Home  Donate  New  Search  Gallery  Reviews  Learn  Books  Links  Workshops  About  Contact

New Mexico: The Land of Enchantment

07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12 October 2026

How I Created These Images

Some friends and I realized we hadn't been to New Mexico in a while, so I flew in to Albuquerque and met my friend Dave Wyman, along with his friends Pauline and Cameron for a week of exploration.

What struck me as strange is that while the last I shot in New Mexico was 2008 or 2010, all the decay and weathering seems not to have changed at all in the past decade or two. While along Route 66 in California lots of things have fallen over or have burnt down each year when I return, oddly New Mexico seems to be in a state of suspended animation; everything is just as weathered as my last trips. Strange.

These are 1,920 pixel-wide images; the originals are much higher resolution. These images will fill your screen horizontally, up to 1,920 pixels wide (3,840 pixels wide on Mac Retina displays). The vertical size will vary with each image.

Click or tap any image to fit your screen. On Mac Safari, command ⌘ and + or - will change the size of the page or image, and command ⌘ + 0 brings it back to normal.

Turn up your screen brightness for the best results.

My junk-free, all-content website's biggest source of support is when you use any of these links to the places I use myself when you get anything, and it costs nothing more. I've bought from these places for over 100 combined years because they have the best service, the best selection, the best prices, and usually 100% cash-back returns for at least 30 days if you don't love your new goodies. As an Amazon Associate and eBay Partner Network Affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thanks! Ken.

Enjoy!

07 October 2026, Wednesday       top

07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12 October 2026    How I Created These Pictures

I woke up at 5:45 AM for my 6:40 AM pickup.

I arrived at the airport at 7:15 AM:

Sunrise at Terminal One, 7:15 AM, Wednesday, 07 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 2× (6.9mm actual or 48mm eq.) camera at f/1.8 at ¹/_1,106 at Auto ISO 100 (LV 11.8), cropping and perspective correction in Photoshop, otherwise as shot. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

Do you see the magnificent 12-point sunstar? This is from the iPhone 18 Pro Max' 6-blade diaphragm. While 6-blade diaphragms usually make 6-pointed sunstars, the brilliant hockey-stick shape of each of these six blades begets 12-point sunstars when shot at its default f/1.8.

My flight left at 9:11 AM and arrived in Albuquerque at 11:55AM as scheduled. I met Dave and Pauline and eventually Cameron at baggage claim, we got our rental car and headed to Old Town Albuquerque from 2 to 4 PM.

I love green chile. I've eaten so much of it my friends say I look different:

Space Alien, 2:24 PM, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wednesday, 07 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 1× (6.9mm actual or 24mm eq.) camera at f/1.8 at ¹/₃₈₈ at Auto ISO 64 (LV 10.9), Radiant Photo software to add light and Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

Don't laugh: these Aliens among us have been multiplying, and have been granted New Mexico state citizenship since 2019. As you'll see, they're everywhere!

San Felipe de Neri Church (1706), Albuquerque, New Mexico, 2:44 PM, Wednesday, 07 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 10mm (16mm equivalent) at f/11 at ¹/₄₀₀ at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 15.6), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights. bigger or fit to screen.

I had to lay my EOS R7 on the sidewalk and composed using its tiny flip screen. Hint: Set the LCD brightness to its maximum.

We bailed from Old Town at 4 PM and checked in to our cozy Air B&B at 4:17 PM. We then headed out to dinner at the Owl Cafe:

Freeway Overpass, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 5:08 PM, Wednesday, 07 October 2026. Square crop from Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 50mm (80mm equivalent) at f/11 at ¹/₃₂₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 15.4), Radiant Photo software to add light and Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

The Owl Cafe, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wednesday, 5:44 PM, 07 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 59mm (96mm equivalent) at f/10 at ¹/₂₀₀ at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 14¼), exactly as shot. bigger or fit to screen.

Green Chile Cheeseburger and Seasoned Fries at The Owl Cafe, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wednesday, 6:02 PM, 07 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max in square-crop mode at 1.5× (6.9mm actual or 35mm eq.) at f/1.8 at ¹/₁₂₀ at Auto ISO 250 (LV 7.3), Radiant Photo software to add light, minor burning-in of onion slice using a curves adjustment layer mask in Photoshop. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

This just happened to be the $9.95 Wednesday Daily Special, so we totally lucked out!!! bigger.

After dinner we headed to downtown Albuquerque looking for neon on Route 66:

Route 66 Signs at Dusk, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 7:12 PM, Wednesday, 07 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 41mm (a fitting Route 66mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5 hand-held at ¹/₁₃ at Auto ISO 800 (LV 5¼), Radiant Photo software to add light. bigger or fit to screen.

