Join Image Quest on a tour of northern New Mexico. We'll spend leisurely days exploring the visual delights of Santa Fe and Taos, Indian pueblos, Hispanic communities that are centuries old, back roads that wind through deserts and pine-forested mountains,sculpture gardens, graveyards and churches, and achingly beautiful landscapes that have inspired artists from Ansel Adams to Georiga O'Keeffe to D. H. Lawrence.

Dates: riday through Tuesday, November 7-12, 2008 (note: participants must be in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday, November 6)

Trip difficulty: none; conducted at a photographer's pace.

Transportation: via 15 passenger van (six participants, two trip leaders).

Weather: Expect cool morning and evening temperatures, and mild days; however, over the course of the trip rain, even snow in some areas, are possible.

Cost: $1250 - a $200 depoist will hold your spot.

Trip Leaders: 

- Dave Wyman - his photographs have appeared in Outdoor Photographer, Cross-Country Skier, the California State Parks Guidebook and was the author and photographer of two books, Backroads of Northern California and Backroads of Southern California. Dave has conducted photography tours since 1982, including many tours of northern New Mexico, for both his own company, Image Quest, as well as for the San Diego Natural History Museum, the Sierra Club, the University of Southern California, the Yosmemite and Death Valley Natural History Associations, and the Los Angeles Zoo. 

- Ken Rockwell is known internationally from his website, kenrockwell.com. He is a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about photography and cameras, and his loyal readers enjoy his often iconoclastic essays and detailed reviews of camera gear.  An engineer by training, and an artist by temperment, Ken has conducted numerous workshops in the U.S. and Europe, including several with co-leader Dave Wyman.

Accommodations: We're going to base our trip in Taos at a small motel, just a few blocks off the Taos Plaza, and spend our final night near Albuquerque. Meals: There will be a group meal and picnic lunch for the group, and we'll always be near places to purchase food at meal times. Itinerary: Arrive at your leisure in Albuquerque on Thursday You're invited to make reservations to stay at the same accommodations as Ken and Dave, location TBA. On Friday we'll enjoy breakfast in Old Town, where we will also begin to unleash our creative photographic powers on the beautiful San Felipe de Neri Church. We may visit one of the local museums and/or one of the shops in downtown Albuquerque specializing in Indian arts and crafts. We'll take off for the 90 minute drive to Santa Fe by late morning, where we'll spend the next few hours photographing in the vicinity of the town plaza, and we may have a special visit arranged with one of the photography galleries. We'll arrive by early evening in Taos. On Saturday, we'll visit the famed Taos Pueblo for the morning. In the afternoon, we'll explore the architecture of the town Taos, including building in its own central plaza. In the late afternoon, we'll drive out to the historic Rio Grande Bridge.

On Sunday we'll travel to Georgia O'Keeffe Country, to photograph the little communities and the landscapes in the general vicinity of O'Keef's "Ghost Ranch" that so captivated the great artist. 

On Monday, our group will head for the San Ildofonso Pueblo, the cliff dwellings at Puye, and we'll visit with artisans at the Santa Clara Pueblo.We'll make a drive-by of the location made famous by Ansel Adams's "Moonrise over Hernandez" photograph. Unfortunately, the scene has changed over the years, and what Adams saw, full moon or not, is no longer visible; the challange will be to create our own image of this once-iconic location.

On Tuesday, we'll take the "High Road" to Santa Fe, winding through Kit Carson National Forest and stopping along the way to photograph the old church at Chimayo, views of the Truchas Mountains, bare aspens, and an Hispanic graveyard; we'll also stop to explore the shops of some of the artisans along the route, some who specialize in weaving, some in wood-working. In the afternoon, we'll spend more time in Santa Fe, exploring both Canyon Road, with its colorful architecture, as well as historic downtown churches; we'll also try to make time visit to the O'Keeffe Museum. After dinner, we'll spend the night on the outskirts of Albuquerque.

On Wednesday, our destination will be the Jemez Pueblo, which will celebrate its almost hallucinatory feast day. This will be an event to commit to memory, as no photography is allowed. The event features hundreds of Native American dancers in traditional garb, with ceremonies mating Indian and Catholic religious practices, combined with an old-fashioned arts and crafts fair. After we depart the pueblo, we'll finish up the trip with a leisurely, round-about drive back to Albuquerque, arriving no later than late afternoon, giving time to those to catch a flight home that day evening. (Stay the night and we'll try our hand at photographing neon lights along Route 66.)

What you need to Bring:
- A sense of adventure
- Clothes for cool and warm conditions, including rain gear, and a ski cap for cool mornings and evenings
- Comfortabe walking shoes
- Money for for meals not provided
- Camera gear (see below)

- Optional: bring along up to 20 digital images, scanned onto a CD or in your laptop, and/or up to a dozen prints, to share with the group

What is Provided by Image Quest:
- Trip leaders
- Accommodations four nights in Taos, one night near Albuquerque
- Picnic Lunch, one other group meal
- Transportation to a fantastic set of locations via comfortable van
- Guided walking tours and/or entrance fees at the Taos Pueblo, O'Keeff Museum, etc.
- Photographic instruction

- Note: not included - camera fees at the Taos Pueblo (approimately $5 per camera body) Camera Equipment: a basic camera will work well. Don't feel the need to purchase special equipment. However, for those with more gear, bring it along - this is the time to use it. A good accessory: a tripod (along with a cable release), will allow photography early and late in the day. Good filters would include a polarizer, and an 81B (to warm up images made in the shade, particularly for those with film cameras); a third would be the graduated neutral density filter. Medium format photographers are welcome, too. The instructors will probably bring along both film and digital cameras; digital images - from the instructor and participants - will be shown during the workshop during the evenings, if time permits.  Still using film? For print (negative) film, Fuji'sFujicolor films are excellent, as Kodak's Kodacolors. A good ISO/ASA film speed rating for print film is 200 to 400. For transparencies (slides), the instructors prefer Fujichrome's stable of slide films, and the Kodak slide films are excellent, too. Memory and power: Bring enough CF or SD cards and/or film for the amazing amount of photographs we're going to make. Cameras will be working all day, so sufficient battery power is important - don't forget a battery charger. We'll have at least one device that will allow us to power up two battery chargers in our van.

Camera Problems: What happens if your camera goes down in the middle of the trip? The instructors may have a few extra Nikon digital camera bodies on hand (possible Canon); we'll also have one or two digicams to lend out in an emergency - these cameras are capable of making excellent photographs (and remember, it's the photographer - and not the camera - who creates a beautiful image).

To register: Send payment to Image Quest, 1164 Alvira Street, Los Angeles, California, 90035. We'll send back a receipt and any additional documentation, including directions to our accommodations, that you need. Cancellation: $25 penalty for cancellations more than two weeks prior to the start date of the outing. No refunds after that date unless another particpant takes your place.

Back to IQTours / The Image Quest Home Page | Backroads of Northern California Pictorial Guidebook
Questions or comments and/or requests for information about specific trips: