Week 45 - Cottonwoods on the Rio Grande

Day 309
Where we used to dine at Embudo

When you live in the mountains the seasons come in stages. Fall can go on for weeks by just traveling down the mountain. First come the Aspens where I live and lastly come the cottonwoods on the Rio Grande. There are other stops along the way like Chama and Abiquiu but one cannot always get away to visit them all. For me my day trip down to the Rio Grande was the top of fall.

Day 310
On the banks of the Rio Grande

And these are just seven of the many photos I did take. Maybe not even the best but a good sampling. I made it to the canyon just as the sun was topping the walls and lighting up the cottonwoods. It was a glorious day. And the next day it snowed. So next week's blog will be white.

Day 311
Under the Cottonwoods

Aspens are tall and straight and whit with leaves just at their tops. Cottonwoods are explosions of trunks and branches in dark brown and the gold, and orange leaves are everywhere between you and the sun; turning the very light gold.

Day 312
The bend in the river

The Rio Grande runs through the gorge cut through the Taos Volcanic Plateau and emerges into the light in the Rio Grande Del Norte National Monument close to Pilar. This is one of the first bends as it leaves the protection of the park. Water is low this year. Snow pack, which feeds the river, had just been about 40% this last winter. It did not dull the colors but it shortened the season of colors.

Day 313
Sun topping the canyon wall

Below the gorge and into the Espanola Valley there are still cottonwoods but here hemmed in by the dark volcanic and granite walls the colors seem more striking. Especially in the early morning as the sun tops the canyon walls.

Day 314
Let there be light

 I raced through the canyon to Embudo Station first and then waited for the sun. Once it was up there I worked my way back up into the canyon and met the sun as it topped the walls and streaked through the trees.

Day 315
All alone

When I photographed this last tree the canyon had broadened out and the sun was fully up. Still the dark shadows on the surrounding landscape made it standout, all alone and away from the others on the banks of the river.

Week Four - 2015 in Images

Day 22

Finished up one painting this week, in the middle of a second, and just began a third yesterday. So my focus has been on painting. And my morning outings as been with the dogs and not the camera. There is a major snow storm moving in so all the same scenes will be new again. Snow changes things. Including mood and desire to take the camera out. January thaw continues on the whole. But then there was the day it didn't snow here but just on the high mountains.

Day 23

Everyone is probably getting tired of the snow capped peaks where I live. They often look rather stock photoish to me, but I admit to being overly fascinated with them this winter. Trying to come up with the perfect stock photo I suppose. I have found different places to take pictures from of this highest part of New Mexico. The camera has not gone on walks but it has gone on drives. No worries about snow or chuck holes with Big Blue.

Day 24

My camera's main focus this week has been is-it-done-yet photographs of paintings. Feeling guilty I took some extra time on the computer to post process a couple previous photos I took like this still life above. Or the water in the Rio Grande below taken when I had to run to Espanola for some things.

Day 25

A fan on Binford-Bell Studio Page said it made her dizzy. I wanted to reply, "Yes. And your point?" But I just posted the water flat. Cropped the bank line out of this one below. The flat line of the bank can be rather static even in a non-static body of water.

Day 26

Definitely a hodgepodge week with photographs. In part because I have designated next week as black and white so some of the photos taken this week are going to be seen next. And some of them posted this week were from last. I did a blog on Sidetracked Charley about the Creative DSLR Selfie and the photograph below is the lead selfie of those.  

Day 27

The creative selfie is suppose to say something about who you are. So a shadowy me before the reflection of a map where I live and the landscape I so often photograph behind me says a lot. But even people without cameras make statements about themselves in various ways. Decorating your space is one of those. If you do not hire a decorator. I rarely take portraits of people partly because where I live people are seldom in the scenes I focus on. My portraits of people are often their unconscious creations be it what they hang on their walls or leave in their yards like old and rusty cars.

Day 28