Category: New Mexico

Morning Views in New Mexico

We’ve had some interesting weather of late. I guess that life must be good if I’m talking about the weather. The views here continue to attract and intrigue.

And talk about intrigued. I am fascinated by the ways in which Fuji cameras interpret color. Specifically, I’m working with the Fuji X-T5. That’s a new camera (for me) which I’m testing out here. These 2 images are pretty much straight out of the camera as HIFs with just a little tweaking to see how much the file will tolerate.

After shooting mostly with Sony, this camera is quite a change and a welcome one frankly. This cropped sensor Fuji with its dense megapixel count is amazing. Check out its specs. It has been out for a couple of years. For me it’s a keeper.

And another thing. Has anyone noticed how truly fantastic the HIF format is? I don’t know, but I think HIF rivals a Raw file. They take up less room than a JPEG, yet contain more information. And they are very amenable to editing. It takes a lot of pushing before the HIFs begin to fall apart. Having said how great they are, I’m not about to give up shooting RAW files…at least for now.

Santa Fe and Me
Seize the Image

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Graffiti, Signs and Murals (d): Santa Fe NM

I often walk past this area because I like the textures, light and structure of these older dwellings. And look what I found here one time. It reminds me of a close-up of a micro chip or a transistor, or something like that. This is also another style that I’ve found before. I wish they would sign these. But I guess what would defeat the whole idea of “stealthy art”.

Rating: 3 out of 3.

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Graffiti, Signs and Murals (c): Santa Fe NM

Plaintiff spirit? This little guy, or those similar to him show up from time to time. There’s a similarity in style, so it’s probably the same tagger. People do stop to check these out. I always wonder what they are thinking! The city lets these stay around for quite a while before steam-blasting them off. The place would be covered if they didn’t. And maybe that’s part of their charm. Here today. Gone tomorrow.

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Graffiti, Signs and Murals (b): Santa Fe NM

This is a style of graffitized fun that I’ve seen in several places. Sometimes it’s really small, hidden in a corner somewhere.

Rating: 3 out of 3.

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Graffiti, Signs and Murals (a): Santa Fe NM

This city is full of interesting graffiti, signs and murals. Sometimes I can’t really say which is which. They are usually creative and show up in the oddest places, usually overnight, like crop circles. I’ve gotten to recognize certain styles and figure that it must be the same artist creating them. Others are one-offs. Signage is pretty straightforward, but it too can cross the line between mural and sign.
Anyway, what I’m getting at with this long ramble, is:
I’m fascinated by them.

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Text and Image: Is Santa Claus Dead?

There was something poignant about this image. And I found it shortly after reading about an Avant Garde performance which had taken place at the White House, or nearby. What was so Avant Garde about it? An enormous, fully decorated, live Christmas tree was exploded, set on fire and burned to the ground as sophisticated guests and diplomats applauded and cheered with glee. Morons all. Excuse me, but I fail to see the artistic merit of it, or the free speech aspect of it, since the artist was from China. You don’t have to be religious to object.

“Text Gone Wild” Gallery

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3 responses to “Text and Image: Is Santa Claus Dead?”

  1. Ronit Penso Tasty Eats Avatar
    Ronit Penso Tasty Eats

    Wow, I’ve never heard of this “event”. You’re right. You definitely don’t have to be religious to object. Despicable.

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    1. Avatar
      Anonymous

      Sometimes I think that I’m the only one who thinks this way. Desecration of a culture or cultural icons of any ethnic group should be a giant Thou Shall Not. And I’m one of the least religious people out there.

      Thanks for the comment and the out-of-this-world great recipes on your website. Creative, artistic and a ball to visit. More please.

      Liked by 1 person

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      1. Ronit Penso Tasty Eats Avatar
        Ronit Penso Tasty Eats

        Same here! I’m applaud by how barbarian parts of our society have become. It’s revolting. I do hope people will understand how destructive this is, before it’s too late.

