Christmas and Rancho de Taos

Leading up to Christmas I worked on a story about Sacred Places in New Mexico. I think we could have been a bit more extensive in the selections but I can't really complain because I got to go back to one of my favorite churches ever. San Francisco de Asis Church in Rancho de Taos, also known as Georgia O'Keeffe's church. The latter name does not sit well with the parishioners we learned.

At each church we visited we focused on one person or a couple and their relationship to the church. At the Rancho de Taos church we found a couple who are Mayordomes in the parish. Here is their story: San Francisco de Asis Church, Rancho de Taos.

Here's an outtake from the day I spent there. It is probably the most recognizable angle.

Oops... Happy New Year?

So I've slacked...

One of many New Year's resolutions... get back on track with blogging.

This year I'm going to take on the challenge of limiting each blog post to one photo to help with my editing skills. Hopefully this will prompt more frequent posts. Hopefully.

Midway @ the Fair

.NM State Fair Queen.

Thank you ladies for allowing me to hang around during the speech competition!

302 Years

Albuquerque turned 302 this year. Quite an old city. And of course there's a party, like every year.

Tomé Hill

Pilgrims from surrounding cities make their way to the top of Tomé Hill every Good Friday morning. People walk for miles as local police close roads nearby due to the high amount of human traffic. Crosses and statues are carried to the top, but the most popular item carried along the way is a rosary. Many are left behind at the top after a person has finished praying. A few people walk the steep and rocky 1/2 mile path to the top barefoot and one man even crawls the entire way on hands and knees. It was pretty amazing to experience.

First Fight

Ah Boxing. So this was an adventure. I volunteered to tag along with another staff photographer on Friday to learn the ropes of shooting boxing since it's kind of a big deal here, but ended up shooting it solo. The main event was Albuquerque's own Holly Holm who is a local celebrity and mighty fine boxer. She holds the WBC & IFBA World Titles and after Friday night's fight has a record of 20-1-2 (with 5 KO's). I have never watched boxing let alone shoot it before so I was praying for a miracle that I wouldn't screw up shooting at least the main event. I ended up enjoying myself quite a bit and found myself by the end of the night wishing for more blood and sweat. Holly won her match after her opponent suffered a cut near her eye and the match was ended. She walked away with her belts intact and I walked away happy to have successfully survived my first fight.










(Final note: Holly is the blonde and she was fighting Mariem Brakache from Atlanta, GA.)

Christmas in ABQ

A little late here, so with a "Happy New Years!" comes a belated "Merry Christmas!" Christmas eve in Albuquerque becomes a night when the city is illuminated by luminarias. Old town plaza is coated in them and the glowing little lunch sack trails flicker along streets and adobe walls. It was a frenzy of photographers, many who wanted to chat it up about how this year's sunset made for better photos than in years past, etc. The beautiful blue sky time only lasted for about 15-30 mins, which is when you saw all the photographers almost fighting for space to out shoot each other. Some were even following me around, waiting for me to finish and then shooting from exactly where I had stood.


Christmas day gave me a great present I'm not sure I will ever get to do again. Shoot Santa Claus' wedding. YES, SANTA CLAUS. He has ID to prove it. He legally changed his name a few years ago. And this year he was married, where else but in front of a Christmas tree and fireplace. Mrs. Claus said she met Santa country dancing. She said he's a good dancer and since he's a better cook than herself he cooks all their meals, he even made their wedding cake, topped of course with Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

Staring at the sky

So it's been a bit longer than normal since the last post. Since then this photo of grass along the Rio Grande has been making me happy as my new desktop. Blue skies here are like no where else. And on a side note, the photo in the last post "Arabian Nationals" was named AP photo of the month for New Mexico.

A Visit from the Dark Side

This year's balloon fiesta had a new visitor. Darth Vader. It was most likely the crowd favorite since it easily attracted the largest crowd each morning it took off and had many children and adults carrying around light sabers all day long. A few of us photographers decided to put together a group Soundslides on the Darth Vader balloon and decided to wait until Special Shapes day to do it. It was a long day but worth it in the end. And I got to practice my French with the Belgian crew that flew the balloon. It was some butchered French but who would have guessed I would get to use French in New Mexico.

Thanks Benoit Lambert and crew of Darth Vader!

For anyone wishing to figure out how to post Soundslides to a blog I'm going to try and type out how I'm doing so soon.

Cabezon Peak

The adventures here seem to never end. Last week I was sent on a "hike" with a reporter for our GO section. The reporter is writing it first person so I used him in most of the photos as a reference of scale. Little did anyone tell me how desolate the area we were going was. The trail was barely marked with rocks and oh did I mention it was up hill? It was more of a climb than a hike. I survived though and signed the log book at the top wondering if I was the only Floridian to conquer the peak so far. It's not a well known place just yet and only sees visitors every few days and even then it's one or two people a day. The most common sentence written in the log book was, "Beautiful view, don't know how I'm going to get down."

End of the Fair

Zulu

Zulu the 3-month-old Zebra is part of the state fair petting zoo.
Dislikes: Kiddie hands that grab ears, people calling out "Hey Zebra come here."
Likes: ZB (aka Zulu's Buddy) which is his goat best bud, being scratched on the neck, people who know how to give treats properly, and licking my hands.

The Priest and his dog

This priest was the most interesting subject yet in New Mexico. His dog, Samson or Weasel (yes the dog had two names), use to attend mass until a parishioner complained. He restores old cars on the side. He special orders his cigars online.

Duran Volunteer Fire Department

The town of Duran, NM, reported a population of 32 at the beginning of 2007. The fire department is literally aging as new recruits barely exist. Nice people, extremely small town and shrinking population.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Concert

It's always fun to go to a concert for the paper and stand in front of the front row.
And then return to the office slightly deaf.

Streets of Santa Fe

We had just an hour or so to walk around Santa Fe this evening.
Although that sunset at the bottom isn't too impressive it's a rarity to see such a colorful one in Florida, at least in Gainesville. So I can't wait to start seeing more of those after my move.

Taos, NM

I revisited this church for the third time since high school.
Every time I see it it seems more beautiful. No wonder Georgia O'Keeffe painted it, Ansel Adams photographed it and countless other artists have depicted it in art works.
Some people claim it is the most photographed church in America.

Then we did some jewelry shopping. Unfortunately I didn't get to walk away with this one. This is a collector's piece from the Millicent Rogers Museum and most likely priceless.
I did walk away with a turquoise ring from the 1940s or 50s to add to my personal collection though.

Happy 4th of July!

4th of July in New Mexico and Arizona.