More Photographs of the Southwest

Color and light are what I think of when I take photos in New Mexico. The brilliant blue sky, the intense color and contrasts of the buildings, the lovely shadows at day's end.

Using the tools on iPhoto or PhotoShop helps me manipulate and enhance color. It's a lot easier than the days of using a dark room. Somehow it feels like cheating, but technology has a way of making a photographer out of many of us.


Oh yes, what a pleasant and rewarding ___, what? I hate to use the term hobby, but it certainly isn't an occupation for me. Maybe it is therapy. Whatever it is it stimulates me, makes me look more carefully at my surroundings, and is very rewarding.

Entrance to a home in the historic Mesilla area
of Las Cruces, New Mexico

Some of these photos I plan to print and perhaps hang somewhere in our house. I'll probably switch out some of the other photos I have hanging. Funny, most people put up lots of family photos, but I tend to hang photos of interesting places, birds, or objects I have photographed.

Building in Old Town Tuscon, Arizona

Perhaps one day I'll try portrait photography. It will be challenging to situate a subject in an interesting setting and not just take a snapshot of a person. Another day I shall post the few shots of people that could be considered "portraits", but for now let's look at the southwest U. S.

Flowers near the Square in Taos

Above & below are photos of the patio of
Orlando's New Mexican Cafe in Taos. Very cheery & excellent food.

Salman Ranch Store Window, Las Cuevas, New Mexico

Along the street in Taos

Back door & seating area at a gallery in Taos

Speaking of photography...

Sangre de Cristo Mountains, New Mexico

A couple of days before we left Taos, the G-man and I went by a photography studio and talked to the photographer there about printing some of my photographs. He had a sign in his gallery window giving prices and sizes of work that he prints for other "photographers". I've printed up a few of my pieces but they were in a format no larger than 8 X 10 inches and I am curious about how my work would look larger.

La Cueva Mill, New Mexico

These four photographs are the ones we chose to be printed. The top two are from our recent trip to New Mexico. I have a few others from the Taos area that I am thinking of printing now that I am back home. Some of these I'll share at a later date (after I see how they turn out in print). Those photographs are more vibrant in color and are colors that one thinks of when thinking about the architecture of Taos and Sante Fe.

Magnolia Swamp Garden
Charleston, South Carolina

The bottom two are photographs taken in the southern part of the U. S. from our trip to the Magnolia Swamp Garden (above) just outside Charleston, South Carolina. The other is of the Wood Stork taken at Jekyll Island, Georgia. These are all very 'green' in more ways than one. Green in color and in the experience of the photographer!

Wood Stork
Jekyll Island, Georgia

I just took them out of the tube and feel rather pleased with the outcome. The G-man wants to hang the Wood Stork in his office. Don't know about the rest of them, but we'll see. I have some photos hanging in the den that could be replaced with the other 2 or 3.

The next ones that I have printed will be a bit smaller and with more color. Then I may try for a black and white, but that will require a good eye to get the varying shades to make it pop.

While in Taos...

Storm Over Taos

July 2010
Cheryl Cato

While we were in Taos I tried to find interesting images to photograph. The one above appeals to me in black & white rather than color because it seems to show the intensity of the storm that was moving into town. It is difficult for me to print or show photos in B & W because color is so appealing to me. I like vivid colors and am not so attracted to pastels or muted color. It would be a challenge to attempt to think of my images in black & white when I am shooting rather than being taken in by color.

Many photographers in the past were able to tell wonderful stories through black & white images. They did not depend on the color palette to enhance their images. In many instances color would have gotten in the way of the mood the photographer was trying to capture or share with his/her audience. When I think about some of the more famous photographers I realize they photographed in black & white. Ansel Adams, Charles Ebbets, Dorothea Lange, Margaret Bourke-White, Alfred Stieglitz & Edward Weston are names that come to mind. The photographs of each of these photographers tell a particular story.

Dorothea Lange told of the plight of people during the Depression Era in the Dust Bowl. She showed migrant workers, black children in the rural south, the work of these people and the conditions in which they lived. These were powerful images for the time and they still are powerful in that they have captured a part of the history of our country.

Margaret Bourke-White was another photographer who gained recognition as an industrial photographer. Her images were of industry, bridges, and working people. Even so one of her most famous photographs is of Gandi with a skein winder (simple machine used to put yarn into skeins) in front of his seated figure.

Charles Ebbets was an adventurous photographer. Perhaps his most famous photograph is "Lunchtime Atop a Skyscraper' with the workers building the skyscraper are sitting on a beam high over Manhattan and casually having lunch & a bit of conversation. He was also well known for photographing life in the wildlife and the Seminole Indians in the Everglades.

Alfred Stieglitz was a photographer who was intent on showing the world that photography was as artistic as a medium as painting or sculpture. He is well known for photographing Manhattan. Another interesting aspect of his life is his relationship with Georgia O'Keefe. He loved her and loved to photograph her. He was especially intrigued with the shape & fluidity of her hands and did many photographs where her hands were prominent in the work.

Ansel Adams is well known for his landscape photographs. Perhaps his most famous photographs were taken in Yosemite National Park with his best known "Moon and Half Dome". He brought images of nature to the forefront in America and was a master of the various shading in black & white photography.

Edward Weston was a contemporary of Adams but his interest fell more toward shapes. Shapes in nature (such as that of a shell), shapes of the human body, and shapes of man-made objects. He also did portrait photography of famous individuals.

Eagles Nest State Park
New Mexico
July 2010
Cheryl Cato

Adios, Taos

Front of the casitas.


Our cute little casita on Burch Street

Patio of our casita.

Bird on a fence.

Adios Taos & the Burch Street Casitas.
We love visiting here.
Now it's back to the reality
of hot, humid days.
Oh well, it will be October in a couple of months
and outdoor life will be bearable again in Texas.
We're headed home on Wednesday.

Taos Farmer's Market on Saturday Morning

Between mid-May and the end of October
one can visit the wonderful Taos Farmer's Market.

It is best to get there early because it is very popular.

Beautiful flowers both fresh and dried are available.

Then there are vegetables & herbs of all description.

Hispanic, Indian, and Anglo vendors show their beautiful vegetables.

This visit the only fruit available are apricots.
The area had a late spring so it will be a while
before the local peaches are ready.

Plants for sale.

The local palm reader is here every week.
She is a lovely person.
Next year I may get my fortune told.

Radishes, beets, carrots... yum!

Fresh garlic.

The most tender squash that I have tasted.
I hope I'll be back before the end of October
but I may have to settle for coming back next summer.

High Road: Scenic Drive from Taos to Espanola

Me... in my element
I love the dry, cool country

An opportunity to restore an old auto

Another opportunity for restoration

An old Spanish style village

that is basically an artists commune

high up in the mountains

where the animals greet visitors with
baas & barks and wags of the tail.

Gallery in a home.

Chapel

High mountain lake.