Heaven Above

Living in a “tourist town” you would think that I have been to all the famous sites in Santa Fe and Taos, especially as a photographer.  Ironically, this is not always the case.

It is when friends come to visit that I often end up seeing the more popular attractions in the area.  Perhaps this is a “grass is always greener” phenomena for me, and I look for adventures away from home?

When a friend, Yvan, was visiting from Quebec, the old church in Taos was one of the places on our list to see.

It is easy to miss the iconic church as you enter the south side of Taos. It is strategically centered in the historic Ranchos de Taos Plaza.

Initially, I left my camera and tripod in the truck as I was not planning on photographing it.  As I walked around the outside of the church its magical architecture caught my eye. The soft lines of the adobe against the blue sky decorated with wisps of clouds were a photographers dream.  My attitude improved quickly and soon I was back at the church with my tripod, camera, and wide angle lens.

As I photographed the church I tried to capture its soft curves against the sky.  I imagined what it must have looked like around 1800.  The small shops and galleries that make up the perimeter of the plaza we likely bustling with activity from the Spanish colonists over 200 years ago. Today, it was bustling with visitors and local parishioners attending mass.

Pigeons perched on the walls of the magnificent architecture.  Through my ultra-wide lens, I could see a miscellany of delicate cirrus clouds contrast against the sapphire blue sky.

As I composed the scene through my lens I knew this would be an exciting photograph.

The deeply saturated colors of blue sky contrast in a powerful way with the warmer tones of the adobe church.  The colors were so intense that I opted to create this black-and-white edition.

New Mexico skies and colors are unique and naturally very strong and saturated — so much so that some people accuse the local photographers of faking their photos.   Artists have been, and still are, drawn to New Mexico for these colors.