On this past Christmas Eve I was en route to my mom’s house in Oklahoma. Traveling through central New Mexico to catch I-40 and head east, I came over a ridge and was quite impressed with the view. So naturally I pulled over and stole a few pictures before continuing on. This was the first snow of the season and the trailing edge of the weather front that dropped it is just visible on the right side of the picture. Unfortunately, that same storm went to my mom’s house, dropped a ton of ice and left her (and ultimately me) without power for a few days.
Monthly Archives: February 2010
Abandoned in Mississippi
I found this house on a photo-taking daytrip I took while still in Columbus, MS. I had just purchased a crap tripod for my camera in hope of trying out HDR photography. This house happened to be my first subject done in that style and it turned out great. I did a little more developing of this photo this time around to bring out the color a bit better. Anyway… Fun stuff.
Low Detail Weather
Taken shortly before the picture featured two days ago, this photo is my favorite from that day. Looking due south from US-70 between Holloman AFB and Alamogordo, this was originally an HDR image which had significant digital noise in the dark areas (an issue with the processing challenges inherent in that style). Trying to correct it somewhat in Photoshop, I decided to see what taking the noise filter to the maximum would produce. And here it is… somewhere between photography and painting.
Color on a Cloudy Day
This is the same picture as two days ago… just minus some of the editing. It’s pretty interesting how merely changing the color of something can change the entire feel of a picture. Is one better than the other? I’d say no… they’re just different and interesting each in their own manner. Whatcha think?
Duotone on a Cloudy Day
January 23rd saw some nasty morning weather here in Alamogordo, NM. Luckily it began clearing out around midday which gave me the opportunity to get out and photograph the passing weather front. Though the title of this post makes the claim that this is a duotone image, it’s not… despite its resemblance. I just want to make sure that’s clear. I’ll feature the full color version in two days.
Three Rivers Density
Some spots in the Three Rivers area exhibit an extreme density of petroglyphs. This picture shows at least ten different examples which I’ve highlighted. This is the last of this series. I enjoyed hiking this small, short trail. In light of that, I plan on making a trip to Petroglyph National Monument near Albuquerque on my way back to Vegas.
Bird and Petroglyphs
Ya’ know… I sat here for about half an hour trying to think of something to write about this photo and I’ve come up with nothing. But for some reason I find this picture to be awesome. I had to wait for a while for the bird to circle around and be in the right spot, but I think it was worth it.
Three Rivers Vista
Three Rivers Petroglyph Site is located in the Tularosa Basin about five miles from the town (used here very loosely) of Three Rivers. From the highest point on the trail you can get an expansive view of the basin as it runs north-south. The desert grasses, dormant in the winter, light up with the setting sun and I tried capturing that in this photograph with limited success. The plant life in the desert is really remarkable in its efficiency. It’s easy to grow and thrive in areas with excess moisture. The desert, however, is much harsher and life therein must be extremely well-adapted to survive. That’s awesome.
Sandia Peak Woods
Sandia Peak just northeast of Albuquerque offers numerous trails that dart into and through the forest as you make your way to the peak. I caught this scene on my way back down to the tramway as evening was settling in. Notice the long shadows and warmer color that comes with the sun being lower in the sky. More on this subject in the future when I have a better photo to showcase. Today is also my dad’s birthday. Happy birthday, Dad. Wanna do Mount Charleston with me?
Overlooking Tularosa Basin
When I originally posted this image back in December, I received a lot of great feedback and plenty of compliments. I thought it deserved to be featured here again. This picture was taken on the last leg of my hike into Dog Canyon right before completing the decent back down to my truck. The hike was pretty incredible. The canyon sucked you in and made you forget you were only 15 miles from civilization.