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Places to photograph in New Mexico

Contributed by: Randall Roberts on 5/3/2005

Just next door to Colorado is a place of unique beauty -- New Mexico. Photographers come from all over the world to capture the clarity of the light on the rugged New Mexico landscape. The mixture of ancient Native American culture and spanish heritage, combined with scenery that ranges from snowy peaks to white sand desert makes for endless photographic opportunities.

Here are some places and events you shouldn't miss:

Chaco Culture National Historical Site, south of Farmington: This one of the best examples of ancient pueblo architecture in North America. Chaco Canyon served as a major urban center for the Puebloan culture between AD 850 to 1250. The great builders of the Puebloan world left behind large, remarkable ruins of great houses, places of worship and dwellings. Some of the best photos can be made by looking down on one of the largest ruins, Pueblo Bonito, from the Alto Mesa above. Check at the visitor's center for a permit to hike the mesa.

White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo: The white sands here a part of a the world's largest gypsum dune field that spans 275 square miles of desert. The national monument preserves the plants and animals that have successfully adapted to this constantly changing environment. The best time of day for photography here is late afternoon through shortly after sunset. As the sun sinks over the mountains to the west the white sands take on ever-changing shades of gold, pink and purple.

Kodak Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta: Each year in early October the skies over Albuquerque are filled with hundreds of hot air balloons. Visitors come from all over the world to see this incredible, nine-day event. Balloons launch at dawn each day, and balloons inflate for other events throughout the week. The special shapes rodeo features balloons in the shape of everthing from cactus to cartoon characters. But the most unique event is the evening "balloon glow" in which balloons tethered to the ground glow brightly as their gas burners fill the balloon with hot air. It's a beautiful site to see and photograph.

Red Rock Balloon Rally: Less crowded than the big Albuquerque event, this rally takes place around the incredible red rock cliffs outside of Gallup. The event is held each December. The dawn events are chilly, but the view of colorful balloons hugging the red rocks makes for great photographs.

I lived in New Mexico for ten years and compiled a large collection of photographs from all over the Southwest. I've put some of those photos to good use by creating a line of notecards that I sell online at www.rrphoto.com

I've included a few of the photos used on those cards as part of this posting. Enjoy!


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Randall Roberts

Thornton , CO

Randall Roberts has posted 2 stories and 0 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Randall Roberts's average story rating is 0.
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