A walk in the woods
A beautiful little waterfall I found while hiking in New Mexico...
I don't do enough walking in the woods. It's refreshing and interesting and I should do more of it. I captured this image a few years back when we were visiting Red River, New Mexico. It's a great little mountain town and one afternoon we hiked up into the mountains for a while. At some point we stopped for lunch and I could hear water running, which is always a good sign in my opinion. So I clambered down into the small ravine nearby and found this beauty. I straddled the stream with my legs and my tripod and fired away for a while. It was awesome!
Visualizing Red River
Today's post is a visual tour of some beautiful spots in Red River, NM. It's a small town but I am rather fond of it. Have a look and enjoy! I'll be back soon with more pics from my current trip in Oregon, and you won't want to miss those!
Here's a little photo tour of some spots in Red River, NM!
I love the little mountain town of Red River, NM. We have visited it for years, as my wife spent many days there in her youth, and we have often returned with the larger family on various vacations. It's tucked high up in the mountains at nearly 9,000 feet and feels like you are a million miles away from things.
And it's beautiful.
It's a small town, but I find plenty to get out and do while there, and luckily a lot of it includes me bringing the camera! The last time we visited, back in August 2014, was another family trip and we got out to enjoy all that Red River has to offer: hikes, mountain views, lakes and streams, waterfalls, and even a little wildlife viewing!
So today's shots are a collection of photos that I wanted to share. Hey I'm only a year behind on these - not bad, Jim! LOL
I am working furiously on a lot of new photos from the current family trip I am on, sitting here in beautiful Oregon. More coming next time, so come back, and thanks for stopping by today!
The simple beauty of the mountains
Today I wax a bit poetic about my love for the mountains. There's just something about them, in addition to the generous amounts of beauty and staggering landscapes. And of course I share a bunch of photos from a trip to the mountains last summer - when I caught some wonderful clouds over an alpine lake. Good times!
"Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion." - Anatoli Boukreev
I can't possibly come up with a better way to describe how I feel about being in the mountains. They are awe-inspiring and glorious. They are beautiful and photogenic. Simply put, they fill my soul.
And while my bucket list of "hope to get there" spots is populated with places that are surrounded by mountains, or in the midst of them (a sample off the top of my head: New Zealand, Iceland, multiple spots across Europe, a return to Banff...the list goes on), the truth is that I live in central Texas, and apart from some hills here, the mountains are not even close.
What that means is that I rarely get the chance to go explore them. However, when I do, it's often in New Mexico, where we tend to go when we have the time. The key parts of New Mexico that we gravitate towards are a good 12 hour drive from here in Austin, so to be clear, this is not a regular occurrence. This is not a long-weekend-getaway thing. This takes planning.
So last summer, because we had the time (and we planned it), we headed up to Red River, NM which is sort of in the far north central part of the state, nestled deep in the Carson National Forest. It's about 3 hours north from Albuquerque, if that helps. It's way up there, and it's a hell of a drive from home (though well worth it!).
We've been there many times, and will surely return again some day. Some places have a tendency to draw you back. While there, we do all the usual things that people on a summer holiday do in the mountains: fishing, hiking, overeating which results in more hiking, you know - all the good stuff.
One day we had been out past another nearby town known as Questa, where I spent some time shooting this cemetery, and then capturing this road shot that ended up being a pretty popular blog post. Anyways, en route back to Red River (about 30 minutes), we passed this little lake.
I have passed it many times - and even shot there once a few years back - but never had anything that I liked, and thus never did anything with the pics. But on this visit things were different.
There were some incredible clouds out that day (as you can see in the other two blog posts highlighted above as well as in today's post), and so the sky was literally just insane. I would take a sky like that EVERY SINGLE DAY for the rest of my life. I love things like that. Such drama. Such beauty. Such intensity. The light was coming through and sprinkling itself across the scene in all the right ways. The water was as still as glass, and the reflections were crisp. It was perfect.
So we pulled over, and I hopped out to grab a few shots. I would love to tell you that I struggled to climb over a steep ridge, scrambling with my gear the whole way, nearly slipping a few times, and finally arriving to a pristine alpine lake buried deep in the mountains...but that would be complete bullshit.
I may have walked 10 yards from the car to take these shots. No, I'm not lazy - it's just that the parking lot is RIGHT THERE. It's next to the lake. So I climbed out, took these shots, and climbed back in to the air-conditioned car. It took me less than 10 minutes, by a wide margin. I might even have been able to shoot from the car, had I thought of that. It's that close.
