Updated the cover with a subtly adjusted image to reflect a journey to undo the negative thought process in my head. Where the stark contrast of right and wrong is extreme at times. Not everything is evil. Or wrong. We all are trying to figure this out in the shortest amount of time as possible to be successful in life. Maybe one day catch a wave in Hunnington Beach, CA with some friends.
I was out driving around as usual and saw the sliver of the moon setting right behind another beautiful sunset. The colors are enhanced, but they are there. We normally can’t see them, like Donald Trump’s spray on tan. It takes a minor adjustment to a 30 MegaPixel photo to expose fine gradients and subtle tones. Then It takes some painting and advance photo editing skills to make the comet.
The idea behind this I believe is through Bill Hicks. A little before my time, but Keenan Maynard and the Tool band honed in on it and wrote Ænema. If you listen to the lyrics I honestly feel that way being an adult that still has that little candle of naive innocence only to be crushed by shitty people.
I went to this thought as I tend to think about the big picture. So looking at that sunset I think about what was creating it. The refraction of light angled against our dirty atmosphere. Really dirty.
There are plenty of solutions. Some people think the solution is destruction and rebirth. Sure sounds good to me. So does changing the culture we’ve created.
Poetically philosophically the title is,
“The End was Beautiful. Arizona Bay had the Best View.”
This image is adjusted to show the polluted sky from the top of the tallest palm tree down. Taken downwind from Los Angeles to Phoenix.
A Theoretical Comet hurdles towards California creating Arizona Bay similar to the Gulf of Mexico. Inspired by Tool and personal feelings about the bullshit in this world.
Recently installed the Dreamstime Stock Image WordPress Plug-in for sharing photos with a link to buy them if interested. The featured image of the Jumping Cholla Fruit and the Saguaro below were downloaded straight to the WordPress Media Library.
*Little technical note on my side it showed an error after downloading, but that is a small comment error in WordPress. Check the media library and filter the photos by the current month to find them. Happens with regular uploads also.
Today was a productive day after being down with the flu for a week. Glad to be back in action even at 3/4 speed. I was trying to find a way to Red Mountain and might have stumbled onto a desert scout that those big signs warn people about. Joking aside I was in a secret location in North Mesa, the picture below is more benign.
An antelope squirrel at attention on top of rock pile in the desert.
The Storm of February 10th, 2020 in Fountain Hills
After getting some great stock photos of the Sonoran Desert. I had to go back home and figure out how to pay bills. Currently I drive rideshare and delivery, which is awesome for someone that needs thousands of pictures to make money selling stock photos.
The route went back East to Fountain Hills, where I got to see the storm develop with a mountain top view. I took my time, usually I am trying to set delivery records. Tonight I finished just in time to catch the squall that hit about 6:30 PM. I was leaving the last neighborhood and saw a dead end. The Airborne Ranger in the Sky was looking out tonight. Reviewing the weather radar, a squall formed over Gilbert hitting Fountain Hills right as I made my last delivery. I popped my trunk and just started shooting.
Cloud to Cloud
It took about 700 shots to get these three. I didn’t have time to focus man! A raging storm was throwing out lighting and I was laying down suppressive fire in response. Petting the Pig! Working that Canon 5D MKIV like it was one anyway.
Alright lesson learned. Again.
I need to look into new approaches for catching lightning. I think these were cloud to cloud. I honestly don’t remember hearing thunder. This time I just used the button, but the last time I would shoot ten frames at a time on tripod. Next time going with time lapse like I know I probably should. It’s tough to be in the right place at the right time to set-up though.
It did give me a bit of a chance to play with settings, but figuring out the best settings is challenging. I was parked at the bottom of very dark fishbowl surrounded by mountains. Lightning caught at the right moment would act as a flash.
Here’s what worked for these shots on a Canon 5D Mark IV.
