Across the Southwest / Adam Schallau

I recently delivered two prints to Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve. The prints are on display in the Visitor’s Center and will be up until the third week in May 2009. I’d like to thank the National Park Service for making this wonderful space available to artists.  I’d also like to thank Park Ranger, Patrick Myers, for his work at the park and for managing the exhibit.

The two images represented here reflect my experiences with the forces of nature that shape the Great Sand Dunes. The first image titled Wind, captures the movement of airborne sand carried by a fierce wind as it crosses ripples in the dunes. In the second image titled Water, Medano Creek has come to life with water provided by the spring snowmelt from the Sangre de Cristo Mountains.  Both images were printed in black & white with a little warming, on watercolor paper using pigment ink.

Please give me a call or contact me using the contact button at the top of this page if you are interested in ordering a print of either image. As always, please click on any image for an expanded view.

Here it is, the first photograph I’ve had published in a calendar. I photographed this scene of lupines and a fence, a few years ago near Crested Butte, Colorado, during the peak of the wildflower season. I’m really excited to have this image published and in a wildflower calendar no less!

Here’s a link to the  Barnes & Noble  website where you can purchase the calendar: >>>link<<<

Please click on the image for an expanded view. 

I have a few new images to share from my outing to the Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve, and the southern tip of the San Luis Valley. The weather was less than cooperative for most of the day with strong wind and some smoke from wildfires in New Mexico and Colorado.

At Great Sand Dunes, Medano Creek has begun to flow and was creating some very interesting patterns in the sand. With the wind blowing sand everywhere I elected to shoot with one lens to avoid lens changes and introducing sand into the camera body. For the two shoots presented here I used the Canon 24-70 f/2.8L which allowed me to frame compositions from wide-angle to short-telephoto. I had planned on photographing at the dunes all day and staying for sunset, but the wind continued to get stronger and I quickly grew tired of getting sand blasted.

After leaving the dunes I headed for a spot that I have photographed once before, the Lobatos Bridge over the Rio Grande River near the Colorado - New Mexico state line. I spent the afternoon hiking along the river looking for petroglyphs and enjoying bird watching. Near sunset I moved up into the San Luis Hills just west of the river and scouted a location to shoot across the hills looking back towards the Latir Range of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Mother Nature cooperated and provided me with nice clouds, some sweet pink light, and the wind subsided for a few minutes.

After sunset I packed up and started the long drive across the desert back to Taos. Along the way I had to cross back over the Lobatos Bridge just as the moon was rising over the distant mountains. With my headlights illuminating the bridge and the moon ahead I had to stop and create one more photo. This last image was shot with the 24-70mm lens, ISO 100, and the exposure was 30 seconds at f/11.

All things considered I think it was a successful day. I love to hear what you think.

I’m still working on images from my recent trip. Here are a few of Spruce Tree House and Cliff Palace from Mesa Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado.

Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace

Cliff Palace

Spruce Tree House

Kiva ~ Spruce Tree House