That's an easy day in the mountains - and a wonderful one, at that!
By the way, all of these photos are from single exposures - no HDR today. Although I still enjoy HDR, I am doing a bit less of it as I continue on this creative journey. But more on that later. Thanks for stopping by, and hope you enjoyed the photos!
Hiking to Middle Fork Lake
Today's post is a collection of 20 photos from a summer hike up to Middle Fork Lake in New Mexico. It's a beautiful and secluded spot, and well worth the effort to get to it! I shot landscapes, waterfalls and even little fairy mushrooms - good fun! Have a look, and thanks for stopping by!
A little gem of an alpine lake in Northern New Mexico
I just love the mountains. They are so beautiful, peaceful, and photo-friendly of course. However, I live in central Texas (Austin), so I'm not exactly able to see them very often. In fact, it's pretty infrequent that I get to, which is a cryin' shame....because I am definitely a mountain man, as opposed to a beach guy. Well, not a mountain man in the sense of not ever bathing or shaving - just a man that loves the mountains. That sound better?
Anyways, my family has a habit of going West when we can, which is not a cryin' shame, because I just love the West, and hey guess what? There are mountains out that way! :-)
I just loved this view of the lake with that big log laying there
Same as the last photo, but converted to a painting in Topaz Impression
In particular, we seem to be in New Mexico at least once a year. There are some very beautiful parts of the state, and I'm glad that I get the opportunity to visit. There's a little town way up in sort of the northern central part of the state known as Red River. It's base elevation is about 9,000 feet up, so it's rather high. And it's rather quaint, as small mountain towns tend to be.
But, it's nestled high up there and that puts me in a great spot to shoot some great stuff, which I'm rather obviously a fan of! Last summer, we spent nearly 2 weeks up there, and I shot to my hearts' content. Well, maybe not, but I did take a lot of photos LOL.
One day we decided to hike up to Middle Fork Lake, which we have done before, and I hope we can do again some day. It's basically a two hour hike up some mountain trails, ending at the beautiful lake that you see in the pics today. Along the way, you pass by a few waterfalls, and you stop for a lot of water breaks, because hiking at that altitude is EXHAUSTING. But as you can see, when you get there it's well worth it...especially when you are the only folks there.
We always pack a lunch, hang out for a bit, walk around the lake some, and then head back down. It pretty much takes the whole day, but what a way to spend one!
I don't shoot much in portrait mode..but here I did...and I like it.
just had to make this one a painting too!
When you get to this waterfall, you are halfway there. Sit down and relax - or take some photos!
same as the last waterfall, just stepped back a bit to capture a little more of it.
just a tree stump with a nice rock and some flowers
a small waterfall i heard from the main trail, and ran off into the woods to find
this little waterfall is on the edge of the lake - small but pretty!
i was pretty stoked to find these little fairy mushrooms!
This was my favorite mushroom - I half expected a fairy to fly out from under it!
A week in the mountains
A week in the mountains is never enough for me, but as an escape from the Texas heat, it sure goes a long way! Here's a collection of 10 photos from our family trip up to Red River, NM last summer. Great waterfalls, sunsets, and more! Oh my!
I just love New Mexico - it's so beautiful!
I have been to New Mexico many times over the years. As a neighbor state to Texas, it's pretty easy to get to in the car (and by pretty easy, I mean it's still a 9-12 hour drive, depending on which part of the state you are headed to! Yep, Texas is pretty large.). In particular, I love the northern parts of the state, from Santa Fe up to around the town of Red River, an area known as the Enchanted Circle. It's all just so beautiful.
In fact, I created a list of great spots to shoot around Santa Fe, if you are ever heading that way.
This past summer, our family went up to Red River for about a week or so. It's always great to get out of the Texas heat and escape to higher altitudes for a break! We spent the week hiking, fishing, relaxing, and in my case, taking a lot of photos! That's no surprise, is it? :-)
What all did I shoot? Waterfalls, mountains, some fabulous sunsets, several road shots (including this one) and of course, we went tubing down a mountain one day, so I had to shoot that! Thanks for stopping by!
(click any photo to view in a lightbox)
Hanging with the dead in Questa, NM
I stumbled across a little church and a cemetery along an empty road in a deserted corner of New Mexico. So I stopped and took a few pics! That's what you would do, right?
