Every year for the past 4 or 5 years, on Good Friday, I’ve made a sunrise climb to the top of Tomé Hill, outside of Los Lunas, New Mexico. This is one of two main Catholic pilgrimage sites in the state, a much smaller, more intimate kind of experience than one would have up north in Chimayó. I like it because it is low-key. is a fairy challenging, yet short hike to the top of the Hill, and it always rewards my waking up at a criminally early hour with a glorious sunrise over the surrounding valley.

Though I’ve shot here numerous times, I tried to take a different approach this year and devote myself primarily to shooting on film. Those resulting images will have to wait for developing and scanning. I did take a few shots with my iPhone as well, but restricted myself to capturing in high contrast, black and white.

Though I am pretty much by this point an agnostic, there is still something about the Catholic exercise of faith that draws me in creatively. And spending a sunrise morning on top of a hill above the beautiful New Mexico desert is not a bad way to start a day.