Sandia Mountains – Timing is Everything (Part Two)

Here is a sequence of photos taken on a single winter evening at the foothills of the Sandia Mountains east of Albuquerque, New Mexico, showing the fleeting light of a sunset after a dusting of snow.  Often, the primary difference between a good photograph and a great one is the presence of unique light.  To increase the possibilities of getting great light, photographers often go out before sunrise and at sunset.  The soft, horizontal light in the evening is often called the golden hour.  This light allows the photographer to capture a scene that is more evenly illuminated without the harsh contrast of bright sun and dark shadows that are present during most of the day.  FYI, the sunset glow photo was captured with a 300mm lens.

Sandia Mountains, Before Sunset

Sandia Mountains, Before Sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more photos….

Continue reading

Do You Manipulate Your Photographs?

Ansel Adams, Before and After Photo Manipulation

Ansel Adams, Before and After

With the proliferation of software such as Adobe Photoshop, it is easier than ever to make models thinner, skies bluer and erase those pesky telephone lines from our prized photographs.   Somewhere along the way, the average person on the street, or the novice to photography got the incorrect notion that manipulation is a recent innovation developing alongside the computer age.
Continue reading

Pie Town Revisited

Welcome to Pie Town

Welcome to Pie Town

The Original Owners have returned to Pie Town, New Mexico, USA!!  They have expanded their hours and menu, great for the weary traveler in this western part of New Mexico.  I just think it is such a quaint town and restaurant, in the middle of nowhere, I want everybody to know about it.  If your one of the lucky few, you will get to experience the green chile apple pie as well.

IT'S PIE

IT’S PIE

Pie Town, New Mexico

Pie Town, New Mexico mainly consists of two great cafes serving fresh, hot home-made pies and a museum.  While they are at opposite ends of the town and on opposite sides of the street, they do not seem to compete much with each other as one was open on the weekends and the other on weekdays.

Pie Town Cafe

Pie Town Cafe

At the Pie Town Cafe we had their famous New Mexican Apple Pie which has spicy hot New Mexico green chilies and pinion nuts a-la-mode.  Not a combination I would have thought of but it was great and I would have it again, unless they have something even more unusual at the time….

www.pietowncafe.com  (575)772-2553

Continue reading

Tucumcari, NM Cattle Round-up

Tucumcari Cattle Drive

Tucumcari Cattle Drive

One of the more exciting things I have done in retirement is to go on a cattle drive.  This was no dude ranch thing, rather I was the tag-along on a working ranch with 12 or so cowboys who do this for a living every day.  After unloading the horses from the trailer well before sun up, the cowboys immediately began making their horses move sideways to the left, then right, then backwards.  Then they would turn around and around in tight circles, like athletes warming up before a big game.

Continue reading