F/3.5
1/60th of a Second
ISO 6400
Canon EF 28-135mm (@28mm) f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Zoom Lens
White Balanced for Flash
The flashes were violent and the incoming wind howling through the canyons deafened any other noise.It was coming straight at me!Good sense took over as the lightning grew brighter.
Patience
After sleeping on the files I discovered some more beautiful shots and reworked these a bit. I am creating a sequenced video file also, but probably will abondone my grand scheme for it. Note to self. Try video next time. I am not sure what I captured, but it certainly is a weather phenomenon. It looks like the lightning is remaining in the same general area. And some shots appear to be balls, but that’s probably due to the camera being out of focus.
I’m having a case of the Mondays with some sinus issues. Days like these I spend thumbing through the Internet. I realized it’s been about a year since I updated my profile photo, so I took advantage of some natural sidelight.
My current social media profile looks a little rough and serious, which isn’t very approachable. So I was thinking a softer more intimate photo might be good. Then Harper joined in. Her motivation was to get me to let her outside.
She likes to give the love back with kisses, hugs and petting. We first met at Lost Our Home Pet Rescue. She climb right up on my shoulder and marked me hers. We bonded pretty quick.
Harper is an affection cat that can’t get close enough to show me her love. I’m a pretty lucky cat dad.
I’m looking at my phone for remote shooting. My oily sick forehead catching that light. Harper is aware of the camera and doing her best to look away.Harper going in for some tongue. Harper is giving me a hug. She pets me back too.
I think my 3rd and 4th grade pictures look similar, sick as a dog. People who know me, know I wear my emotions on my sleeve like a badge. It’s tough for me to be anything I am not. Guess a more professional photo can wait.
I like how my delivery work can turn into a day trip for photos. It’s not something I could do in an office job where they expect you to be at your desk looking busy all day.
Last Thursday I had a quick delivery to the outskirts of Phoenix and decided to see if I could get paid to go back with a trip. Otherwise that afternoon traffic in construction going East on the 101 was a no-go. I received a round trip with a group of young transplants from Chicago and they mentioned Sedona at some point.
Hmmm I was a third of the way there already. Hell why not? Right about the turn off point to Sedona my gut told me to pull off and check the map. I pull into a gas station to review Google maps as the afternoon sun was about to drop quick, it didn’t leave room for much exploration.
For some reason Arcosanti popped into my head and I Googled it. What? It’s where? No lie, I look up and was staring at the road sign pointing to Arcosanti. My observation skills were on point.
It’s a long bumpy road past some other local business or ranches. At the end is a small dirt parking lot and a paved path to the entrance. Met this orange tabby along the way.
Arcology = Architecture and Ecology
Paolo Soleri is the visionary behind Arcosanti. If you are not familiar with either check out the website it’s an entire college course once you enter the rabbit hole.
Arcosanti showcases the principals of Arcology or Architecture and Ecology. If you look back at the cover image there is a stair encasement to the right that leads to the visitor areas.
Taliesin West is where Paolo studied for a while after earning his doctorate in Italy. The use of land and architecture goes back to ancient history most of my observations are Arcosanti uses Roman and Egyptian technology for heating, cooling, and lighting.
The basic thought is we are wasting space, wasting time, wasting resources, causing pollution, and most importantly removing ourselves from nature one street at a time. An Arcologically developed city would condense populations to make use of resources more efficiently. Think of science/fiction space exploration movies with an entire city housed in one ship.
Once I made it to the third floor visitor center I took a look around and held off on more photos. Eventually I was greeted by someone and paid for the $15 tour. Depending on the time you can buy lunch and even stay the night. I was told photos were ok (free advertising) and to have a seat where this Wind Bell was on display next to the tour video playing.
As the video ended we got the spiel from our tour guide. Our tour group consisted of me and another dude, so easy day for her.
Our first stop was the ceramic workshop/amphitheater. This time of year is gorgeous for working outdoors in the shade with a light breeze. Come summer I would be interested in seeing the temps and probably will for a chance to get better night shots.
