Variations on a Theme
I always enjoy finding a subject I can revisit and achieve different outcomes depending upon when I photograph it.
A change in the time of day it is photographed or having a storm move in or the addition of interesting cloud formations or a jet contrail. All of these can lead to a vastly different look of a subject I’ve previously photographed.
Some of the subjects that fall into this category are on my website: Cerro Pedernal, Abiquiu Dam and Cabezon Peak to name three.
Recently I visited Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico. I hadn’t been there since the beginning of the pandemic and wanted to catch up. Shortly after passing through the main gate I crested a hill a saw the old cabin that has been used in a lot of movies. In the same area, perhaps 200 yards from the cabin, was a garish looking gate covered with antlers and behind the gate was a small, wooden, Western-looking church that was also used in a movie, but I don’t know the name unfortunately.
The first time I saw the church it was the middle of the day and not an ideal time, at least in my mind, for photographs. The sun was pretty much directly overhead and shadows were intense. But I took a few shots that I felt were sort of OK. One had a large sunburst directly behind the cross on the steeple of the church with a deep shadow of the cross being cast on the ground. The second pic was one of the church and Cerro Pedernal.
About two weeks later, when a storm was blowing in from the north, I was driving home and noticed the storm clouds approaching Ghost Ranch. I thought it might add some atmosphere to a scene that needed something that was lacking in my first attempt with the church.
I mentioned the garish looking gate with antlers. On my first visit I tried to omit the gate since I thought it detracted from the scene. What I was looking for the first time, and again on the second visit, was a small western church situated in the middle of nowhere.
When I crested the hill on my second visit there were two Ghost Ranch maintenance workers removing the antlers from the gate. There were antlers spewed on the ground creating a very interesting looking scene.
It was one of those fortuitous times when I arrived when the storm was just hitting Ghost Ranch adding a nice atmospheric ambiance, which combined with the rather bizarre collection of antlers in the foreground made for a very intriguing scene.
I say the time was fortuitous since right when I showed up, the Ghost Ranch workers were taking a break for lunch.
They had left their ladders leaning against the gate, which detracted from the scene, so I moved the ladders out of the composition and took a few shots.
Since the lighting was appealing to me in a moody way, and the whole scene was more to my isolated church in the middle of nowhere idea, I took a number of photos including some panoramas.
I was pleased with my short adventure that day and I’m looking forward to adding a few more Ghost Ranch church photos to this series.
A change in the time of day it is photographed or having a storm move in or the addition of interesting cloud formations or a jet contrail. All of these can lead to a vastly different look of a subject I’ve previously photographed.
Some of the subjects that fall into this category are on my website: Cerro Pedernal, Abiquiu Dam and Cabezon Peak to name three.
Recently I visited Ghost Ranch in Northern New Mexico. I hadn’t been there since the beginning of the pandemic and wanted to catch up. Shortly after passing through the main gate I crested a hill a saw the old cabin that has been used in a lot of movies. In the same area, perhaps 200 yards from the cabin, was a garish looking gate covered with antlers and behind the gate was a small, wooden, Western-looking church that was also used in a movie, but I don’t know the name unfortunately.
The first time I saw the church it was the middle of the day and not an ideal time, at least in my mind, for photographs. The sun was pretty much directly overhead and shadows were intense. But I took a few shots that I felt were sort of OK. One had a large sunburst directly behind the cross on the steeple of the church with a deep shadow of the cross being cast on the ground. The second pic was one of the church and Cerro Pedernal.
About two weeks later, when a storm was blowing in from the north, I was driving home and noticed the storm clouds approaching Ghost Ranch. I thought it might add some atmosphere to a scene that needed something that was lacking in my first attempt with the church.
I mentioned the garish looking gate with antlers. On my first visit I tried to omit the gate since I thought it detracted from the scene. What I was looking for the first time, and again on the second visit, was a small western church situated in the middle of nowhere.
When I crested the hill on my second visit there were two Ghost Ranch maintenance workers removing the antlers from the gate. There were antlers spewed on the ground creating a very interesting looking scene.
It was one of those fortuitous times when I arrived when the storm was just hitting Ghost Ranch adding a nice atmospheric ambiance, which combined with the rather bizarre collection of antlers in the foreground made for a very intriguing scene.
I say the time was fortuitous since right when I showed up, the Ghost Ranch workers were taking a break for lunch.
They had left their ladders leaning against the gate, which detracted from the scene, so I moved the ladders out of the composition and took a few shots.
Since the lighting was appealing to me in a moody way, and the whole scene was more to my isolated church in the middle of nowhere idea, I took a number of photos including some panoramas.
I was pleased with my short adventure that day and I’m looking forward to adding a few more Ghost Ranch church photos to this series.
