We were told that the eastern slop of Sandia Mountain was 'heavy with wildflowers'. We were on the news! Not quite as we hoped for but our backup plan was lunch in Madrid with a short hop to Cerrillos. Can't go wrong with a plan like that. We were joined this time by Sally, an aspiring photographer with a good eye and a huge interest in learning more about photography. I feel badly because I encouraged her to shoot in manual mode and we spent some time on when different shooting modes might be a preferred way of shooting. But, I missed seeing that her ISO was very high for the camera she was using. So, forgive the grain and appreciate her composition.
Clouds hung low on the Sandia's backside.
Sally knows her way around! "There is a great bakery on the way . . . . !
Fall is in the air.
Spotted by Sally.
Again, spotted by Sally. There were so many of them. We had a photo feast! Tom took all of his with his fisheye!
Tom and I tried to think of one word to describe Madrid. It is much smaller than Jerome and 'grittier'. The town's water is contaminated with coal so all the water must be brought in. Madrid has some nice places to eat, some interesting art and probably some really great stories if you hung around the coffee shops long enough to get to know the few locals who still live in old homes. Like Jerome, it has lots of tourists, little parking and hordes of motorcycles. There are flowers in Madrid, so we felt better.
A fisheye view of an old flat sign!
I took this one.
Then Tom takes this one. Little fishy to me!
Oh Barbara, you would love these window displays. Real class and interest.
Detail from a metal wind catcher for a Tibetan gong
All the artsy stuff aside, there is one house that I keep returning to each time I go to Madrid. The house looks, well . . . rundown. But, there is at least one person living there. The roof is new. It is difficult to photograph due to the huge dynamic range. You have seen it before. This time I shot a 5 image bracket (security). When I got home the image that delighted me the most was the most over-exposed of the bracketed set!! That is the image below. Then I took another under-exposed image into Silver FX to see what that would look like. That follows as well. I had a lot of fun with this playing around.
On to Cerrillos. Sally and I had a nice long conversation. Tom took off.
I wish my photo-tripping buddies were here. We would love to show you the way to some funky art, friendly people and interesting old buildings. Somehow, the scene changes each time we go. It will still be interesting when you show up. Thanks for sharing.