Bringing the River of Lights into the City in ABQ 2020
One of the annual holiday traditions in Albuquerque is the River of Lights at the ABQ BioPark, which is a vast Christmas lights display. I went back in 2018 with a 50mm lens and photographed dinosaurs, a sleepy cowboy, and all sorts of flora and fauna. WIth Covid-19, the usual crowded light viewing experience is not possible, so the park shared some of its illuminated creations with store fronts in the Nob Hill area of Albuquerque. This is why the T-Rex now stalks freely in the city, horny toads eat plants in consignment shops, and a train crosses right over Central Ave.
Taking my new Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 G Master lens out on its first shoot recently, on my way to the actual shoot location, I saw this farm irrigation system. It was a good chance to check out just what 12mm can capture in a dreamscape setting with the setting sun and dramatic clouds above. The emptiness of the land to me lets me dream of what grew here earlier in the season, and what has grown on it in decades past. What do you see in your dreams in looking at these landscapes?
While out on a rural land real estate shoot for Hemingway Land, the client wanted me to get some photos of the local color, as he put it. These photos represent that. Even if you live in Albuquerque, you may not have ever been to nearby Moriarty, NM. The town’s nickname is the Crossroads of Opportunity. Many small New Mexico towns have such monikers attached to their welcome signs. I find them interesting. So this small town may not be the first thing you think of when someone says Moriarty. Most likely you think Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, but now you can bring up knowledge of a second Moriarty in conversation!
Albuquerque is not supposed to be a very snowy city. There are other places in New Mexico that do get their fair bit of snow, which might be surprising for a desert state, but even though ABQ is a mile high city, significant snow is rare, at least in my now going on 4 winters here. So getting over 6 inches of snow while still in October after it was just 81F two days earlier is quite the shock! I sent the drone up to document the snowfall in all forms —> hyperlapse video, 360 aerial panorama, and aerial still photos. I want to give unique views of commonly photographed events and things here at Jason Collin Photography.
New Mexico is not generally well known as an area of volcanic activity, at least not in this millennium! However, the state’s volcanic past is highly visible in Cibola County where a large swath is covered in lava fields, and in this particular spot I visited recently, Lava Falls. You can drive right up to this area and then explore on foot acres and acres as far as the eye can see of lava in all forms. An alien landscape that you can touch right here in New Mexico! I provide a map below so you can go check it out yourself.
It was not at all like how I thought my first home buying experience would be, but after a 3-month long ordeal, I am now a first time homeowner! We had been renting this house for a year and agreed to sign another 1-year lease. Well, just before we could do that the owner decides to sell the house! So it is either buy the house, or move! And that is how I became a home owner. No being courted by real estate agents, no discovering your dream home, no holding a sold sign, just kind of happened out of necessity. It’s a great house, in a fantastic location in Albuquerque, and will continue to be the home of Jason Collin Photography for the near future. Too bad we cannot even have a house warming party due to Covid-19!
Smokey the Bear spokesanimal for preventing forest fires!
A recent commercial interior photo shoot took me to Ruidoso, New Mexico for the firs time, which in turn by taking the scenic route took me to Capitan, New Mexico which to my great surprise is the home of the real Smokey the Bear! Who knew? Smokey has his own historic park detailing his life story. His life definitely started out very sad, being orphaned in a forest fire and being found burned and clinging to a tree (see photo below). This early tragedy led him to a life as an ambassador for the forest serivce and a spokesanimal for preventing forest fires. He served in this role for 25 years! What an amazing story and to discover it right here in New Mexico.
