Week 47 - 2014 in Photos

Day 323

Interesting week which allowed little time for photography, and post processing. But it was also a week interesting weather. I love snow to photograph. It is great for black and white treatment. But I am a lover of color. So between snow pictures I post processed abandoned files using max color. Brightens up a dull day of blowing snow.

Day 324

Scrappy first appeared on my Facebook timeline. Post of cute cats. But there is something a bit more artistic about this photo. Light, brushes in the foreground go to enhance Scrappy's pose on the cat ladder.

The first photo was junkyard and so is the following one. I love rust patterns. And combined with remnants of paint on this barrel it almost looks like a survey map of an undiscovered ocean.

Day 325

And then there is snow. And so much snow nobody much was out which made for fabulous untouched scenes. This is the color version. Color provided by the bare branches of the aspens.

Day 326

And at the end of the snowy road was the ranch keeper's pickup cooling off. Do not know the age of this vehicle but in spite of occasional breakdowns it keeps on running. Older pickups are easier to fix for those of us that leave hours from the nearest dealership. This truck, in my opinion just keeps looking better and better.

Day 327

The below photograph was taken at the same location as Day 326. The continuing snow shows up better in the black and white version. Eighteen inches of snow had fallen over night and it continued to snow throughout much of the day but lighter.

Day 328

The falling snow against the frozen ice surrounding  open water for the ducks added to an interesting mix of textures. And this is a color photo. Falling snow reduced the color saturation quite beautifully.

Day 329

Week 46 - 2014 in Images

Day 316

I am not sure just exactly why Big Blue does reflections so well. It is not a new truck and I do not run it through the car wash hardly ever. I have taken more pictures of this vehicle than any of my others and it is basically because it poses so well with awesome reflections not merely on the windows but the car body as well. It is a great digital canvas.

Day 317 - Memories of a Glorious Fall

Fall this year seemed to go on forever. We had lots of moisture before it began and no big storms to ruin the leaves once they began to turn. And I traveled enough and at just the right times that I got to catch it again and again. This picture got lost among the many others I took on an outing to Las Vegas. It was taken in La Cuevo where I pick raspberries in season.

Day 318 - Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas

The trip to Las Vegas, New Mexico generated lots of interesting photographs which got forgotten in their folder due to life. It has been a really busy fall and I find myself looking forward to a slower paced winter. Though that may be wishful thinking. I want to do another day trip to Las Vegas. A cloudy day would be nice. Only photographers can complain about a beautiful fall day with clear blue skies. I like, however how the blue of the windows and the details on the restored Plaza Hotel are a perfect match to the sky in this photograph.

Day 319

Down below was an antique shop. Up above was obviously not restored. I often dream of living above the shop as it were. It would have a building such as this built before shop owners moved to the suburbs. This one was on National Street in Las Vegas, NM.

Day 320 - the Cafe

Buildings on both sides were restored and occupied. Obviously much more to do with this gem but first the temporary political headquarters has to go. Martinez was re-elected to the horror of a lot of New Mexico women who clearly did not vote. BTW she would be totally against the renewal going on in downtown Las Vegas. Hopefully that does not stop progress.

Day 321 - Big Blue posing again

The building reflected in the windows is in Las Vegas and just next door to the fabulously restored Plaza Hotel. Somehow I cannot imagine progress allowing this building to not be repurposed. At one time the downtown plaza area was quite derelict but the number of occupied and restored buildings is going up.

Day 322

This old building on National was occupied bottom and top. The plants loved it. But restoring it is obviously a work in progress. The building to its right was under restoration. I was down for an artists studio and gallery tour and several of the participants were in this area. I would love to go back with some money and purchase a few things to encourage those resettling these old buildings.

For Sale - Bonus photo

I stood in front of this building for some time. It is almost directly across from the Plaza which is partially reflected in its windows. Someone has done a lot of work on it. And it is for sale. If only I was younger and rich.

Creative Play with Trucks

Big Red One

I love old trucks. They are such fun to find and photograph and also a lot of fun to play with in the dry darkroom. After this last snow storm the trucks seemed all that much shinier and brighter. And there is the ice and glass and paint combination.

Big Blue One

Add in reflections in glass and rear view mirrors and it makes for a really fun photo shoot. I loved the way this photo of Big Blue's rear view mirror was great way to show the trees in the snow.

Rear View

Big Red Two

This red truck has been featured a lot in my photos. But I liked it particularly with the snow and ice cycles.  It is a trusted ranch vehicle but if photograph one is any indication it is have not the best of days. Cold weather can be rough but that is what pickups are designed for.

Ice Lashes on Big Blue

There is nothing so beautiful as a much loved old truck when it makes it through the storm.

