Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch: Sunday May 8

Sunday morning in New Mexico, was the same as all the other mornings had been, crystal clear blue sky and sunny! I enjoyed a cafe breakfast, took my morning walk in town and then headed out on the road. I had decided to make today's day trip to Abiquiu and the Ghost Ranch. Most of you will recognize the town of Abiquiu as Georgia O'Keefe's place of residence in New Mexico, as well as the Ghost Ranch for some time...and until her death in Abiquiu. I wanted to see and be where she had created such wonderful art. The drive was easy and beautiful heading north out of Santa Fe. I stopped as I approached Abiquiu Lake and took a little detour exploring the lake area and some surrounding side roads. I made some iPhone shots but did not pull the big camera out, until I was near the Ghost Ranch, when the sun was illuminating the rock face. These images were all made of the rock formations, just before Ghost Ranch from the highway. There is a great pull off nearby and one has only to hike back up the highway a little bit to make these shots. I suppose one could also crawl over or under the barbed wire, but being alone I decided not to. The late afternoon light was creating a wonderful play of shadow and light in the landscape; something one has to get used to in New Mexico. After shooting I headed back to Santa Fe and had a wonderful dinner at The Coyote Cafe.

The last three images here I used Alien Skin's Snapart2 on the images in the Pastel Style giving them a bit of a painterly look.

This image was created near Abiquiu Lake and was the only  nightfall that even came close to a cloudy sky with interest. It is an HDR image processed in Nik HDR Efex.

Looking south to Abiquiu Lake.

Painted Hills at Sunset, Snapart2 Pastel.