66 Diner Neon Sign, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 7:15 PM, Wednesday, 07 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 100mm (160mm equivalent) wide-open at f/6.3 hand-held at ¹/₂₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 9¾), Radiant Photo software to add light without losing highlights. bigger or fit to screen.

Edward Hopper, 66 Diner, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 7:19 PM, Wednesday, 07 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 1× (6.9mm actual or 24mm eq.) camera wide-open at f/1.5 at ¹/₄₀ at Auto ISO 500 (LV 4.1), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows without losing the highlights, perspective correction and painting in Photoshop. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

We had to get up waaaay before dawn tomorrow, so we hit the sack at 8:30 PM.

08 October 2026, Thursday       top

07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12 October 2026    How I Created These Pictures

I woke at 4 AM and our group left at 4:39 AM to the fiesta grounds.

We let ourselves believe that it could take hours to get there with traffic as 100,000 people swarmed to the dawn of the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta.

It was Thursday, not the weekend, so we arrived at parking in just 20 minutes at 5:00 AM. We napped in the car until 5:30 AM, and then walked into the fiesta grounds for the 5:45 AM drone show.

At 6:00 AM the first balloons lit up and took off for Balloon Glow:

Flaming Balloon Aloft, Balloon Glow, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 6:14 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 50mm (80mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5.6 hand-held at ¹/₈ of a second at Auto ISO 12,800, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 1.0), Radiant Photo software to add light without losing the highlights. bigger or fit to screen.

Real men don't use tripods. With my iron grip fortified by my stabilized lens on my stabilized camera, it's easy shooting telephoto hand-held at ¹/₈. The only hard part is that while my grip is unwavering, the balloons are alive and moving as you can see on the right.

It's extra magical that all 100,000 of us are still welcome to wander the grounds in the frigid pitch black (52º F) before dawn to get great shots, as we've always been able for the many decades I've been attending. Somehow everyone is paying rapt attention, and even with all the distractions and people all is good. One of these days someone is going to get caught in a line or lose a few fingers in one of the gasoline-powered fans used to inflate the balloons, and from then on we'll be restricted to grandstands, but for now, freedom still reigns in Albuquerque and all of us can go anywhere we want for up-close shots.

Balloon Fire, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 6:54 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Godox iT32 flash with included orange CTO warming filter, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 11mm (18mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5 at ¹/₆₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 8.6), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights, Luminar software to add a little deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

This is with my ultrawide 10-18mm IS STM, so I'm close enough to feel the heat.

Lighting is the professional's secret. While consumers worry themselves sick spending thousands of dollars on cameras and lenses, here's how this same shot looks without my under-$100 flash:

Same shot, no flash, 6:53 AM. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 10mm (16mm equivalent) wide-open at f/4.5 at ¹/₁₀ at Auto ISO 250 (LV 6.4), exactly as shot. bigger.

My tiny flash and its included warming filter is what's making much of the magic here, not the camera. Note how the flash lets me use less overall exposure so the skies are darker and more vivid and the balloons are warmer and brighter in my shot with the flash, and my shot with the flash was taken 90 seconds after the shot without the flash as the sky was becoming lighter.

Flaming Balloon Aloft, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 7:33 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 150mm (240mm equivalent) wide-open at f/6.3 at ¹/₁₆₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12¾), Radiant Photo software to add light. bigger or fit to screen.

Oh, and I certainly don't need full-frame or L lenses to get sharp shots of far-away action at dawn. Bah!

Cute Ghost Balloon, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 7:33 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 44mm (71mm equivalent) at f/9 at ¹/₂₅₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.4), Radiant Photo software to add light and Luminar software to add strong vignetting for emphasis. In the original photo the sky was brighter than the backlit ghost. bigger or fit to screen.

Space Alien Balloon, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 7:34 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Minor crop from Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 39mm (63mm equivalent) at f/8 at ¹/₁₆₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.4), Radiant Photo software to add light and Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

Aliens are everywhere in New Mexico.

Horny Sunrise Balloons, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 7:36 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent) at f/16 for a strong sunstar at ¹/₄₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.4), Radiant Photo software to add light and Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

The crazy RAINBOW dots are a sensor artifact typical of most cameras if you shoot with a blinding sun in the image.

Watermelon Balloon, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 7:39 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 70mm (115mm equivalent) at f/7.1 at ¹/₂₀₀ at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation to keep these brilliant colors from overloading (LV 13¼), Radiant Photo software to add light and Luminar software to add pop and place the shadows where I want them on the Zone System scale, no vignetting. bigger or fit to screen.

