It was my pleasure to return to one of my favorite places in New Mexico this week, El Morro. I was on another assignment for Hemingway Land which took me past El Morro National Monument itself, to a very remote area 6+ miles down dirt roads. I chased clouds with my Sony a7R IV as soon as I arrived. By sunset time, only a very few lingered for me to frame for the final shots of the day. El Morro is a very special place I recommend visiting if you have never been before.
I really appreciate returning clients, and Giddens + Gatton Law are now two time returning clients no less! Plus, almost exactly one year to the day, I first visited their law firm in Albuquerque, New Mexico to make commercial portraits and headshots for them. Now that they have added a fourth attorney to their team, they wanted updated group photos featuring the new attorney as well as a few more groupings of the lawyers in general. We had the shoot in the lobby of the office building where their firm is located, just like before. Not wanting to simply repeat the shots I made for them previously, we used a different area of the lobby and I switched up lenses (and apertures) to create an entirely new look for these group photos for what I had done for them before.
Standout from other interns looking for jobs in Albuquerque
Networking friend Brian of Noventum Custom Software recommended that his intern Junchao get a professional headshot rather than just using his cell phone to take one. I am thankful for Brian’s referral and very glad that Junchao decided to make the best investment in personal branding by getting a modern, professional headshot. Look how he stands out on the team page and will stand out on LinkedIn and everywhere else he competes in a visual way with others for future jobs. Would your headshot compete with his if you are trying to catch the eye of a new employer? Think about it, would you decide to first contact someone representing themselves in a professional, modern way, or someone who made a minimal effort?
Not quite a ghost town, not quite totally forgotten, but Lowell, Arizona is certainly in the past. Walking down its main street (and only street), Erie Street, you pass storefronts full of dust covered merchandise, classic cars, a Greyhound bus waiting for no one, pool halls, and a gas station that is not exactly full service anymore, even if you were willing to pay more than 22 cents per gallon! This place fascinated me. In front of the Greyhound bus I just sat right on the sidewalk for 20 minutes trying to listen to the stories coming through the cracks of the sidewalks, the walls, the signs.
This was my second play performed by the students at Albuquerque Academy photographed in the past 3 months. Their rousing performance this time was of Pirates of Penzance. Not being a theatre buff, I had never heard of it so the story as it unfolded in front of my camera lenses was a surprise to me! Professional theatre photography is becoming a new niche for me as a professional photographer here in Albuquerque, New Mexico and I am really liking the challenge of it.
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!
Looking for an interesting place to go off-roading with a specific destination during my Florida friends visit in December, searching Google Maps I found these rock formations called the Toadstool Hoodoos far west of Rio Rancho in the desert area I often do rural land real estate shoots. The toadstools were further west than even I had been before, so it would be a new adventure for me. We all got in the Jeep Renegade Trailhawk and set out not knowing what to expect. Using Google Maps as a guide, it was stop and start to find the best road in, with some warning signs that might defeat less bold explorers. In the end, we made it to these rock formations just before sunset and there was no one around for miles and miles. I was able to treat my friends to a real New Mexico Truedesert exploring experience!
