New Mexico is a desert state, but mostly high desert, not like the sandy dunes most thought of when picturing a desert. Mescalero Sands North Dune, however, outside of Roswell, New Mexico, is a more traditional sand dune desert, surrounded by an ocean of hearty desert flora. As you can see from the many tire tracks in the photos below, these sand dunes are an all terrain vehicle playground. Even for a person on foot, this desert is a special place to explore and experience. I sent the drone up for a 360 panorama photo as well as video and aerial photos, and had my Sony a7R IV with me for still photos as my shoes filled with sand making my way over the dunes.
Three visits to photograph just two rural land properties
It had been a long time since I was last in San Miguel County New Mexico on a rural land real estate photography shoot for Hemingway Land. This time it was a double property shoot going between both pieces of land to get sunset shots of each. This is a science of sort staying at one property as long as possible to get the best sunset shots of it, while still leaving time to get to the last property for its sunset shots before the sun dips below the horizon. As you can see though, I was also at these properties during the day time to capture the best clouds possible per the client’s request. I actually went back to the property a third time the next day because just as I arrived all the clouds disappeared from the sky on that first, very carefully planned and timed visit for clouds! That is the level of commitment I bring to delivering the best quality rural land photos I can to my clients.
Many times when I am out on a rural land photography shoot, it is just me and a cactus passing the time waiting for the sun to set for me to get my final shots. Such was the case on a recent shoot in remote northwest Rio Rancho, New Mexico where this cactus kept me company and allowed me to make this photo featuring a sky full of floofy clouds.
I tell my photography students that for something to be a photograph (and not merely a snapshot), you have to show the viewer something that cannot be seen standing there with the naked eye at eye level. There are many ways to accomplish this, one of which is to use a very shallow DoF (depth of field). For the first time, I own a f/1.4 lens, the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 ART lens that I bought to pair with my new Sony a7R IV mirrorless camera just to be able to create shots like the one above. Because the DoF is so shallow, an ordinary tree branch,, helped by the colors of autumn and warm golden light, looks like an alien world. You cannot see that just by standing there and looking at it. Therefore, the photo shows something different that can attract the eye of the viewer.
A third trip in 6 weeks to Valencia County, New Mexico where I met the enemy of the landscape photographer, i.e. a cloudless sky. However, these agave plants volunteered to be in the foreground of my photo to add some visual flair to what otherwise would have been a mediocre HDRsunset photo. Want to look at this view at your home? Use the buttons below to get a fine art print. Want to own this view and build a house on this land? Check out Hemingway Land Company.
Getting Low and Close for Desert Flora Photography
When I have some downtime on rural land photography shoots waiting for the sun to get lower in the sky, I put on my macro lens and see what the desert might be hiding. Such was the case on a recent shoot in McKinley County, New Mexico. I had gotten all the traditional photos I needed, wide landscapes, and was waiting to make my signature HDRsunset shots. So I took a stroll around the property, not looking far and wide, but low and close. I have told photography students in the past, if you show me in a photo what I can see from my own eye level, that is one way to make merely a snapshot. To make a photograph I used to say, show me something I cannot see with my own eyes at my own eye level. Thus, by getting low to the ground, to the eye level of this desert flora, and using the very shallow DoF abilities of the macro lens to create a creamy bokeh, I can show the viewer something she/he cannot see merely by standing in the same spot.
For me, the phrase joshua tree has always been associated with the famous U2 album from 1987 and its iconic cover art. There is actually no joshua tree in the photo. I finally got a chance to visit Joshua Tree National Park and soon realized that the eponymous trees are not the stars of the park by a long shot. The real attraction are the rock formations. Some tower, some are piles, they are all sitting there challenging you to climb them. This photo story presents a set of black and white photos of a lone climber on a rock face and a series of color photos one of which is made up of silhouettes of me, Jessica, Kiki and Artie!
