Sangre de Cristo mountains – santa fe and me. photos

Two @ 10,000 feet

The skies at higher altitudes become blue-black. We see that a lot here because we are routinely skiing at 12,000 feet. These two shots, however, were taken a little lower down the mountain, at around 10,000 feet. But the skies are still dark on a sunny day. Here’s what I saw yesterday at our local ski area. Still using the Sony a5100 for the ultimate in portability.

It’s only recently occurred to me that I seem to be responding to “letterforms” in the landscape. Sounds weird, but there’s something to it. I have another website where I allow myself to cut loose on that attraction and simply dig into the intersecting angels and shapes found in all letters, typography. There must be some linkage between many of my photographs and that interest/attraction to type.

By the way, if you’re curious to see something completely differently from this site, you can check out typomania.us. I never noticed, or thought about, the possible connection between the pursuits in “typomania” and this website.

Well, ain’t life interesting?

Bleak, Dark and Moody

We haven’t gotten a lot of snow this year. It keeps missing us, but all the surrounding areas are getting epic amounts. Oh well, January is typically a dry month in the local mountains. February and March are generally when we get most of our snow pack which is so important for the Spring run-off. The smoke in the lower right photograph is the result of what’s called a “Controlled Burn” around here. The Forest Service will start a fire to burn out dead leaves and logs that could ignite during the hot weather.

Today was bleak, very dark and moody up there, as my title suggests. We are skiing at 12,000 feet and mountain weather can change VERY quickly and dramatically. I always have the tiny Sony HX-99 with me because it fits in the front ski pocket and I hardly know it’s there. The sensor is small, but I continue to be amazed at what a good job it does…capturing a lot of detail with a pretty nice dynamic range. I used to try carrying the “real” camera with me, but it was just too much effort and it put an expensive camera in harm’s way. I couldn’t adequately protect it. By the way, I also would NOT want to fall on it! Ouch and Snap.

Snow Time in New Mexico

I went skiing for the first time this season. We have little snow in our mountains and we’re limited to three or four runs. I don’t care. The views there are amazing and the snow was fast.

At this time of the year, the shadows are long and dramatic and I love the way they print the snow with strong linear patterns. I’m always attracted to those strong black and white, figure/ground scenes. For mountain activities, I use the VERY small Sony HX-99 camera. It fits in the front of my jacket where it can stay nice and warm. This camera has a tiny sensor (1/2 inch) but it shoots RAW. It always amazes me. And for anyone who doesn’t need to make large prints, give it a try. It’s a lot of camera in a really small package.

It’s unusual for the weather to be gloomy here. We ski in bright sunshine most of the season. But when it snows, it snows! Our snow is feather-light most of the time. That’s great for powder skiing, but it takes a while to establish a base as a result.