My intention was to photograph the Milky Way over the Abiquiu reservoir. But, as it's often the case, the clouds had other plans. They looked like they were going to dissipate but that wasn't so. Instead, they became denser as the evening went on.
I had not done a night shot since last year and I was determined to get one, Milky Way or not.
So I set up this composition, with a Chamisa bush in the foreground. My friend Greg had the wherewithal to bring a couple of camping chairs, so we sat out in the warm night and a slight breeze and had a good time urging the cloud to move on. Well, as evident in this photo, it was unmoved, literally, by our efforts.
I took several shots of the foreground bush during nautical twilight, some illuminated by my flashlight, some by the spillover from passing headlights. I don't know which was which anymore.
I selected the best foreground shot and combined it with the best sky shot. All in all it came out pretty nice.
The clouds are illuminated by the wastefully spilled light of the towns of Española and Los Alamos. On the other hand, that spilled light delineates the horizon nicely.

Tags:   LensTagger New Mexico Abiquiu lake night astro astro photography dusk Milky Way stars blue hour landscape landscapes outside outdoors nature

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Seen during a short visit to the red rocks of Abiquiu in Northern New Mexico.

Tags:   New Mexico Abiquiu landscape landscape photography

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A quick trip to the Abiquiu area, about 50 miles north of Santa Fe, yielded this photo and one of a rainbow which I will post later. Recent rains have brought much needed moisture to the grass lands, but it might be too late for the grasses visible here. They must be grasses that grow in spring and by late summer have turned dry and yellow already.
Regardless, it makes for nice colors under the right sunlight.

Tags:   Green New Mexico Abiquiu landscape landscape photography outside red rocks nature Ghost Ranch weather yellow

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A picture from the archives. This one actually appeared in the Abiquiu News. Thank you to news editor Carol Bondi for publishing it,

Tags:   New Mexico landscape landscapes landscape photography outside nature Abiquiu red rocks orange

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Another shot from my archives. A short hike near Ghost Ranch will reveal this small arch, but it is hard to see and only from a certain angle, you have to be positioned just right. Otherwise it is easy to miss.

Tags:   New Mexico landscape landscapes landscape photography outside nature sandstone arch

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