Black and White

Dunes and Snow

Near sunset, the sun break through on the Great Sand Dunes and the snow-covered Crestone Group of mountains.

Gates of the Valley

This is an image I made at Gates of the Valley in Yosemite National Park in fall of 2007. In latter part of the afternoon, the sun broke through some afternoon clouds, spotlighting this clump of grass in the Merced River. I msde both a color version and black and white version of this image, fitting for the hisotry of photography at Yosemite. Yosemite was every bit the magical place I had always imagined.

Spider Rock

Spider Rock stand in Canyon De Chelly in Arizona

Of Ruins and Varnish

The iconic White House Ruins in Canyon De Chelly make for compelling black and white images. This is the view looking up, from the canyon floor.

Hidden View, Grand Canyon

Beyond the many famous viewpoints on the south rim, there are still many wild, lesser-known view points worthy of exploring. With a good guide and photographer like Adam Schallau leading the way, you can find yourself hiking a mile or two to a remote litte viewpoint of a wonderful side-canyon. There, alone in silence, you can watch the sunrise to the east like you are the first person to ever set sight on the magnificent, Grand Canyon. This is very much a wild place for those willing to explore. Shortly after making this image, as we explored on the route back to the car, we found some gigangtic bear scat, proof of the wildness still lurking outside the main villages at Grand Canyon National Park.

Under threatening skies, Birds take refuge above the famous San Francisco de Asis Mission Church in Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico. The organic shapes of the rear elevation of the church and the motion of the flying bird breath life into this classic composition of one of the most photographed and painted churches in North America.

Zabrisky Point Spotlight

Shortly after sunrise, a beam of light illuminates Zabrisky Point at Death Valley National Park

Fog lifts above an old mountain cabin in the San Juan mountains of Southwest Colorado. This is one of my favorite places, a quiet old retreat hidden in plain sight. I always wonder about the mystery of this place, the spirit of the people who built and lived in that one-room cabin, hard on the side of a mountain meadow under mountain’s rugged granite.

River, Black Place

A small rivelet of water carves through the badlands of the Black Place in NW New Mexico

Mystery Boulder

A large, dark boulder rests in the middle of narrows in a msyterious Utah Canyon.

Ode to Moonrise

I've been thinking about how much New Mexico has changed since Ansel Adams captured his iconic November 1, 1941 image. The location for the Hernandez shot has become overgrown with trees and buildings, leaving only a historical memory of a bygone, pre-Pearl Harbor black and white world. But I've been thinking of other places in New Mexico that could provide a similar window into the spirit of Adams' vision. My mind quickly turned to the church behind Black Mesa on San Ildefonso Pueblo, I've planned this shot for about a month, both through a real scouting trip and through the power of the Photographer's Ephemeris. Similar to the famous moonrise shot, here the moon is three days short of full. I got lucky with a nice bank of clouds and a sliver of foreground light just before the sun went behind a mountain over my shoulder. I've found where I will be for the moon cycle in October/ November of 2016 to celebrate the 75th birthday of "Moonrise, Hernandez."

Aspens, High Road

I drove the high road from Santa Fe to Taos one early October, searching for fall color. I did not find the proverbial aspen gold I sought, as the wind had swept most of the trees bare. However, this scene is even better, as the bare trees, foreground light, and background shadows provided the classic elements needed to make a (hopefully) compelling black and white image. Photography is like life: it helps to have a plan and a goal, but one must be flexible enough to adapt to the light and conditions along the way.

Emergence

The morning sun emerges from a blanket of fog, and from the aspen trees, in the Valles Caldera near Los Alamos, NM.

Clearing Snow, Nun’s Corner

After a quick, light snowstorm hit the high country of Northern New Mexico, I drove up Hyde Park Road in Santa Fe towards Ski Santa Fe, aiming for a viewpoint I like at Nun’s Corner. From this location, Little Tesuque Creek flows through a series of v-shaped sharp bends in the mountain canyon. When I arrived at this location, I immediately tried to compose an image that took advantage of the deep shadows and bright highlights through the canyon while emphasizing the sharp whites of the fresh snow blanketing the high flanks of Tesuque Peak in the upper left of the frame as the clouds lifted near sunset.

Midtown Crossing, City of Rocks

I made this image while exploring City of Rocks State Parks one midmorning in fall. I found this little opening in the heart of the City of Rocks, with a nice opening the clouds above. I immediately visualized the scene as a classic, high-contrast, selenium-toned black and white landscape image. I composed the image and waited for a sliver of light to illuminate the rock towers, which finally came just in time before I lost the cloud opening. After 20-some years in New Mexico, this was our first visit to City of Rocks State Park. It will definitely not be our last, as this was one amazing State Park.