Week 37 - 2014 in Images

Day 253

This was one of those weeks where I took more photos than I can manage to post process. I am rather a binge photographer. Yes, the 365 day challenge has gotten me to take my camera with me every single day and since I live in what to me is paradise there is almost always a scene to capture. Four of these photos were taken from my yard. So sometimes you do not even have to leave home. I posted a quote from Ansel Adams this week:

"A good photograph is about knowing where to stand."

You are much more likely to know where to stand when you are on home territory. Or areas you visit frequently. If you have been there more than once you know where the sun is, you have experience with what is in the distance and might cause later issues, and you know what time of day is best. Still even in familiar territory there are likely to be surprises like day 256, a neighbor's Yak, taken within five miles of home. Remember Ansel Adams went to Yosemite a lot.

Day 254

Clouds are always in one sense a surprise. So is the horse with its nose in the wild asters but it is monsoon season given to raise some very interesting clouds, and I knew the horses had the tendency to be photogenic. I can stand on the porch of my studio to watch things develop. Always with camera in hand of course. Day 258 was taken from the same porch. In fact, if you are good at this sort of thing you can match the trees from that shot up with the ones roughly in the center of the photo below.

Day 255

Because the Yaks on the county road were a surprise I was a bit unprepared. I had the long lens on which is good to maintain my distance but the wide angle would have offered a more sweeping view of the small herd. Still because where I found these is close to home I can go back more knowledgeable. In this case it was not so much where I stood as where they stood. They had ear tags in their right ears so if they turned their left side to me I had less touch up to do later.

Day 256

Day 257, Even the Kitchen Sink, was a surprise as I was talking down Main Street in Trinidad, Colorado seeking the perfect place to photograph the Artocade. Just as an aside the parade changed directions and did not turn on the corner it was suppose to turn. I was scrambling for a new location. But I had to take this photo in case it was not there when I came back the next time. This was a quick shot.

Day 257

Day 258

To Ansel Adam's quote I would add - At the right time. Photography is about light and thus the time of day becomes all important. You are more likely to get that right if it is home territory. While I have been writing this blog I have been getting up from time to time to check on the eastern horizon. It just may be a great dawn. Or not. It rained last night and there are clouds lingering over the mountains.

Weather conditions are important too. Though in New Mexico wait ten minutes or drive ten miles is a factor with weather. Monsoons that make for great clouds also make for lovely misty mornings. Like those pictured in Day 258 and Day 259. Day 258 was from the porch steps, and Day 259 within a mile of the Yak pictured above.

I went back to the Yak pasture yesterday. No mist. No Yaks. Mist and Yaks move. Adams went back to the Ranchos de Taos Mission countless times to get is iconic images of it. So subjects close to home are more likely to render the best photos. People learn from their mistakes and with digital technology the mistakes do not cost as much. Just the gas to get to that right place to stand.

Day 259

I have been enthralled with the composition of the fence and opening in the trees in Day 259 for years. I am still looking for the absolutely perfect lighting and weather conditions to take it but I have found where to stand. I think toward sunset today might be nice if it is not pouring rain as forecast.