Windows to the Soul......and a Tree !

This will be my final Stanley post for this trip.  Now, the focus will be on the windows - take a look!

 

I'm really not certain if this is a long window, or a door that had the steps that led to it disintegrate.  I'm choosing to call this a window.  This building did have some long windows and doors, so maybe very tall people once lived here.  Still, I love the look of the wood of this building.

 

As I was wandering around this little deserted community, I noticed that the window of this building nicely framed the church steeple down the road a bit.  By the way, the town of Stanley is still occupied - just this one little section of buildings were deserted.....of course, there's really not all that much to Stanley anyway, and these deserted buildings make up about half the buildings in town!

 

This is a bit of a distanced view of this window, but I loved the little rickety gate open for visitors, so I included the broader shot of this window.  It's kind of funny - the gate's here, but the fence seems to be mostly gone...

 

This building had not only a cool view inside thru the upstairs window (a new roof is definitely in order), but check out the texture of the outside walls of this home.  I thought it was very neat, and not something I've seen before.

 

And, here's the tree!  When I was driving to Stanley, I noticed this tree, but wanted to get to the cabins for the sunrise, so I didn't stop then.  However, on the way back home, I did stop to capture this cool tree.  I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing that the tree is growing at the angle it is due to the strong winds that blow thru here, especially in the spring!

 

Enjoy!

Doorways to the Past

I'm still in Stanley, and these are the doors that belong to the cabins in my previous post!

 

I was actually taken with the wood of the cabin in the foreground - neat knotty wood - but then the doorway to another cabin just sort of winks at you from the background.  I like the feel of this image.

 

I really liked all the textures and lines in this door (above).  I didn't go into any of the cabins even tho some of the doors were open.  The cabins were generally in pretty bad shape, and I didn't think any were structurally safe.  Look great from the outside, tho!

 

This image is a closer view of the door that you see in the background of the first image in this post.  It's actually in the same building as the above door.  I'm not certain if this building was home to 2 families or if it was just a building with 2 doors, different, but equally cool.

 

This door was really appealing to me because of the very southwest architecture of the wood beams above the door.  I loved the peeling of the outside finish of the building and how it frames the door, too.

 

This final image is of a door knob to one of the doors.  I really loved the look of the metal of the door knob in the texture of the different types of wood surrounding it.

 

Enjoy!

The Cabins of Stanley

Last weekend, I noticed some deserted cabins as I drove thru the tiny town of Stanley, NM, about 20 minutes from our home.  This morning, I decided to drive back there and photograph the cabins.  Meet the cabins of Stanley.....

 

The above building was an adobe and just warmed as the morning sun hit it.  Can't you just imagine sitting inside enjoying morning coffee?

 

This little cabin was sort of off to the side and all that's left of the roof are the slats you can see the sun shining thru.  This little place was definitely tiny.

 

Here are 2 images (above and below) of the same little house, with 2 different effects.  The softer image (above) has a painting effect applied.  The one below was put thru my HDR software - I love the way the sun's rays are highlighted in this image.

 

The above image includes the building from the 2 previous images and one that was right next door.  Again, I just love the way they look during this sunrise.

 

And, finally, here's one that was closest to the road.  For some reason, the wood window frame leaning on the side of the cabin really appealed to me.  Or, at least, I think it's an old window frame!

 

Enjoy!



To Begin

Here are more images from yesterday morning's sunrise.  I added quotes involving the idea of beginning to these and played with some of them to create a painting or drawing type effect.  I'll let the images (and quotes) speak for themselves.  You'll probably need to click on each image to read the quote.

 

Enjoy!

 

Begin the Day

As I sit here in bed watching today's rather gloomy start to the day, I decided to process the images I shot of yesterday's beginning of the day.  Once again, I was out there in my PJ's and robe - good thing we live in New Mexico where quirkiness is seen as "normal" !

I really liked the above image - it reminded me of people waking up, slowing getting the coffee started and perhaps thinking about what the day would bring.  (You may need to click on the image to see the houses at the bottom of the image.)

 

Two of my favorite subjects (when they cooperate with me!) are our friends' horse, Patches and Jazz.  They were up to see the sunrise and Patches, at least, seemed to enjoy watching me wander about getting shots.  Or, maybe he was hoping I'd feed him breakfast?

 

The sun was rather brilliant in this image.  I just loved the silhouette the trees in winter created.  It was amazing that all of the images were shot within minutes of each other - depending on where I looked in the sky, I had different light, color and feel to this sunrise.

 

 

 

Here's another great shot that really conveys the sense of big sky that we have here.  The sunrise and clouds just seem to go on and on and on.

 

Isn't it cool the way the clouds just seem to hang over the mountains?  I also love the play of color in the sky, on the clouds and under them.

 

The feeling I get from this image is that the morning is just creeping on in!  There's no escaping it - the light will get you!

 

Enjoy!

Death and Life

 

Yesterday, I received some very sad news about a friend's brother.

 

He died after what seemed to me to be a very troubled adult life.  He does leave a legacy of his family, who are a very wonderful group of people. 

 

This morning, we had another of our beautiful sunrises, and, as I took a morning walk,  I couldn't help but think of how his soul has been set free and his spirit released from the demons that plagued him here on earth.  I can't help but feel there is a promise of a more magnificent and glorious life for us (and him) beyond what we know here.

 

RIP Mike

 

 

Paintings of a New Mexico Sunrise

These images are from a sunrise about a week ago.  I made them look like oil paintings just to give them a bit of texture. 

 

I just love how a few minutes can create such different colors and patterns in the sky.

 

 

Enjoy!!