Crazy Duck Balloon About to Go Swimming, Special Shapes Rodeo, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 7:59 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent) at f/8 at ¹/₂₀₀ at Auto ISO 100, -0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.6), Radiant Photo software to add light and Luminar software to remove guy wires and add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

Smiley Sun Balloon, Special Shapes Rodeo, Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, 8:27 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 10mm (16mm equivalent) at f/9 at ¹/₂₅₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14.4), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights and Skylum Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

I LOVE the brilliant COLORS I get with all my Canon cameras.

The sun rose above the distant mountains and hit the valley floor at 7:31 AM. My most colorful shots were made within minutes of that. It's not magic hour, it's magic minutes when you want the warm sunlight on a balloon against a blue sky. Show up, shoot glow and flames between 6:15 and 7:00 AM, and then shoot balloons in first light from about 7:30 to 7:45 AM, and you've got what you want without standing around in the cold since 4 AM.

We shared a Navajo taco among us and then left the Fiesta Grounds at 9:06 AM. We arrived at our Air B&B at 9:50 AM and were out of it by 10:00 AM. We picked up Pauline's friend Linda from her hotel at 10:25 AM and headed towards points north.

We stopped in Golden, New Mexico to visit an artist's home at 11:00 AM, and then checked out a pottery jail:

Pottery Prison, Golden, New Mexico, 11:45 AM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 10mm (16mm equivalent) f/7.1 at ¹/₁₆₀ at Auto ISO 100, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.0), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights, perspective correction in Photoshop, Skylum Luminar software to place the highlights and shadows as I want them in the Zone System. bigger or fit to screen.

We continued north to Madrid for lunch. I had a Frito Pie at the Jezebel Soda Fountain & Cafe.

Colorful Mailbox, Madrid, New Mexico, 12:58 PM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 57mm (92mm equivalent) at f/8 at ¹/₂₀₀ at Auto ISO 100, -0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 13.6), Radiant Photo software to add light and Skylum Luminar software to amp it up and add vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

We headed to Santa Fe, parked, and walked the plaza from 3:00 to 4:45 PM.

Art Gallery, La Fonda Hotel, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 4:27 PM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 10mm (16mm equivalent) wide-open at f/4.5 hand-held at ¹/₁₀ at Auto ISO 125, +0.3 stops exposure compensation (LV 7.4), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights, perspective correction in Photoshop. bigger or fit to screen.

From 4:52 to 5:30 PM we wandered around Canyon Drive and talked with artists.

We continued towards Taos, stopping in Pilar for sunset:

Glowing Cloud at Sunset, Karmic Wave Rapid, Pilar, New Mexico, 6:40 PM, Thursday, 08 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in square crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent on 35mm or full-frame, or equivalent to the ZEISS 60mm f/3.5 DISTAGON on HASSELBLAD 6×6) wide-open at f/3.5 at ¹/₆₀ at Auto ISO 100, -1.7 stops exposure compensation to keep color in the clouds (LV 9.6), Radiant Photo software to add light everywhere else, Skylum Luminar software to add brilliance and vignetting, layers and masks to apply selective sharpening in Photoshop. bigger or fit to screen.

We continued to Taos and found our accommodations in the wilderness southeast of town. We unpacked and I got the cool room; it was round like a Kiva!:

Rockwell's Kiva Bedroom, Taos, New Mexico, 7:29 PM, Thursday, 09 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 0.5× (2.2mm actual or 13mm eq.) camera at f/2.2 at ¹/₄₀ at Auto ISO 640 (LV 4.9), warmth added in iPhone's Photos app, Skylum Luminar software to add light and place shadows as I want them in the Zone System. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

At 7:45 PM we all headed out to have dinner with Pauline's friend Linda at the Hotel Wilma's restaurant. I had pappardelle with green chili, which was exquisite!

09 October 2026, Friday       top

07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12 October 2026    How I Created These Pictures

We awoke at leisure, having been thoroughly pooped last night from a long day out that started at 4 AM.

I awoke at 8 AM, and found I was in one of the quietest places I could recall. It measured only 21.7 dBA inside on my NIOSH sound level meter app on my iPhone 18 Pro Max! I didn't think the app could measure that low. It was a very beautiful morning.

Black Sabbath's First Album Cover, Taos, New Mexico, 9:11 AM, Friday, 09 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 1× (6.9mm actual or 24mm eq.) camera at f/4 at ¹/₁₃₉ at Auto ISO 64 (LV 11¾), Skylum Luminar software to add lots of vignetting and control highlights and shadows, perspective correction and loads of curves adjustment layers and masks to sort out the shadows and highlights and make 1019 stand out in Photoshop. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

Especially at night, this overgrown and dark stone portal reminds me of Sabbath's first album. I love 1019!

