Fringe | Photograffy » Albuquerque

Halcyon Sandias

david — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:48:06 +0000

The lazy end of a late summer’s day: what a magnificent time. The days are growing shorter, and there is a certain crispness to the mornings that wasn’t there a short time ago. The trees themselves, while still vibrant green, are showing the early signs that there are ready to slip into the fall colors. The rainy season has long passed, and the few clouds remaining are there mostly for show, or perhaps practicing for the winter snows ahead: either way, they are in no hurry to be anywhere in particular.

The Rio Grande river flows serenely by the Sandia Mountains, just as it always does here. It, too, is in no vast hurry, instead preferring to linger on about its journey.

The sun heads down into the western horizon, and in so doing, provides rich, golden light for the end of the day. The river reflects the sky’s deep blue tones, the mountains light up in warm tones, and all watching are rewarded by the halcyon scene.

Winter will be coming soon, but that’s OK. We have today.

Snowhere Trail

david — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:24:04 +0000

Snowhere Trail

Originally uploaded by ifringe (david)

Funny things happen up on top of mountains…funny things indeed. The mere mortals who are way down below sometimes can’t see what happens, but when you have a Bird’s Eye view, well…that’s a different story.

The other day I was up on Sandia Peak at 10,378 feet, enjoying (if one could consider being insanely cold “enjoyment”. If you’re familiar with me, you’ll realize that I rail against the cold quite often. Yet, for some reason, I keep stepping out in it to take pictures. I guess, then, I am just passive-aggressive toward cold) the day, when, for no good reason, a cloud had the audacity to move over the peak I had happened to be looking at and admiring. After asking the cloud politely to move (it didn’t) I realized that a wonderful photo was staring me in the face. Naturally, as soon as the cloud saw my camera it started drifting away, but not before I was able to capture this shot.

I was deeply intrigued by the idea of the trail that now appears to lead to nowhere…does it continue on, ’round the mountain? Does it stop? Does it lead off the edge of the world? No footprints lead down the trail to snowhere…

Reflection of Fall

david — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:15:44 +0000

Reflection of Fall, originally uploaded by ifringe.

This particular subject has vexed me for the longest time. It has sat there, taunting me, calling to me, daring me to take a picture of it that looks even somewhat reasonable. Every time I pass by it I know, deep in my bones, that a picture lurks there, but I cannot get it. I go home thinking to myself “what if…what if…”

What is this object? Oddly, it’s a barn. Yes, a barn. And old barn to be sure (and because it is old it has a lot of experience with photographer types. It’s a old wily barn). A barn that sits there and simply refuses to be photographed in any meaningful fashion. The problem with this particular barn is that it is red (mostly), weatherbeaten (a lot) and has a ton of really cool features that ought to make a cool picture.

But Sunday I had a plan. I snuck up on the barn in a roundabout way so it couldn’t see me coming. I crept as quietly as I could, making no sound. And then, I popped up from behind a shrub, focused not on the barn itself, but rather the reflection in its window and grabbed this particular picture.

Sure, you can say that technically I did not actually take a picture of the barn. But, the barn frames out the window and reflection rather nicely, I think, and through the window we see the last vestiges of fall.

Bridge Over Fall

david — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:35:26 +0000

Bridge Over Fall, originally uploaded by ifringe.

A really great bunch of folks from Flickr here in Albuquerque decided to take a little tour of the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens today–it sounded like a ton of fun to hang out with like minded photo folks, enjoy a wonderful day, and, oh yeah, take some photos. Their mistake was putting the information about this in a public place where I could find it. And find it I did.

Luckily for me they put up with me for the outing. Whew.

And it was really very fun! We wandered around the area cameras in hand, looking and snapping everything and anything. Although the fall colors had mostly passed, a few great shots remained. Besides, the skies were absolutely wonderful, the day calm, the temperature up and it was a photographer’s dream day.

This shot is from the Japanese Garden section. The bridge goes absolutely nowhere, but I cropped it so it looks like to has a purpose (as far as I can tell, its one and only purpose is to sit there and wait for me to take a picture of it.), and with the still waters, the reflection made a nice shot. I just had to take it from across the water. And, amazingly, I didn’t even fall in as I was taking the picture. Maybe next time.

Fall is almost over, but the bridge is there waiting for the next season. Or tomorrow. Whichever comes first.

Drama Daisy

david — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 03:03:08 +0000

Drama Daisy, originally uploaded by ifringe.

Daisies, as it turns out, are a whole lot of fun.

They are patient. They don’t wiggle or squirm or fidget or even move while you try to work out the shot you want. They don’t fuss when you move them this way and that. They don’t complain at all when you stop for a moment and are exactly where you left them when they come back. All in all, daisies are a whole lot of fun to work with.

Which brings us to this particular shot. I was looking for bold and dramatic; something vibrant and bold, something vivid and something that popped off the background. Once again seizing upon the daisies as the perfect subject, it was time to see what I could do. And, all in all, I am pretty pleased with how they turned out. I ended up using a ton of lights to get the effect that I wanted (including a flashlight, but we won’t talk about that. I was desperate, OK?) which, I am sure, has made the local power company really happy with me today. The things we do for a photograph.

And here is the final result…drama daisy.