Billy The Kid Rides Off into the Sunset

If you’d like to see more photos of Santa Fe, New Mexico, feel free to look at my Santa Fe Photo Gallery.

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Santa Fe is well-known for attracting artists, especially in the earlier part of the twentieth century. One of the great artists was Gustave Baumann, a painter, sculptor and wood-carver, who had a profound effect on this town.

He built a house about a half mile from my home, and it’s a special place. It’s owned by The Historic Santa Fe Foundation, who carefully restored the building and is now offering it for sale.

In the front yard sets Gustave Baumann’s sculpture of Billy the Kid, whose sombrero serves as a bird bath. This photo was taken later in the afternoon, when the sun was low, warming the image, and causing deep shadows.

To me it looks like Billy is riding off into the sunset; the way his life should have ended (commentary by me ).

Two side notes — when I started this blog back in September, I posted a photo of the church where Billy the Kid’s mother got married. And also this image was taken on the same day and just down the street from the contemporary wood gate, I posted earlier this week.

Shot with my 70-200 lens at f/2.8.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Portrait of a Leaf – 8 – A Leaf with the Memory of Her Distant Cousins

Time for another portrait of a leaf. If you’d like to see the other portraits of leaves, you can see them here, “Portrait of a Leaf.”

Here’s another leaf from a London Plane Tree, that American Sycamore cousin, whose leaves I just adore for their shape, and whose trunks I love for their wonderful pealing nature.

I really like this image for the shape of the leaf against all that texture and curved lines in the sidewalk, and the warm color of the leaf against the cool grey. And then those little indentations that look like they could be small leaves of long ago.

So, a “Portrait of a Leaf with the Memory of Her Distant Cousins.” (:

Shot with my 105mm macro lens at f/8.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Nice and Normal – Contemporary Wood Gate

Here’s another of those Nice and Normal photographs. If you’d like, you can see the other images here.

This photo was taken in January, when I was out with my big lens, the 70-200mm f/2.8. It Is an utterly fantastic lens, but one I usually don’t just carry around. It’s heavy, and the way I shoot — those details — aren’t served with a lens like this. Plus, people tend to look at you differently when you have a huge lens on your camera; you’re not as invisible. And I like just to go about my business quietly.

Anyhow, this lens is just outstanding, and back in January, it had me finding a shot on a driveway gate that I walk by at least twice a week, but had never photographed before. The late day sun was hitting it nicely, and I liked the contemporary lines to it, so I tried to capture a photo that emphasized that.

Shot with my 70-200 lens at f/2.8.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Photography as Abstract – Looking into the Eye of ….

Here’s another of the abstracts I’ve been doing. If you want to see the other images/posts in the series, please click here and here.

This photo was taken earlier in the winter. I was out walking the alleyways near my home and noticed that most of the snow had melted. I passed this old wheel that I had seen so many times, and honestly, I never really liked it much. But the snow on the wheel on this day attracted my attention, so I decided to see if I could get an interesting photo.

And I think I did. And now I kind of like this old wheel.

Shot with my 35 -70 mm lens at f/2.8.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Abandoned House Interior with Cactus and Adobe Mud

A few weeks back, I stopped in Cuervo, New Mexico. It’s a ghost town right off of US Route 40 in eastern New Mexico. The town was thriving just fine until Route 40 was built right through the middle of town, and that pretty much wrote the end for this little town.

It’s a great find for a ghost town; so if you’re coming through New Mexico, you may want to stop for a look. There are a lot of buildings to explore and almost all in disrepair, just like a ghost town should be. You can go inside some of the buildings, which is really interesting.

I took some photos in Cuervo, but the ones I liked the most were the detail shots. The one in this post was the interior of house that had been empty, I’d guess since about mid last century. I was attracted to the cactus that grows from the top of the  house, and now reaches down into what was the interior. I also liked the wall with the green paint, and the adobe mud bricks that were coloring things red and making that wonderful inverted V shape design.

