The art of photographing New Mexico

How many states can you visit that have the oldest church in the country, the oldest state Capitol and the only one in a totally round building, a Native American reservation that’s been operating continuously for over 1,000 years and can also boast some amazing food everywhere you look? 

That would be New Mexico, a state I find the greatest muse for my photography, one that brings me back, year after year. 

The great photographer Ansel Adams couldn’t get enough of the Land of Enchantment, and neither could painter Georgia O’Keefe. If it was good enough for them, it’s certainly great for me. 

Those big open skies … and the best light

Adobe buildings everywhere you look, that old (like over 400 years, pre-Revolutionary War) church (San Miguel) and what’s billed as the oldest building in continuous use, the Palace of the Governors, which also tops 400 years. Those are in Santa Fe. 

Add the yearly bird migration in Bosque Del Apache that brings hundreds of photographers every December to capture the tens of thousands of snow geese doing their annual “blast-off” after sunrise. 

There’s a town devoted to nothing but pie (Pie Town) the majestic White Sands National Park, a kitschy ode to aliens called Roswell and of course, the Four Corners and Monument Valley, a sight seen in so many westerns. 

I can’t think of a state with so many photo ops. Sure, California has the Golden Gate Bridge and Big Sur, Nevada has the craziness of Las Vegas, Utah has the great national parks Zion, Bryce and Arches, Oregon has the rocky, dramatic coast, Illinois and New York have their Chicago and New York skylines and such great opportunities for street photography. 

But can you get blue corn enchiladas there? Or cornbread with green chile?

Spring break is right around the corner and a perfect time to visit New Mexico, where temperatures will top an average 60 degrees, so if you go, here’s some ideas on how to plan a Photowalk itinerary. 

Santa Fe

The Plaza

Most old New Mexico towns were built around a town plaza where Native Americans traded goods. The plaza is still the center of town, and most of it is shops selling either curios or high end clothing. Photo opps in the plaza are nil. However, if you’d like to see some amazing churches, St. Francis is one block up from the plaza, and is a delight. But the big two you want to visit are down a few side streets. Loretto Chapel is home to the “miraculous staircase,” a 20-foot round staircase that is somehow held up without suspension.

Pro tip: Get here really early, before the crowds. My favorite shot here was actually the ceiling. Meanwhile, that “oldest” church, dating back to the 1600s, is the San Miguel Mission. The interior is nice, but I fell in love with the classic adobe building exterior. I’m no Ansel Adams, but when I went black and white on the shot, I felt like I was channeling the master. 

Sunset

Go up a few blocks from St. Francis to the Cross of the Martyrs, just northeast of the Plaza, for the best view looking down at the city. The other great spot is at the rooftop deck of La Fonda, a 100-year-old hotel that dominates the plaza. 

Capitol Building

It’s just a few blocks away as well. How can you not want to see a round statehouse? Like at San Miguel, I fell in love with the dome. I got the shot by laying on my back and looking up.

Taos

What Santa Fe didn’t have that I missed, at least when I visited in November, were the big wide-open skies I associate with New Mexico. For those, you must venture north, to Taos. 

This is a little town devoted to art and the pueblo (that 1,000 year old one.) You’ll find a similar plaza in town, again, full of curios and not much else, with more action on the side streets. Photographically, downtown is a wash, except for picking up adobe buildings in places you wouldn’t expect, like a local bank and McDonald’s. 

The Pueblo is a must stop for everyone who comes to Taos, and their photo policy is simple: photos are fine for noncommercial uses. If you’ve got a paying gig, you’ll need permission. The pueblo shut down to visitors during COVID, and as of this writing hasn’t reopened to the public, but would certainly be expected to sometime this year. 

The fun in Taos is getting out of town, most notably to the Overland Sheepskin Co., the Rio Grande Gorge bridge and the road that leads you to Ojo Caliente. 

The Overland property has a store and cafe, but it’s what’s behind them that’s so cool. A big wide-open landscape for photography, with some vintage, beat-up trucks to pose with. As Kevin Anderson, a local photographer I palled around with on the shoot told me, “In Taos, posing with trucks is considered fine art.”

Kevin also brought me to the Rio Grande bridge, which is a must-see photo stop, the second highest bridge on the U.S. highway system. That was fun. 

But the biggest photo highlight for me was a back road, en route from Taos to Ojo Caliente, home to one of the great hot springs resorts. 

Just head down route 64 west, and you can’t miss it. It’s hard to describe what’s so cool about a back road. I guess there’s just something about the late afternoon light, on a day when clouds swell and fill the sky that pulls me in. I can’t wait to get back. 

For Bosque Del Apache, people stay in the small town of Socorro, about a half-hour away from the nature preserve and they arrive right after Thanksgiving. The town won’t win any awards — it’s got a collection of motels (Best Western, Holiday Inn, Super 8) fast food (you name it, they’re all there) and not much else. But it will get you to Bosque. And Pie Town is right up the road. About 90 minutes toward the Continental Divide. No trip to New Mexico is complete without a visit to the Pie-O-Neer in Pie Town. 

Meanwhile, on this photo journey, I didn’t get to White Sands, Roswell or Truth or Consequences, but that’s the great thing about New Mexico.

There’s always more to explore.