Breeden Falls is located along Rock Creek on the Escure Ranch in eastern Washington state
The Sacaton Mine was an open pit copper mine that operated between 1974 and 1984. The mine is 3,100 feet across and almost 1000 feet deep! From the sky it almost looks like an eye looking up at you from the desert floor.
I found the Sacaton mine one day while looking at Google Maps. I saw a place titled "The Eye of Grande" and eagerly zoomed in. After a little research I decided to head down to check it out with my drone.
The mine is located about 5 miles northwest of Casa Grande, Arizona just off Biano Road.
Fifi, the world's only airworthy B-29 Superfortress, visited the Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix this week. I wasn't able to get onto the tarmac for a decent photo so this was shot while standing on the roof of my 4Runner from a nearby parking lot.
To the left of Fifi is C-47 Skytrain N53ST and the B-25 "Made in the Shade".
It is quite rare to find a group of saguaro cacti this close together in nature. I remember standing beneath these giants in awe, as if I were standing amongst a grove of redwoods.
I will never forget the moments I shared with this baby horse and his mother. It was a gloomy day on a lonely highway in Colorado, on my way to Great Sand Dunes National Park, I think. On my right I saw a ranch full of horses grazing out in a field. I slowed down, parked on the shoulder and decided to see if I could photograph a few of them from afar. After about 15 minutes, a family of horses slowly started walking toward me. It took them another 10-15 minutes, but they eventually came right up to the barbed wire fence separating them from the highway. The little colt stuck right by his mother the entire time, except for when I took this photo. For some reason he lagged behind her a few feet, then trotted back to her side. Luckily I was able to capture this photo of him catching back up with his mom.
I love photographing horses, especially when they are in the wild or on remote ranches like this. It’s so peaceful to just watch them go about their day and they typically don’t care if you are there or not. These horses were found on a road trip through Navajo and Hopi land north of Winslow Arizona. I stopped on the side of Highway 87 and slowly walked up to these guys as they were having a bite to eat. Horses usually don’t scurry away like wild animals or cows do. These three horses just stood there, occasionally looked at me and kept eating. I swear the white one on the right purposely posed for me!
This photo of Bryce Canyon was taken during a massive road trip around the national parks of Utah and Arizona with my good friend Ty Cook. Unfortunately on this particular morning, Ty was a bit too tired to join me for the sunrise so I headed to Sunset Point alone. When I arrived, I chose my spot and patiently waited for the sun.
About five minutes before the sun came over the horizon, a Cruise America RV pulled up and out came a man in his 70s looking like a cross between Santa Claus and Jerry Garcia. He bounded out of the motorhome and excitedly headed straight for me with a point-and-shoot digital camera in hand. "Hello!" he said in a thick European accent. He was breathing heavily with excitement and I could sense that he wanted to talk to me. I welcomed the chance to chat, so I asked where he was from.
He was from Germany and was visiting American for the first time. He rented his Cruise America RV in San Diego and had been on an incredible journey up the Pacific Coast to the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and back down through Yellowstone. He said he didn't speak much English, but was somehow able to talk for 15 minutes about all the beautiful sights he saw in the United States. It was very heartwarming when he said, with a very thick German accent, "It is a dream come true".
Though I missed the companionship of my friend Ty this morning, listening to this man describe his adventure in America was a wonderful replacement.
This photo of Bryce Canyon was used by the Matador Network in their July 2012 article 27 of the Deepest Canyons You Can Explore.
This lovely sunset was a gift from the heavens after a long day-trip to Las Vegas. I needed a very specific part for my old Cadillac that I couldn’t find in Phoenix. Luckily, there was a car just like mine in Las Vegas, only five hours away. This patch of Joshua trees is located around mile marker 127 on Highway 93 and lasts for about 6 miles.
This rare crested saguaro resides in the eastern section of Arizona’s Saguaro National Park. It’s one of the tallest crested saguaros I have found, which made it quite difficult to photograph. But if you look closely, there’s a little crested crown at the very top. Its arms on each side reminded me of wings and the perspective of the clouds above made it as if the saguaro was flying away. What a great find in a great place!
The original Arizona State Capitol building was finished in 1901 and once housed all three branches of state government. It's now known as the Arizona Capitol Museum, but most Phoenicians still call it the capitol building.
I spent the morning driving around downtown just after sunrise looking for cool places to photograph. I had never been to the capitol building before and figured it was worth a visit. It was a beautiful cool spring morning, the grass was still wet and all I could hear was the clanking of flag polls behind me. As I stood there, a light breeze came and turned the windvane on the rotunda almost directly pointing toward me. I considered myself lucky to catch it at that angle.
The Arizona State Capitol statue on the top of the rotunda is actually a wind vane and spins around with the wind. I had no idea until I actually saw her move and face me when a breeze came through.
She is named Winged Victory and appears to be modeled after the Greek goddess Nike. <a href="http://www.tigerleaf.com/statecapitols/wt-statue-fe1.htm">This website</a> says that in the early 1900s, people would shoot at the Arizona State Capitol statue just to see her spin around. Those must have been simpler times.
Cathedral Rock is one of the most recognizable and photographed formations in Sedona, Arizona. This shot was taken on a stormy day from Crescent Moon Ranch on the west side of town. There is a small parking fee but absolutely worth it to see an unobstructed view of one of the most iconic places in the red rocks. While shooting this photo, I was visited by a snake looking for some yummy mice. Luckily he wasn’t looking for my ankles at the time!
I love the Phoenix City Hall building. I am not sure what architectural style it falls into but it certainly is beautiful. The city hall building was finished in 1994 and designed by Langdon Wilson.
I took this photo of the Phoenix City Hall building from the roof of the 305 Garage. The parking garage is located kitty-corner to the southwest from the city hall building and is free. You can drive all the way to the top for some beautiful views. I have never been approached by security while photographing here, however if you are, always be respectful.
This photo of a bolt of lightning crashing above Sky Harbor airport is one of my most popular of all time. Southwest Airlines chose it as one of 2009’s best photos of the year and generously awarded me some tickets to anywhere they fly.
I was out for some evening photography with my boss and he wanted to photograph the light trails made by airplanes landing and taxing. We headed to Sky Harbor Airport and up to the 9th floor of Terminal 4’s parking garage. It had been storming around the Phoenix valley all day and it continued to grow as we photographed airplanes from the roof of Terminal 4. We stayed on the southern edge of Terminal 4’s garage overlooking Southwest Airlines’ gates and South Mountain. After about ten minutes of trying and trying, this three second exposure finally caught and incredible bolt of lightning.
Devils Tower is a huge piece of igneous rock poking 1,267 feet out of the eastern Wyoming plains. I drove here from Rapid City, South Dakota during one of the most memorable road trips of my life. I stayed over night at the campground in the back of my rented Jeep and was quite cold. The next morning I was greeted with bright blue skies and warmth. I made my way around the monolith for about an hour, then took this shot on my way back to Rapid City. Just amazing.