I just thought it made for a pretty cool image. (:

Shot with a 35-70 mm lens at f/2.8

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

A Simple Pretty Flower for a Sunday – 20

Here’s the 20th  installment of “A Simple Pretty Flower for a Sunday.” If you’d like, you can view all the earlier Sunday flower images/posts on this page.

I was really tired yesterday evening, as I remembered I needed to find a flower to post for today. I looked through some photos, and my eye just stopped on this photo; it seemed soft and sweet and a bit comforting, and I guess I wanted that. (:

So today we have these daisy type flowers (anyone know their name?) that were planted in a pot around Santa Fe. I found them at the beginning of October, on my walk over to the wonderful Santa Fe Farmer’s Market. I tried my best to capture them the way I saw them — beautiful each one, but always a part of the group.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Shot with my 105mm macro lens at f/7.1.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Saturday Silliness – All Kinds of Crazy

Time for some more Saturday Silliness. (: To see the previous silly posts/ images, please click here.

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My Boxer girl is back again. This time she’s on the left, playing on a trampoline with another Boxer friend and an American Bulldog. My girl loves to play, so this really sums up her personality.

What got me thinking I should post this photo, was that Marion, over at Figments of a Dutchess, first posted this photo as one of her favorites, and then the award-winning artist, Carolee Clark, asked if she could use this photo for one of her abstract paintings. And of course, I was honored yet again, as she has used a number of my photos for inspiration, a recent one was of my British Shorthair cat.

I urge you to check out Carolee’s painting of this image at “Best Friends” Dogs Playing. And she does sell these paintings, so if you’d like to own it, you can. My Boxer girl would be honored. (:

Hope there is some silliness to your Saturday!

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Portrait of a Nail

Okay, so I’ve done a series with the subject of Portrait of a Leaf, so how about a “Portrait of a Nail?” (:

The alleys I love to hang out in, here in Santa Fe, have plenty of nails just sitting around. They must have had some work to do at one time, but now, they are lazing around or just watching as the time goes by.

So I’ve shot them. (:

Shot with my 70-200mm macro lens at f/4.0.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Nice and Normal – Construction Crane at Sunset

Here’s another of those Nice and Normal photographs. If you’d like, you can see the other images here.

I will be blunt here. I hate this construction crane, or rather what this construction crane is building. (: It is involved in constructing a large municipal building that will block out the view of the Jemez Mountains in the downtown Santa Fe area. From now on my walks will never be to the east of this building.

That being said, sometimes I shoot things I dislike. (:  In January, I was on the top-level of a parking garage, trying to see if I could get some interesting sunset shots. I saw the lines of this crane and in the light of the sunset, it made a pretty shape.

I hate that crane. I like this photo. (:

Shot with my 70-200 mm lens at f/14.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Photography as Abstract – Abstracting an Abstract

Here’s another of the abstracts I’ve been doing. If you want to see the other images/posts in the series, please click here and here.

Sometime in the past, Santa Fe had young local artists paint telephone boxes, etc. around town. There is one that I see a lot on my walks — an abstract painting — and I decided to try my hand at photographing it. I decided to add movement to the image, as I thought it gave it more life; instead of a static image, there is motion in it, and I liked the result.

And thanks to the anonymous artist who created the original art work!

Shot with a 105mm macro lens at f/36 at a shutter speed of 1/25, while I moved the camera in a circular motion.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

St. Valentine’s Day

In the downtown area of Santa Fe, the parts that date to the early part of the twentieth century, there are quite a lot of hand crafted wrought iron fences and gates. I really like photographing them, and I found this heart-shaped fencing last month and took this photo.

I love the delicate nature of the wrought iron heart  –  with the twists, and then the colors in the background — the red of the adobe wall, the light greens and yellows.

I thought this photo would fit in well on St. Valentine’s Day.

Shot with my 105mm macro lens at f/3.2.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Santa Fe Railroad Depot

If you’d like to see more photos of Santa Fe, New Mexico, feel free to look at my Santa Fe Photo Gallery.

