I love photographing in winter in New Mexico. The quality of light is warm and inviting and the skies are often colorful. I especially like making black and white images from some of the places I visit there. This trip I focused on White Sands National Monument, Pecos NHP, Abo Ruins, and Fort Union. On the way back, I took the high road to Taos and stopped at the Sanctuary in Chimayo. I also explored the Taos Pueblo.
White Sands
White Sands National Monument is always a great spot for photographs. Located about 50 miles east of Las Cruces, NM, White Sands is one of my favorite spots to go in winter. The temperature was a near perfect 55 degrees and there were few clouds own the sky. The contrast of the stark white sand with deep blue sky makes for some really cool black and white images. On this trip down, there were a lot of visitors os I had to walk about a mile to find some dunes without tons of footprints all over them. I looked for some with animal tracks to make for interesting lead in lines. I tried to also do a couple of panoramic images.
Fort Union
Fort Union was one of the largest forts in the West. It contained a large number of adobe buildings. Today, the ruins of walls are all that is left (after the fort was abandoned, the locals stripped the fort of glass and tin leaving the walls to crumble). However, those ruins make for some very interesting subjects. One has a long row of windows while another has a wagon out front. I just wish the place would’ve been open near sunset which would’ve made for even more dramatic photographs. Fort Union is located near Las Vegas, NM about an hour east of Santa Fe.
Abo Ruins
The ruins of the Salinas Pueblo missions are one of my favorite spots to photograph in New Mexico. There are three separate ruins but this time I stopped at Abo. I have been trying to get good photos of this place near sunset and I finally had the opportunity to do so. The ruins of the church mission glow red near sunset, making for some very interesting compositions. Again, walls and windows are all that is left so this challenges the photographer to come up with interesting angles to shoot from. Abo ruins are located about 30 miles east of I-25 off of Highway 60, about an hour south of Albuquerque.
Pecos NHP
Pesos NHP contains another mission ruin as well as a kiva that you can go down in. The ruin is not as large as the one at Abo but contains some cool doorways and windows to photograph. It is about 20 minutes east of Santa Fe, just off of I-25.
Fort Union jail, NM
Fort Union, NM
Pecos NHP, kiva, NM
Pecos NHP, mission ruin, NM
Pecos NHP, mission ruin, NM
White Sands National Monument, NM
El Sanctuario, Chimayo, NM
Organ Mountains, Las Cruces, NM
Abo ruins, Salinas Pueblo Mission, NM
Abo ruins, Salinas Pueblo Mission, NM
White Sands National Park, NM
White Sands National Park, NM
White Sands National Park, NM
White Sands National Park, NM
White Sands National Park, NM
White Sands National Park, NM
White Sands National Park, NM
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, NM
Ghost Ranch, NM
Ghost Ranch, NM
Ghost Ranch, NM, old wagon
Dead tree, Ghost Ranch, Kitchen Mesa trail, NM
Ghost Ranch, Kitchen Mesa trail, NM
Chaco Canyon window
Chaco Canyon doorway, NM