I’ll be honest my listening became selective at this point as I was there to take pictures and my camera needed attention. Our tour guide probably was glad we didn’t have a ton of questions too.
Checkout the gallery below for some of the shots on the guided tour.
Visitors Trail
There’s also a non-guided tour persay, but it won’t get you inside very far. Although a great place for a panoramic shot of Arcosanti. At the bottom of the stair encasement is the door to the Visitors Trail. The end of the trail is marked with a kite shaped awning on a single pole, which is on the other side of the valley. It’s maybe a mile long in total, down the valley, up the other side and back. A little slippery in spots, but not incredibly challenging. I did it in my driving shoes.
Future Plans
I’m going to look into the overnight stay a little more. I left wanting to spend more time making the right adjustments, catching the right light, the right angle, setting up HDR shots.
Along the way home I decided to stop and visit Bloody Basin – Agua Fria National Monument for my sunset shot. Ended up being more interested in making this composite of the Orion constellation. The brightest star, Betelgeuse, is spinning off plasma as it moves through the universe. Turns out what I was observing was dust.
Well anyways thanks for reading, go check Arcosanti out for yourself. Certainly worth a quick stop on your way north.
I got a new lens filter for stubborn reflections that create glare. What I was looking for in the cover photo is what I saw through my polarized sunglasses. I was using a UV lens filter on the camera at the time, which filtered out the full spectrum of light colors on the evaporating whisps. It was pretty cool and something to remember. Clouds like these evaporate quickly in Phoenix even during January. So getting that shot again is possible. Today it literally disappeared.
The panorama of Camelback Mountain was taken from the Northeastern corner on the trail by the Arizona Canal Trail. I was looking for a better angle ending up at 56th St. and Indian School. Although shutting down 56th St. to get the view from the middle of the road was an idea.
The G.R. Herberger Park is the park many people pass on a daily basis and maybe say, “Huh?! I need to check that out sometime.”
And then it’s too late. Traffic is going 45 MPH in a 35 MPH School Zone and you’re trying to maintain your lane on an obscured curve with no where to pull off.
Well if you can manage to safely navigate your way there, here’s the grand entrance to SRP’s Arizona Falls on the Arizona Canal Trail. I was thinking my kid would have enjoyed seeing this.
Later on I think I would have wanted him wearing a toddler version of an orange arctic survival suit tethered to a boom. Like a toxic waste dump space walk.
Fog added in photoshop. Clearly not a place to take kids.
The trail and park lead to this carefully designed building to fit in with the affluent neighborhood. Not the one above. Scroll down.
This one. Along with some cool views of Camelback Mountain and safety features it’s a functional hydroelectric station and museum. This also might be a welcomed stop on a mid-summer run.
Circular Polarized Lens Filter Images
A few miles down on the Northwest corner of Goldwater and 5th Ave. is another parking area with a tunnel to avoid the crosswalk, which I found on my way back to the vehicle. The photos below are images that were taken with a Circular Polarized Lens Filter .
Not so bad once inside. No graffiti, clowns, weird smells, wraiths, trash,
Perpetuating Stereotypes?
The above shot is using a Polarized filter. It didn’t get the anti-glare effect I was hoping for. Notice the light coming in through the door towards the camera. This shot might be better at sunset with less direct sunlight and light coming from behind the camera. The angle of the shot matters.
Here’s a shot with the sun over my right shoulder. The right horse would have had the glare issues had it not been for the Polarized filter. The patina is hard to see during this time of day and angle, even with the naked eye glare washes out minute details. The middle horse did receive some extra Photoshop love.
And another photo that is hard to capture in all it’s detail. From this angle the structure never sees sunlight. Wait for the clouds and it loses luster. Nothing a tripod and patience can’t fix. I was traveling light taking advantage of a cool breezy day to do a little Urban Hiking on the AZ Canal. Next time! Because everytime is a scouting trip. The only difference is my knowledge and preparedness each adventure.
