Back on a rural land photography assignment for Hemingway Land Company in remote northwest Rio Rancho, New Mexico, I had to wait out a deluge, hail, and lightning to get these photos! A lot can happen in 30 miles in the evening during the monsoon season in New Mexico, and that was certainly the case as I left Albuquerque in mostly sunny skies only to end up surrounded by dark clouds in all directions in Rio Rancho. I got a few quick photos, then the rain came and I took cover inside my Jeep Renegade Trailhawk. In the middle of the rain I saw in my rearview mirror a lone rider on horseback. I could not tell who liked it least being caught in the rain, man or horse!
I have been to many places around the world, some considered wonders of the world, like Angkor Wat in Cambodia, some hard to reach, like the jungles in Borneo, as well as famous wonders in the U.S. like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. Monument Valley in Utah ranks up there with the most wondrous places I have seen. I bookended my time at Monument Valley first with a sunset visit, then the next morning at 6am with a sunrise explore. The photos you see here are all from that very early even-pre-sunset time in Monument Valley. So early, no one was at the gate to even pay to enter! No one else had yet driven into the valley that morning. I had the view of the two Mittens and Merrick Butte all to myself for awhile.
Earlier this year I drove through Phoenix and the amazing saguaro cactus desertscape and kept thinking, around the next corner I will stop and get some photos. The next corner turned into the next corner and then at the next corner, the saguaro cactus were all gone. I had missed my chance. On a recent return to Phoenix I made sure to be ready to stop on the approach to the city, find a dirt road, pull off, and both get still photos with my Nikon and 4K video with my DJI Mavic Prodrone.
All my brief time in New Mexico I heard of something called, Shiprock. I heard many things about it. "It is a spiritual place." "It is very hard to drive to." "You have to go there." I can now say all of those statements are true. After several wrong turns, accompanied by Jessica, our dogs, and two friends visiting from Florida, I pointed my Jeep Renegade Trailhawk down the correct dirt road and rolled slowly toward this towering rock formation that the day before was visible from 30+ miles away in Arizona. Twilight was already arriving as we arrived. The rain held off and provided dramatic clouds for the background of the photographs I took from the surface with my Nikon, and the drone photos and video I took from the air.
I spent a bookend of twilight and dawn in Monument Valley in Utah. During the dawn, I met these wild horses, some of whom were just standing staring listlessly with their ribs and hip joints jutting out. Others equally as bony grazed on thorny brush. They seemed to not care about my presence, maybe too hungry? After the horse above had finished munching on that bush, I went and touched it and it hurt my hand even with a gentle touch. How that horse could chew on and eat it is beyond me. Even though it was sad to see them so skinny, it was still special to share the quiet dawn in Monument Valley with them, unexpected friends.
While I was in Cloudcroft, New Mexico on a rural land photography assignment, I took notice of these very unusual flowers that I thought looked like rocket popsicles that a hummingbird was having breakfast at. I had my excellent new Tamron 90mm f/2.8 Macro SP lens on my Nikon D750. There was no way to track this fast moving bird through the air. How to get this shot then? Pre-focus on a flower you hope the hummingbird will land on, and wait. I studied the bird's flying patterns a bit, noticing it kept coming back to this particular flower. I approached slowly, very slowly, and then froze waiting for the hummingbird to return. The focus point is not perfect, and I wish the hummingbird had chosen a prettier flower to drink nectar from, but I like the bokeh enough to share this photo with you.
Out on a rural land photography assignment in Edgewood, New Mexico, I was warned by the land broker that access to this 5-acre property might be challenging. It certainly was! Barbed wire and gates blocked the first few access road, and the last, "legal access" point was down an eroded incline even too extreme for my Jeep Renegade Trailhawk! I had to park at the top of the incline, then carry about 40 pounds of photographer gear, drone gear and my tripod for about a third of a mile first down that incline then up a rocky ridge.
