I have explored many haikyo (abandoned places) around the world, but I have never photographed an event in one before! Likewise, if you have been to the Rail Yards Market before, maybe you have never seen the Rail Yards of Albuquerque quite like this either! Inside the massive hangar, even seating for 180 people looks small. That is what I discovered photographing the 2018 TapIntoABQ event for the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.
Last week I invested in getting a macro lens, the new Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro SP. For those of you with really good memories, you will have realized this is my third Tamron lens in the past 9 months. Tamron is just simply producing the best lenses available for Nikon right now. I had the Nikon 105mm VR Micro (they use micro not macro in the name) lens from 2009 until about 2013 and loved it. It was such a fun lens to shoot with, as making macro shots always had a sense of wonder at showing a hidden world the naked eye cannot see. It had very creamy bokeh and was very, very sharp. I also loved it for portraits and just as my walking around lens.
At long last I got to see the Porsche 918 Spyder in person! To my great surprise Porsche of Albuquerque not only featured the 918 hypercar, but also the previous Porsche hypercar, the Carrera GT! The 918 Spyder was pretty much considered the fastest production car in existence when it came out just 3 years ago, and there really is not anything much faster around a track yet.
My latest rural land real estatedrone video and photo shoot assignment had me going to not so far away Sedillo, New Mexico for Hemingway Land Company. Not only was this the closest I have traveled for a rural land shoot, it was also one of the only times a paved road went right up to the property! This was a very nice subdivision that you would never know is there because it is hidden in a valley and then winds up to a ridge. You can get a sense of this topography in the drone video above and the aerial drone photos below.
Karen has taken three 1-on-1 DSLR photography lessons with me at the JCP Home Studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico as she had a big family reunion coming up in Taos she wanted to be able to make great candid photos of, as well as group photos. She has a Nikon D750, the same camera I have! So it was very easy to show her all the custom settings I use myself on my own Nikon. The first 2-hour lesson was focused on teaching her my 5-step process for shooing in manual mode and getting a sharp and well exposed photo in any shooting conditions.
Brandon called me up to talk about having headshots made for his budding acting career. I was very flattered to learn he would be coming all the way from Colorado and chose me out of all headshot photographers in Albuquerque! He wanted a proper, full-on headshot shoot with a MUA (makeup artist) present and multiple outfit changes. This is the kind of headshot shoot I will be doing more as I want to offer clients a high end experience like you get in New York or L.A. right here in Albuquerque.
When I heard of this ghost town near Hillsboro, New Mexico I was quite excited. Exploring haikyo in Japan (and even here in the U.S.) was the source of some of my greatest adventures. All of these past places were just forgotten and open for exploring. Lake Valley Ghost Town, however, had an admission gate and a museum! Despite this it was still interesting to see an old safe lying open in the desert, wagon wheels leaning against fences, and to listen for old voices. It was useful having actual signs describing what each place was in a past life, even if it took a lot of mystery and imagination away.