I don't usually go shoot at a cemetery - but in this case, it was hard to resist!
I was in Red River, New Mexico for a vacation with the family last summer, and of course just had to get out and shoot a bit. (Ok, a LOT.) But anyways, one thing that I wanted to shoot was the Wild Rivers Recreation Area outside of Questa, NM - basically, about a 30 minute drive from where we were staying. Close enough to squeeze in one afternoon!
So I headed out that way and did a fair bit of shooting, though my favorite part of that area was the road shots I was getting. With mountains in the background and amazing clouds overhead, it was hard to resist, and pretty easy to get some amazing photos. In fact, I wrote a blog post about the road shot, where I took the same photo but adjusted it with 8 different software packages, with lots of different results. Check that out and let me know what you think!
Anyways, once I was done there, I started heading back to Red River, and before I got very far I was upon this little church and cemetery, which are just outside of Questa. Actually, they are pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Questa was a couple of miles away.
So of course I stopped to pay my respects and once again, that amazing sky and mountains in the background just had me drooling. Coming from Texas, this is not stuff I get to see too often. So even though a cemetery and a fairly plain church may not be my usual subjects, I am a sucker for wicked clouds and looming mountains.
In some ways, this just screams "the old West" to me, as though it's something you would find on a wagon trail 200 years ago. Well, except for the paved road and that shop in Questa, of course!
A waterfall in the woods
How about a little waterfall that I found by walking OFF the trail? I recommend that when hiking. If you hear running water - go look for it! You might find something beautiful.
Doesn't that just sound nice?
I love waterfalls - but that's not exactly a revelation. I shoot them when I come across them, which isn't too often, considering I live in Texas. It's not like we are famous for that sort of thing. I'm not sure what we're famous for, other than barbeque. But that stuff IS good.
Anyways, we all love waterfalls. I think it's a combination of the motion and the lovely sound, but I'm no psychoanalyst...I just take pictures. I personally also enjoy the effort that usually comes with getting to them. Often it requires a hike, which is always good for the mind and body. Then when you get there, in addition to the pleasing beauty, you get that pleasing sound and sight.
So the family took a trip recently up to Red River, NM which is a quiet little mountain town. It's beautiful there. I asked a local about any "awesome waterfalls" that he knew of (this was a hiking and fishing guide, mind you), and he said there really weren't any. Hmmm.
One afternoon we hiked up to Middle Fork Lake, which is about 2 hours one way (it's a gain of about 2,000 feet in elevation, ending at nearly 11,000 feet up). On the trail during the hike, there is a creek that the trail sort of follows the whole way. You can't always see it or hear it, but many times you can (and you cross it a few times too).
Whenever it was near enough to hear or see, I kept heading off into the woods to get a closer look. I knew there had to be some nice waterfalls. There's no way a creek comes all the way down a mountain without SOME waterfalls...even if they're not big.
So, this is what I found on one of my off-trail explorations. It's not large, but I sure thought it was pretty. These are both single exposures shot at a tight aperture (around f/22 if I recall) and I also used my ProMaster Variable ND filter. Those two in combination allowed me to drag the shutter for a bit (it was mid-day and thus pretty bright out) and get that nice silky water effect that we all love. Or at least I love it. I hope you do!
Into the Upper Valley
Just a quick post for today - and I want to thank everyone for the visits and comments this week, I really do appreciate them!
We spent some time in Red River, NM this past summer - as we have many times. It's a beautiful little town, surrounded by mountains and it's just a relaxing place to visit. One afternoon we went for a little drive into the Upper Valley, which is just outside of town. At some point we crested a hill and I saw this scene. I had to stop and get a shot - I love road shots of all sorts. This one was too pretty to pass up. Thanks for stopping by!
A real cowboy
Photography, to me, is a journey. Most folks I know have started with landscapes and similar subjects, and from there have moved into portrait work. When we get together and talk about it, I'm just not there yet. I take some family shots, but doing serious portrait work just hasn't gotten under my skin yet. That's ok, right? Well, I'm trying. Change or die, as they say. I am all about growing my photographic range - notice I didn't say dynamic range, haha - and in the interest of being more well-rounded I have taken some portraits "on the go", or what I like to call combat portait work. Just a quick snap of a subject that didn't necessarily know it was a subject. So, this is a real cowboy, from a real working ranch, from the real West. I know this because he led me on a horse through a 1000 acre ranch in New Mexico this summer. I regret to inform you I do not recall his name, and he deserves better than that. So, I still have work to do. The learning continues...
