Week 50 - 2017 in Photographs

Day 343

 All seven pictures this week were taken at Eagle Nest Lake State Park. I live within an easy drive from three state parks and every year buy an annual pass just so I can park and photograph the treasures around me. All three, Cimarron Canyon, Coyote Creek, and Eagle Nest Lake are known for their fishing, but I love them most when nobody is there to take advantage of that. On the day I took these photos nobody was there at all. There was no wind, and while it looked as if it could snow more but it didn't.

I was early for some appointment, which was so unimportant I have forgotten, and stopped in at the main boat dock just to kill time and maybe catch a pelican or two. The lake was like glass and only a few small ducks and fish feeding disturbed the surface. Frequent followers of my photography blogs will know I love a good reflective surface. I find them mostly on ponds and not large lakes so this was a delight.

Day 344

 Eagle Nest lake was created by a group of ranchers who built their own dam to hold water which is used to irrigate ranch land from here to Raton. The dam is in the V between the two hills which mark the beginning of Cimarron Canyon.

Day 345

I loved the colors of that overcast day. The white from a bit of snow on the ground, the gold grasses and red willows, and the deep blue of the mountains. A lot of my photography is still used as reference for paintings. People believe I make up all my colors, and even that I am guilty of photo manipulation. Yes, I do that. I like to say of my paintings that they are what you think you saw. And I do play with digital images, but all the colors in these photographs, even the one directly below, are due to changing light during my hour killing time.

Day 346

Day 347

Day 348

Day 349