This happened earlier enjoying a perfect morning in Phoenix, Arizona. I looked over to see Buttons swatting at a couple flies. It was pretty cute only lasting 4 shots. Neither cat was really interested in having their photo taken, so it was time to review the pictures. I started going through the files and saw she had a bee right above her eye. No animals were harmed. Well, I can’t be sure for the bee, but Buttons will get over the bees trying to poke her eye. Hope the GIF was funny!
Update:
Buttons passed away last week. My neighbor was kind enough to inform me. I’m not sure how she died, but I know it wasn’t from this event after inspecting her multiple times through the day. I wanted to inspect her body more, but I didn’t want the mental picture. She was gone long before I was informed.
Jokingly I said this meme was her 8th life swatting at bees. I think she came to me with maybe 3 left. I remember seeing her at Petsmart and found out she was rescued by the MASH unit from a hoarder. She used all of her claws for everything and I think that was met by humans with a lot of force just purely out of reaction to the pain. I can only imagine her journey up to the point we met.
She was an inbred, oily, dirty, fat, smelly, kitty that didn’t like being picked up and resisted bonding. It started making sense why she was housed separate from her kin and the look the Petsmart employee gave me when I picked her.
After she became more comfortable, she started challenging and stalking my other cat and exhibited destructive behavior when I wasn’t watching. It’s hard to love a cat like that, but she’s a cat and there were a lot of differences in her personality. A good test was the difference in her reaction to catnip versus the older cat.
She would impulsively kneed into the air and had a quite chirpy purr when she was happy. Most of the time it was while standing and it looked like she was doing a little happy dance. She liked being touched, but even with myself was leary. It took months for her to let me pick her up without having a panic attack. She still frowned and licked her nose in disdain. Until I gave her neck rubs, then she would start bathing herself.
The first time she got out I was worried sick. Even though we hadn’t bonded I still felt responsible for her safety. 3 days went by and she finally came back after I stopped putting food out. She was dirty and lost a bunch of weight. We started to bond more after that. The bogavia in the cover picture is where I found her and it remained her outside safe place.
She eventually started coming around and it became evident when she would bath herself without intervention. Part of that turnaround was exercise and the other was basic needs food, shelter, loving attention.
I truly believe cats need to go outdoors along with the basics. When it cooled down enough I cracked the window and let them outside. I kept a close watch with both cats at first. They both understood when it was time to come in. It also, became a choke point in cat quarrels, but for the most part a quick exit from whatever creature lurks outdoors to indoor safety. They are cats. They explore, hunt, soak up the sun, roll in dirt, drag in presents, and do cat things.
The day before she passed we were caught having our first bully up lap petting session by the older cat. Her fur was soft, well kept now. She was rolling, purring, chirping with her front paws splaying open and closed as if kneading her mother’s teats for milk.
There we were as the older cat walked through doorway shaking her head in disbelief and immediately saunter over to attempt an attack from behind. It was time to let them outside. The older cat made claim to the yard and knew the areas that were safe. Buttons had figured out some of those areas too. Unfortunately she still had a penchant for getting herself into trouble.
Buttons had a lot going on with her short life. Half of it spent in conditions that were traumatic and unhealthy. It’s sad that I wasn’t able to protect her from whatever got her, but she lived several months like a cat should. She was a loving cat and will be missed.
North Phoenix was my landing spot when I came to Arizona. My uncle was kind enough me stay in a room and my first job was at Jiffy Lube on the corner of Cactus and Cave Creek. 20 something years ago. I met my son’s mother. Met some friends, lost some friends. Raised hell when I didn’t have responsibilities and sometimes even when I did. I like to look over this valley as someone who is very much apart of it. A sea of lights that continue to illuminate the dark even in stormy times.
I climbed a mountain the other day. Some people laughed at me when I got to the top. Groaning, huffing, crouching and trying not to slip like a frail old fat man. But I climbed a mountain the other day.
View of Downtown Tempe and the Phoenix Zoo from Papago Park
