Casa Grande Trading Post

Located on New Mexico's Turquoise Trail, Los Cerrillos is an old mining town clinging to life.  I had explored this small town once or twice due to its close proximity to Santa Fe when I decided to visit there once again with my wife last December.  We drove the dusty streets of this small town, checking out the old buildings and decay and wondering what kept people in this once bustling mining town.  On a whim we decided to follow the sign to the Casa Grande Trading Post and Petting Zoo and see what it had to offer.

Upon entering the place it quickly became apparent that this was a treasure trove of antiques, kitsch, junk, and odd collectibles - a perfect place for exploring with a camera. I quickly paid the $2 to go into the "Cerrillos Turquoise Mining Museum" section of the building and starting taking pictures.  The colors and light, clutter and shadow made for an interesting composition...

I had my wide angle lens mounted on my camera that day, and after taking some wide shots of the room, I noticed the sunlight pouring in through the windows.  The low, cool,  afternoon December sunlight was further softened by the dust and dirt on the windows; the light and shadow and dust pulled me in as I pushed in close and took a few shots... 

And I pushed in even closer...

We came back in February, so I could explore the museum further and my wife could feed the Llama and goats and birds again...  

Again the combination of color, light, shadow, antiques, and junk made me stop...

Here the late afternoon sunlight touching the old bottles and rocks caught my eye...

All the way in the back of the building I saw this window...

Just last month I was there again, this time with a visitor from out of town.  I knew we would be stopping there as part of a morning road trip, and this time I brought my fisheye lens along.  My hope was that I could get a "different" type of shot, one that pulled in as much of the room as possible.  After several attempts, this is the shot that I settled on as being "the best."  Normally I would think about correcting the fisheye distortion, but in this instance, I don't think it detracts from the feel of the scene...

I think that is absolutely the value in revisiting a place, even a small place (with a lot of character) like the Casa Grande Trading Post and Petting Zoo.  Every time I've been there I've seen the place a bit differently.  Time of year, time of day, choice of lens, passage of time and changing taste and perspective of the individual all play into how you view a place on a particular day...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX (Dec ), Nikkor 18-55 DX (Feb ), Nikkor 10.5 DX Fisheye (July )

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