Saturday, September 14, 2013

Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch




About 10 miles south of Santa Fe are two movie ranches -- full size sets of Old West towns (some with real interiors) that have been used for Hollywood movies and TV shows like Silverado, Lonesome Dove, Aliens and Cowboys, and 3:10 to Yuma (2007 version).  Surrounded by hills, they are remote enough to be free of contemporary visual elements like telephone poles, power lines, and cellphone towers in all directions.


Last Saturday (9/7) by special arrangement a group of photographers from the Enchanted Lens Camera Club went to the Bonanza Creek movie ranch for a day of shooting.  We arrived before sunrise:

Main Street at Dawn


Marshal on Dawn Patrol



We were accompanied by a group dressed in vintage costumes who were making a home movie Western.  (Look carefully at the faces in this bunch; you might recognize one.)


Photo by Helen Johnson



The movie makers weren't planning to start their shooting until mid-morning, so they were willing to pose for photographs.  





Almost all the classic Old West characters were present:



The U.S. marshal . . .




















                          The local sheriff . . .






                                                               The mayor . . .






















The undertaker . . .




























                         The cattle baron . . .





                                                                           The ranch foreman . . .



























The cowgirl . . .






A ranch woman and three town ladies . . . 






The gambler . . .





























                                        The bartender . . . 






                                                                                    and the madam . . .




























In addition to posing, the actors were also willing to enact scenes for us to shoot:














Occasionally a little fun would break out:










Eventually the actors began shooting their movie:









and all us photographers were right there behind them:





Bonanza Creek has all the requisite buildings: 


A saloon (and upstairs adult entertainment center) . . .





A hotel . . .





A church . . .




A jail . . . 





And miscellaneous other establishments . . .










There is even an inside joke in homage to a real New Mexico ghost town, Steins:

Steins Mercantile - The Original




 
Steins Mercantile - Bonanza Creek Version

































Some of the buildings have interiors, like the saloon, the jail, and the church . . .
























































But others are just facades:







And a good time was had by all . . .









You can see larger versions of these (and more) at my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.

Enjoy!




Wednesday, September 4, 2013

More Awesome Monsoon Clouds




We had a great cloud and color show yesterday evening (Sept. 3), both in the east and the west at sunset.  Didn't get much rain in Corrales, but parts of Albuquerque got wet!



These are from our back yard looking toward the east and southeast:



















These are looking west out our front door:







More (and bigger) versions of these at Todos Juntos Photography -- click here.

Enjoy!