Words and Light

I might be biased… but New Mexican sunsets are the prettiest.

Sunset, coming out of Cochito Pueblo after leaving Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. Portra 400VC, 120mm.

Having spent three full summers in New Mexico, plus a few others here and there, I’ve seen quite a few sunsets in the Land of Enchantment.

Sunset along I-25. Portra 400VC, 120mm.

I’ve also lived in Texas, Missouri and Maryland. They have nice sunsets, too. But they can’t beat New Mexico.

Santa Fe. Taken at f/3.5 and 1/15, I think, from a rest stop on the side of I-25 from the south. Portra 400VC, 35mm.

And how can you beat coming home to a city at the base of the Rocky Mountains?

You can’t.

But I’m also pretty biased.

Read Full Post »

I’m in the midst of my last week at the University of Missouri, which means I have an exam, a paper, and a project to complete; a room to pack; and an apartment to clean.

But here are some more spring break pictures! After visiting Chimayó, Jeff and I went to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, which is only a few miles from Bandelier National Monument — but to get there, you have to drive almost two hours in the other direction.

The last five miles before you arrive at the national monument are a gravel road that’s being paved over this summer.

Part of the canyon. BW400CN, 120mm.

And to get to the tent rocks themselves, you have to hike — and sometimes climb — through a slot canyon.

It’s not a very narrow slot canyon, but you definitely have to do a bit of rock scrambling at points. Portra 160VC, 35mm.

But when you emerge from the canyon and hike/climb up a bit more, you see these:

Look to the lower right quadrant for the “tent rocks.” Portra 160VC, 35mm.

And there’s a wonderful horizon:

(more…)

Read Full Post »

Some artwork that Jeff found. Only in New Mexico. Portra 160VC, 35mm.

We spent only the morning in Chimayó. After exploring the Santuario and the surrounding area, we ate lunch at Rancho de Chimayó.

Prickly pear lemonade, with chips and salsa, to start off. Portra 160VC, 35mm.

After an afternoon siesta, we went to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument — but most of that film has not yet been scanned.

I’m working on it, I swear!

Read Full Post »

Jeff and I aren’t Catholic, but on Wednesday, March 31, we drove up to Chimayó to visit what “is no doubt the most important Catholic pilgrimage center in the United States.” (At least, according to the New Mexico state historian’s office.)

Santuario de Chimayó. BW400CN, 120mm.

In other words, we went to El Santuario de Chimayó two days before Good Friday — two days before the grounds would be flooded with pilgrims who’d arrived there by walking for days. Admittedly, we didn’t even know about the “walkers,” as they’re called, until we were driving down the highway and saw signs warning the “Santuario walkers” to stay on one side of the road.

But it wasn’t terribly crowded when we were there on Wednesday afternoon, and it helped that we arrived just at its opening hours.

Rosaries hanging in a small shrine at El Santuario de Chimayó. Portra 160VC, 35mm.

(more…)

Read Full Post »

When we were researching Santa Fe before our trip — come on, we’re journalists — Jeff and I encountered quite a few websites and brochures calling Santa Fe “the City Different.”

Which seemed a little pretentious to me. You see, what makes Santa Fe “the City Different” is its adherence to the Spanish Territorial or Pueblo style of architecture and to its city-planning approach; both the architectural style and method of city-planning hail back to the 16th century. But I still thought the name was pretentious.

Then, when I was actually in Santa Fe, it hit me. Sure, many of the buildings are “faux-dobe,” but the city nevertheless looks unlike any other. In what other cities do you see new buildings styled in centuries-old architecture?

Anyway, I took the same photo I took almost three years ago — except this time, on film.

I think this is on the corner of Don Gaspar and Water in downtown Santa Fe. BW400CN, 120mm.

We walked around and had dinner in the Plaza after we left Bandelier and cleaned up a bit. Then, after dinner, we walked around some more and I saw a picture:

St. Francis of Assissi Cathedral. BW400CN, 120mm.

I wanna say this was shot at f/2.8 and 1/20th of a second. Not an easy task when using a medium-format SLR with a waist-level viewfinder!

Read Full Post »

Read Full Post »

…and I’ll be in Santa Fe afore ye.

We attempted a James Dean look. Not quite successful. I blame my (relatively) clean Toyota. BW400CN, 35mm.

There are two ways to Taos (or, in our case, Santa Fe): the high road and the low road. The high road goes through Old Spain, with Chimayo and other small towns/pueblos along the way. It’s said to be pretty and scenic, and also a longer drive.

We took the low road — which largely follows the Rio Grande — because that’s the only way I knew. But there were still scenic byways.

BW400CN, 35mm.

Coming up next — even more scenicness… in color!

Read Full Post »

Every time you go home after an extended absence, you hit up your favorite watering holes and restaurants.

Every time I go to Taos after an extended absence, I go to the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.

Portra 400VC, 120mm.

Dedicated in 1965, it’s the fifth highest bridge in the United States, and the Rio Grande River flows in the gorge 650 feet below.

Gorge in the foreground, the Sangre de Cristo mountains in the background. BW400CN, 35mm.

It’s also near Taos Ski Valley and Wheeler, which at 13,661 feet above sea level is the tallest mountain in the state.

The Wheeler complex in the background. BW400CN, 35mm.

We visited the bridge after leaving Philmont and before eating a very late lunch — but that’s for later.

Read Full Post »

Stunning Kansan vistas outside my car window. BW400CN, 35mm.

In my experience, there are two kinds of roadtrips:

1. Wherein the fun and adventure are invested in the roadtrip itself — that is, each stop (planned or not) is its own destination of sorts; or
2. Wherein (most of) the fun and adventure are invested in the destination itself — that is, you have little comparable interest in what necessary food/gas/overnight stops you have to make, relative to your substantial interest in the ultimate destination.

Last spring break, Esten, Jeff and I mapped out and executed the first kind of roadtrip. This time around, Jeff and I just wanted to go to Santa Fe and stay there — but we did our best to make the drives there and back interesting.

In consideration of maximizing the interestingness of our drive, we seriously considered this: Staying in Liberal, Kan.

Junction of Pancake Blvd. and Yellow Brick Rd. in Liberal, Kan. Portra 400VC, 120mm.

When we were mapping out our route, we decided to bunk up in Liberal for the night because it seemed like a good stopping point between mid-Missouri and north-central New Mexico. (Okay, the name itself — “Liberal” — also intrigued us.) We were also fascinated by the facts that the town hosts an annual International Pancake Day and is home to Dorothy’s House and the Land of Oz.

Unfortunately, we missed Pancake Day by about three weeks, and I’ll be generous by saying simply that Dorothy’s House was a bit of a letdown. (That said, we were there on a Sunday — a day on which all commercial establishments except the Chinese buffet and the hotels in this part of the country are closed.)

So we snapped some photos around the Yellow Brick Road, ate at the Chinese buffet, decided against staying in Liberal and moved on to the slightly larger town of Guymon, Okla., where we spent the night.

Read Full Post »