Desert Tango

Where I grew up in southwestern Michigan, the local 4H county fairs were always an important time of year. Farming and raising animals in that part of the country is big business, and it’s hard to travel the countryside and not see areas that are under plow or hoof. Living in New Mexico is the opposite of that in many ways, mainly because we receive so little rain, and it’s nearly impossible to match the bounty that comes from the rich soils and abundant rains of the Midwest. Nevertheless, we have our annual Bi-County Fair; bi-county because it encompasses both McKinley and Cibola Counties of western New Mexico, a huge area. I spent a day there capturing a few scenes from the lamb showing competitions. I really enjoy these pastoral sort of scenes and the photographs that come from them.

Here are some recent portraits; sort of a grab bag of stuff I’ve got within the past couple of months or so. Portraits can be some of my favorite images to shoot. I enjoy the challenge of making something interesting and compelling out of the mediocre situations that frequently come up with newspaper work. On the other hand, I love it when I get the opportunity choose location and time of day to really make the portrait sing.