Tag: sandias

Balloons on the Rio Grande

Timothy Price19 Comments

45CU8385

There was a mass ascension on Saturday at the Balloon Fiesta, and many of the balloonists “dipped” their gondolas in the Rio Grande as the light breeze blew them northwest from the balloon field. A couple of kayaking clubs were paddling down the river and had to make their way through what at times seemed like a gauntlet of balloons all stacked up together, dipping in the river. The sky was mostly overcast to the east, with low clouds covering the Sandias, creating a dull, gray light that was occasionally broken by strips of bright sunlight when the sun found a slit in the clouds, illuminating the bosque and lighting up the balloons. One balloon few in front of the waining moon as it few over our house on its way to the river.

45CU8474

45CU8455

 

45CU8479

45CU8463

45CU8466

45CU8513

 

Thunderheads

Timothy Price26 Comments
ThunderheadSandias9-14-14
Thunderheads over the Sandias taken from Hwy 528 just south of Hwy 550.

Thunderheads appear, change and disappear very quickly in the desert southwest. They can produce sudden and heavy rains, high winds, intense lighting storms and hailstorms. But often they form and put on a show, changing into all kinds of shapes, and then evaporate without a sound or drop of precipitation.

The first four photos were taken over a timespan of 10 minutes while driving on Highway 550 to Highway 528 and on to Corrales Road. The Weather Service interrupted the radio to announce the there was heavy rain and flooding on the other side of the Sandias from these thunderheads.

The last photo was taken from our deck where we sit and watch the clouds form and change over the Sandias through the bamboo and cottonwood trees.

DSCF1630
Thunderheads over the Sandias from Corrales Rd. just east of Hwy 528.
ThunderheadsSandiasWide9-14-14
Wider view of thunderheads over the Sandias and stretching down the Rio Grande Valley taken from Hwy 528 just south of Hwy 550.
DSCF1611
Thunderheads over the Sandias from Hwy 550 west of Hwy 528.
MatterhornCloud
Thunderheads as seen from our deck.

Back To Days Gone By

Timothy Price18 Comments

DarkRoom

The last time I processed B&W prints myself was in the summer of 1982. I had done photos of the wedding party at our wedding reception. But I soon dismantled my darkroom and sold the equipment that was at my parents house after we got married. I did some photo processing at the photo studio I worked for in 1980’s until they moved their studio and didn’t reassemble the lab. From the late 1980’s up to 2003, when I went all digital, I had all my film processed and printed by commercial labs.

My darkroom is now fully functional and I have used it to process film and print photos. On my first venture back to those days gone by, I chose a few negatives that ranged from thin to dense to get back into the printing process. Printing the negatives of the “Road Closed” and cornfield with the Sandias in the background were particularly challenging because of the large ranges between light and dark — these photos were taken in heavy rain while the sun was shining (a New Mexico phenomenon).

In the last version of the “Road Closed” photo, I accidentally exposed the back side of the paper and noticed nothing was happening in the developer, so I rinsed the paper, squeegeed it off, and then exposed the emulsion side of the paper. After developing it again, there was a ghost image from the exposure on the backside of the paper that makes it look like I picked up a reflection in glass.

A18W2365

A18W2372

 

DSCF1182

DSCF1184

DSCF1183

 

Adobe Sculpture

Timothy Price12 Comments

45CU4975

Another garden on the Corrales Garden Tour had adobe sculpture in various states of dissolution. Adobe sculpture is a little like longer lasting sand paintings, but instead of erasing them at sundown, the adobe sculptures slowly erode back into the earth.

45CU4996

 

A18W1912

 

45CU4969

 

45CU4999

 

Off The Grid

Timothy Price20 Comments

SandiasLookingWest

From Thursday afternoon until Saturday afternoon we have been on the east side of the Sandias at Desert Harbor Retreat, completely off the grid with no cell phone coverage or Internet. I have a lot of photos to process of landscapes, plants, flowers, insects, lizards and a large snake we encountered during our two night, day and a half stay at Desert Harbor. Today’s photo is a panorama of the storm clouds over the east side of the Sandias on Thursday evening.