Week 15 - 2015 in Photographs

Day 99 - They're back

Black Lake/Moreno Valley area is primarily summer pasture for cattle. Round up crews and cattle trucks arrive in October to haul cattle away and come spring the trucks come back with the breeding stock and yearlings to put weight on. It is a good time to get interested in landscape again. There is a hint of green in the meadows, snow still on the mountain tops, spring storm clouds, and cattle, horses and elk.

Day 103 - Elk cows returning to the meadows

The elk are the ones on the stilts. The elk cows are pregnant as are the cows in the herds of cattle. The cattle are already starting to calve. The elk will wait until May or June. It is highly likely it will snow again, but the ponds have thawed and the streams are running. What more could a landscape photographer ask for?

Day 100

Dry trails and no snow drifts to have to traverse to get the detail shots. I love the willows and aspens at this time of year. The sap is running and the willow stalks begin to change color. The buds are puffing up. And here and there is a seed stalk from last year. But green has not dominated the landscape yet. Green is not my favorite color in photography or painting. There are so many other prettier colors. And green can be rude on a cliff face.

Day 101 - the Palisades

Now is the time to capture the Palisades in Cimarron Canyon if you want the photo go be about the rocks and not the vegetation which manages to hang on to life there.

Day 102 - Shack on Church Row

I love this old shack but it seems every time I drive by there is snow or wind or mud. This week just the wind. They just finished church number two up the road from this old cabin is disrepair. No doubt the parishioners of one or both churches will think it is time for it to go so as to not disgrace their creations to their gods. Frankly, I think this building in the sage at the foot of the top of the Cristos is better than any sermon which might be uttered at the two churches up the road.

Day 104 - in memory of fire

Speaking of sermons and pray seems a good time to remind myself and others of the fire danger ahead. A few years back Cimarron Canyon had a fire. Forest management leaves some of the reminders of those events around. It is good for the soil and new growth and good to remind the campers to be careful of fire.

Day 105

I have been trying to find out who is Rick. In New Mexico the cross by the road to mark a fatal accident is not unusual but this cross and this rock are not right by the road. Instead they stand by the Cimarron River. I would say it is his favorite fishing spot but the willows at just this spot block access to the river. And it does not look like a comfortable place to sit.