Category Archive

Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

This was a cloudy evening late last week – I thought chances were good for a sunset, but it didn’t happen.   I intend to explore this area some more this week – I love the rocks!

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.

Tonto National Forest, outside of Phoenix, Arizona.

Wildflowers are beginning to come along nicely around Phoenix, there are even some nice patches of poppies and lupine to be found – not the widespread fields yet, but it is looking promising!

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!

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 successful stolen base in yesterday's Giants game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

McDowell Mountain Regional Park, Arizona.

We just moved to Arizona to a place just outside of Fountain Hills, which is just outside of Scottsdale, which is just outside of Phoenix – you get the idea.  🙂

As you can see, things are really green out here right now and look very promising!  With temperatures predicted into the 80’s next week, I’m hopeful that things will really start blooming very soon – it should be a great year.  As we made our way across Arizona I10, the hills throughout the state were very green, but only the edge of the roadbed is blooming right now.  The road edges always look the best.

This area has received over 6 inches of rain since the beginning of this year, and signs of the wet year are everywhere.  We are camped on the edge of the Verde River and I can’t believe how much water is flowing in it right now – substantially more then our past two visits.  Many of the normally dry riverbeds around Phoenix are flowing right now, it is fun to see the transformation.

Here are some photos of the wildflowers of McDowell Regional Park from 2008 during our last visit to this area.

The Phoenician, Scottsdale Arizona.

We (Janine) are about done with our website updates from our winter / spring travels.  We now have a separate section just for Scottsdale Arizona.  This popular tourist destination certainly warrants it’s own section. 

In addition, we also have a separate section for Fountain Hills, Arizona.  Fountain Hills isn’t nearly as famous as the neighboring Scottsdale, but if you are like me and prefer to avoid the crowds, Fountain Hills is a good alternative.