details by nature

First and foremost before I begin on this Memorial Day, my thanks to the military and police veterans and service members in our midst - Ann, Anita, Ben, Bogie, Burke, Chuck, Dalice, Dave K. and Dave O., Debra, Earle, two Fred Bs., JJ, Jim, Joel, John, Larry, Steve, and Tony, as well as those my little brain may have neglected to list - for your service.

We saw a great many veterans on their way to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Angel Fire during our recent road trip.  Some also stopped, as we did, at El Malpais National Monument near Grants, New Mexico, to give their bodies a rest before returning to their Harleys.

El Malpais is one of New Mexico's hidden jewels.  Rough and tumble in its character and history, it is a place where Mt. Taylor's volcanic energy laid wide swaths of lava over existing sandstone.  The details are fascinating.

Keep safe and enjoy this land.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Here and there, this and that

Road trips are special.  Conversation is random and wildly varying, depending on the terrain, weather, people you meet along the way, and purpose of the trip.  Thoughts bounce around and exit via the mouths of travelers, and sometimes total quiet envelops the vehicle, leaving only the noise of the highway beneath the tires.  This blog features images equally random.

Fred and I took a road trip this weekend, for the purpose of photographing a wedding in Alpine, Arizona.  We drove along I-40 to Grants and headed through El Malpais National Monument and Conservation Area, and onward through Quemado to the White Mountains of Arizona.  Here is a detail  from the Sandstone Bluffs area of El Malpais.

After departing El Malpais, we saw how extremely dry it is in western New Mexico. However, as the elevation increases and you enter the White Mountains, the dryness almost shockingly gives way to water, and, in comparison to the high desert below, lots of it.  But what we noticed next was unexpected -  the smell carried by the wind of burned forest, still hanging heavy in the air two years after the Wallow Fire, a devastating event that consumed over 538,000 acres in eastern Arizona.  Blackened, bare trees are everywhere. The Ponderosa pine, spruce, and Douglas Firs did not fare well.

But in many areas, the mountainsides are dotted with bright spring green.  Thousands upon thousands of young aspen are rising to their genetics as a succession species to help heal the land after fires.  The bark of many old and noble aspen was actually burned at the bottom but the trees still live.

                                                


Throughout the weekend, we stayed at the Alpine Inn.  Ann and Burke Masterson, innkeepers, are world-class hosts, and their breakfasts, which included the likes of homemade apple pancakes with cinnamon and vanilla whipped cream, biscuits topped with eggs, sausage, and chipotle gravy, and homemade apple strudel, kept us going all day!  We highly recommend staying at the Alpine and spend some time talking with Ann and Burke.  They have traveled widely and hold a real appreciation for the people and food of the countries they visit.  Here is a shot of their place.

The Mastersons as well as Lisa and Steve, owners of the newly opened and excellent Foxfire Cafe in Alpine, are four of the reasons why Alpine continues to thrive despite the fire.   

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

It is the season

The weather has become appreciably warmer this week, and it being the 13th, two days short of the "official" last frost, it is definitely the season of environmental portraiture, especially outside.  I am ready to go, despite any wind that might happen.  At a 2010 wedding I photographed in southern Colorado, the wind was howling to such an extent that many of the wedding party had to hold on to one another to keep from being blown over.  Although this is just a quick shot rather than a true portrait, it communicates volumes.

Here is an image from another spring time photo shoot, this one with weaver Joe Bacon.  Fortunately, the wind was cooperating.

The day Steve Immel and I shot portraits of one another, most were made in his garage, utilizing two soft boxes and different backdrops.  The photograph below was shot using isolated light outside.

Here is a quick shot of artist Paule Marx in her studio, following a photo shoot of her work.  She has one of the most radiant and beaming faces I have ever seen.  It reminds me that I need to do a shoot with her during the warm season that is now upon us.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

"Because it is clean"

After searching the 2002 edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations as well as the internet at length for the specific quote of T. E. Lawrence about loving the desert "because it is clean",  I am still unsure as to whether the quote was from Lawrence himself or a screenwriter's dream.  Regardless of the source, the phrase is epic, one that addresses both the human fascination with and repulsion of the desert.

We have what many from damp climates might consider a desert just north of us in Colorado, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve.  I have blogged about this place before because it is mesmerizing, as all deserts and dunes can be.  The dune stacked in the background with scrub in the foreground, has an otherworldly, fantasy quality about it.

Below is a detail of one of the "holes" in the dunes, created and ever changing with the capricious spring winds.

This is the perfect time to explore the dunes, while the temperatures are moderate and Medano Creek may be running courtesy of snow melt.  For the full effect, double click on the images.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image