I used layers and masks in Photoshop to apply more or less sharpening to different areas: more to the stone portal and less to the trees in the corners.

We continued to meet Linda at Michael's Kitchen Restaurant & Bakery at 9:30 AM for breakfast. I had a huge green chile omelet, and enjoyed every bite.

We left breakfast at 10:57 AM and hit Smith's grocery store at 11:00 AM for food for the next few days.

Lo and behold, while green chile is usually out of season this late, recent flooding from a hurricane gave wind to a second coming of fresh chiles, which were stacked in bushel boxes:

Fresh Hatch Chiles, Taos, New Mexico, 11:20 AM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Cropped from Canon EOS R7 already in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent) wide-open at f/3.5 hand-held over the boxes of chiles at ¹/₁₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 7.0), Radiant Photo software to add light and a Saturation adjustment layer in Photoshop to darken over-exposed reds to keep them red. bigger or fit to screen.

We dropped off our groceries and then headed to Taos Pueblo from 12:30 to 2:45 PM:

Taos Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico, 12:53 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode set to shade white balance to make everything more orange, Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM with 55mm Hoya HD circular polarizer to darken the sky and make the clouds and adobe stand out, 35mm (55mm equivalent) at f/8 at ¹/₂₀₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 13.6), curves layer to lighten the adobe and perspective correction in Photoshop. bigger or fit to screen.

I want adobe to look yellow and warm, while in actuality it's a dull grey-brown. Adobe is made of mud, not Venetian plaster. Thus I forced my R7's white balance to Shade, which makes the adobe much warmer and orange as I want here. I used a polarizer to darken the blue sky and make the adobe stand out.

Entrance to San Geronimo Church, Taos Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico, 1:07 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in square crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent on 35mm or full-frame, or equivalent to the ZEISS 60mm f/3.5 DISTAGON on HASSELBLAD 6×6) at f/13 at ¹/₂₅₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 15.4), split-toned print. bigger or fit to screen.

I love how the square crop mode and some fiddling in Photoshop lets me leave my HASSELBLAD gear at home not not have to muck around shooting film, and poof!, Ansel Adams rides again.

Here are two typical ho-hum snaps, so I'll show them two-up for brevity. Of course clicking them will show them full screen:

These really are shot with identical camera settings. I didn't zoom in; I simply got closer for the second shot!

Eagle's Wing over the San Juan Reservation, New Mexico, 3:41  PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 1× (6.9mm actual or 24mm eq.) camera at f/4 at ¹/₉₄₃ at Auto ISO 80 (LV 14.2), vignetting added in iPhone Photos app, Radiant Photo software to perk it up, split-toned print. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

Entrance, Chimayó, New Mexico, 4:16 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 70mm (115mm equivalent) at f/9 at ¹/₃₂₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 14¾), curves adjustment layer in Luminance mode in Photoshop to make this just a little lighter overall. bigger or fit to screen.

Weaver's Weavings, Chimayó, New Mexico, 4:21 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in magic focus-stacking infinite depth-of-field mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, dozens of automated exposures with my Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent) at f/4 all hand-held at ¹/₈ at Auto ISO 250 (LV 5⅔), Radiant Photo software to add light and Skylum Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting. bigger or fit to screen.

The infinite depth-of-field mode let me get every hair sharply rendered everywhere! Here's how to set the magic focus-stacking infinite depth-of-field mode on an R6 III; it works the same way in the R7. The settings are at MENU > CAMERA page 5 > Focus Bracketing. More sample and detailed settings at my EOS R6 III Guide.

Not only did I get every hair in perfect focus, the camera did this all by itself and it did it in very dim light, hand-held with long, stabilized hand-held exposures. Bravo!

Roadside Cacophony, Chimayó, New Mexico, 4:41 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in square crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Godox iT32 flash with included CTO warming filter, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent on 35mm or full-frame, or equivalent to the ZEISS 60mm f/3.5 DISTAGON on HASSELBLAD 6×6) at f/7.1 at ¹/₁₂₅ at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 12.6), Radiant Photo software to add light and Skylum Luminar software to amp it up and add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

Space Alien Sneaking a Selfie at Las Puertas Del Atrio Del Santuario de Chimayó, Chimayó, New Mexico, 5:04 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Godox iT32 flash with included CTO warming filter, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 13mm (21mm equivalent) at f/10 at ¹/₁₂₅ at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation to keep the bright yellows from saturating (LV 13.6), perspective correction in Photoshop. bigger or fit to screen.

