There is definitely a personal history with this particular location. My friends from Albuquerque will recognize this area as ‘The Volcanoes’. It is a place where my friends and I would go at night to drink beer, listen to music, and raise hell. It is also a great place to get a fantastic photographic perspective on the city of Albuquerque and the stunning Sandia mountains. Ordinarily, the Sandias would be un-obscured by clouds. But on this day a rare, late winter rain storm rushed across the West mesa and settled on the peaks as the sun set. As I approached the parking area, the rain was falling hard and I had the feeling that the sunset might be a washout. Undaunted, I gathered my gear (making sure the waterproof camera bag was zipped up tight), and headed towards the trail head. My persistence paid off as the rain cell moved east, providing a dramatic sky. The clouds hugged the 10k ft Sandias and the sun glinted off the buildings of Albuquerque. I had to hustle to reach a good vantage point, so by the time I had to press the shutter release my breath was heavy from the mad scramble up the hill. After a few deep breaths I was able to settle and shoot.
I was equipped with my standard rig: Nikon D300, 3 lenses, and Garmin eTrex GPS. I arrived at the location with rain falling at 630 pm, allowing approximately 30 minutes to hike and shoot.
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