Abstract Albuquerque: Shapes and Patterns

 

Last February my friend, Alan, and I spent a couple of hours walking around in downtown Albuquerque photographing whatever caught our eye.  Having finally gotten around to reviewing and processing my images from that day, I'm struck by how many of them were of shapes and patterns . . . with a few other subjects captured for their interest.  Here are some for your visual pleasure.

Civic Plaza area:

Some subjects seemed to work well in black-and-white . . .

Others deserved color . . .

Kimo Theater facade

On Central Avenue we happened onto The Man's Hat Shop and asked if we could shoot inside -- no problem.

Lots of good shots here . . . There were tables, boxes, shelves, and walls full of hats!

As I discovered in post-processing, many shots were worth converting to black-and-white:

I also enjoyed a couple of their signs:

After the hattery, we wandered around some more on Central and cross streets:

And I loved this sign:

Near the end of our ramble, I found my "teacup" . . . or, in this case, teacups.  (Those of you who follow this blog and/or have taken my photography class know what I'm talking about.)

As you can see, there wasn't any access, so shooting these from many different POV's was impossible, but I did my best.  Here are some of my attempts:

My favorite "teacup" shot is the one at the top of this post, but to save you the trouble of scrolling all the way back up, here it is again:

If you would like to see these images (and more) from our walk, please visit my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here.

Enjoy!

Tucumcari Travels, Part 2 - Cars and Other Things

 

In addition to photographing iconic Route 66 motels on our visit to Tucumcari, NM, a couple of weeks ago, my friend, Alan, and I cruised around the city looking for other interesting subjects.  We found a bunch of things from the heyday of Route 66 (and the town).

Restaurants:  one still thriving . . .

. . . another abandoned years ago.

A classic souvenir shop still in business, with a nice neon sign and a weird goblin-like skeleton mounted on the back of an old pickup in the shadows next to the building:

A quonset hut building with a dramatic (but not vintage) mural on one end:

A couple of defunct grain elevators:  one with a yard full of abandoned trucks, construction equipment, and a giant tubular thing that I have no idea about . . .

. . . and one with a nice empty lot and an imposing presence that seemed to call for a chthonic black-and-white treatment . . .

But the best surprise was all the old cars practically everywhere.  You saw some in my previous post parked at the Blue Swallow and Relax Inn motels.  But wait . . . there's more!

Those of you with kids (or grandkids) of a certain age may remember the Pixar movie, "Cars" (2006).  The principal anthropomorphic car character, Lightning McQueen, finds himself stranded in Radiator Springs, a rundown desert town on Route 66 that lost most of its traffic and businesses when the Interstate bypassed the town.  Sound familiar?

Appropriately, one of the garage bays at the Blue Swallow Motel is decorated with a sign and a mural depicting the cars and the town of Radiator Springs.

And, as if life imitates art (or vice versa), on the main Route 66 drag in Tucumcari, we found Tucumcari Automotive . . . a decommissioned gas station turned repair shop with a lot full of classic cars.

Front and center were three Edsels (only two shown in the photo below) with that hideously ugly front grille:

1959 model in foreground; 1958 model in background

Nearby was a Studebaker Lark, which was so uninteresting I only photographed a rear tire and hubcap:

Alan got to talking with the owner of the shop, who offered to show us some other cars that were inside an old car dealer showroom and garage bay across the street.

In the garage were another '58 Edsel, a '56 (I think) Chevy, and a '59 Chevy:

The biggest treat was in the dilapidated dealership showroom:  a 1952 Hudson Hornet!

If you would like to see these images and the images from the previous post (Tucumcari Travels, Part 1), please visit my photography website, Todos Juntos Photography, by clicking here for Part 1 images and here for Part 2 images.

Enjoy!