Tom Pappa photography: A Few Days in Taos, New Mexico

A little over a week ago, friday the 13th to be exact, my best friend Maria (who is also my girlfriend *smile*) and I set off on a 4-day journey to Taos, New Mexico. Maria has a friend Laura who lives there and I had heard numerous stories about how COOL Taos is. Maria and Laura were Penn State college roommates and after school Laura somehow found her way to Taos and has called it home ever since. Laura is an amazing artist and has a studio in town where she crafts beautiful pottery and paints. I really like Laura, she has a good and genuine spirit. You get that from her the moment you meet her. Her boyfriend, Marcus (whom I also really liked straight out of the gate), traveled 16 months and 46,000+ miles on a BMW Enduro motorcycle and documented it all with a camera. Check out fantastic photos from his unbelievable journey here.

Taos is choc full of art in many mediums, everything from photography to paintings to pottery to jewelry.
We had a fabulous time and met some interesting people along the way.

Thanks again Laura and Marcus for showing us around and opening your home to us...
Hope to see you soon!

Some photos from the trip:

We spent the first day in Santa Fe and met Chris Chavez, who was selling handmade Indian Jewelry.

On the right is the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge (in HDR). 650 ft above the Rio Grande, it's the 5th highest bridge in the US. The bridge shakes when a large vehicle drives over it. It's good to pack extra underwear.

Scene from the back porch of a restaurant where we had lunch.

Couple portraits of Maria! The picture on the right was off-camera flash. YES, I lugged flashes and flash equipment across the country. (which got my suitcase searched on the way home) Maria has started learning photography herself and is super-talented already! She carried her camera with her everywhere on the trip and got some GREAT shots.

We ventured into Taos Pueblo one morning. It's the only living Native American Community. The multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years!