Petroglyph National Monument

hawkeye978

I had business in Albuquerque, NM this week and got myself over to the Petroglyph National Monument. Took about a 1 1/2 hour hike along the Rinconada Canyon Trail and shot some of the petroglyphs found there. Not the best lighting conditions because they don't open the gates to the trails until 8a so I tried B&W for some of these. The petroglyphs are carved primarily into basalt found along the edge of an escarpment. I was trying to get a sense of context for this so all comments appreciated.

#1



#2



#3



Others can be found here.

Thanks for looking.

oldoval

I like the owl? in #1...I've never seen that one before. These are deffinately different than the ones we have in Utah.

A suggestion. I'm no expert for sure but we have a lot of petroglyphs here in Utah. I've noticed the ones I've shot really pop out of the rock if you play around with the contrast and curves controls on whatever software you're using. Sometimes pulling back some of the gamma will make them jump out too.

pathfinder

I love petroglyphs too, and these seem very nice indeed. They seem larger and more clearly delineated than many I have seen carved in lava ( basalt ).

I wandered through portions of Petroglyph National Monument in July 0f 2009 on the way home from a weekend in Toroweap. Petroglyph National Monument is situated within the city limits of Albuquerque, NM and gets a fair amount of foot traffic.

As mentioned the light is frequently rather harsh, so you can use a hand held reflector, or a scrim, or both, at times to help deal with the light if you have a willing assistant.

Since the OP lives in in New Mexico, they might also enjoy the Three Rivers Petroglyph site near Carrizozo, as well. Gran Quivera Mission and the Abo Ruins are on the way from Albuquerque too!

eMOJO

These are fascinating, we don't get any carvings as such over here just paintings... I think the B&W treatment of #3 works really well and the comp is great

hawkeye978

oldoval wrote: »

I like the owl? in #1...I've never seen that one before. These are deffinately different than the ones we have in Utah.

A suggestion. I'm no expert for sure but we have a lot of petroglyphs here in Utah. I've noticed the ones I've shot really pop out of the rock if you play around with the contrast and curves controls on whatever software you're using. Sometimes pulling back some of the gamma will make them jump out too.

I did do some curves for contrast and also some burning to help bring out the petroglyphys. I haven't tried a gamma adjustment, though. Thanks...

hawkeye978

pathfinder wrote: »

I love petroglyphs too, and these seem very nice indeed. They seem larger and more clearly delineated than many I have seen carved in lava ( basalt ).

I wandered through portions of Petroglyph National Monument in July 0f 2009 on the way home from a weekend in Toroweap. Petroglyph National Monument is situated within the city limits of Albuquerque, NM and gets a fair amount of foot traffic.

As mentioned the light is frequently rather harsh, so you can use a hand held reflector, or a scrim, or both, at times to help deal with the light if you have a willing assistant.

Since the OP lives in in New Mexico, they might also enjoy the Three Rivers Petroglyph site near Carrizozo, as well. Gran Quivera Mission and the Abo Ruins are on the way from Albuquerque too!

Thanks, Pathfinder. I don't live there but I have to go to Albuquerque way too often for work. I will probably try to break away in the future.

hawkeye978

eMOJO wrote: »

These are fascinating, we don't get any carvings as such over here just paintings... I think the B&W treatment of #3 works really well and the comp is great

Thanks, I did like the way #3 turned out.

Doug Solis

wow these are very interesting. Nice work. Say you didn't happen to draw image #3 now did you??

hawkeye978

Doug Solis wrote: »

wow these are very interesting. Nice work. Say you didn't happen to draw image #3 now did you??

I'm not sure I'm good enough. There were certainly a few that were more recent attempts. It's too bad there has been so much destruction of the area. Between damage done by people scribbling on or near the petroglyphs and gunshot damage it's a little discouraging.