        Thank you for your wonderful encouraging compliments. Highly appreciated! 🙂

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Text and Image: Santa Fe Railyard

The Railyard in Santa Fe is a place rich with photographic potential. But it’s much more than just a railyard. Interesting shops and bistros are also a lovely feature of this area. But I always end up getting up close with the rail cars. There are some vintage cars as well that are still in operation. This is the first time that I’m cropping an image. We’ll see where that leads.

“Text Gone Wild” Gallery

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Text and Image: The Cold Streets of Santa Fe

I didn’t expect to be shooting that day. I was just walking around, having decided that what I wanted more than anything, was a cup of hot coffee. Just around the corner down there is a nice little coffee shop and that’s where I was headed. With this image I decided to NOT have the type sweep over the entire image. That’s something I’ll play around with. I tried it both ways and I like it both ways. But this is new, so experimentation is the name of this game, so far.

“Text Gone Wild” Gallery

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Text and Image: Lamy Railroad Station

Something a little different has snuck into my workflow. There is always a story that is an integral part of every photograph I have here. I don’t know how it happened, but I started writing over and through the images and I liked it. So there. Here it is. Because they’re so different from everything else up to now, I’ve decided to gather them all together into a separate page. They seemed to want a home of their own. This has just started, so there are only the two of them. But I have a hunch that more will follow. But I’ll continue to post new ones into the Blog as well.

“Text Gone Wild” Gallery

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2 responses to “Text and Image: Lamy Railroad Station”

  1. tanjabrittonwriter Avatar
    tanjabrittonwriter

    An interesting way to combine word and image.

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    1. Avatar
      Anonymous

      Thanks. It’s an interesting bit of exploration for me.

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Land of Enchantment, New Mexico

The official name for New Mexico is “Land of Enchantment”. It’s even on our license plates. That name is probably due to the ancient civilizations that lived, and still live, here. In addition there’s that incredible light, dramatic always-new skies and craggy-spiney landscape. So I had some fun with interpreting that here. The last photo of Pegasus, is typical of what you might find on any rural road in this state. Well, truth be told, most of the roads are rural. But people here like to make their own art and then proudly display it. That’s great for me because I like to proudly view it and photograph it.

Happy Trails Everyone.

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One response to “Land of Enchantment, New Mexico”

  1. Avatar
    Anonymous

    It certainly looks enchanted. Good job on the photographs.

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Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

A couple of days ago, we packed up the Winnebago van and headed up to Bandelier National Monument. I’m still getting used to the Nikon P950, and in a place like this, it was a great choice. This is big country with distances that seem to stretch out to eternity.
    This was once a thriving community. As one of the visitors noted, at the time that Chaucer was writing The Canterbury Tales, this culture was at its peak; and they were trading with other cultures many hundreds of miles away. In case it isn’t obvious, I couldn’t get enough of this place. It is calm, ethereal and inspiring. Words can’t quite describe it, but maybe some of these photos will, at least a bit.
    The light was flat with lots of glare, but still, I think for a small sensor camera, the P950 made a good showing of what it’s capable of….especially when trying to take some photos of the mule-eared deer, which were clearly used to visitors.


Happy Trails Everyone.

Rating: 3 out of 3.

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Testing Nikon P950 Zooooom!

This camera has been tempting me for quite some time. I realize that it’s only a small sensor, but that zoom has been enticing. I finally got a chance to try it out and I am impressed. These are the first shots.

It’s the size of a large DSLR, but because it’s mostly composite, I found it to be rather lightweight. I could easily carry it all day. I had tried the Lumix version of this, not nearly the same focal length, but still in the same category of SuperZoom. What can I say? I just didn’t like the User Interface of the Lumix. It felt clumsy and I always ended up distracted and annoyed by it. It did take great pictures though. This P950, however, operates like a dream. Everything seems to be in the right place and well thought out.

