Self Portrait
Sharmagne Leland-St. John
Living in sunny Southern California, I rarely have the opportunity to photograph snowscapes, so when we go to Taos for our winter holiday and much-needed R&R, I become a camera with endless film.
We drive up to Ski Valley, hoping to discover winter images to capture.
If we are lucky, we will have a heavy snowfall right at home, like the snowfall in the photo "Sunrise." I'm up early, bundled in scarves and furs, snapping away. I learned from my cousin John Huston to "edit" right in the camera. I need to photograph rapidly before the sun breaks through and melts the snow.
Red Willow Creek: At the Pueblo was a great find. It was selected for the cover of the book "IMAGES: A Collection of Ekphrastic Poetry."
San Francisco de Asís Mission Church is a National Historic Landmark, a beautiful church--built with mud, straw, and sun-dried adobe bricks--that was completed in the early 1800s. It is one of the most photographed and painted churches in the United States! There are little shops and art galleries sharing the same plaza. Dennis Hopper owned property across the road leading into town.
When I purchased my home, "Casa del Sol Naciente," I inherited 2 small rocking chairs. On my porch, they provide a perfect place for me to enjoy the chilly winter landscape and a cup of warm Winter Tea.
Red Umbrella: When I am in residence during the summer months, I am "at home" on Thursday afternoons, meaning I serve High Tea to anyone who happens to drop by. I have metal chairs with red vinyl plush sets to match my patio umbrella. Last Christmas we decorated the pine tee in the corner of the photo.
Here Comes the Sun: Soon the sun will melt the snow into patches of tire-marked and footprinted slush.
Sunset in Ranchos: This is the view from my living room with its vigas overhead and French doors leading out to a garden and orchard populated with apple, apricot, cherry and peach trees.
Kit Carson National Forest: Winter 2021. Like the pioneers that we were not, Victor and I ventured out into the forest with a permit and my trusty chainsaw to harvest our own Christmas Tree in the middle of a fierce and wind-driven snowstorm. We traversed the narrow, rutted logging roads and found it almost impossible to complete our task. But we persevered...and drove home with the loveliest tree in the forest tied to the roof of our Prius.s
Dylan’s First Snow-Person
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