Expanding Again

I have been fortunate to oversee the expansions of the Painted Pony Resort from an initial 80 acre complex with 9 bedrooms and and 13 beds to a 756 acre complex with 12 bedrooms and 17 beds.  But a recent decision to create a bunk room in the Bungalow will increase the number of beds available for family reunions to 21.  Family reunions can be stressful when trying to find room for all the children and the estate is responding to the need by dedicating a space for little ones.  Several sets of bunk beds are being placed in a large room in the bungalow.  This space served the original owner a closet but is now re-tasked as an additional bedroom for children.

Our goal is a family friendly environment with privacy for reunions and the 756 acres of deeded land surrounded by federal and state lands provides such an opportunity.  With access to both the Pelocillo and Chiricahua mountains it is a great place to hold reunions.

Water Management

Living in the high desert of New Mexico one would suppose that water management would not be high on the list of priorities but in reality water management issues are always a concern.  With only 2 periods of rain every year, the winter rains and summer monsoons, the area can receive a significant amount of rainfall in a short period of time.  On rangeland with sufficient grasses the water is slowed and while the occasional flash flood may occur it is heavily utilized rangeland where most problems develop.  On the main estate at the Painted Pony Resort water management has always been a priority and as a result the 4+ inches of rain received this fall from the remnants of hurricane Odile did little damage.  With this years expansion of the estate further east some of the new water problems are being addressed.  About 2 years ago the road across the riverbed at the north end of the estate, which drains the Peloncillo mountains, began to receive runoff and the road quickly deteriorated with a 3-4' gully forming down the middle. This was the result of a major arroyo changing course after filling in its' old route.  With the movement to the south the ranch road was the  easiest route for the water resulting in the rapid down cutting of the ranch road.  If the arroyo could be persuaded to instead move north all the road problems would be solved.  Fortunately, the owner is currently in residence and enjoys running the tractor and road grader.  So he created several diversions in the arroyo, kicking the flow back north expanding and enlarging my earlier efforts.  The results are that the water flow will move back north and hopefully refill an existing cattle tank on the neighbors property (which was fed by this arroyo) and the old channel will provide a source of sand and gravel for the roads around the estate.

Looking east up the heavily eroded ranch road.

Looking west at the first diversion above the eroded area shown in the first photograph.

Looking northwest at the main diversion channel in the old arroyo.

Looking east up the arroyo.

An Experiment in Photography - Saturation and Desaturation

The modern digital camera is an incredible tool, but like all cameras it is really just an instrument to collect data.  While many camera manufacturers make claims about the ability of their camera to make the perfect picture, in reality it is the person who makes the image using a camera to collect data about the scene.  Once the data is collected it must be processed to create a final image that reflects the photographers intent, weather it be a realistic reproduction of a scene or imparting an idea or emotion to the viewer.  What used to take place in a dark room now takes place on a computer with a digital camera.  Specialized equipment was replaced with equipment available to everyone.  The results are many mediocre images made with digital artistic applications, but also some truly spectacular images of the world around us created by everyday people.

The creative act of photography begins not with a camera but with the human mind.  For me it is the visualization of a final image while looking at a scene.  Observing the play of light, shadow, and color and realizing the potential for an image.  On many occasions, whether flying or walking I will suddenly see an image while just looking around.  It will flash in my mind as my head is turning and I will stop, back up and find the specific view that grabbed my attention and being composing an image in my mind.  Then it is out with the camera and start collecting data.  I try to cover the whole scene, overlapping the edges with several images to ensure I miss nothing that later might be useful during data analysis and realizing that the final image will be cropped into a proper and pleasing scene.

Once the data is collected it is back to the computer where all the images are combined with an image compositor into a single large image of the scene.  The image is then examined and cropped to produce a final view which began in my mind.  The next step is processing which involves a decision on whether the scene is to be a reproduction of reality or will try to impart an idea or emotion.  I generally strive to communicate an idea or emotion with my images, with the goal of highlighting the beauty of the Chiricahua and Pelocillo mountains.

The digital manipulation of color is frowned upon by many but I would argue that: 1.  Everyone sees the world differently and my interpretation of reality does not necessarily match yours.  2.  The cameras ability to reproduce reality is flawed by it's software (it represents the view of someone else) and its' hardware.  While I generally do not manipulate color, sometimes when trying to evoke an emotion I will alter saturation levels, either of all the colors simultaneously or individual colors to bring out a specific highlights.  The image below is one I have been working on for about a month, exploring different methods of presentation to evoke different ideas.  In this case the original dataset I collected was altered by selectively saturating or desaturating specific colors which resulted in an artificial, but personally pleasing interpretation of the Chiricahua mountains.

Original 5-image panorama stitched and cropped but unprocessed.

Selective saturation and desaturation of individual colors in this panorama of the Chiricahua mountains (click image to enlarge).

Adventures in Welding - Continued

My first foray into welding came last year when I resized a tooth bar to fit the new tractor.  With no experience it was a steep learning curve but the job got done and the tooth bar works well so it was time for another welding project.

One of chores around the estate is road maintenance.  With about a mile of road on the main estate and 3 miles of road leading to the estate the roads take considerable effort to keep from becoming washboarded or washed out.  One aspect of this maintenance is redistributing gravel along the road.  Gravel has a lifespan and I rake the roads to keep the gravel evenly distributed but it still breaks down over time and having gravel shipped in to to recover the roads is not inexpensive.  Early on, railroad bed material was spread in some areas along the road leading to the estate, but this material is old slag from the smelters and is sharp edged.  While it wears well it is hard on vehicle tires and I have been contemplating using gravel from the arroyos as a substitute for gravel and railroad bed material, hence the newest welding project.  Needing a way to sort gravel from large stones the idea of a gravel sorter came to mind.  I designed a sorter that would sort big rocks from gravel and also produce sand.  Realizing the materials for the project would run several hundred dollars I decided to use material already available, that is fencing material recovered from the additions to the estate, in other words t-posts and old gates.  Material was gathered and I started welding.  But I quickly noticed I was burning holes in the lightweight gate material and some t-posts.  Confused, it eventually dawned on me that I had the current set to high on the welder.  While the higher setting worked fine for the 1/4" steel of the tooth bar it was to high for t-post and gate material.  A simple mistake an experienced welder would not even think about but which took me several days to figure out.  Reducing the current solved the problem and the single tiered gravel sorter was assembled.  Now with this new tool, gravel for the roads can be made from available materials from arroyos on the estate.  It certainly will save time and energy since the last project of making sand for the Rustic cabin was done with a shovel and screen over the tractor bucket.

Gravel sorter under construction

Sorting gravel at the Painted Pony Resort

Sunrise and Sunset

The San Simon Valley gets spectacular sunrises and sunsets.  Flanked by the Chiricahua mountains to the west and the Peloncillo mountains to the east, those in the valley are treated to an abundance of beauty every morning and evening.  The view below is a 3 image panorama of wispy clouds reflecting the rising sun which has yet to climb above the Peloncillo mountains.  Some folks have said they prefer the Peloncillos at sunset but I find sunrise the most spectacular especially when there is some cloud cover to reflect the sunlight.  Both times of day either mountain range has something new to see and I'm constantly recording something new I have never seen before.

Sunrise over the Peloncillo mountains from the Painted Pony Resort

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Addendum:

Two days later after a day of light rain, the warm temperatures combined with water vapor resulted in low wispy fog at sunrise.

Wispy fog over the Peloncillo mountains in the San Simon valley.