Top Landscapes of 2014

Herd Before the Storm

I consider myself primarily a landscape photographer. And I live in an area with fantastic natural beauty. So out of the 365 days of posts a large percentage were landscapes. Those which made up one of the 365 for 2014 were culled from an even larger amount photographs taken. The six photographs included in this blog I consider special for one reason or other. The first photograph could be just another picture of clouds. And I have so many pictures of clouds. The combination of clouds with the herd and the light created a great photograph. Even the slant of the land and the bit of snow fence added to an otherwise ordinary picture.

If you live in the Enchanted Circle of northern New Mexico you are definitely familiar with Old Mike's and Wheeler Peak, the two highest points in the state. Needless to say these two peaks are photographed a lot. Old Mike's in the predominate mountain in this photograph and the all white tiny point to its left is actually the taller Wheeler Peak. The aspects of this photograph, which to me, make it special among the dozens I took in 2014 are the early fall snow, the patch of golden aspens on the foot hills, the clouds, and the play of light and shadows.

But especially important was the point of view. This photo was taken on a walk up the hill from my house. It is not just the mountain but the grass meadow, the near by forest, the distant hills, and the mountain all of which adds to the feeling of distance and size. And to me the mountain itself has great mass when not entirely covered in snow. The early fall snow left the rock structures of the Sangre's not only visible but defined. And, the morning light on the pines helps too.

The Top of the Sangre de Cristos

Ansel Adams said a great photograph was about being in the right place. I would add, at the right time. On a drive back from Albuquerque a friend and I stopped at the top of the Horseshoe turn at the Taos Volcanic Plateau overlook because of smoke rising from a prescribed burn on the distant Apache Reservation to the west. The smoke had drifted into the plateau and filled up the Rio Grande Gorge which splits the plateau.

Here again an often photographed subject by tourists, professional photographers and myself. I have always been rather disappointed at the results. I figured with the smoke this was not destined to be satisfying but, heck, it is digital and I do not have to pay for film or developing so I snapped a few of the smoky gorge. The resultant images were colorless enough that I wondered what they would look like in black and white. And got this great image. The smoke defined the gorge rim and added to the perceived depth of the canyon. BTW it is about 400 to 600 feet deep at this point along its course. It also increased the reality of distance often flattened by full sun.

The Crack

The photograph below was taken in the neighborhood. It is a road I often take. And too often stop to photograph. But an 18 inch snow storm transformed this road through the woods. And the long winter shadows of the morning added to the depth. Never neglect the familiar.

The Road Often Taken

I loved these rocks on a sandstone bluff near Aztec, New Mexico. There they were with no other rocks around. The sandstone underneath them had been worn away by wind and rain to leave these former cap stones stranded. But all the photos seemed ordinary until I tried one on the slant. It is one of my favorite landscapes of the year but obviously impressed nobody else.

Aliens?

While the photograph below turned out to get more likes than any other posted from that same trip. It was for me a "throw away." One of those photos you take just to prove you were there. Or in the old film days to take the one more photo on the roll so you can reload the camera in case a herd of elk come over the hill.

Homestead

In fact, I did not originally even post it as one of the 365 photos for 2014, but to my Back Country Page on Facebook.  When it proved so popular I had to take a second look at this abandoned homestead outside Pagosa Springs. All I remembered were the weeds (thistle) and prairie dog holes. And that I did not want to walk through either to get a better angle or close up on the buildings. But time and distance from the subject revealed the composition and clouds and shadows and light which made it a good photograph.

Tip: Don't consider only your opinion.

All these photographs are for sale. Many are featured on Fine Art American site.

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.