White Sands Black and White Fine Art Photography New Mexico

January 13, 2021 in Nature & Wildlife

Black & White footprints at White Sands

In December I had two opportunities to visit White Sands National Monument, and they could not have been more different. The first was on a weekday late morning, and the desert was empty, the sand was pure free of footprints, and there was not a cloud in the sky. On the second visit it was near sunset time, the sands were covered in footprints as it was very crowded there (well for White Sands at least), and clouds added to the landscape story. Clouds and low sunset light shadows definitely add drama to photos of White Sands. However, there is nothing more mesmerizing to me than the footprint-free ridges of the sand dunes at White Sands for producing landscape photos. What set of photos do you prefer: these black and white footprints, or the stark white and blue footprint free dunes photos?

October 2020 Snow in Albuquerque New Mexico Drone Aerial Photography View

October 29, 2020 in Photo Story

Unique snow in Albuquerque from unique views

Albuquerque is not supposed to be a very snowy city. There are other places in New Mexico that do get their fair bit of snow, which might be surprising for a desert state, but even though ABQ is a mile high city, significant snow is rare, at least in my now going on 4 winters here. So getting over 6 inches of snow while still in October after it was just 81F two days earlier is quite the shock! I sent the drone up to document the snowfall in all forms —> hyperlapse video, 360 aerial panorama, and aerial still photos. I want to give unique views of commonly photographed events and things here at Jason Collin Photography.

Dawson New Mexico Ghost Town Cemetery in black and white

May 06, 2020 in Photo Story

Ghost Town becomes a Cemetery in Dawson New Mexico

There are very remote places in New Mexico, and there are very small towns in New Mexico, many of which I have featured here on Jason Collin Photography. However, when you have a town miles from anywhere, that requires you to then drive miles down a dirt road, and the only thing in your ghost town is a cemetery full of victims for tragic mining accidents, it is hard to get more remote than that! Such is Dawson, New Mexico, a ghost town with a historic cemetery and that it all. Though remote, It is worth making the drive to if you are in nearby Angel Fire, Eagle Nest, or Cimarron. With various types of graves, tombstones, and historical information, I was surprised to find something like this at the end of the road. Read more about this ghost town on Atlas Obscura and check out the map below to visit this place for yourself!

New Mexico desert landscape photography - take the road less traveled

April 29, 2020 in Fine Art

The Road need not be paved

During a marathon day of shooting 25 rural land real estate properties for Hemingway Land Company in the desert off of Highway 60 in Socorro County, New Mexico, at one point along the open desert road I stopped my Jeep to look at the view. The desert Road seemed to go on together until it merely became a vanishing point at the base of a distant mountain. From time to time you will find on Jason Collin Photography I write about the Road in poetic terms. Usually it is paved. However, if one wants to really, really take the Road less traveled, then these tracks through the New Mexico desert can take you down a path with an unknown ending, which is the best kind.

El Morro Rural Land Real Estate Photography Landscapes

March 05, 2020 in Nature & Wildlife, Fine Art

Chasing clouds in El Morro New Mexico

It was my pleasure to return to one of my favorite places in New Mexico this week, El Morro. I was on another assignment for Hemingway Land which took me past El Morro National Monument itself, to a very remote area 6+ miles down dirt roads. I chased clouds with my Sony a7R IV as soon as I arrived. By sunset time, only a very few lingered for me to frame for the final shots of the day. El Morro is a very special place I recommend visiting if you have never been before.

Cool Business Headshots in Albuquerque with Gilbert

December 12, 2019 in Commercial, Portrait

Staying cool with business headshots in ABQ

Gilbert visited the studio for headshots and was open to more than just the usual business headshot style. He was ok with me experimenting with different lighting, different editing, and even with him wearing shades! Actually, the sunglasses were by his request and I was happy to oblige! Do your headshots look this cool and modern? This is the way to stand out from your competition and grab the attention of clients and customers!

Albuquerque Model Professional Photography in Black & White with Alexandra

November 21, 2019 in Commercial, Portrait

Choosing Black & White for modeling photos

Alexandra contacted me about getting a series of headshots and portfolio shots for her modeling career. Other than needing 3/4 shots, a head to toe shot, and of course a headshot, we had full creative freedom in style and posing. I chose to share this selection of photos converted to various types of black & white. In my constant pursuit to provide better and better images for clients, I have switched to editing photos in Capture One Pro 12 for Sony, and also in this pursuit, I upgraded to the best camera on the market now, the Sony a7R IV mirrorless camera. Capture One has its own collection of black & white conversion presets which I used for all of these photos. In addition this was my first time editing in Luminar 4 using its advanced AI technology for retouching portraits. I thought the results of this AI based retouching were very natural looking and not overdone.