Recently my friend Dia and I spent a few days in a cute airBNB near Abiquiu Lake. The place we stayed was in the middle of the high desert up on a rocky mesa. The views from the home were so beautiful. We had wonderful first evening enjoying a glass of wine and exploring the views from the mesa.
Kelly and DiaDia enjoying her wineBest friends!Gorgeous view from the mesaI especially liked the little rock pool that is shaped like a fetish bear with the TeePee in the distance.
I had wanted to do some sunset and/or night photography that first night, but thunderstorms moved in preventing any photography. So we stayed in and enjoyed the kiva fireplace and a yummy dinner.
Lovely kiva fireplace at our AirBNB
The next day we decided to explore the Ghost Ranch. I have long wanted to hike the trails at this ranch. You may be familiar with Ghost Ranch as this was the place the famous painter Georgia O’Keefe loved to visit and paint.
Wide open vistasKelly and Scarlett had hiked very high up the trail.
We decided to hike the Chimney Rock trail as it wasn’t too long and offered the best views of the area. After a short, steep climb, we quickly came upon the main attraction of the hike, Chimney Rock.
Chimney Rock formation
Dia and her dog Buddy decided to hang out here and enjoy the view.
Dia and Buddy
Scarlett and I decided to go further up the steep trail. The views from up high were just stunning.
Scarlett posing for me with Abiquiu Lake in the distance.
While exploring Ghost Ranch, the clouds continued to build. By the time we left, the clouds had formed beautifully over the grand vista of the Ranch.
The setting sun lit this mesa up so beautifullyI especially loved how the clouds formed over this butte. Just amazing!
We returned to our airBNB and enjoyed another wonderful dinner by the fireplace. That evening the weather cooperated much better. So Dia and I went out to take some more photos of our gorgeous views.
The evening light was so ethereal.Such a beautiful sunset.
Not long after the sun set, a bright full moon rose into the sky. We both had great fun photographing the moon and the lovely light of the blue hour.
I love photographing dead trees for some reason. Beautiful full moon!So cool!Amazing color!
The next day we headed home. The day was overcast and rainy. We knew the Aspen at the Santa Fe Ski Area were in full color, so we decided to brave the weather and drive to the ski area to get some fall photos.
I’ve often said photographers love bad weather. And this day showed just why. The low clouds on the moutains made my photos more dramatic. Plus the soft light and wet leaves, made the gold color just glow!
Low clouds over the mountain.Gorgeous golden glow!Stunning!The white trunks are so lovely amidst the golden spen leaves.
We had a fabulous time while visiting the Abiquiu area. It was such a peaceful, relaxing trip. I would gladly go again to this area to escape the stresses of life.
Recently I was invited to a night photography workshop held near the Pecos National Monument. I have dabbled in night photography a couple times in the past with poor results. Mostly because my camera I was using at the time was not meant to do night shots. But also because I just didn’t know what the heck I was doing. :-\
So when I was invited to do a workshop that was going to be hosted by several people that were much more experienced at it then me, I jumped on the opportunity. I invited my friend Valerie to join me. We love going out together for camera time.
We drove to Pecos and arrived late afternoon. I had believed the Pecos National Monument was open until 5:30. But sadly, they closed as soon as we got there at 4:30,. Winter hours had begun. 🙁 We weren’t going to meet our group until 6 so we had a 1.5 hours to kill.
I decided to drive up Highway 63 to see what might be interesting to see. We stopped at an old historic church for a few brief photos. Usually these old churches are locked whenever I am there. But on this day, it was open! Such a beautiful sanctuary.
Gorgeous chandeliers
Further up the road we crossed the Pecos River. We just had to stop. The setting sun was glorious on the water with the stunning fall colors.
Pecos River
Next stop was Monastery Lake. I’ve driven by the turn off for this lake several times this summer without stopping. So it was nice to stop in this time. It was a small little lake that seemed popular for fishing. Lovely fall colors surrounded the lake.
Monastery Lake
Fishermen along the shore
Beautiful shore
We figured we better start back to the meeting place. But I had one more stop to make. I had seen this cool old garage as we pulled out from the church earlier. So I quickly pulled into the driveway and snapped a few pics.
I loved the patina of the paint
There were a couple of dogs in the driveway that seemed friendly enough. But when it came time to leave, they were determined to chase the car and run in front of us. I couldn’t go very fast for fear of running them over. We had to drive down the road slowly for a ways before they finally gave up. Whew! They almost made us late for our workshop!
We had to be at the meeting spot on time or we would be locked out. We were allowed to shoot at an old ranch that isn’t open to the public. We drove up to the gate with moments to spare!
After a quick meeting, the group broke up into smaller groups around the ranch. Valerie and I decided we wanted to go down to this bridge to get shots of the bridge, river, moon and milky way. Several of us went to the bridge – including an experienced night photographer. Yay!
We had to wear red headlamps to save our night vision. I took a quick pic of Valerie for fun. I thought I took a selfie but I guess it didn’t take. 🙁
Valerie bundled up for the cold night ahead
So we made it to the bridge, got some great advice from our expert in the group, and set up our tripods and cameras. We checked our apps to see where the Milky Way was going to be and pointed our cameras that direction. And there was a sliver of a moon getting ready to set. The sky was the most beautiful purple hue.
Beautiful purple skies
The sun set quickly and I took my first photo of the Milky Way. It was thrilling! I took a 20 second exposure with a 20 second high noise reduction setting. I was anxiously waiting to see what I got. And then it appeared on my camera screen. I was so excited to see my first photo come out so beautifully!
My first Milky Way shot!
The group then decided to try light painting the Pecos River. I have tried light painting in the past with OK results. I realized later than I used too much light to highlight my subject. On this night we literally just lit the river a couple of seconds over a 20 second exposure. I think it turned out nice.
Light painting of the Pecos River
We then light painted the bridge we were standing on. It was a little more difficult as the bridge was white. It really reflected the light. We only had to very briefly shine the light. Even then the bridge is pretty bright. But I like the photo I got.
Bridge over the Pecos River
We were really concentrating on the south side of the bridge. When I turned around and looked to the north, I saw this great deciduous tree silhouetted by the lights of Santa Fe in the distance. I just had to capture it with the purple skies and wonderful light. I was very pleased with my shot. We tried light painting the tree, but I wasn’t as happy with those pics.
Beautiful skies
By this time, several hours had passed. It went so quickly! We needed to move to warm up. By now the temperature was 32 degrees and we were getting cold standing still. We headed up the hill to the old ranch house. There’s this giant steer head sculpture on the fireplace. We took several exposures of this view but I wasn’t happy with most of them. This is probably the best shot I got.
Steer Sculpture
By now we were very cold. It was time to go home. On one hand I wanted to stay longer, but on the other I was ready to leave. Those heated seats in my Jeep were pure heaven!!!
I had a great time on my first night shot outing. I’m definitely ready to do more!
