City of Rocks sets just south of Silver City in he lower west side of New Mexico. There is not that much to do besides walk around the rocks and then around the entire park, but that being said, we spent three days there and stayed busy the whole time. Lots of hiking and grilling and sleeping. It was V's first camping trip so we were apprehensive about her willingness to get in the tent at night and sleep. Both Bridget and I were prepared to pack up and go to Deming for the night if need be. But V was a trooper. I do not think she got much sleep the first night (neither did I). The park was visited by a group of coyotes early in the evening and then around 2 a.m. two Great Horned Owls began hooting back and forth in the park. One was definitely close to our camp site. While V acted as though she wanted out she never made a sound.
Our days basically consisted of getting up super early to get to the restroom for us and the dog. We then proceeded to walk around and through the park as the sun rose. Then we would head back to camp and make breakfast and coffee then suit up and head out for a longer hike. Back to camp for lunch then relax (we ran into Silver city for supplies one day and the other we tried going to a winery up the road but they were closed) then another small hike and dinner. Batten down the hatches and call it a night.
V was hell bent to find every rabbit and jack rabbit in the park and therefore was always on point. On top of that she loved navigating the rock labyrinth. She would scramble up the rocks and into tunnels fearlessly. We renamed her to Rock Dog for the duration. She ran herself into the ground while we were there. She was so happy and content that we now know there will be more camping in V's future.
City of Rocks has been on my radar for awhile and I really wanted to shoot some landscape photography there. Images on Google searches are pretty abysmal. Granted the park is very difficult to capture in a single photograph. Landscape photography has never been something I sought out to capture. Usually it was more of a documentation of where I was at that point in time and never premeditated.
The Standoff
Near our campsite was a group of rocks that we passed by every morning and evening (They were near the restrooms) that I affectionately dubbed "The Outcropping." I took pictures here every day. Had we camped else where I probably would have gravitated to another set of rocks (And called them "The Outcropping" as well). These were shot with a Nikon D700 in color and converted to Black and white in Lightroom and Photoshop. Because I went drastic with my skies and highlights I could not accomplish this feet in Lightroom alone. If you pull the blue and aqua slider to far you get pronounced white lines around certain transition areas. I did have to use the clone tool a bit to keep that under control around the rocks. To keep from "re-sculpting" the rock with the clone tool, it's best to use the different blending modes (In this case lighten and darken) to remove the unwanted white and black lines that form. The blending mode keeps the rock edge true.
The Outcroppings
As for shooting the park as a whole, this trip I found a vantage point on the trail that circumnavigates the park on the North East side looking South West. Not sure it speaks volumes but it shows a certain idea of the park's "situation."
Next time I'll post some Pinhole examples as well as pictures of the camera and how I built it.
Observation Point
"I'm done with this city of rocks..."
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