The Lonely Lost Mesa

The Lost Mesa is an area of great beauty and mystery.  A blank spot on the map has no paved roads, no signs, no towns, and no campgrounds.  As I like to say, there is no stumbling upon it.  You have to want to get here and you have to know how to find it by taking unmarked rough gravel roads.

If you are lucky enough to get here, you will find over one million acres of grasslands and a few distant lonely mountains.

Visit here and you will have it to yourself.  I have gone days without seeing another person.  Only the occasional rancher who runs cattle on this BLM land.

Here is a view of a few of the lonely mountains that pop out of the open range here.  A few ocotillo still have some leaves from the fall rains.

This is a place that says empty and I hope that this image can capture that feeling.

The Rim

The rim of the Guadalupe Escarpment looking south. On a long weekend I visited the Guadalupe Mountains or the Guads as we sometimes call them. The range reaches it most dramatic heights in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, but if one goes north into New Mexico the range is not as high but still has a dramatic drop off on the west.

Here is a view from my campsite along the rim. This is looking south up Dog Canyon toward Texas and the national park.

This is really a dramatic and steep drop although I do not think this image really conveys that. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, but here I think it actually falls short.

Three Boulders

Three boulders on the edge of the Llano Estacado.

Driving across eastern New Mexico one will come across the western escarpment of the flat topped Llano Estacado. There the flat suddenly drops off 200-300' to the plains below.

Just the sort of place to make an image and when I saw these three I knew it was a great place to stop to capture the open country and the dramatic edge.

Two Years and a New Toy

Today marks the end of my second year of this blog! Two whole years of posting images of a large format camera. Whodathunkit?

Well in honor of that I dug through the images one of my favorite trips of the last year to bring you two images and also to talk about a new toy.

First the new toy might just be the perfect digital travel companion for a 4x5. It's the Panasonic LX-3. I have looked for sometime for the perfect camera as a travel companion for the Arca-Swiss and I think this is it.

When I started in large format I alternated my Mamiya 645 or Olympus OM-4Ti as my companion camera. The OM was a great companion but what I found was when shooting 4x5 that medium format and 35mm film paled in comparison. So I went without a backup for a while. Then after getting the DSLR it became the backup. Digital is a different way of thinking and working than a 4x5 so it became the backup.

But it meant a second bag.

After carrying two bags-and sometimes two tripods I decided to try to lighten the load.

Well after more thought and a great deal of research I decided the Panasonic LX-3 was a good bet. I waited and watch for several weeks earlier this year for one to be in stock (it is that popular). It was worth the wait.

I got it just in time for my trip to the Lost Mesa and it impressed me from the word go.

Small. Pocketable. Metal body. Fast f/2.0 24mm Leica lens. RAW capture. Great in-camera B+W. 720P movie mode. 1cm macro mode. Hot shoe. A feature set that was outstanding and a camera that was fun and easy to use in hand.

Start with the 24mm-60mm eq lens. This matches up closely with my large format lenses of 75mm, 125mm, ans 210mm-that's just about 24-60 after conversion. Make that 24mm an f/2.0 and a Leica and you got something special. I like wide and most cameras with their 35mm wide end are not wide enough. The only other cameras I seriously considered (Canon s90 and G10) were both 28mm on the wide end. True both were longer, but I gladly gave up reach for wider angle.


Then there were the little things such as the 1cm macro and 720P movie mode. I would probably never buy a video camera or macro lens, but I get both with this camera.

Let's talk in the field.

When you are carrying a large pack with 35 pounds of large format gear plus a tripod, you want a digital to be compact, and light. The LX-3 fits the bill. I can carry it in a jacket pocket, cargo pocket, in a small pouch, in a lens pocket in my pack, or most often- around my neck and tucked in a shirt pocket. Easy to grab. Plus the metal body made it feel like it could handle being out in the elements.

The camera was quick for a p+s. Maybe not quite as fast as a DSLR but fast enough for quick snaps and easy to use.

The results were impressive. The in camera b+w were really nice right out of the camera. Very little tweaking is needed. The image up top has a slight levels on it. That's it.