Horsin' around
The title of this shot is really a double entendre. What I mean is that although this is quite obviously a horse, the deeper meaning is that I am "horsin' around" photographically because this is not my typical photographic subject. Apart from never coming across horses, in the past I would not normally shoot one. I am making a conscious effort to grow my skills, and in doing so that means stretching myself to shoot some different things. Growth is the only option - without it, you stagnate and wither.
Ok, enough of that talk for now. We went on a horseback ride up in Red River, New Mexico a few weeks ago, and this handsome steed (stallion? or maybe it was a girl...?) was just standing there, looking cool and calm like a horse does. So...snap. I did know one thing - always focus on the eye!
4 wheel drive
Just a post and run today - still in Seattle (since last Friday) and running to work stuff today. We have had some amazing experiences which I am looking forward to sharing with you all - and of course I have taken quite a few photos as well! All my internet connections at the various hotels have been painfully slow, and I haven't been online much for the last few days - or the next couple - so I appreciate the visits and comments, and will catch up late this week and into next week.
This is just a quick snap I took on my recent visit to Red River, NM. I was walking to lunch, saw this old beat-up off-road vehicle, and the colors and textures just caught my eye. Thanks for stopping by!
Above Red River
Red River is a wonderful little mountain town nestled up in the northeast corner of New Mexico. The base elevation is nearly 9000 feet up, so when you are there you are definitely up in the mountains! I took this shot from the ski lift as we were approaching the summit, which is somewhere north of 10,000 feet up. It was obviously summertime, and we took the lift to the top so we could hike around and explore - something I love to do. You can see a trail in the photo that some folks use to mountain bike or hike down the mountain. We opted to ride back down on the ski lift, but maybe next time if we are feeling energetic! I enjoy taking the ski lift up to the mountain summit - in Red River or any other place - since it gives you such a wonderful, wide view of the world. You really do feel like you are above everything else.
A different sort of fishing
We used to put on waders and spend quite a bit of time in this river, wading and fishing - hoping for that elusive trout to decide he was hungry (though he usually wasn't!). This time though, I got the waders out and went fishing for interesting pictures instead of trout. I frequently try to look at things from a different perspective, raising and lowering the tripod, or shifting left and right, trying things out. It's fun to me. In this case, the interesting perspective came from being in the water, not next to it. I stayed in the river and walked under the bridge. I am a fan of taking pictures of bridges, and frequently try to get under them because I like how they look. This was not some big fancy city bridge - just a simple wooden bridge with a quiet, cool river running underneath it.
This was a 3 exposure HDR taken at f/22, with exposures of -2, 0 and +2. I merged them into an HDR in Photomatix and made some adjustments in PSE around Contrast with a little final touch up in Aperture.
Suddenly beautiful
There is just something about a sunset. This one was captured on an empty road north of Questa, NM. I'm not sure what it is, but it sure seems like the sunsets out West are more dramatic than elsewhere. We had been driving for a while, looking for a field of sunflowers that was supposed to exist somewhere out here. We never found it. But, while driving, the atmosphere started making those subtle changes that you can sense is going to turn into something beautiful. We hurried to find a spot and pull over so I could set up and snap off a few before it got dark. It seems like there is a magical 5 minute span right before things just go back to normal, the clouds dissipate, and the color disappears. Maybe it's 3 minutes, but it is always nice when you have your gear set up and ready to go!
This is a single exposure shot, not HDR. It was shot at f/22, ISO 100, and 0ev. The shutter speed was 0.5 seconds. This is fairly close to how it came out of the camera. I did make some minor adjustments in PSE, such as Contrast but that is about it. Hope you like it!
Out of its element
This shot is mostly for fun as opposed to something with real artistic merit. I had gone to the top of a ski mountain in Red River, NM and was wandering around looking for inspiration, which isn't really that hard when you are about 10,000 feet up. Anyways, I came across this huge machine and just thought the idea of this being at the top of a mountain was interesting. I understand that it was needed for some work they were doing, but how in the hell did they get it up there? Drive it? That would take days. On the back of a large truck? That would never make it on the narrow mountain passages. Anyways, there it was...and I found it interesting.