These photos were shot on November 29, 2018.

Boca Negra Canyon is part of Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Most of these ancient rock drawings were created between 400 - 700 years ago though some of them are over 1000 years old.

It is a wonderful privilege to have a place like this in the middle of the city. You can walk through the silent desert and watch a raven fly up over the canyon wall, exactly the way ancient people did hundreds of years ago. The city doesn't need more strip malls and convenience stores, it needs more places to breathe and connect to nature.

How your presence can be beneficial: be a paid visitor to the park and don't mess anything up while you're there. Remember, take only photographs and leave only footprints. No one likes "new petroglyphs", so don't try to create your own. ;)

As with many old cemeteries in Albuquerque, San Jose has fallen into a sad state of disrepair. It is no longer an active cemetery, meaning that new burials are being performed elsewhere and it doesn't seem that anyone is officially charged with it's upkeep. Meanwhile, city life goes on and the unkempt cemetery becomes a haven for tweakers and vandals.
Postscript: If you go there, don't be part of the problem. Remember the golden rule of visitation and photography: Leave only footprints, take only photographs.

In these old cemeteries, it is unusual to find a new(ish) grave and especially one with a news story.

Buried here at San Jose Cemetery is Albuquerque boxer, Vicente "El Picosito" Garcia. In 2006, he was found shot to death in a car. The young boxer was only 20 years old.

Johnpaul and I were at the cemetery on November 17, 2018 and there had obviously been recent visitors to Vicente's grave as evidenced by the relatively fresh jack-o-lantern and half bottle of Modelo beer.

​To learn more Vicente "El Picosito" Garcia and what happened to him, click here.

No matter how many years I experience autumn in New Mexico, it never gets old.

With the exception of the first two images, which were shot just up the road in Rio Rancho, these photos are from the Bosque in Corrales.

There is a short cut that I take to get through town a little faster. It's called La Ladera Road and it runs from the base of Meadow Lake hill and comes out near the Peralta Post Office on Hwy 47. If ever there was an unlit, twisty-turny, creepy road where the ditch witch may drown your children or where a ghost may appear in the backseat of your car, this is it.

Off La Ladera road, tucked away where it is hard to see and unnoticed by most passersby, is Our Lady Of Guadalupe Catholic Cemetery. The cemetery is sectioned off into three areas. There is the old area that is full and no longer in use, the current area where new graves are being added, and an area reserved for future use. All in all, there are about 1000 gravesites here.

All of my photos are from the old area and I only walked a small part, leaving much of it unexplored and likely warranting a second trip.

My family moved to Los Lunas, New Mexico (from Albuquerque) in 1982. In all these years, I have only ever shot one portrait session in the Los Lunas Bosque and that is the only time I've gone down there. 

On October 21, 2018, Johnpaul and I decided to explore the forest in our hometown. 

Cottonwood trees take on unique shapes depending on their environmental conditions. The trees in the Los Lunas Bosque are tall and thin. They appear to be dancing. There is a well maintained trail through the Bosque but the undergrowth is very thick, especially as you approach the water. On this day, the river was very low and almost impossible to get to so we didn't push our luck. The trees were wonderful though.