Three visits to photograph just two rural land properties
It had been a long time since I was last in San Miguel County New Mexico on a rural land real estate photography shoot for Hemingway Land. This time it was a double property shoot going between both pieces of land to get sunset shots of each. This is a science of sort staying at one property as long as possible to get the best sunset shots of it, while still leaving time to get to the last property for its sunset shots before the sun dips below the horizon. As you can see though, I was also at these properties during the day time to capture the best clouds possible per the client’s request. I actually went back to the property a third time the next day because just as I arrived all the clouds disappeared from the sky on that first, very carefully planned and timed visit for clouds! That is the level of commitment I bring to delivering the best quality rural land photos I can to my clients.
In this video featured on Jason Collin Photography I talk about the proper way to hold a camera, how the pros do it! Next time you see a press conference scene in a TV show or in a movie, look how the “photographers” are holding their cameras. I show you how to at least look more like a pro by holding your camera in a stable way that will help you get better sharpness in your photos.
New Mexico State Senate Candidate on location photo shoot
I always really, really appreciate returning clients to Jason Collin Photography, and especially when the photos I make for them are as important as they are for New Mexico State Senate candidate Athena Christodoulou. Our first photo shoot was here at the JCP Home Studio for headshots. During this time of the coronavirus pandemic social distancing is a must, and for this on location shoot we were always more than 6 feet from each other and no one else was around. Jessica and I both wore masks during the entire shoot as well. It was a fun challenge to shoot in these conditions! Thank you fo Jessica for climbing a wall to get the diffuser in just the right place and to Athena for continuing to choose me as the photographer for her campaign.
Basically by accident I ended up at Sandia Crest for the first time in 3+ years of living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I have previously shared on Jason Collin Photography views from South Sandia Peak, which I earned by hiking all the way up there. For these views from North Sandia Peak, I have no sweat equity invested as I took the M3 up there. I was actually intending to go somewhere else in the East Mountains area, but found out it required a dirt road to reach that place, so I just continued along the paved road I was on and found it led right to the top the Sandia Mountains! This was also the first time I ever went to the top of a mountain without earning it by hiking up there. It was an odd feeling to enjoy a view that should have come after hours of effort. However, it was still a nice surprise and fortunately it was a clear day.
Conchas Lake visits require bringing your own supplies
In an area dozens of miles from any gas station, grocery store, or restaurant, Conchas Lake in New Mexico is about as remote of a place you will find that has an active community living around it. This makes it a unique lake community unlike the others I have featured on Jason Collin Photography before in Navajo Dam Lake and Elephant Butte Lake. This lake also has a dam that you can drive along the top of, which is a pretty cool experience. Enjoy the drone views of the lake and dam in this series of drone aerial photos and drone video.
Continuing the new series of video features on Jason Collin Photography, this video features a top photo tip regarding another piece of inexpensive photography gear, the diffuser. For only about $40, you can get a 42” diffuser (and most are also reflectors too). In the video you can see me make the two photos below, which are unedited, the only change is one is made in direct sunlight and the other is made with the diffuser over the flower. The diffuser works its magic not just on flowers of course, also people and anything else you want to photograph in direct sunlight.
My work as a rural land real estate photographer takes me to some very, very out of the way places in New Mexico. You may have seen many of these photos on Jason Collin Photography before. On one such recent trip, it took me past Trementina, New Mexico, which like many tiny towns in name only, the one thing they have is a post office. Next to the post office I saw this ancient, abandoned gas station. I have a long history of photographing abandoned things, which I learned to be called haikyo, from my time first exploring them in Japan in the 00s. I even had an exhibition featuring those photographs. Let me know in the comments below what year you think that gas pump last filled up a car? Or maybe just a tractor??
