Road Trip; Taos, New Mexico; Some Very Old And Very Interesting Subjects

San Francisco de Asis Church, Rancho de Taos, New Mexico (b. 1772-1816) (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 16mm; 1/300th sec. @ f/13; ISO 200; Black and White Custom
conversion in Lightroom Classic CC.  In homage to Ansel Adams, whose images from 1929 were the source of
me first seeing this church, I felt I wanted to present some in monochrome as well.

I've wanted to visit Taos, New Mexico for many, many years.  However, each time I was near this historic city, something intervened.  The first time I went through Taos, I was laying on the floor in the back of a rented minivan with my wife and two children doing their best to ignore me as I writhed in agony over somehow contracting a serious, turned out to be a month-long illness, as best as I can figure either cryptosporidia or giardia.  The day before we ate in a small town restaurant and I was the only one who drank the water.  My other three family members drank bottled sodas.  That is the only place my wife and I could think where I may have contracted my prolonged illness.  But I digress.

In this image I wanted to show all five crosses.  Notice the window is off center! (click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 16mm; 1/240th sec. @ f/13; ISO 200

The next three times I was in the area, I was traveling with others.  We came as close as Santa Fe, but none of my traveling companions wanted to see Taos.  This time, I was determined to visit historic Taos, Ranchos de Taos and Taos Pueblo.  And...I'm really pleased I did.  It was well worth the wait.

The first place I planned to visit was the San Francisco de Asis Church in Ranchos de Taos.  I first saw photographs of this church made by Ansel Adams and I was completely taken by his images (really, all of his work).  Being raised in a small town in the east, I had never seen a structure quite like this adobe church.  The form, strength, lines, shadows and simplicity of the building and how Adams captured these elements was the spark that caused me to want to visit Taos back in the early 1970s.  Not much has changed from his images, made in 1929, to mine.  The two significant changes are the two large evergreens in the churchyard as well as the addition of the large cross in the sidewalk, benches and other ancillary outdoor furnishings.  I love it in color and I love it even more in black and white.

Notice the straw and cracks in the authentic adobe.
(click to enlarge)
Fujifilm X-T2, 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 27mm;
/350th sec. @ f/13; ISO 300

Before I ever arrived in Taos, I used The Photographer's Ephemeris to check out the church's orientation (just about due south), the time of sunrise and sunset for the day I anticipated I would be photographing and then the best times of the day so I could have adequate shadows visible to highlight the textures of the adobe as well as the shape of the structure itself.  I also wanted to ensure the shadows were not at an angle to completely cover the front doors of the sanctuary.  The bright white and detail was something I wanted to capture.  I then planned the day according to my research.  In the end, I think I have about 5 or 6 images that I am really pleased with.  Next week, I will be posting a gallery with the images I like and more of this church will be included.

The second place I wanted to visit during our short stay was Taos Pueblo.  I don't really know what I thought I would find other than knowing that the Pueblo was original and continuously occupied for over 1000 years.  When we arrived, I was quite surprised that the Pueblo has turned into quite a commercial enterprise for the Native American inhabitants.

At the direction of my GPS I was driving down the public street heading toward the Pueblo.  All of a sudden I was flagged down by what appeared to me to be a young Native American man, teenager maybe, wearing a lime green traffic vest who stopped our progress.  I had no idea we were about to enter the sovereign territory of the Native Americans.  He asked if my wife and I were there to see the Pueblo and I responded we were.  He directed my attention to another young man, also with a lime green vest, who would show us where to park.

We parked at the second young man's direction and I asked if I was allowed to take a camera with me.  He said yes, but they had rules and they were posted at the visitor's center across the street where we could buy tickets for entrance.  The rules basically say that photography is allowed for personal use only, no commercial or professional photography allowed unless one filled out the prescribed paperwork at the tourism office and permission was granted.  No photography of individuals without their permission or inside private dwellings that are closed to the public.  Finally, no photography inside of San Geronimo Chapel.  My intention was to follow their wishes and rules.