I haven’t tried any JPEGs because I’m rarely satisfied with those results. Plus, I enjoy “Post” too much. So these two images were RAW at 100 ISO. That equals an optimum setup for this camera, or any small sensor. Of course what you see here has been crushed and re-purposed to fit on the web. But in the original, I could easily get a gorgeous 8×10 print out of it and you’d be hard pressed to guess what camera, or what sensor size, produced it.

I like the snap-back feature which will quickly give me a wider view when I’m at extreme telephoto range. I can reframe, let go of that button, and presto, I’m focused exactly on the spot I wanted.

This crow photo was amazing to me. I could hardly see a black dot in the top of a pine tree that turned out to be this bird. This shot is at maximum zoom or very close to. Stabilization is rated at 5+ stops. I don’t think that’s an exaggeration although a monopod would be helpful.

Living out here in the land of petroglyphs and rock formations, I think I’ll have a great time using this camera. There is a place for it. Will it replace the Nikon Z50? Of course not.

Happy Trails Everyone.

Rating: 3 out of 3.

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Pecos Historical Park, NM

Two days ago we packed up the van and headed out to this amazing site in New Mexico. It’s called Pecos National Historical Park. It was sublime.

Rating: 3 out of 3.

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Holiday in the Plaza

Here in Santa Fe, all of our big holidays take place in the Plaza. It’s charming and becomes packed with people, kids, strollers, dogs, and geeks like me with a camera. These photos are all from the recent 4th of July celebration. That’s an annual celebration in the Plaza with plenty of good food and interesting booths set up with artwork and jewelry. I wouldn’t miss it!

Rating: 3 out of 3.

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One response to “Holiday in the Plaza”

  1. Pepper Avatar
    Pepper

    Fun street photography. I especially enjoyed the feature photo, so cute. 😊

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Waking Up to Antarctica

This part of New Mexico really got hit hard with this storm (Feb ’23). It was wetter snow than is usual for this place, weighing the trees down to the snapping point. Normal snow is so light that you can literally blow it away….makes for some nice skiing. There is more on the way combined with some high winds. It not only looks like Antarctica, it feels like it, and sounds like it!

Rating: 3 out of 3.

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8 responses to “Waking Up to Antarctica”

  1. Pepper Avatar
    Pepper

    Oh, that doesn’t sound good at all. Be careful.

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  2. Ronit Penso Tasty Eats Avatar
    Ronit Penso Tasty Eats

    At least you got these beautiful photos! 🙂

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  3. Tim Harlow Avatar
    Tim Harlow

    Absolutely beautiful! I have a bit of a technical question for you, and I hope you don’t mind me asking.

    Your monochromes are always so incredible. Do you shoot in black and white or convert the image in processing? Ok, two questions. In your final finish, are you applying any filters, like a warming or cooling filter? Very curious. Thanks!

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    1. Avatar
      Anonymous

      Hi, At times I apply a light warming filter only because that’s what this place feels like. Sepia-like is the tonality of the place. I do shoot in full color. I don’t want the camera’s algorithm deciding that for me. Then I use Photoshop for the B+W. I also use dodging and burning at times. And I try NOT to crop any image and usually don’t. The modern cameras do allow me to change the aspect ratios and I like having that choice. But that’s about all I do. If I have to spend too much time with a photo, I get rid of it. Any “tweaks” I need to make have to be minor and fast or else I lose patience with it and consider it an inferior image, not worthy of any more effort to “rescue” it. IMAGE>DELETE.

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      1. Tim Harlow Avatar
        Tim Harlow

        Thanks! I appreciate the insight. Glad to know you shoot in color as I do the same, then use the Photoshop as well. I do love your photos.

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  4. Steve Avatar
    Steve

    Some of your photos have an infrared look. Very nice and great composition!

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    1. Santa Fe and Me Avatar
      Santa Fe and Me

      Thank you Steve!

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  5. Jyothi Avatar
    Jyothi

    Great composition!! Loved it!

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