I used Skylum Luminar software with my camera-original JPG (yes, of course JPG) image to:

• Desaturate the Healing Holy Spirit- and space-alien-induced too-wild-even-for-me wild colors.
• Add vignetting for emphasis.
• Lighten the otherwise dark Santuario in the center, with the Advanced > Inner Light option in the Vignette tool.

Space aliens are running around all over. Related to Ireland's Leprechauns and Hawaii's Menehune, these diminutive and childish beings are always goofing around, in this case, trying to grab a selfie with me before I figured it out. These aliens are invisible since they've mastered chameleonosis (blending into a background), but even if we can't see them directly, they do cast shadows as you see here. See the bizarrely shaped head? That is not a human head!

Healing Holy Chile Ristra, Chimayó, New Mexico, 5:10 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 76mm (120mm equivalent) wide-open at f/6.3 at ¹/₁₂₅ at Auto ISO 320, -0.7 stops exposure compensation (LV 10.7), Radiant Photo software to add light in the shadows while retaining highlights and Skylum Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

See how it glows? This comes from the Holy Chile's curative powers.

From Chimayó we headed to Truchas:

General Store, Truchas, New Mexico, 5:59 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Godox iT32 flash with included CTO warming filter, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent) at f/4.5 at ¹/₈₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 10¾), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights and to add more warmth, Skylum Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting for emphasis. bigger or fit to screen.

Switzerland, Truchas, New Mexico, 6:08 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 67mm (92mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5.6 at ¹/₁₀₀ at Auto ISO 100, -0.3 stops exposure compensation to keep the vivid orange from blowing-out (LV 11.6), Radiant Photo software to add light in the shadows while retaining highlights, Skylum Luminar software to let me control my highlights and shadows precisely — no vignetting this time. bigger or fit to screen.

I used layers and masks in Photoshop to apply more or less sharpening in different areas.

Iglesia de San José de Gracia, Las Trampas, New Mexico, 7:14 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Godox iT32 flash with included orange CTO warming filter held off-camera to my left, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 11mm (18mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5 at ¹/₄ at Auto ISO 6,400 (LV ⅔), Radiant Photo software to add light to the shadows while retaining highlights, perspective correction in Photoshop. bigger or fit to screen.

This shot took a lot of effort. It was blue twilight and a mud (adobe) church. To turn it gold, I forced my R7's white balance to Shade, and then used the orange CTO warming filter over my Godox iT32 flash to cast a warm golden glow all over the church.

To get the right balance of the flash light on the church with the street light on everything I pulled my iT32 flash off my camera and held it to my left, with my R7 and 10-18mm IS STM in my right hand. This is trivially easy since the iT32 flash has a magnetic foot, so just pull the flash straight off the top of its magnetic mount and it works the same as if it were hard-wired — no setup required!

Here's what it looked like without my artistic input:

How it looked before I worked my Magic. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 10mm (16mm equivalent) wide-open at f/4.5 at ¹/₁₃ at Auto ISO 6,400 (LV 2.0), as shot. bigger or fit to screen.

We headed back to Taos for dinner with our group, as well as with Linda and Steve.

Green Chile Cheeseburger!!!!

Green Chile Cheeseburger, Doc Martin's, Taos, New Mexico, 9:12 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 1.5× (2.2mm actual or 35mm eq.) camera at f/2.2 at ¹/₇ at Auto ISO 400 (LV 3.2), Radiant Photo software to add light and Skylum Luminar software to add emphatic vignetting. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

The menu description for this Heavenly delicacy was:

Green Chile Bacon Cheeseburger: Caramelized onions, green chile, bacon, cheddar asadero-cheese, pickles, chipotle aioli on a brioche bun with regular or sweet potato fries.

This is blurry because it's a tough shot in what was a very dark restaurant. Also a secret about all iPhones is that while they let you shoot at any zoom setting at any distance (good), due to the laws of physics the longer cameras can't focus anywhere near as closely as the 0.5× camera can (less than an inch away). Therefore closer than about 8" (20cm) the iPhone swaps to the 0.5× camera and crops very strongly — which leads to low resolution. Also there is never much depth of field this close with any macro system — except maybe I should have tried the infinite depth-of-field mode of my R7.

Think this was dark? Lets drop into the cemetery next to our lodging at midnight, lit by starlight!

