Across the Southwest / Adam Schallau

Black Mesa, New Mexico

Please click on the image for an expanded view.

Here is a pair of panoramic photos I shot yesterday at sunset from the west rim of the Rio Grande River Gorge near Taos, New Mexico. This was our first storm of the season as it lifted off the Sangre de Cristo Mountains  and cleared out of the area.

Both images were created using a Canon 5D full-frame camera and a 45mm tilt shift lens. Each scene required capturing three exposures as I shifted the lens from left to right, with the final image being assembled with Photoshop. I also used a Singh-Ray 3-stop, hard-step, graduated neutral density filter, hand-held in front of the lens to control the range of contrast represented in both scenes.

If you are interested in ordering a print of either image, please give me a call or contact me using the contact button at the top of this page.

Please click on any image for an expanded view. 

This is from my flight back into Albuquerque as we made our turn for final approach into the Sunport. We were passing over the Rio Grande River a few miles south of Isleta Pueblo and the bridges that span the river on I-25. Can you tell that we’ve had a lot of rain in New Mexico? The monsoon has been very generous and has provided some insanely green crops, pastures and trees along the Rio Grande. Please click on the image for an expanded view.

On my recent river trip down the Rio Grande River through Santa Elena Canyon in Big Bend National Park I carried with me my Canon 5D along with 4 lenses, the 17-40mm f/4L, 24-70mm f/2.8L, 70-200mm f/4L IS, and the 300mm f/4L IS. In addition I had numerous filters, extra batteries, and of course memory cards. My biggest concern on the trip was water. I was going to be surrounded by it for three days navigating through rapids and hopefully I wouldn’t capsize the canoe.

The guide service that I hired would be providing dry bags for my clothing, tent, and sleeping bag, but I needed something more to protect my camera gear. I contacted Lowepro and told them what I was going to be doing and they graciously provided my with a DryZone 200 AW camera bag.

If you’re not familiar with the DryZone series of bags let me give you a quick run-down. The DryZone bags are soft sided camera backpacks that feature a waterproof inner compartment known as a drypod that is sealed with a TIZIP™ zipper. This bag will float even when fully loaded! Continue Reading »

I’m excited to announce that I’m one of eight recipients of the 2007/2008 Luminous Landscape Endowment Fund!

About the endowment with text from LuminousLandscape.com:

In August 2007 The Luminous Landscape Inc., created a fund designed to provide financial assistance to photographers to help finance worthwhile photographic projects. A call for submissions was made, with a deadline of Feb 11, 2008.

This fund was financed by readers like you through purchases of our download video tutorials, and also by individual donors and corporate sponsors. In all $20,000 was raised during our initial funding period. (You can read about the program and application process here.)

More than 200 applications were received, and our panel of judges found selecting just a handful of photographers and their projects a most difficult task. The applications selected were, in each case, put forward by at least two of the judges. Continue Reading »

The View
Canon 5D, 24-70/2.8L, Singh-Ray graduated ND filter

I’m often asked why I moved to New Mexico, and more specifically Taos. My answer is the same every time, the view.

It has been a wet, stormy summer here in northern New Mexico. Rain clears the air and storms make for dramatic skies, and together they create a neurotic photographer. For two weekends in a row while out shooting I’ve been run off by lightning and heavy rains. When I’m not running from a storm I’m often running towards it in order to capture the best light.

Thunder Over the Rift ~ Rio Grande River Gorge near Taos, NM

Canon 5D, 70-200mm f/4L IS