Week 45 - 2014 in Images

Day 309

On my 365 Day Challenge it isn't taking the photograph on that day but processing it. It is easy for me to rush out and take 200 to 600 images but often they sit in their upload files and get ignored. I come home from an exhibition with a memory of the five to ten photographs I just must see and process. My trek around Northwestern New Mexico was almost a month ago and I am just going back and mining some of the also ran's like the one above. In fact, except for the photo below all this week's photos are also ran's.

Having photos I can go back to and post process does not mean the camera stays home. This cloudy day refection in a pond was entirely too good to pass up and one of those photos I rushed home to process. Thus putting me more behind on others.

Day 310

Day 311 is from Aztec Ruins near Farmington, New Mexico. I unearthed this one because I was opening a new Gallery - Details on my FineArtAmerica Artists site. I like taking photographs of textures and details on buildings. This one is an Aztec Ruins Detail.

Day 311

And this one is a detail of the colors in a hot spring on the San Juan as it passes through Pagosa Springs.

Day 312

A friend thinks she sees an elephant in this rock formation from Aztec Arches. I thought it looked like to aliens talking to each other so I titled it Conversation.

Day 313

Took a lot of photographs on San Francisco de Assi Misson in Ranchos de Taos. Took me a while to get around working on them in the dry darkroom. From Ansel Adams onward this mission has been photographed again and again. That alone can be off putting. No serious photographer wants to take the same image another photographer is known for. Ansel Adams is hard to compete with and yet when I looked at the photos I took I found myself going back to his signature black and white. The reflections in the rain puddle made this view unique.

Day 314

Day 315 was processed soon after it was taken and posted on my Facebook Timeline. It falls in that category of "Been There." And yet more people raved about this idyllic photograph than many of my more "professional" images. Probably because it falls into the area of landscape which makes the viewer feel at home. It lacks only a stream and a sheep or two.

I ended up posting it in my 365 day Challenge because of the clouds, light, and shadow. It is a good photograph. And the lesson for the week is perhaps that we as photographers can let our preconceptions of our subjects get in the way of a logical critique of the photo itself.

Day 315

Week 44 - 2014 in Images

Day 302
Trek through the Badlands

This week's photos come mostly from my road trip with photographer Terry Atkin Rowe. There are more pictures which need to be post processed so in the week to come there will be more of our trek through northeastern New Mexico. I came home from my days away from the studio with a desire to paint. And paint I have.

And it became clear the beautiful days of October could not last forever. There were things outside which must be done before winter closes in. The darkroom, dry or not, is for inclement weather.

Day 303
Slip Sliding Away

In addition to new subjects the photography road trip presents you with the desire (and time) to see things in different ways. The 365 day photography challenge gets you out with the camera and often it is brought back home with no new images. That is the camera going along on another mission like a trip to a store. But when the camera is the sole reason (or at least a primary one) for the mission you spend more time with your subjects. I do not want to tell you how many photographs I have of those four rocks above.

I wanted a picture of those rocks which showed how strange they looked in their environment, and rather out of place. The ultimate solution was to twist the camera.

Day 304

And in Aztec, New Mexico just outside of the Aztec Ruins National park the city was revamping a city park complete with new pedestrian  bridge across the Animas River. Nice bridge but it was the underside which defined for me its form.

Day 305
Monster in Stone

This sandstone monster in the Aztec Arches area was captivating. I have lots of pictures of him too from lots of angles. This one makes it look like he is sadly offering me a bush.

Day 306

Day 306 is the one photo from this week which was taken on home ground. I was trying to record something very different at the request of a friend and walked around the pond to get a different angle. The light and reflections were too good to pass up. It was one of three quick photos in the midst of a different subject.

The reflections through the midst in the photo below took more exposures but mostly because I was trying to capture the gold fish. I am happy I got the photo but nobody sees the gold fish. Some do not even see the reflections. They just wonder what the structure is. Guess you had to have been there.

Day 307

New Mexico has a lot of Anasazi ruins and so it becomes all about getting them in a different way. I stood around and waited for the sun to come through the clouds and illuminate this group of cottonwoods behind a bank of crumbling walls. I think the wait was worth it.

Day 308

The camera has been basically taking pictures of progress on two paintings this week. That is supposedly its primary function. Painters have to be able to take pictures of their work for portfolios and in this day of internet marketing to entice buyers to their sites. I sell photographs too. And this last week I worked at setting a FineArtAmerica Artists Website up. I invite you to visit. And if there is a photograph here on my blog (and any of the previous blogs) which you would like just let me know in a comment and I will post it to FineArtAmerica so you can purchase it in the size you wish.