The Land of O'Keefe

There is really no way to travel to Ghost Ranch, New Mexico and not feel like you are walking in the footsteps of Georgia O'Keefe. If you have seen any of her landscapes of New Mexico then you have been to Ghost Ranch. Every view evokes the memory of one of her paintings. The magic of unobstructed earth and sky play on your imagination like nothing else.

I went there to participate in a workshop called Intuition and Imagery, co-taught by two amazing women in their own right, Laurie Doctor and Barbara Griek. More on that later.

I took my DSLR camera along and a lightweight tripod as I knew there would be opportunities for images beyond the capabilities that my favorite i-phone app, Hipstamatic could render. I was not disappointed. Inspired by a full moon and the Michael Kenna exhibit I had recently seen at the Columbia Museum of Art, I set out to experiment with my own night images, in spite of my fear of encountering a wandering coyote.

I am so psyched by these results! They capture the magic and majesty in a way I am not sure any of the daytime photos I shot did.

Untitled©Kathryn Van Aernum

Ghost Ranch under Moonlight©Kathryn Van Aernum

Chimney Rock and Ghost Ranch ©Kathryn Van Aernum

Without the stars in the sky or the lights of the campground, you might think these were taken with a neutral density filter in the day. The only disappointment I have is that the tripod I had was very cheap and broke on one of the nights I was using it. The images have a bit of shake because of the lightweight nature of the tripod. Had I used my real one, these would be much sharper. But in spite of that, I still love them.

New Mexico travels to be continued...