Frida Kahlo Immersive Biography/ Albuquerque, New Mexico

Posted: October 10, 2022 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts, world travels | Tags: Albuquerque, Frida Kahlo, immersive display | Leave a comment

An immersive multimedia display of the life of Frida Kahlo. Still photos shot with a GoPro. Many of the projections are in motion. Click any photo for slideshow.

Approaching snowstorm, New Years Day / Sandia Mountains, New Mexico

Posted: January 2, 2022 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: deserts, New Mexico, new years day | Leave a comment

To all my colleagues worldwide…have a wonderful 2022!

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Tumbleweed/ Waldo Canyon Road, New Mexico

Posted: April 4, 2021 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: deserts, New Mexico | 2 Comments

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Fall fruit on the cactus/ Albuquerque, New Mexico

Posted: October 5, 2020 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: cactus, New Mexico | Leave a comment

Social distancing/ Cibola National Forest, New Mexico

Posted: March 23, 2020 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: coronavirus | Leave a comment

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To all my friends, colleagues, compañeros around the world….stay safe and healthy. As John F. Kennedy said “For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet.”

The Badlands in Winter/ Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

Posted: January 2, 2020 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts, world travels | Tags: Arizona, Petrified Forest National Park | 2 Comments

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Remnants of a forest that is dated back to the Triassic Period, about 225 million years ago, are scattered all over the park. Visitors are strictly prohibited from taking pieces of fossilized wood as souvenirs and are subject to large fines if they do, but park employees estimate that about 12 tons of petrified wood is carried off every year nonetheless. Parts of the park are referred to as “The Painted Desert” because of the bands of colors that display geological eras.

River of Lights/ Albuquerque, New Mexico

Posted: December 25, 2019 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: Albuquerque, New Mexico | Leave a comment

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The River of Lights is a holiday light display that runs at the Albuquerque BioPark Botanic Garden for the month of December. The event started in 1997 to raise money for the park which has a zoo, aquarium, botanic garden, and beach.

There are nearly 600 individual light displays with millions of twinkling lights, and the park employs three full-time craftsmen year-round to build new exhibits and to maintain the existing ones. It takes about two months to set up the holiday display. One of the crowd favorites is a 63 foot (19 meters) brontosaurus, named “One-Ton” because of the weight of its metal frame. “One-Ton” took nearly 600 hours to build, and has 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) of rope light.

Low Rider Celebration and Community Day/ Santa Fe, New Mexico

Posted: May 13, 2019 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: lowrider, New Mexico | Leave a comment

Buffalo with an approaching snowstorm/ Sandia Pueblo, New Mexico

Posted: February 21, 2019 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: buffalo, New Mexico, Sandia Pueblo, snow | Leave a comment

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The high desert in winter/ Zia, Jemez, and Sandia Pueblos, New Mexico

Posted: December 29, 2018 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: deserts, New Mexico, pueblos, snow | Leave a comment

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Hummingbird/ This morning in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Posted: August 20, 2018 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: Albuquerque, desert life, hummingbird, New Mexico, southwest | Leave a comment

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The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array/ Central New Mexico

Posted: July 2, 2018 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts | Tags: desert, New Mexico, radio telescope, southwest, The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array | Leave a comment

The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array is a radio astronomy observatory located in central New Mexico on the Plains of San Agustin, and was a location in the movie “Contact.” It is on a fairly isolated high desert plateau (about 7,000 ft.) and surrounded by mountains, making it an ideal spot to avoid the normal wireless interference in cities. The lack of humidity in the air also makes for a clearer radio signal. There is no cell service there and visitors are asked to put their phones in airplane mode.

The array is routinely re-configured to cover different parts of the sky by moving the dishes on a network of railroad tracks.

This is part of a photo series featuring the American southwest.

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Gathering of Nations/ Albuquerque, New Mexico

Posted: April 29, 2018 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts, world travels | Tags: Albuquerque, deserts, Gathering of Nations, indigenous, native, New Mexico, pow wow | Leave a comment

Billed as the “The Biggest Pow Wow in North America,” the Gathering of Nations brings together participants from Indigenous Nations all over Canada, the US, and Mexico.

This is part of a photo series featuring the American southwest.

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The Turquoise Trail/ Madrid, New Mexico

Posted: March 25, 2018 | Author: Richard Lakin | Filed under: deserts, world travels | Tags: deserts, Madrid-New Mexico, Turquoise Trail | Leave a comment

This is a photo series of the deserts of the American southwest. Subscribe to the blog for updates.

Cattle crossing sign on The Turquoise Trail

The Turquoise Trail (named for its rich deposits of turquoise) connects Albuquerque to Santa Fe. There are several small towns along the route, including Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid…NOT like the Spanish city), which was a coal mining town, supplying coal to the railroads. When the mine closed in the 1950’s, it became a derelict ghost town…until the 60’s when hippies, artists, and free-thinkers moved into the small wood frame houses and created an eclectic community. Today, it is known for its colorful shops in the old mining buildings.