2015’s Best Part 1

2015 was an exceptional year for me in terms of photography. Not just for the images, but for the experiences as well. I made an effort to be more adventurous, and spontaneous in my choice of subject matter. I also vowed to be more responsive to the images themselves when it came to post processing. In all, there are thirty-seven photographs, so I will present this post in two parts. I hope you enjoy viewing them as much as I enjoyed making them.

In late January we had a heavy snowfall which made it impossible for me to drive out of my driveway. So, I walked down to Soda Dam to photograph it in its winter splendor. This image seemed to be a black and white candidate from the start.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 24-70 f2.8: 1.3 sec., f20, ISO 50

March took me to southern Arizona to photograph desert wildflowers. I didn’t find the showing I had hoped for, so I contented myself by pursuing Teddy Bear Chollas. When photographed in the right light, they have a luminous quality about them. I made this image at sunset in the Lost Dutchman State Park, east of Pheonix. The fabled Superstition Mountains lie on the horizon.

Nikon D800 with 24-70mm f2.8 lens: 1.3 sec, f16, ISO 50

I’ve been to Ah Shi Sle Pah Wash many times over the years, but I seldom explore along the southern edge. In April I decided to change that; I made this image looking northwest from the top of the southern rim. This is the section I call the Yellow Badlands. It’s like taking a look back through time.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 24-70 f2.8: ¹⁄₈ sec, f18, ISO 50

In May while exploring a part of Ah Shi Sle Pah Wash I had never been to before, I came across this incredible hoodoo hidden in a small ravine along the northern edge of the main wash. I stayed and worked the area for nearly two hours. This is the first of many compositions using what I call the Neural Hoodoo as the main subject.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 16-35mm f4 lens: ¹⁄₃₀ sec, f16, ISO 50

This black and white image was made from the opposite side of the Neural Hoodoo. If forced to choose a favorite, this would be it.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 16-35mm f4 lens: ¹⁄₂₅ sec, f16, ISO 50

This final image of the Neural Hoodoo was made from the same general location as the first, but I zoomed in to capture a more intimate portrait.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 16-35mm f4 lens: ¹⁄₁₅ sec, f16, ISO 50

At the same time I was exploring the far reaches of Ah Shi SlePah, I was discovering some of the amazing and convoluted drainages along the southern rim of the wash. I made this image on a stormy evening in late May. I could not have asked for more appropriate light for this scene.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₆₀ sec, f18, ISO 50

In early June I went out to the Bisti Wilderness. At the far reaches of the southern drainage, I made this image of a multi-colored grouping of hoodoos. I had photographed this same group several times in the past, but I think this is my favorite. The clouds seem to reflect the lines of the caprocks.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 24-70 mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₄₀ sec, f16, ISO 50

One morning in late June I noticed the chollas around my house were blooming. I set out the next morning for the Rio Puerto Valley to capture the splashes of color in that dramatic landscape. I made the first image (above) in the ghost town of Guadalupe. The return of life to the desert seemed coincidental to the ongoing decay of the adobe buildings.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₆ sec, f16, ISO 50

In this image, a blossoming cholla stands at the head of a deep wash as a rain cloud passes over Cerro Cuate in the distance. Even the slightest precipitation sustains life in this environment.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₁₀ sec, f16, ISO 50

Early on the morning of July 4th, before the road was closed for the parade, I slipped out of town and drove out into the San Juan Basin. I didn’t really have a plan other than to visit the Burnham Badlands, which lies to the west of the Bisti Wilderness, and covers a relatively small area as badlands go (about one mile by two miles). This graceful hoodoo sits smack in the center of it.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₂₀ sec, f16, ISO 50

After completing my exploration of the Burnham Badlands, I drove west through the heart of the Navajo Reservation and arrived at Shiprock in the early evening. I drove one of the dirt roads that runs along the lava dike until I found a spot I liked. I set up my camera and tripod then waited for the light. Over the next two and a half hours, I made almost a hundred exposures as the light changed and the sun crept toward the horizon. This is my pick.

Nikon D800 with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₆ sec, f16, ISO 50

Hidden in plain sight, just a few miles north of Ah Shi Sle Pah is the Fossil Forest. At the end of a low ridge which runs east to west, you can just make out the telltale signs from the county road: the striated color, and the deep cut drainages where geologic treasures lie exposed. I went there with an agenda: to find a fossilized tree stump. I’ve related the whole story in an earlier post, so I’ll just say here that we were able to locate the stump after some scrambling and sleuthing.

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 16-35mm f4 lens: ¹⁄₂₅ sec, f16, ISO 100

In July, I made a trip to visit my daughter Lauren in Madison, Wisconsin. She accompanied me on the return trip. Early on the second morning, somewhere in central Kansas, she mentioned the large birds roosting on the fence. I had driven past and hadn’t noticed them, so I backtracked until we found them. The birds turned out to be a committee of turkey vultures sunning themselves and drying their wings. I was able to get pretty close to them without distressing them, and I managed to capture quite a few exposures. This is my favorite.

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-120mm f4 lens: ¹⁄₆₄₀ sec, f9, ISO 500

In August we set out on the high road to Taos. The way passes through many small villages: Chimayo, Truchas, Las Trampas, and Picuris Pueblo to name but a few. At Picuris, we visited the plaza, and there, I noticed the shapes and texture of the adobe walls of a small church. This is the result of my efforts there.

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-120mm f4 lens: ¹⁄₄₀₀ sec, f14, ISO 1600

Farther up the road, we took a fork to visit the village of Tres Ritos. There, in a meadow by the side of the road, was a spray of mountain asters with a small wetland full of cattails just beyond it. The dark foreboding sky intensified the saturation of the colors and was the perfect backdrop for the scene.

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₆₄₀ sec, f16, ISO 1600

In late August on a trip to Denver, I drove up highway 285 instead of using the interstate. Late in the day, the clouds were hanging in tatters from the peaks of the Sangre de Cristos to the east. The grasses were just beginning to turn and the colors filled the spectrum. When I came across the trees, it all came together.

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₅ sec, f11, ISO 50

On my return from Denver, I was driving across the Taos Plateau and the nearly full moon was climbing through the clouds above the Sangres. The Chamisa was in bloom and all I needed to do was find the right combination.

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₅₀₀ sec, f13, ISO 800

Still on the Taos Plateau. The texture and colors in the grasses and sage, along with the rays of sunlight piercing the dark clouds caused me to pull over again (at this rate, I would never get home). The lonesome Ponderosa Pine anchors this image, but the thing that really ties it all together is the thin strip of light colored ground below the mountains.

Nikon D700 with Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 lens: ¹⁄₅₀₀ sec, f11, ISO 800

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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