ARIZONA SPRING 2016 - DAY FOUR

FRIDAY, MARCH 25^{TH -} 

Today was our last day in Southern Arizona. We started with morning light on Saguaro and other cacti. 

Saguaro Embraces The Moon

Organ Pipe Cactus

Saguaro and Creosote Nurse Plant

Before leaving Ajo and heading for the Phoenix area, we visited their beautiful church. 

Ajo Catholic Church

Ajo Church Window

Outside of the church was a gila woodpecker who had set up a nest in a saguaro cactus. 

Gila Woodpecker

In the Phoenix area we visited the Lost Dutchman Mine State Park for sunset. The base of the Superstition Mountains were covered with the yellow flowers of brittlebush. 

Lost Dutchman State Park

Superstition Mountains and Brittlebush

Due to it’s proximity to Phoenix it is very popular for day hiking. There are a number of hiking trails to choose from. One had to compose carefully to not include the hand of man in the setting sun landscape.

This evening we had a few clouds in the sky which make for better photography. It is a challenge to capture it as we see it. I experimented with High Dynamic Range Photography and was pleased with the results. The results are that you have a greater range of exposure and are able to photograph more of the range of light which we can actually see, but the camera can not capture in a single exposure.

Desert Sunset

Desert Sunset and Sky

After The Sun Set

ARIZONA SPRING 2016 - DAY THREE

THURSDAY, MARCH 24^TH



This morning we were  once again in amongst the saguaro cacti in Organ Pipe N. M.  I first captured the setting full moon behind some saguaro and in the Belt of Venus. 

Setting Moon and Saguaro

Then I found a wonderful couple of cacti very close to each other that created interesting framing opportunities. 

Nancy's View

Desert View

Saguaro cacti are far more photogenic than organ pipe cactus, and they are quite prolific in this park as well.  

Near the Visitor Center we found a blooming saguaro. This was a first for me. The blossoms are usually atop of the tall arms. The telephoto lens was called in to use for the the photograph of the bloom. 

 

Saguaro Blooms 1

Saguaro Bloom and Buds

  In the afternoon we found some nice flowering cholla and got some of the blooms backlit.

An Eye Catcher

Staghorn Cactus Bloom

Chain-fruit Cholla

Once again we had mostly clear skies but I did get some nice late light on the mountains in the background.

Organ Pipe N.M. Sunset

Ajo Mountains and Saguaro

Sunset Sky and Saguaro Forest

 

ARIZONA SPRING 2016 - DAY TWO

Wednesday, 23 March:

The skies stayed clear overnight so it was a quick full moon set and sunrise. After breakfast in Tucson we  packed up and headed for Organ Pipe National Monument which is located almost due West of Tucson and borders with Mexico. 

Morning Sentinel

 We took our time driving as it was mid-day light which did not slow down the shutter on most cameras. Along the highway we found some good displays of poppies with a few other flowers thrown in. We spent our time trying to catch a starburst on the edge of a petal of a poppy. This is not an easy task as you either hand hold and aim hopefully for the right angle, or you get down on your belly and then try to shoot up with “live View”. 

Going for Bug View

Due to the wind there was a lot of dust and pollen in the air which caused a lot of defraction and shows up with lots of distracting spots in the photo. This was the case with lots of my photographs, so lots went into the trash bin.

 

Standing Tall

Another Color

A Different Angle

Capturing The Sun

 

The nearest town to Organ Pipe N.M. is Ajo, AZ. The first copper mine located in Arizona was located in Ajo. The open pit now measures 1.5 miles across and 110 feet deep in the center and is no longer a working mine. Ajo has a lovely town plaza, and a beautiful Catholic church. It is also the home of the Curley School Artisan Apartments, a project of the non-profit International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA).  

We checked into La Siesta Motel where we each had a small individual cabin for two nights. The design goes back to the mid-fifties I would guess, but have been up graded with a large screen TV, small microwave, small refrigerator, and air conditioning. We were then off to Organ Pipe N.M. for capturing a few landscapes and sunset light on nearby Ajo Mountain. The Monument Visitor Center is 33 miles from Ajo.

We traveled along Ajo Mountain Drive and stopped at a promising location for photography of wildflowers, cacti, and a view of Ajo Mountain. Once again the sunset was pretty quick due to the mostly clear skies.

Organ Pipe Cactus and Distant Arch

Sunset Color on Ajo Mountain

 It was a late night and we closed down the Pizza Hut as we knoshed on pizza for dinner.

ARIZONA SPRING 2016 - DAY ONE

Tuesday, 22 March

This was the start of a full nine day photography trip. It started with leaving San Diego at 0545 on the Tuesday and finished with getting home at 1900 nine days later. It was planned with the spring bloom in Arizona in mind, and then traveling to the Page area to explore and photograph two slot canyons and the area called White Pocket.

My friends Lin and Mike met me at my home Tuesday morning and then we drove in my car to Tucson where we met up with other LightChase Photographers. After a brief break to get checked in and our gear ready we were off to Saguaro National Park West for late afternoon exploring and sunset photography. Regrettably most of the annual flowers did not do well here this year due to the weather conditions of an unseasonably warm February. Most of the flora in bloom were cacti, with prickly pear and hedgehog dominating.

Prickly Pear Cactus Blossom

Hedgehog Cactus w. Blossoms

 We found a good location to show a forest of saguaro cacti. It is also fun to see and photograph some of the older Saguaro that have many arms, with some really being twisted. 

Budding Saguaro

Saguaro with Buds and Nurse Tree to side

This was the first time I had seen buds which were on a descending arm and at eye level. Usually the flowering occurs quite high up on the Saguaro and people have been known to bring ladders along to get up to the bloom. Here we also saw how the young saguaro are protected by a “nurse plant” from the extreme heat of the desert when they are just starting out. Usually the nurse plant is a creosote bush or a paloverde tree.

Saguaro Sentinel

The sky was clear so there was little sunset. My favorite image from the evening was actually the full moon captured in the Belt of Venus (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-blogs/the-belt-of-venus/) (http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/earths-shadow-07292014/) with a saguaro cactus in the foreground. 

Moon in the Belt of Venus

Full Moon and Saguaro