Cemetery at Midnight Under Starlight, Taos, New Mexico, 10:05 PM, Friday, 09 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 1× (6.9mm actual or 24mm eq.) camera at f/1.5 at ¹/₂ at Auto ISO 8,000 (LV -4.0 — minus four!), Radiant Photo and Skylum Luminar software to add light and put levels and values where I want them. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

This cemetery was lit slightly by tiny solar-powered yard lights, which twinkled in the inky black night as we drove by. It's impressive to see all the stars in the sky in this image. The cluster of stars in the upper center-left indeed is the Pleiades star cluster M45, which is also used as the logo for Subaru cars.

It was so dark we needed flashlights to see where we were walking. While completely black and grey as we saw it, my iPhone 18 Pro Max picked up colors that were invisible to our eyes. In fact, my iPhone 18 Pro Max sees details in the dark which are invisible to my naked eye; it is more sensitive to light than my own eyes!

While EXIF shows the effective exposure time of a half second, this was of course a 3.4 second hand-held automatic Night Mode exposure. Bravo, Apple!

10 October 2026, Saturday       top

07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12 October 2026    How I Created These Pictures

I woke at 8:30 AM after a long day yesterday. We headed out at 9:47 AM.

While this was ostensibly a photo-making trip, Pauline had arranged for us to visit with several local artists as well. We met glass artist Michael Miro at his studio at 10 AM. We left at 11:15 AM and arrived at the Lyden petroglyphs at 12:30 PM.

Next we visited the studios of Toni Roller pottery at 1 PM in the Santa Clara Pueblo in Española.

We then visited the Santa Clara Mission Church:

El Campanario de la Iglesia de la Misión Santa Clara, Santa Clara Pueblo, Española, New Mexico, 2:27 PM, Saturday, 10 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 47mm (76mm equivalent) at f/10 at ¹/₂₅₀ at Auto ISO 100, -0.7 stops exposure compensation to keep the adobe from clipping (LV 14.6) then a curves adjustment layer (luminosity mode) to lighten the image in Photoshop. bigger or fit to screen.

I used a 55mm Hoya HD circular polarizer to darken the sky.

I forced my R7 to Shade white balance to make the adobe more orange, rather than its natural grey.

La Iglesia de la Misión Santa Clara, Santa Clara Pueblo, Española, New Mexico, 2:28 PM, Saturday, 10 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 10mm (16mm equivalent) at f/9 at ¹/₂₅₀ at Auto ISO 10, -0.3 stops exposure compensation to keep the adobe from blowing-out (LV 14.4), a little Radiant Photo software to add some light to the shadows while retaining highlights, layer masks to apply different amounts of sharpening to different areas in Photoshop (more to the adobe and less to el cementerio. bigger or fit to screen.

I used no polarizer with this ultrawide lens because the sky's natural polarization varies across large angles and thus usually leads to what look like dark bands.

I forced my R7 to Shade white balance to make the adobe more orange, rather than its natural grey.

We had lunch at El Paragua Restaurant in Española from 2:45 to 4:45 PM. Carne adovada and sopapillas!

Enchanted Red Light Fixture, El Paragua Restaurant, Española, New Mexico, 2:55 PM, Saturday, 10 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 1× (6.9mm actual or 24mm eq.) camera at f/1.5 at ¹/₆₀ at Auto ISO 250 (LV 5.7), Radiant Photo and Skylum Luminar software to add light and put the shadows and highlights where I want them. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

Off to Embudo:

Whimsical Sign, Classical Gas Museum, Embudo, New Mexico, 5:23 PM, Saturday, 10 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Godox iT32 flash to add more light to the sign and make it stand out, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent) wide-open at f/6.3 at ¹/₆₀ at Auto ISO 160 (LV 10.7), Radiant Photo software to add light in the shadows while retaining highlights and Skylum Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting. bigger or fit to screen.

Neon Signs, Classical Gas Museum, Embudo, New Mexico, 5:34 PM, Saturday, 10 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 1.2× (6.9mm actual or 28mm eq.) camera at f/1.8 at ¹/₁₂₀ at Auto ISO 200 (LV 7.6), mild use of Radiant Photo to add light but keep the light inside the tubes distinct. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

We kept on truckin' from Embudo to Rancho de Taos to snap this icon:

Glowing Iglesia de San Francisco de Asís, Rancho de Taos, New Mexico, 6:31 PM, Saturday, 10 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Godox iT32 flash with included orange CTO warming filter on-camera, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 10mm (16mm equivalent) at f/5 at ¹/₈₀ at Auto ISO 500 (LV 8.7). bigger or fit to screen.

The filtered flash supplied the warm glow.

I used Skylum Luminar software with my camera-original JPG (yes, of course JPG) image to:

• Amp-up colors and make the white balance even warmer than my R7's Shade white balance setting did.
• Shamelessly and proudly added a brilliant sky. Photographic artists have been adding interesting skies to images with blank skies by double-printing using a different negative with a cool sky when making prints since the 1800s. Nothing new here.
• Remove wires and a pole.
• Add deliberate vignetting for emphasis.

