Delayed by weeks because of weather, I was finally able to drive to the remote town of Lordsburg, New Mexico, in the far southwest of the state for a serious of rural land real estate shoots. I was last in this area in October 2018 for more photo work for Hemingway Land. These photos are actually from properties close to the very tiny town of Animas, a one gas station town that is one of the only places to get gas in the extreme southwest area of New Mexico. How do I know this? Because in January returning from a vacation that ended in Bisbee, Arizona heading to Columbus, New Mexico, I needed gas for the Jeep and this was the only place around! What else is in this area? Not much at all. If you want privacy and to be off the grid, this is the area for it and needs it because if you want to buy a 4K TV in person, you have at least a 2 hour drive!
I adopted Kiki when she was just 10 weeks old and 11 pounds. She has now turned 11 years old and in all that time we have never even spent one night apart. I cannot say that for any human being in my life. She is the one constant in a life of great change. Whether it was on the beaches of Florida, the capital stairs of Des Moines, or the desert in New Mexico, Kiki has always been by my side.
Kind of on a whim we decided to visit a small theme park outside of Tucson, Arizona called Old Tucson, mostly because it allowed dogs inside! This park was a functioning movie and TV show set for decades. You start in the park by seeing many movie posters of stars who walked on the same dust you get to walk on. It’s not just all old buildings though. This park is very much still alive as exhibited by this amazing Hollywood stunt show! The stuntmen demonstrated how to take a punch, how to shoot a gun loaded with blanks, and how to fall off a ladder pushed off of a ledge! This place is definitely worth checking out, and no need to leave your dog at home!
Hidden on the back of a mesa in Sedona, Arizona, the Devil’s Bridge is a stunning rock formation with a long line of people waiting to take a photo on it. There is a long way and a less long way to reach the Devil’s Bridge in the first place. Having a Jeep Renegade Trailhawk allowed us to take the less long way, as a mile of very, very rough road was bouncily traversed in the Jeep. After the still not insignificant hike to the back of the mesa, I think I noticed the long line of people before actually noticing the Devil’s Bridge itself! How does something like this naturally occur? It’s just another wonder of Nature. One cannot actually cross the bridge as it would take a hardly leap to get back to the side of the mesa, which I contemplated doing, but with much of it still snow and ice covered, that is something only possible in the summer. I did not wait in the line to stand on the bridge, but you can see Jessica in the top photo standing out on the Devil’s Bridge. As you can see, the red rock view’s from the bridge are not bad at all either!
Atlas Obscura is a great resource for finding odd places to stop when traveling between places. In this case, we were driving from Sedona, Arizona to Tucson and made a 40 minute detour to see the Domes of Casa Grande. Atlas Obscura describes these domes as being built around the late 1970s for computer manufacturing, but were never actually completed as you can see in the aerial drone photos below. What are the rumors for what happens in the domes and its tunnels now? Nothing less than maybe satanic worship. The area is totally fenced off with no trespassing signs as they have been slated for demolition, but still stood as of January 2020.
For regular readers of this blog, you may recognize both Kawtar and my M3. Kawtar is a networking friend who also was a headshot client 2 months ago. She has a custom of having themed photos of her made every New Year’s. This year she wanted to pose with a convertible, and it just so happened I have a convertible! We decided on a parking garage location for the shoot because it is an appropriate setting for using a car as prop. You would never know how cold and windy it actually was from the photos, but Kawtar was up for any ideas I had, and Jessica was a great assistant making sure all the lighting stayed up in the air as needed.
This is my second year in a row choosing my Favorite Five photos of the 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 intend to keep this custom going strong on into the future.
How do I choose?
The diversity of photos I made in 2019 once again made it very hard to choose just five, and this year the photos are made from three different devices: my now sold Nikon DSLR, my new Sony mirrorless camera, and my updated drone.
My criteria for choosing are simple:
photos made in the 2019 calendar year
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 2019 selections, and as compared to my past years’ selections.