The bottom image was taken in RAW and processed minimally with Elements 6 (CS-3 Camera RAW does not support the LX-3 RAW format, but oddly Elements 6 does-go figure).

Both look great to me. Even at higher ISO's the noise has a look of film grain and a very "natural" look that I like. And getting an image you like is a must with any camera.

Call me impressed with image quality. But the story does not end there.

This camera is tough. Metal body. Real lens cap. I might be alone in liking that but they feel more solid to me than the self closing. Just a big enough grip that I feel I can hold it with gloves on

I really liked using the easily switchable formats of this camera. 3:4 to 2:3 to 16:9 made it possible to get something similar to a 4x5 (making it a great tool as a composition aid) or to go for the pano. Making that a switch in the body and not in the menus was a huge plus. As was going to macro, auto or manual focus modes on the camera too.

All in all the perfect package!

In a few short months it has become my constant travel companion. I cannot take my Arca-Swiss everywhere with me. I can and do take the LX-3. It is either in my pocket or in my bag where ever I go.

The perfect travel companion for me or when out with the 4x5!

Chasing the Rainbow

At the height of the thunderstorm and before it broke up I could make out a full rainbow. It was nothing I could or would try to capture with the 4x5 as I was set for an image of just Alamo Mountain. I left that image to the digital tools.

Here is the Arca with theend of the rainbow going into Alamo Mountain. A pot of gold indeed!

Storm Over the Lost Mesa

There are days that everything comes together for photography. This was one of those days.

It had started rather clear but throughout the day the clouds had built. In mid-afternoon the clouds turned into thunderstorms. Late in the day I took up this vantage point looking at the Horned Mountains. Rain was falling. A rainbow formed. I even saw a couple of bolts of lightening. The sun started to go down behind me.

I forgot to add the storm is also moving toward me.

Now that is the makings of a great afternoon of photography. I set up two tripods. The DSLR was the mobile unit moving around. The Arca was set up on what I thought would be the best composition and then stayed there.

Here is that composition. From this vantage I hoped to get the grassy foreground, the mountains and the storm.

I made a few images and the rain looked to be getting closer. I made a few more. The storm broke up as the sunset and never made it to me.

See more about this afternoon on my WildernessPhotographer Blog linked on the right side of the page.

On the Lost Mesa

Photographing on the Lost Mesa of southern New Mexico, while watching the shadows stretch across the landscape at sunset.

This is one of those locations that is so hard to do justice in a photograph. Rolling grasslands cannot really be captured well in any single image. These solitary mountains popping out of the open range are scenic and have fascinated me for years but on a clear day like this are still difficult to photograph.

I made this image in black and white since that is how I was picturing this scene working best. I might even make it into a panoramic and just leave in the mountains and the thin line of clouds.

Shadows

Long shadows late in the day. Waiting for the sunset I noticed the long shadows of the camera on the side of a stock tank. Thought the shadows looked interesting and then found myself in the shadows too.

On a side note you can see the Arca is set up on a smaller Feisol Tripod. I find this lightweight model (3401) will hold the Arca well. I do not think I'd make it the everyday model but it will serve as a packable and light travel 'pod.

Double Time

Photographing on the open range of southern New Mexico is fun. It is also a lonely, empty, and dusty place.

As I mentioned in prior posts it is a difficult place to capture in one image. So in addition to trying to put it on a single sheet of film I was working with the DSLR too. The hope was to be able to stitch several images into a long pano that can begin to capture the size of the land here. Stitching is one are that I just cannot make work like I want it with film. I think the scanner is the weak link. But even with all else being same on the exposure and processing I still play havoc getting scanned images to stitch right. On the other hand it is a quick and easy process with a digital capture. A couple of clicks in PS and you have an image.

So my plan this day was to work with the DSLR for panoramas and to work a scene for one image with the view camera.

It meant two ways to think and kept me busy working two tripods. It was a double time day.

Out on the Range

Here is an image of me out photographing Alamo Mountain on the wild Otero Mesa of New Mexico.

A string of several individual peaks that make up the Cornudas Range straddle the state line between Texas and New Mexico.

They also mark the southern end of the Otero Mesa grasslands. Well kinda. The grass continues into Texas but the Texas side is all private property. The New Mexico side is mostly public land.

This view shows the westernmost mountain of the range-Alamo.

On The Open Range

This last fall I made my first solo trip out on the Otero Mesa on southern New Mexico.

It is an area I had seen from afar for several years and that I had spent a couple of days out on at different times. This was my first chance at a longer trip and I devoted three days and two nights to seeing it.

This is an amazing place with some 1.2 million acres of open range. You see more information about the mesa on my Wilderness Photographer Blog as The Lost Mesa.

This is one tough location to photograph, even with a big camera as it is so hard to capture the vastness of the range in any one image. Long lenses slice it and even wides are not wide enough. Maybe a 6x17 could do it justice, but none of the sheets I got back did.

This view of the camera overlooking this great wide expanse of open range land can only hint at the vastness here.

Plains and Mountains

A closing view from my El Paso trip. I had spent the day up in New Mexico and in the afternoon as I was driving back to Texas I kept watching these mountains. The tall horn peak with snow on it drew my attention. I knew it had to be photographed-the vast open grasslands with that peak beyond were a great image right out of a hundred years ago.

I found a turnout and made an image. Later I found a windmill that I was also able to work into an image with the mountain(posted before).

So I make this my parting image for this trip.

New Mexico Open Range at Dawn

Another image from a morning in New Mexico. This was taken somewhere along the road north of Deming.

The hint of the road in the image makes me think of being on the open road. In the middle of a hot August the high plains sounds mighty nice, but it is still a few weeks until Labor Day and my next road trip west.

So I'll just look at the road and the open range and let my mind wander.

New Mexico Moonset

The full moon hanging over the open plains of New Mexico.

On a mostly clear morning north of Deming I could see the early light in the east and the moon in the west. As the morning got closer the sky in the west took on a pink glow. I set up an image where I could look across the open range and see the moon too.

The simplicity of the open grasslands colorful band in the sky and moon hanging above it all made a nice view and one to be put on film.

I went with a moderate wide lens. Not to wide but not too long, showing the scene closer to "normal" seemed right.

And who says you cannot make a nice image on a clear day?

Windmill on the New Mexico Plains

After a morning with nice light on the grassy plains, I drove into Silver City for a plate of Huevos Rancheros. Mighty good.

Then it was off to explore the sights to be found in the area. The big open quality of the open range country kept drawing my interest. As the road got close to some of the mountains, I began to look for ways to work them into the image. This one tall peak stood out, snow clung to it's side. I wanted to get that mountain into an image. I made several compositions that had different elements of grass or fences or roads, but I still had not found it. Then I saw this windmill and tank and knew I had my image. Blue sky, mid-day, and all-this had potential. I thought this might even work in black and white.

Then it was back on the road. There were miles to go.

New Mexico High Plains

I awoke early on a late winter weekend in El Paso and decided to drive north into New Mexico. Having spent the previous day east of El Paso, I decided to strike out into new territory and make for Silver City and maybe even the Gila National Forest.

I was well north of Deming as the light began to rise in the east. Wide open grasslands stretched out in all directions with distant mountains beyond. Since I did not have a specific destination for sunrise, I decided the open grasslands would be perfect. I turned onto a small side road until I found a nice view with some hills and clouds. Then I went to work to set up the tripod. The view here was nice and there were images to be made. Getting on the road early got me out this far in time for dawn and this is looking like a perfect location. I guess there is some truth to the fact you make your own luck.

I watched the stars fade as the sky turned blue. The clouds picked up some pink light. The grass took on a reddish hue from the light in the clouds. The light kept getting brighter. The clouds turned white. Finally the sun rose and the grass glowed in the early sunlight. I made image after image from the near dark of night to the glory of the first sunlight of the day.

The light filled the sky and I looked around again. Yes, this was a great place. File a note to self to make it back here too. After taking it all in I consulted the map and decided to make for City of Rocks State Park. It was close and rocks in the early light sounded promising.