Busted! In the heat of the moment I didn't realize that for some reason my slow-sync setting was still preventing my shutter from going slower than ¹/₆₀, so I look like a fool because my camera shot at ¹/₈₀ at f/5 at ISO 500 rather than ¹/₆ at f/8 at ISO 100 as I would have preferred hand-held. Oh well, 99% of photography is vision coupled with being there.

Here's how the scene looked without my artistic input and without the flash. This is way too blue, and was shot with Shade white balance. If I had left my R7 in Auto white balance it would have been even bluer:

The Church at Rancho de Taos, New Mexico without flash or other creative input. bigger.

I'm an artist and use whatever means necessary to realize my visions in tangible form. I had the top image in my head as I shot this, and worked the image that came out of my camera until it looked as I originally saw it in my imagination. To quote sculptor Henry Moore: "Art is the expression of imagination, not the duplication of reality."

Even if I used a 100 MP HASSELBLAD or a $15,000 LEICA M, I'd get exactly the same crappy gray image if I didn't add supplemental lighting and creative editing. The fact that Your Camera Doesn't Matter is something that camera marketers have tried to keep secret for 200 years.

From Rancho de Taos we headed back to Taos and its historic square:

Vigas and Latillas, Taos Square, Taos, New Mexico, 7:14 PM, Saturday, 10 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 18mm (28mm equivalent) wide-open at f/3.5 hand-held at ¹/₈ at Auto ISO 400 (LV 4.6), Radiant Photo software to add light in the shadows while retaining highlights and Skylum Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting, perspective correction in Photoshop. bigger or fit to screen.

At 7:30 PM we all met this morning's glass artist Michael Miro and his wife at the bar at Doc Martin's for drinks and dinner.

11 October 2026, Sunday       top

07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12 October 2026    How I Created These Pictures

Up at 8 AM, we headed out at 8:50 AM to meet the photographic artist Geraint Smith at the Golden Piñon restaurant for breakfast with the group.

After breakfast we drove the Enchanted Circle out through the Red River Ski Resort area.

Since I told my friends I was headed to New Mexico for green chile and fall color, here at least is one fall color snap:

Quaking Aspens, Red River, New Mexico, 11:44 AM, Sunday, 11 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in square crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 60mm (100mm equivalent on 35mm or full-frame, or equivalent to the ZEISS 250mm f/5.6 SONNAR on HASSELBLAD 6×6) at f/9 at ¹/₂₅₀ at Auto ISO 100, -0.3 stops exposure compensation to keep the vivid oranges from overloading (LV 14.4), minor use of Radiant Photo software to add light in the shadows while retaining highlights. bigger or fit to screen.

We checked out the Vietnam War Memorial in Angel Fire.

Bare Aspens, Angel Fire, New Mexico, 1:16 PM, Sunday, 11 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 62mm (100mm equivalent) wide open at f/6.3 at ¹/₁₂₅ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 12.4), Skylum Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting, split-toned print. bigger or fit to screen.

I also used a curves adjustment layer mask in Photoshop to darken what was a bright foreground to keep the emphasis on the bare trees.

We returned to Taos, and at 3 PM lucked out getting to see photographic artist Geraint Smith again at the last hour of a weekend pop-up gallery show.

We walked Taos Square from 3:30 to 4:00 PM, and then headed back past Rancho de Taos where I saw this hilarious little adobe next-door to the main Rancho de Taos church:

Ranchito de Taos, Rancho de Taos, New Mexico, 4:22 PM, Sunday, 11 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max in square-crop mode at 1× (6.9mm actual or 24mm equivalent on 35mm or full-frame, or equivalent to the ZEISS 50mm f/4 DISTAGON on HASSELBLAD 6×6) at f/1.8 at ¹/_2,865 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 13.8), Radiant Photo software to add brilliance and Skylum Luminar software to add deliberate vignetting, split-toned print. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

I carefully used the color mixer sliders shown in the black-and-white conversion adjustment layer properties to give me lots of contrast converting the original color image to this monochrome rendition. Hint: turn down the Blue and Cyan sliders to make the blue sky go really dark like this, infrared style. Easy!

I also used a curves adjustment layer mask in Photoshop to darken the foreground to keep the emphasis on the big adobe nose sticking forward.

This is so much easier than using colored filters on my lens and shooting with film. I have far more flexibility, precision and range with my adjustments in Photoshop when making black-and-white images from color rather than having only a few filter choices with film.

