Storm Clearing

In late August the monsoon season in New Mexico is winding down, but we are still getting frequent thunderstorms in the afternoon.  Last Saturday we were out on a drive, and I stopped at a few places to snap a few photos.  During the drive we encountered heavy rain for about fifteen or twenty minutes, then the rain stopped and the skies began to clear...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Another Take

Last February I was on vacation in Holbrook, Arizona, staying at the Wigwam Motel.  There were several old cars in the parking lot, and I thought taking a few shots with my (then brand new) wide angle lens could lead to some interesting results.  For the most part I wasn't satisfied with the shots I got, with the exception of this one.  It was a clear, cool, day with a bright setting sun, and the colors of the old car washed out in the harsh light a bit.  I decided to process the shot as a single image HDR in an attempt pull out some of the colors I knew were there.  That shot I posted previously.  I wasn't happy with that shot, as it was overexposed in the upper right corner and the sky had a "look" to it that I didn't like...

Fast forward to today.  Over the months I've thought about this shot, how I could process it differently.  Then it occurred to me that since the sun was just out of the frame in the upper right, shining brightly, I could use a sun flare effect to clean up that part of the image.  Doing that didn't turn the photo from a good shot into a great shot, but I like this version much better...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX

Anniversary Sale!

To celebrate the one year anniversary of kevinschafferphotography.com, I'm offering 25% off all orders, including shipping! Prints, notecards, all on sale, no limits. This sale runs through August 18. Use coupon code: schaffer2013 to receive your discount. 

www.kevinschafferphotography.com

Two Windows, Two Ways

I went for a drive on the back roads south of Santa Fe one day, following County Road 34 through cattle country first, then turning on Highway 50 near Pecos, winding my way back towards Santa Fe. Beautiful high desert landscapes at first, becoming more wooded as the elevation dropped where Highway 50 skirted a river for a ways.  At one point I saw this old cabin and had to pull over to take a few shots.  I spent some time there working the scene, trying different angles and approaches, eventually zeroing in on these windows...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 10-24 DX

San Ysidro

While on a Saturday drive down the Jemez Mountain Trail Scenic Byway we slowly drove through the village of San Ysidro, where I noticed this small Catholic Church.  We had driven this road a few weeks earlier, but I didn't recall seeing this church the first time through the area.  This time I asked that we turn around, and I spent a few minutes composing different shots of the church.  I got lucky in that an afternoon thunderstorm was slowly rolling in, lending some drama to the sky, which made for a nice backdrop behind the church...

For this second shot I chose to push in tighter, to emphasize the drama in the sky a bit more...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

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Walking In Ansel's Footsteps

The other day I decided to head south from Santa Fe on the Old Las Vegas Highway (Highway 300), which served as a portion of Route 66 until 1937 when the road was rerouted and straightened in several sections to save drivers travel time... About 15 miles down the road this section of Highway 300 came to a dead end - with a church sitting there.  There were no signs or other visible markings that would give me an idea of the church's name, but it appeared to be in fairly good condition, leading me to think that it was still, at least occasionally, used.  Later I did some research and after some digging around on the Internet I found out that: 1) it is referred to - depending on the source - as Nuestra Senora de la Luz in Canoncito (Our Lady of Light in Canoncito) or simply the Apache Canyon Church, and 2) in 1961 Ansel Adams photographed this site (Church and Gate, Canoncito, New Mexico)... Mystery solved, and as a photography geek I thought it was pretty neat that I stopped, unknown to me at the time, to take a few photos where fifty odd years before Ansel Adams had stood... 

A closer shot of the entry...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX

Upaya Zen Center

Yesterday I visited the Upaya Institute and Zen Center, a Buddhist retreat and meditation center in Santa Fe.  I'd driven by the center several times previously, and was always drawn to the Temple, which can be seen from the road, towering over the surrounding trees...  This time I decided to stop and see if I could take a walk around the center.  It was early in the morning, quiet except for a couple of landscapers working on the grounds.  I was drawn to the Temple, and particularly the Buddhist prayer flags hanging nearby...

After taking a few shots of the Temple I decided to move in closer and crouch down, so I would be looking up, trying to emphasize the flags a little more...

Then I moved in even closer, looking up...

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 18-55 DX