Autumn Above Santa Fe

The autumn color is fading in the mountains east of Santa Fe, as fall slowly fades into winter...

A couple of weeks ago I drove up into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains above Santa Fe, several times in fact, on lazy afternoon drives or to hike.  The first time I headed up out of curiosity, as I could see the aspens turning yellow in the distance from my house.  Driving the winding road up, I eventually came to the Big Tesuque Campground, where I took the first two photos (the first one from a road side pull off about a quarter mile above the campground, looking south, the second just off of the campground parking lot).  The leaves were golden, with hints of orange and red, and the pines mixed in with the aspens gave the landscape some interesting contrast. 

About a week later, after my first trip into the mountains, I decided to hike the Aspen Valley Trail, which is located a little further up the road from the Big Tesuque Campground.  The trail starts at approximately 9,600 feet elevation, ending up at a little over 12,000 - about a 5.8 mile slog to the top and back down.  Most of the aspens (and color) are located in the first third/half of the way up or so.  I took these shots in that first stretch of the trail, the first on the way up... 

...the second as I was working my way back down to the parking lot.

The whole area was ablaze with autumn color, and I'm already looking forward to exploring more of the area next fall...

First two photos (Big Tesuque) - Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX
Last two photos (Aspen Valley Trail) - Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX 

Prints can be ordered here

2013 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Balloon Glow

Among the numerous activities taking place at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta are three main events - Dawn Patrol, which occurs every morning before and as the sun rises, Mass Ascensions (which I wrote about previously) occur on Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesday, and various themed Balloon Glows, which occurred this year five times over the course of the nine day fiesta...

This year I went to the Fiesta Glow which occurred on the last day of the festival.  As the sun set, slowly the balloons filled, glowing...

Once the sun dipped below the horizon the Fiesta (Ballon) Glow commenced, multiple balloons firing their burners simultaneously... 

Leading up to all of the balloons firing their burners and lighting up at the same time...

Once the sun set and the sky turned black, I turned my attention to getting shots of individuals burners firing...

All in all the whole Balloon Fiesta was an event I'm glad I attended both in the morning and in the evening, and I will definitely be going back next year.

You can buy prints from the 2013 ABQ International Balloon Fiesta here

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

2013 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta - Morning Ascension

I recently was able to go to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta for the first time.  I've seen photos from the event over the years, but didn't know too much about it.  

The morning of the first day of the festival we got up early, leaving the house around 4:15 a.m. for the drive to Albuquerque.  We got to the site of the fiesta, parked, walked in, and checked out the vendors, etc., before heading over to the main field where the balloons were beginning to get set up.  Just before sunrise a number of balloons were inflated and subsequently took off (the "Dawn Patrol").  

It wasn't long before I focused on the the firing of the burners, and how the flames played off of the dark, predawn sky.  I was able to get a couple of shots of the balloons as the burners were firing just before take off...

I like this last shot because I was able to get in a bit closer, filling the frame with just the flame and the ballon itself.

The whole fiesta was more entertaining than I expected - and worth getting out of bed at 3:45 A.M. for!  Watching over 500 balloons launch in the span of just a couple of hours during the Morning Ascension was a visual treat.  Colors, shapes, patterns were in abundance (something I'll write about in a future post)...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Prints of select photos can be ordered here

Land of 10,000 Lakes, Two Barns, and a Bridge

I just got back from a quick trip to Minnesota to attend my best friend's wedding.  Of course I brought my camera along because I knew that I would have some spare time in my schedule to do some driving in the country.  I was staying in Red Wing, a small town south of Minneapolis located on the Mississippi River.  The first full day I was there I headed south on a small highway, drove, took a random turn or two to see what I could see, and eventually I ran across this barn.  I loved the red painted sides of the barn and how that played against the bright green grass, so I stopped and took a couple of shots.  I'm happy with how this shot came out, especially since it was the first time (along with another shot earlier that morning) that I successfully got a got starburst in camera (as opposed to digital manipulation later)...

Later that afternoon the sky turned overcast, and in contrast to the bright red barn and sun from the morning, I ran across this grey barn, which caught my eye for different reasons.  I like the older, weathered look of the aging siding, the vines growing up the side of the barn, the moody sky, and the gold fields in the background... 

The next day I was on another random drive south of Red Wing and I stumbled on the covered bridge located in Zumbrota, which happens to be the only remaining original, functional, covered bridge in Minnesota.  I stopped at the park and took a short walk up to, and then over/through the bridge.

While walking through the bridge I saw this view through the windows, and stopped to take a few shots...  

The only disappointment from that trip was that autumn is coming late to that part of Minnesota this year, so I missed the turning of the leaves by a couple of weeks.  I was really looking forward to that, but I had a great time driving around, exploring, randomly coming across interesting rural scenes...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX 

Prints of select photos can be ordered here