Dave, Cameron and Pauline Snap God Beams Just East of Taos, New Mexico, 5:04 PM, Sunday, 11 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 3.7× (6.9mm actual or 89mm eq.) camera at f/1.8 at ¹/_3,425 at Auto ISO 64 (LV 14.1). I adjusted shadows and highlights in the iPhone's own Photos app, and then on the downloaded JPG file I used Radiant Photo to add a lot of light to the vegetation and Skylum Luminar software to play with highlights and shadows and add deliberate vignetting. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

Here's how it looked in person straight out of my iPhone:

As shot. bigger.

From Taos we headed to the Rio Grande Gorge:

Sunset, Rio Grande Gorge, Taos, New Mexico, 6:18 PM, Sunday, 11 October 2026. iPhone 18 Pro Max 4× (16.9mm actual or 100mm eq.) camera at f/2.8 at ¹/₂₃₆ at Auto ISO 80 (LV 11.2, Radiant Photo software to add shadow details and Skylum Luminar software to add vignetting and contrast in the dark clouds and brilliant highlights. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

Rapture, Rio Grande Gorge, Taos, New Mexico, 6:19 PM, Sunday, 11 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in 4:3 crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 50mm (80mm equivalent) wide-open at f/5.6 hand-held at ¹/₂₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 9.4), Radiant Photo software to add details and light in the shadows and Skylum Luminar software to add color and deliberate vignetting. bigger or fit to screen.

I used a 55mm Hoya HD circular polarizer to emphasize the RAINBOW.

Sunset was pretty amazing with the clouds, rain and rainbows. We had dinner at the renowned Guadalajara Grill in north Taos from 6:50 to 7:45 PM, and were back in Taos at 7:55 PM:

The World-Famous Taos Inn Neon Sign, Taos, New Mexico, 7:55 PM, Sunday, 11 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in square crop mode with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Canon RF-s 18-150mm IS STM at 54mm (85mm equivalent on 35mm or full-frame, or equivalent to the ZEISS 150mm f/4 SONNAR on HASSELBLAD 6×6) wide-open at f/5.6 hand-held at ¹/₂₅ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 9.6), Radiant Photo software to add light and color all over the painted parts of the sign while retaining the colors inside the neon tubes. bigger or fit to screen.

12 October 2026, Monday       top

07, 08, 09, 10, 11 and 12 October 2026    How I Created These Pictures

Up at 6:10 AM, packed up and on the road at 7:10 AM for a beautiful sunrise:

Two Crosses at Dawn, South Rancho de Taos, New Mexico, 7:40 AM, Monday, 12 October 2026. Canon EOS R7 in Shade white balance with Sony TOUGH 64 GB SD card, Godox iT32 flash with included orange CTO warming filter on-camera to cover the crosses in a warm glow, Canon RF-s 10-18mm IS STM at 16mm (26mm equivalent) wide-open at f/6.3 at ¹/₈₀ at Auto ISO 100 (LV 11¾), Radiant Photo software to add light in the shadows while retaining highlights, Skylum Luminar software to add a magnificent sky and deliberate vignetting, careful dodging (lightening) of the crosses with curves adjustment layer masks in Photoshop. bigger or fit to screen.

Lighting and flash are everything. Here's how it looked without flash or editing:

As shot on iPhone, no flash and no editing. bigger.

We made it to Albuquerque by 10 AM and got gas just off the airport. We had our car returned by 10:15 AM and took the shuttle to the terminal. We were in the terminal at 10:30 AM and past the TSA by 10:55 AM, with plenty of time to relax before our flights left.

I was on the 1 PM flight to Las Vegas, and snapped this out the window while taxiing to depart Las Vegas for home:

Sunset and Taxiing Jet at Las Vegas International Airport, 5:32 PM, Monday, 12 October 2026. Cropped from iPhone 18 Pro Max 4× (16.9mm actual or 100mm eq.) camera at f/2.8 at ¹/₄₄₈ at Auto ISO 50 (LV 12.8), Radiant Photo software to perk it up from a shot out a dirty window, Skylum Luminar software to amp it up further and add details and color to the sunset and add vignetting for emphasis. More tech details. bigger or fit-to-screen.

I caught my ride home from the airport at 7 PM, and was home by 7:30 PM. Easy!

That's it; thanks for reading!

< < Back to top

© Ken Rockwell. All rights reserved. Tous droits réservés. Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Alla rättigheter förbehållna. Toate drepturile rezervate. Niciun vampir nu a fost implicat în crearea acestei lucrări. Doe! Omnia jura reservata. Ken Rockwell® is a registered trademark.

Home Donate New Search Gallery Reviews How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact