Howdy From New Mexico

[Rapidrob]

A nod to all here. I'm not a newbie to large format photography but have been on a hiatus for 15 years. I started 4x5 photography while serving at the Pentagon while in the Navy in the 70's. I had returned from Vietnam and years serving on Destroyer Escort ships and I was assigned as the unit photographer. I set up a darkroom and gathered cameras from the Navy Photographic Center at Anacostia Annex, Washington,D.C
I was issued a Super Speed Graphic camera and all the goodies. I had no formal training in photography but had been taking photos with cameras since the 50's. I must have done well as many of my portraits of officers were mounted on " Rouges Gallery" in the Pentagons Rotunda.
It was at this time I met a fellow sailor who was a Navy Photographer, he and I started a company called "Photo-7".
We both finished up our Navy careers and did well in the commercial photography in the civilian world. He is still at it in NYC.
Contracts expired and I moved onto Radiation engineering and High Speed Photography. I kept up with large format photography and built a couple of darkrooms in Maryland and here now in New Mexico. Experimenting with anything I could get my hands on I tried all sorts of films and chems. Many made by me just to play with. I do not consider myself an expert, rather an enthusiast of LF photography.
The digital age hit and I went down that road always looking back at my LF cameras.
I'm retired now and have the time to really delve into the large format cameras again. A good friend of my just retired as well and he has a few 8x10 cameras and he too wants to get back into it. We will team up and try our hand of shooting the interesting things here in NM.
Thanks for the site and letting an old phart like me join. Maybe I'll learn a thing or two.

[xkaes]

Welcome aboard!

I don't know how long you have been in New Mexico, or what part of the State you are in, but there is lots to explore and photograph there -- which I'm sure you know about.

The mountains, the forests, the cliffs, the ghost towns, the churches, the people, the list goes on and on. Some of my favorite shots were made in the Beaver Creek Wilderness (no one knows about it), close to the Colorado border and the Chama-Antonito train -- but I could spend a few months taking pictures in the Organ Pipe mountains / White Sands area! And let's not forget about Carlsbad Caverns, and ....................................

[Peter Collins]

I will be leaving MI and living in a condo in ABQ early next year. When our MI house sells. We will be on the W side of ABQ near Montaño. Maybe we can get together.

[Jan Pietrzak]

Rob,
Welcome to New Mexico, and welcome to the forum.....Peter you are joining us in NM, looks like you will be close to Kirk.....we will all need to have lunch
Jan from SF/NM

[Rapidrob]

I'd love to get together with anyone else out here. My photo buddy has several friends here as well who are into photography. Doing a group photo shoot is always a fun day.
I'm an honorary member of three tribes out here because of my work with them. I may get permission to photograph some interesting sites not open to the public.
I have taken some photos of Shiprock with the permission of the Navajo Nation in Farmington. I may be able to do that again.

[xkaes]

I highly recommend the vast lava beds south of Grants. Prepare to wear out your shoes!

[Peter Collins]

I will re-connect with this thread when I am in our new NM home....

[Andrew O'Neill]

Welcome to the forum!

[Rapidrob]

I've been in NM for 25 years now.
I just found out there is a "waterfall" 20 minutes from my house. By the rest of the USA, this "Waterfall" is the size of two guys getting rid of rented beer, but it still may be fun to play with a few photos after a rain.

[Leszek Vogt]

Welcome to the forum, Rob. No doubt you'd have plenty to contribute here. SW is v. cool and I'll continue to go there whenever I can - previous 70 days there were just not enough.

Les

[Rapidrob]

If any members come out this way, contact me in advance and I can meet you and show you to really interesting sites or show you what is at least worth looking at.
Our spring is not nice because of the wind. We get gale force winds out of the north here. February to April are the worst. We are not AZ and never get the heat they do.
The only thing between us and the North Pole is a three strand barbed wire fence.....and one of the strands are down.
New Mexico is high in elevation but you don't know it. Albuquerque is higher than Denver. My house sits at 8,000 feet but you have no idea until you go outside and do work. Lower O2 levels.
Most days you can see 100 miles if in the open areas. Every thing is far apart in this state but the roads are good and traffic is light.