DISCLAIMER:  Let me be very clear.  I have no intention of violating the rules nor trust of the Native Americans who live and work in Taos Pueblo.  The images displayed here (and later on my website) are not for sale, never will be, not for editorial use nor any other commercial use and are only a personal documentation of my wife's and my 90 minute visit to the Pueblo.  No other use or permission is granted by me, the owner of the registered copyright, to anyone for any reason.  Please respect that as well.   Now back to your regular programming!

The 1847 remains of the St. Geronimo Church and its subsequent graveyard in Taos Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico
(click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 34mm; 1/320th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

If you are interested in learning more about Taos Pueblo, the main website can be found here.  According to the information on their site, the original portions of the main buildings was constructed between 1000 and 1450 A.D.  About 150 inhabitants currently reside at the Pueblo.  Much of the originally styled architecture has been preserved and that was what interested me most.  I wanted to capture as much as the originality as possible—the colors, textures, dried wood, adobe, etc.  Again, I will be posting a gallery of this trip to my website sometime next week and many more images of Taos Pueblo will be included.

Occupied dwelling Taos Pueblo (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 47mm; 1/200th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

What interested me second most was the original St. Geronimo church, which was destroyed in 1847 in a war with the U.S. and Mexico.  First built in 1619, the destruction and killing over 100 men, women and children hiding in the church, was the second time it was razed through conflict (the first time was in 1680 by the Spanish).  After the destruction in 1847, a graveyard was initiated around the church and the original ruins, with the bell, still stands in its place.  Quite striking historically and photographically.

The beehive looking structures are working ovens (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 14mm;
 1/250th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 200

I found our visit to the Pueblo quite fascinating and enlightening.  I'm sure one day I would like to return and converse with more of its inhabitants.  The structures look old, run down and somewhat ramshackle in appearance, but the walls are a couple of feet thick (.67 m) and keep the inhabitants warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  They choose to live this way and maintain their cultural traditions and living style.  It is their choice.  One other thing.  In the photograph or two you may see "beehive" looking structures about 4 ft. tall.  Those are adobe ovens where bread and other baked goods are still baked in their original way, again, maintaining cultural traditions.  Fascinating visit and I can highly recommend it if you enjoy history, anthropology, and Native American culture.

This has to be my favorite image I made in Taos Pueblo.  This structure is so old that the ground leading to the door
has developed a shallow swale and the sleeping dog fits perfectly in it accomplishing two things: resting in the shade
out of the hot sun and gurading his master's home. (click to enlarge)
Olympus E-M1 Mark II, 12-100mm f/4 PRO lens @ 70mm; 1/60th sec. @ f/8; ISO 200

For the San Francisco de Asis Mission Church images I used my Fujifilm X-T2 as I knew I would prefer the finished images in black and white and the conversions either custom or using Acros were better than black and white conversions with the Olympus.  However, with the Taos Pueblo images, I used my Olympus because I needed to walk and carry with an absolute minimal amount of gear having access to very wide angle to telephoto and the E-M1 Mark II with the 12-100mm f/4 PRO easily fit that bill perfectly.  Both cameras and their associated lenses produced outstanding quality images with lots of dynamic range.  I was able to easily pull out shadow detail and bring down highlights to see detail with no issues.

So here is what is going on "behind the scenes" during this day and for several prior days.  I haven't mentioned this before but I caught a really bad cold in Durango and have been suffering since.  Runny nose, sinus pain, stuffed up head, sore throat, coughing, chest congestion, little sleep, etc.  You know the routine.  Well, the good husband I am, I generously "shared" my cold with my wife.  She didn't thank me!  Lol.  We are both miserable, tired from moving from hotel to hotel everyday, unpacking our things, repacking them in the morning, etc.  We're not sure what we are going to do from here.  We just want to feel better at this point.

However, next stop on our slow eastward trek will be Santa Fe and we plan on spending the night in Tucumcari, New Mexico, right on old Historic Route 66.

Join me over at Instagram @dennisamook or my website, www.dennismook.com. 

Thanks for looking. Enjoy! 

Dennis A. Mook 

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