A clear moon over Truchas

November 2014, New Mexico

The High Road to Taos traverses some spectacular landscapes – from the soft hues of the high deserts to the alpine lushness of the mountains. It’s the landscape of my dreams. Promises of unbroken silences abound, a picturesque prospect of peace.

Along this road, lies a little town called Truchas. It has a fascinating formative history, some of which is still reality, owing to geographical isolation. Its quietness whispers discovery of the untold facets of nation – or at least, state – building.

There is never enough time to chase these ghosts though. Tourist visas don’t account for those of us who wish to linger. And so, despite having driven through twice, the picture above is the most I’ve seen of this town, shot from a little rest stop as the road curves into its center.

The point of sharing this picture though, is the midday moon above the town. Even in a squeezy Lightroom processing window, the shadows in its visible half stood out.

I was astonished to find, that at 100% zoom, you can easily make out its craters (experts: is that the Sea of Tranquility?). This was an image taken with the XF 35mm lens mounted on the X-E2. The targets of my focus were the houses in the foreground. I get that the principle of hyperfocal distances makes this possible, but I’ve never had such clear results before. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve never owned gear that translated details with such clarity, or if it’s because I don’t normally shoot at such altitudes – Truchas sits at around 8000 feet – in places where air is so clear.

One way or the other, I accidentally took a picture of the moon and its craters.

It strikes me as momentous for the pedestrian throw-away-ness of the fact.

Not so long ago, you couldn’t just say something like that.

(Picture details: Fuji X-E2, XF 35mm f1.4, at 1/800 sec, f8, ISO 250.)