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July 2003: It's amazing how much you can see in a long weekend. In the case of this past 4th of July weekend, I had 5 days to do nothing but travel and take pictures.
Fireworks, lit-up foreground, and a waxing moon.
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My first stop was Valley View Hot Springs, where the owner had built a fireworks rig on the back of a trailer. No cheesy little rig, mind you: This was 5 tiers - about 225 units - of home-grown computer-controlled all-American pyrotechnic mayhem. I spent the night of the 3rd at VVHS, where I took the time to think about where to shoot from, get in a hike or two, and to check out the sunsets.
Armed with a tripod, cable-release, and a bottle of cheap red wine, I set out along a path to the upper pools at VVHS, which I eventually left for a ridge that promised a clear view of the launch-site and the night sky. A glass of wine later - and after capturing the sunset (above) - I noticed that some local valley residents had begun to appear on the dirt road leading to the springs. By the time the show began, there must have been 75 cars strung across the valley.
Prickly Pear Bloom
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Shooting fireworks takes some thought. The fireworks began about 9:40 - quite dark - and I began shooting. I initially began with 30 second exposures, which was way too long! Fireworks were launching about every 4 seconds, so very quickly you had a muddle of seven or eight explosions in your image. This isn't necessarily bad, but some fireworks are brighter than others, and if they explode in the same area, will tend to wash out some of the more subtle colors. After a few of these very bright shots, I tried setting the duration to about 8 seconds, and began waiting for the launches, anticipating when I would click the shutter. In hindsight, I think I would use the bulb setting, and keep total control over shutter duration.
The fireworks show lasted about 15 minutes, and after it was over, applause and whoops of joy were heard from the grateful spectators in the valley below. By now I was halfway through the wine bottle, and began winding my way through the rocks and prickly-pear back to camp.
Alien Craft at the UFO Watchtower
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The next few days were going to be rather ad-lib. I visited the UFO Watchtower, "The first and only one of it's kind in the world"! Yessir, this is my idea of a good time. The shooting conditions were really pretty awful though - bright late morning sun - but I took advantage of this to bring out my polarizer and coax as much color out of these strange surroundings as I could.
After the UFO Watchtower, I wasn't sure exactly what to do. In fact, I remember being concerned about where I might spend the night, the National Forest campgrounds likely being filled on a Saturday night in the middle of this long holiday weekend.
I'd stumbled on an interesting picture of the San Francisco de Asissi church near Taos (see John MacLean's site - I can only hope to be as good as this guy someday) so I went across the 37° parallel into New Mexico. At the time, I knew next to nothing about the structure, thinking that it looked quite modern. Of course, it's a hundred-plus year-old Catholic Church, whose back-end just happens to be photographed much more than it's more traditional front entrance. No pictures were permitted inside, though, a rule that I respected.
At this point I should mention that New Mexico is a little weird. If you are looking for something, some location, slow down and take a pill: The road sign that might point you there will be tiny. The place itself will be barely visible off some obscure, narrow one-way road in an unplanned town that you will NOT find on your tired 1998 Rand McNally Road Atlas. Some of the Catholic churches are very much like this; these are places whose reverence is emphasized now by contrast with the modern world that grew up too quickly around them. Adding to their charm is that they are revered: Visitors naturally converse in whispers and children behave, because although no one appears to be in charge, God is present everywhere.
El Santuario
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Yes, places in New Mexico have this natural southwest intimacy that are charming in character but hard-as-hell to find. The closed-quarter settings were the case for San Francisco de Asissi, and found to be true yet again in El Santuario in Chimayo. You are now off the beaten path, folks - just calm down, take a drink, and go with the flow. Unlike the chapel of San Francisco de Asissi, a sign at Santuario said that photographs were OK as long as no flash was used. And that's where digital rules: Crank up the ISO to 1000, and take the shot as best you can. The image at right was taken at about 1/60 second at f/3.5. Check out that ceiling.
Ah, late now, but where to spend the night? After some initial confusion, I worked my way into Espanola. This is my least favorite place in New Mexico, an endless, hot town that you can not find your way out of. What's more, I think that there are at least two of them - don't be fooled! I was lucky that Saturday - I saw I real street sign - and made way for Los Alamos and Bandalier. At the entrance to Bandalier, I learned that - WOW - there were still campsites!
The next day I woke up early (my habit), packed up the campsite, and headed to the ruins. I shot everything I intended to by 8:30 that morning; great light. I was thinking of the photographs of John Sexton the whole time, wondering if I remembered how I might capture his work.
The Chapel at the Stations of the Cross, San Luis, Colorado. Modified in PS.
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Sunday found myself back in Taos - avoiding the huge wildfire on the hillside there - and checking out the art galleries. I was looking for photography, but Taos galleries seem to be mostly for painters, with a few artists working in other media. I guess painting was hot; the prices I noticed ranged from about $600 to $4000, and they were good! It must pay: The roads leading into Taos are scattered with LOTS of wannabe artist's galleries, each with their little sign trying to coax slow tourists off the road. I figure that there are at least two types of these galleries: Those in Taos, and those that won't ever be. What's going on there? Are we to blame Georgia O'Keefe?
A future destination: Our Lady of the Caves Grotto, somewhere in Southern Colorado. If you know where that is, email me.
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