Posted by Mr. Robot | March 18th, 2020 | No responses
It’s cold out there. The country (the whole world actually) is in a state of panic. People are getting the Covid19 virus left and right, and we are now encouraged to stay indoors to take shits and use the countless amounts of toilet paper we felt we needed to stock up on. Take your mind off of such things for now and let me tell you of a time when I took a trip to Red River, New Mexico. Things were normal back then. The convenience stores were open and the toilet paper was in full supply. People were skiing and having a good time in the snow. Hopefully things will get back to normal very soon. Let the bag check begin…
Bring thermals. I love the cold, but seriously bring some damn thermals. Before arriving to the cozy town of Red River, a car spun off the mountain road and right into a ditch. The guy (driving of course) and his wife were going too fast around this sharp curve and lost control of the vehicle. Being the super hero that I am, I pull my car over, and then I go off to help the distressed couple. A few other good samaritans join in on the fun to assist, but to no avail. That car was wedged in the ditch and they weren’t getting out. We’ll go back to that story later.
It was nearing nightfall and the snow flakes were coming down so heavy and so fast in all of that dark. Ericka and I found this old abandoned truck that looked great peppered in snow fall.
What I love about these photos is that they look surreal. This isn’t some photoshopped snow into the picture. You have to make sure to back light the snow in order to achieve this look. So right behind the truck I placed a Profoto B10 with a magnum reflector. The key light on our model is a Profoto B10 and a Profoto OCF 2′ Octa Softbox with a grid as I wanted to just focus the light on the front of truck and Ericka. The results were beautiful winter wonderland goodness.
You have to wonder about this truck. One of those old time trucks with a history of its own. It probably belonged to some young man in the 1940s who worked all summer just to be able to pump gas in the thing. He probably asked his sweetheart out on a date, took her to the drive in movie theatre, made love, got married, then divorced just a few months later. Then he said, “I hate this truck”, and abandoned it in Red River only for me to photograph decades later. Maybe it went something like that. Who knows? We decided to take some photos inside, but there was no seating. There were glass shards inside on the floor panels as if someone had broken the driver side window in order to get in to stay warm. The seats were rusted and broken into bits. I placed a B10 in there to light up the inside. I imagined what it would look like to capture that moment where someone was warming up this truck early in the morning, preparing to go to work, the inside lit up by the FM/AM radio as the snow fell.
Remember that couple who’s car was stuck in the ditch that I was telling you about? We couldn’t get them out with all of our combined pushing and digging efforts. My heart rate was up and my breathing was out of control. Being at such a high altitude and trying to push a wedged car out of the snow is exhausting. I was tired, out of breath, and almost defeated. Until the bright idea of pulling the car out of the ditch with some teflon rope was hatched. I happened to have some teflon rope, the other people who were helping had a 4×4 pick up truck, and with that combined we seemingly had the problem solved.
I think timing was everything. Had it not been for helping that car out of the ditch, I don’t believe I would have captured these awesome portraits at the time that I did. I think I would have arrived in Red River, gathered by the fire place, roasted some marshmallows, and fallen asleep. The following morning we had sunny skies and my daughter, sister, and I climbed up this steep hill to get these shots overlooking the town.
Red River is a smaller footprint than the town of Taos. It feels a bit cozier with little shops all within walking distance. The center of town was decorated with Christmas lights, people were out walking with their families, and the air was fresh winter.
The next morning I treated myself to some well deserved snowmobile time in the mountain. The best way to reward yourself for helping people trapped in the snow is to ride one of these!
If you ever get a chance to visit Red River, make sure to take a whole day to enjoy the mountain. There’s a great view of Colorado from up there. Who knows, maybe I might come rescue you if you’re ever stuck in a situation.
Hello friend.
