The Gorge

Although it has neither been seen nor photographed by as many people or in as many ways as the Grand Canyon, the Rio Grande and its gorge is northern New Mexico's jewel.   The massive volcanic area through which the river carved and altered the landscape, some 242,5000 acres, was named a National Monument this March.  From south to north, there are multiple approaches and ways to view it.  Two overlooks along Highway 68 north from Espanola to Taos are stunning, but the second of these provides almost a roller coaster effect of rising and then sinking slightly, revealing the Gorge in a truly stunning way.  It literally takes your breath away, if just for a moment.

North of the Gorge Bridge, there are a number of overlooks and camp sites which offer totally different visions of the area.  

However you choose to view El Rio, I highly recommend this time of year.  It is a bit cooler, and the light is perfect for photographing the Gorge and the bridge as well.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

El Malpais, otra vez

A place is beguiling when it keeps popping up a person's mind at the oddest times and places.  Thus, El Malpais, otra vez.  Today's blog features more sandstone knobs, hoodoos, and arches in the making.  It is amazing how trees manage to plant themselves in such harsh but also opportune places.

In case you plan a trip here in the near future, the visitors' center is a wonderful source of information, as are the websites of both the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management.

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

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

Thinking Abiquiu

A Renaissance woman with whom my husband and I have spoken for several years at the Wool Festival in Taos, recently emailed and asked if she could paint one of my photographs.  "Naturally, I was flattered!"  (Thanks to Jennifer Jason Leigh portraying Amy Archer in The Hudsucker Proxy for that wonderful piece of dialogue.)

But the email correspondence made me flash on the beauty that is the Abiquiu area and why so many artists and photographers have been attracted to it over the years.  Season, light, and shadows can morph the geology from a lunar landscape to a circus of color in minutes

Here's to you, Deborah, and all the artists - past, present, and future - who have or will embrace the area in their work!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image

Tent Rocks

Although the high country is experiencing an early thaw, and walking surfaces vary between snow, ice, and mud (to be exact, it is snowing here right now), there is a place that offers perfect winter hiking.  At elevations between 5,570 and 6,760 feet, Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument between Santa Fe and Albuquerque is an other-wordly place of hoodoos, occasional slot canyons and geologic wonders created by explosions 6 and 7 million years ago in the Jemez volcanic field.   

  

Tent Rocks is open in the winter months (November 1-March 10) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Your canine friends will need to stay at home while you enjoy the formations but you will definitely need to bring your photography equipment!

until next Monday,

DB

a passion for the image