Interesting graffiti in the alleys of downtown Albuquerque.
Tag: architecture
The Living and the Dead
“Ghetto scans” of 4X5 photos I took of a couple of churches and a graveyard on New Year’s day. Between the scanning technique, and the paper texture that gets picked up by the scanner (I place a piece of paper on top of negatives to help distribute the light more evenly), “ghetto scanned” 4X5 negatives end up looking like really old photos.
Hot Wheels
The weather was sunny, with no wind and a high in the 50’s, so I took my cameras out for a walk around downtown. As I was crossing Central Ave. (Old Route 66) at sixth street, the guy in the blue car with big wheels started honking his horn. When I looked in his direction, he was making a gesture for me to take a photo, so I grabbed a quick shot as the light turned green, just before he drove off up Central. He looked pretty happy that I got the shot. The second photo is a little “abstract reflectionism” on Gold Ave. And then I got a “drive-by” photo of the moonrise over the Sandias as I was turning onto Coors Rd. on my way home.
As the Smoke Churns
In the continuing saga of the aftermath of the flamenco fire, the restoration to clean up the smoke damage on our office is finally underway.
Dog Day
I went out to photograph an old wood mill in the north valley, and as I got to the top of a rail spur there was a dog gnawing on an old carcass. He was so involved at first that he didn’t notice me. After a few shots, he heard the shutter in my camera and looked up. He was standing his ground and then started coming sideways towards me half snarling and licking his chops. I didn’t push my luck by trying to cross the dog’s path to get down where I could get better shots of the buildings. I got a few shots of the mill from standing on the rail spur and then a shot toward the mountains as I walked back to the car. I presume the dog went back to gnawing the carcass.
Rail Yard Cats
Merry Christmas! You have probably heard of “junkyard dogs” — rail yards have cats. I stopped by the yard where the Santa Fe 292 locomotive is being restored, and there were lots of cats in the rail yard. Most of the cats hid when they saw me approaching the fence — one cross-eyed kitty was curious, two sat at opposite ends of an old loading dock, while two others watched me from the safety of a stack of railroad ties.
NM Winter Wonderland
Snow, snowmen, and wintery landscapes at sunset.
So Much for the Opera
I had to do major sneaking to get this photograph of the cutaway model of the opera in Paris. It was in a museum that strictly forbid photos, and there were guards everywhere to remind people not to take photos. First I had to wait for a break in the hordes of tourists marveling at the model, then I had to wait for the guard to get up and walk out of earshot of my shutter before I could sneak a pic. It took several tries over three different visits to the museum before I got a successful stealth photo of the model. One reason I wanted a photo of this model is because the box seats on the end of the first row of box seats was the box we sat in when we went to an opera at the end of May. The apartment we rented in Paris was a block from the Opera. The second photo was taken from the middle of the street by the apartment and the third photo is looking the other way toward the Louvre at the bottom of the street.
Only in New Mexico
Only in New Mexico can you buy red and green chile wines and park your horses downtown.
Permanent Vacation
Café Giuseppe has had a sign on the door for the past five weeks telling its customers that they are on vacation for a week. Turns our their week off has turned into a permanent vacation, and Café Giuseppe will not reopen according to its owners. I don’t know if it was malicious vandals or an irate customer who broke the window yesterday.
Off Center & Not Even 