Apache Trail

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Mountains along the Apache Trail, East of Phoenix, Arizona.

Mountains along the Apache Trail, East of Phoenix, Arizona.

Yesterday, photo blog reader Joni reiterated a prior recommendation for the Apache Trail – I figured I better heed her advice, so we drove out that way yesterday evening.  I wasn’t disappointed!  It is a beautiful area.  I’m looking forward to returning and driving a bit further, we didn’t make it too far past Tortilla Flat.  There are a few places with nice flowers, and lots of places that are very green!  I think the wildflowers should start looking nice in about a week.

Pink-Flower Hedgehog Cactus

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Travel 11 Comments

Pink-Flower Hedgog Cactus, McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Pink-Flower Hedgehog Cactus, McDowell Sonoran Preserve, Scottsdale, Arizona.

During my photo workshops a few weeks ago I was reminded just how rich and colorful the desert looks during a rain storm.  So yesterday morning as I heard the rain pouring down – I couldn’t wait to get out with my camera.  I had my eye on a stunning Graham’s Nipple Cactus bloom that I spotted while running the day before, but evidently they don’t open on cloudy days.  So I had to “settle” for this Hedgehog cactus.

I find it fascinating that such a sharp, potentially painful plant can produce such a beautiful bloom!

Speaking of my workshop – as much fun as I had hosting them, I think the follow up emails and photo attachments from the participants may have been even more rewarding!

Most participants don’t have websites that I’m aware of, but a couple do and I would like to share them here.

First is Samatha – on this website of Samatha’s photos she writes about the workshop, some of the things we talked about and places we visited during the second weekend – it was a fun to relive the weekend through her images.

Greg Lato posted a couple photos of our group during the first weekend on his photo blog.  And be sure to check out his photo from Anza-Borrego.  It is fun to see the different interpretations of the the same area.

I have more photo tours coming up including one where we will be up close to grizzly bears all day!

Aria Hotel City Center

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 5 Comments

Canoe art, City Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Canoe art in the middle of City Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

I’m trying to imagine the conversation:  “You see we are building a very high-end, 11 billion dollar resort in Las Vegas and think your old canoe would look perfect out front.”   Do you or your friends have anymore?”

It is a pretty cool statue, but seems more like something you would see in front of a resort in Jackson Hole or Whistler rather then Las Vegas.

Below are two of the new hotels in City Center.  The pool belongs to the non-gaming hotel called the Vdara.  Across the way is the much larger hotel and casino known as Aria.  It is a bit hard to imagine, but on any given night there could be far more people in this one hotel, then living within 100 miles of my Alaska home.  But then, that is one of the things that makes where we live so wonderful – and it is a place where you really can use a canoe!

The pool of the Vdara along with the Aria Hotel and Casino, City Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The pool of the Vdara along with the Aria Hotel and Casino, City Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Crystals, City Center Las Vegas

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Crystals, City Center Las Vegas, Nevada.

Crystals, City Center Las Vegas, Nevada.

Crystals is the new retail center in the heart of City Center.  Something tells me this isn’t the place to pick up a new pair of Carharts or Xtratufs!  The top view is of City Center from Las Vegas Blvd “The Strip”.

Below is an inside view – the wooden structure is actually a restaurant!  A restaurant that I’m sorry I didn’t get the name of and will be extra sorry when I go to keyword!

Crystals, City Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Crystals, City Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

City Center Las Vegas

Ron NiebruggeLas Vegas, Nevada, Photos, Travel 13 Comments

This tram connects the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo with the hotels and mall of City Center, Las Vegas.

This tram connects the Bellagio and the Monte Carlo with the hotels, condos and mall that are the City Center, Las Vegas. The buildings in the background makeup a portion of the Aria Hotel and Casino.

We spent the last two nights and one full day on a very quick trip to Las Vegas.  I really needed to photograph the brand new City Center.  I have an extensive collection of Las Vegas photos, but not having images of the  brand new 11 billion dollar City Center was a giant hole.  Yeah that’s right 11 billion!  So with wildflowers a bit off here, we made the quick drive to Las Vegas.

I had hoped to photograph the City Center last October, but its planned opening was delayed until December, so I walked finding vantage points outside the project in which I could get distant images.  Now I was able to photograph the huge 76 acre project from within.

I usually try to pick “quiet” times to photograph Las Vegas.  I was once there during a cold, rainy mid week evening in which I had the Strip about as much to myself as possible in a place visited by more then 35 million people a year.  🙂  Well, visiting during a warm stretch of weather, during Spring Break, St. Patrick’s Day, and right before the biggest gambling sporting event of the year wasn’t actually quiet, but fortunately it worked out.

Silk Road resturant at the Vdara hotel, City Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Silk Road restaurant at the Vdara hotel, City Center, Las Vegas, Nevada.

2010 Bells Alaska Travel Guide!

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Photos, Shameless Self Promotion, Travel 14 Comments

Bells 2010 Inside Passage Travel Guide

Bell-s 2010 Inside Passage Travel Guide

I’m proud to say our photos are on the covers of all three Bell’s Alaska travel guides again this year!!  Great travel guides produced by a wonderful family, I’m proud to be a part of their guides again this year.   You can find these travel guides throughout Alaska at most visitor centers, restaurants and other businesses.  If you are in Alaska be sure to pick them up, they are full of useful information.

To get a feel for just how small the little grizzly cub is in the top photo, keep in mind those are dandelions.  Sure dandelions grow big up here, but still… !   This little guy was outside of Haines, Alaska.

Bells 2010 Alaska Mapbook

Bell's 2010 Alaska Mapbook

The Mapbook cover was of a sunrise in the Seward Boat Harbor – it was a post on the blog at the time.

Bells 2010 Alaska Highway Guide

Bell's 2010 Alaska Highway Guide

The final cover is of Emerald Lake, Yukon Territory, Canada.

Baseball Spring Training

Ron NiebruggeArizona, Phoenix, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants during Spring Training, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants during Spring Training, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Some dear friends generously provided us with tickets to the San Francisco Giants Spring Training games – they are sure fun!  I love the relaxed, casual atmosphere where before the game the players work their way down the sidelines posing for photos and signing autographs.  We had such good seats to yesterday’s game that I decided to bring my camera and try to capture the action – that was a  blast as well!  I gotta admit, catching that moment the ball leaves the bat is much harder then it looks!

A wide throw lead to a succesful stolen base in yesterday's Giants game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

A wide throw lead to a successful stolen base in yesterday's Giants game against the Milwaukee Brewers.