The railroad was an important part of Santa Fe and its development after New Mexico became a United State Territory. In 1880, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company pulled its first train into Santa Fe and was greeted by much fanfare. The Santa Fe Depot still stands today in the Guadalupe District of Santa Fe and is a fine example of Mission Revival style of architecture.

I took this image back in early October. It was the first snow of the season, and I loved how the mountains just shown in the early morning light. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains loom large to the East of Santa Fe, and yet, you often don’t see them from downtown. To me this photo takes me back to what Santa Fe must have felt like before the town became what it is today.

Show with my 105mm lens at f/4.5.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

A Simple Pretty Flower for a Sunday – 19

Here’s the 19th  installment of “A Simple Pretty Flower for a Sunday.” If you’d like, you can view all the earlier Sunday flower images/posts on this page.

Back with a Simple Flower for a Sunday. (:

This image was taken late last summer. I was just captivated by this rosebush. There was soft light that afternoon, and it lit the rose beautifully. The background was in shade, so it went black. I love the simple elegance to this rose — just lovely.

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Shot with my 105mm macro lens at f/10.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Nice and Normal – Laundry Post/Pole

Here’s another of those Nice and Normal photographs. If you’d like, you can see the other images here.

This photo was taken back in December in the alley behind my home. There are walls on either side of the alley, but every once in a while, you can get a glimpse into a back yard. There is an old laundry pole/post in one yard, and I was inspired one day by the T shape it made, and took this shot.

I just like how the clothes line isn’t straight, like the wind is making it dance a bit, which contrasts with the strong T of the pole. I also like the sun play in this photo – a cold day yet a beautiful day for hanging out some laundry to dry.

Shot with my 105 mm lens at f/4.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Photography as Abstract – Darkness Ascending

Here’s another of the abstracts I’ve been doing. If you want to see the other images/posts in the series, please click here and here.

I’m not sure why I like this one, but I do. This was taken in late December. It had snowed a few days before and things were melting. I was trying to find patterns in the snow, and I came upon a place where water had dripped onto the snow, making patterns.

I took the photo using a small aperture (f/16), so that I could get greater detail in the snow, and then when processing the raw image, I upped the black factor in the image.

I just like the effect here. The darkness is taking over, and something about it fascinates me. (:

Shot with a 105mm macro lens at f/16.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Portrait of a Leaf – 7 – Above the Crowd

Time for another portrait of a leaf. If you’d like to see the other portraits of leaves, you can see them at Portrait of a Leaf.

Maybe you’ve noticed that I’ve been gone for a bit. Really busy on my trip and then back home, and then busy with work again. And as bloggers know, it takes work and time to keep up the blogging experience. This blog thrives on me feeding my creative spark, and to be honest, I have just been too busy to do that. Unfortunately.

But still, as I have a few minutes before a shoot, I saw this image, and this little leaf wants some attention.

This is a London Planetree leaf, which is a close relative to the Sycamore. I love the strong shape of these leaves; something in them just speaks of power to me.

This image was taken in late December, so this leaf had been on the ground for a long time. But still, it was demanding attention, and it looks remarkably fresh. And even in this pile of leaves, it stands out — floating above the others in the crowd.

Shot with my 105mm macro lens at f/3.0.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.

Santa Fe Architecture – Old Doors

If you’d like to see more photos of Santa Fe, feel free to look at my Santa Fe Photo Gallery.

Santa Fe is an old town known for its adobe architecture. One of the most charming things about Santa Fe is the old doors and gates. Walking around the historic areas of Santa Fe, you see so many that your mind can become a bit numb to them.

One of my favorite doors is in the Guadalupe District of Santa Fe on Alto Street. It’s part of the historic 1832 Donaciano Vigil House property and is just magnificent. The door is actually twice as tall and twice as wide as my photo shows. To me, this door shrouds the property in mystery, and I just love that.

If you want to see more historic properties in Santa Fe, please visit the Historic Santa Fe Foundation.

Show with my 105mm lens at f/8.0.

Image Copyright © Katie Johnson. All Rights Reserved.