. This is actually the third time overall in a row trying to go to Balloon Fiesta that resulted in no access or no mass ascension. So I do not have a collection of spectacular photos showing a sky full of hot air balloons. What I can share at the detail shots from very first light, through day break. The one new special shape balloon I did get to see was of a Smurf, who I think is Jokey Smurf in particular.
If anyone asks me how did I learn photography, I tell them, by walking the streets of Tokyo for hundreds of hours with my very first DSLR camera, a Nikon D80. What is great about living in a city with wide spread public transportation is you can take a train to one area, walk randomly to where your eyes take you, then just hop on another train and get back home without having to worry about returning to where your car is parked. This is how I went about finding one of my more famous photos, at least in Japan, which I titled, “Last Green Leaves Before Autumn.” I submitted it to Metropolis Magazine (the largest weekly English magazine in Japan) and they featured it in the Photo of the Week section. Picking up a copy of the magazine the Friday afternoon it came out and seeing my photo featured inside, I was stunned and even stopped strangers passing by to say (in English), “that’s my photo!” It was a moment of exhileration I have rarely ever felt again.
This was a return for me to both Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, and also Sierra Negra mountain. I was first in this area over 18 months ago and made one of my favorite landscape photos of New Mexico, so much so I had a print made and it is hanging on the wall in the dining room. The skies were of a different level of drama this time featuring bold clouds, and therefore made the mountain look totally different. Also, I have drone video this time featuring the mountain in the background.
While out on a drone aerial photoshoot for a client in remote Rio Rancho, turning away from the actual property site, I saw from the drone’s point of view this long desert road that is apparently a popular spot for motorcycles to do burnouts on! This is something that would have been very hard to observe from ground level. I am often surprised by what I find when I get home and import drone aerial photos. Even without the tire marks, I like the view the drone captured where the winding road takes the viewer into the desert, but the height of the drone keeps the viewer safe from the hardships of the desert, allowing quick escape if necessary.
