Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse of 2014 Tonight I was lucky enough to witness something rare and awesome, a total lunar eclipse. Thankfully the sky was clear as a bell tonight and I was able to sit in my back yard and shoot it for over an hour. After taking many shots during the blood moon stage, I decided to turn up the ISO to get a few stars in the photo as well. The bright one you see shining is Spica.
This photo of the downtown Phoenix skyline was taken from the rooftop pool area of the Marriott Residence Inn Tempe Downtown/University. From here you can see a wonderful view of the west valley from South Mountain to the Bradshaws. You can also watch airplanes fly into Sky Harbor airport from the east, however they are far enough away to not disturb. And of course, you get this awesome view of the downtown Phoenix skyline below the White Tank Mountains.
Large canvas prints of my Tempe photos are used at this hotel in the lobby and throughout the building. While visiting the hotel after its construction I was given a key to the roof and lucky for me, I had my camera. After opening the door to the rooftop, I was treated to this incredible sunset above the White Tank mountains and the downtown Phoenix skyline silhouetted inside them.
I always cherish the rare times I get to photograph the Phoenix area from high above and this was no exception. I think I stood here for what felt like an hour gazing at the sunset and buildings downtown. It’s too bad sunset only lasts a few minutes.
The SS Palo Alto concrete ship eerily rests at the end of a pier in Aptos, California. In 1929, the SS Palo Alto was brought here to Seacliff State Beach State Park in hopes of turning it into an entertainment hub complete with restaurants and dancing. However when the owners went bankrupt, the concrete ship deteriorated, cracked in the middle and was only used as a place to fish. Over the years, the SS Palo Alto has become unsafe for visitors, so it's now used as an artificial reef and a wonderful subject for folks like me to photograph.This photo was taken from the bluffs above the beach while I was on vacation in Santa Cruz. I had seen photographs of this awesome abandoned concrete ship before and knew I had to get a shot of my own. I was unable to get a close photo from the end of the pier due to the amount of people. However this photo from above captures the SS Palo Alto in a different manner than most you'll see.
Bean Hollow Beach has to be one of my favorite beaches along the Pacific Coast Highway. Along with huge crashing waves, tide pools and aquatic plants, Bean Hollow State Beach has some of the best examples of tafoni formations I’ve ever seen.
Tafoni are tiny groupings of holes or caves inside porous rock like sandstone. You can see the tafoni all around Bean Hollow and this specific shot was taken near the pebble beach area just north of the main parking lot.
Before the concrete had cured on Wenceslaus Sarmiento’s masterpiece Punchcard Building in the burgeoning metropolis of Phoenix in 1968, it was already on its way to being outdated in some ways. That’s the risk of any art theme based on technology: change.
That’s the risk of any art theme based on technology: change. Today, we laugh at punchcards. Someday, our kids will laugh at USB thumb drives. Any monuments we make to the tech-of-the-day are obsolete even before they’re dedicated. But in the case of the Phoenix Financial Center, the architect managed to dream up something beautiful.
Photographing the iconic Mono Lake tufa formations was on my short list of goals for 2014. I had tried to photograph these awesome limestone towers once before, but did not know exactly where they were. This time however, I planned everything out perfectly.
My wife and I rolled into the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve about two hours before sunset to get the lay of the land. I walked along the beach for about 20 minutes and found the perfect spot to photograph the tufa formations. When the wood walkway ends, most folks naturally go to the right (east) because there are a lot of easily accessible tufa formations right there. However, I found a small opening in the tufa formations immediately to the left (west) of the wood walkway. Once I made it through, I was completely alone on another beach. There were even a few tufa formations up close which made for some great foreground subjects.
After parking our motorhome, I returned to Mono Lake to the spot I found earlier. Again I was alone with the tufa formations you see in this photo. It was an incredible time with a beautiful summer sunset, still waters and these awesome Mono Lake tufa formations.
So next time you visit, go left!
To me, Inspiration Point is the quintessential view of Bryce Canyon National Park. From this viewpoint you stand high above the main amphitheater and can see all of the archetypical formations and colors for which Bryce Canyon is known.
On your left is Silent City, an area chockablock full of tall narrow spires as if to mimic a city of skyscrapers. These hoodoos glow an orange pink during the first few minutes after the sun has popped up behind Powell Point. If you are a photographer, Silent City is a great place to grab your telephoto lens to catch the morning glow. You can also see the deep colors of the lower Pink Member and softer upper White Member of the Claron Formation here. There are even a few young bristlecone pines at this elevation.
While capturing this photo of the sunrise, I was lucky to share Inspiration Point with a man from Scotland. He had rented a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and was on a road trip around the western United States. It was just him, a small pack of clothes, a tent and his rented bike. He was living a dream of riding a motorcycle around America. As we stood there I was reminded of another time I was photographing the sunrise at Bryce Canyon chatting with someone from Europe. He too was in America for the first time and road-tripping around the western United States.
I then reflected on the fact I was at Inspiration Point and was feeling truly inspired. Not just by the incredible sunrise and glowing hoodoos of Bryce Canyon, but the people who come here from thousands of miles away just to see its beauty.
This crested saguaro sits along Bates Well Road in the northern parts of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. From what I could see, it has at least 5 “Y” formations.
My wife spotted this crested saguaro along the road while we were exploring the recently-opened eastern section of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It was later in the evening, about 30 minutes before the sun went down. We had taken a wrong turn a few hours before and ended up on Bates Well Road instead of Puerto Blanco Road. No matter, it was still beautiful and we were blessed to see this crested saguaro.
When I decided to explore the western region of Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, I did not expect my first photo to be of a 1957 Cadillac just a few feet from me across the border. I had just pulled off Highway 85 onto South Puerto Blanco Drive just a few blocks north of the Mexican border. Puerto Blanco Drive runs along the border for a few miles and visitors can peer into back yards of folks living west of Sonoyta, Sonora, Mexico. This particular Cadillac was sitting just a few feet from the border fence in the back yard of an auto shop.
There are at least two Blue Canyons in northern Arizona: A lovely lava field near Fort Defiance I haven’t yet photographed, and the otherworldly monument to the power of erosion and the colorful effects of minerals you see here.
This Blue Canyon is a part of Moenkopi Wash about 30 miles from Tuba City on the Hopi reservation. It’s one of the most challenging destinations I’ve photographed.
There’s nothing nearby, and you’ll need four-wheel-drive and a hired Hopi guide to get there. It’s not a casual photo-op, but more of an expedition. One look above should tell you if it’s worth it or not.
After seeing Michael Fatali’s astounding work immortalized all over the web, I just had to make my own trip.
As in the Painted Desert to the southeast, these hoodoos are the remnants of the floor of a vast river delta where minerals and organic material gathered on high spots over millions of years. Thanks to the magic of plate tectonics, and at a speed too slow to even be described as “glacial,” those once-submerged spots rose up. The wind did the rest.
Spanish explorers called this part of Arizona “Mesa de las Vacas,” at last partially because the hoodoos resemble cows from a distance. Right down to the colors, they might have been mistaken for happy, grazing cattle by tired explorers. Maybe they were hungry as well.
Coal Mine Canyon, Hopi Reservation, Arizona
Technology itself is wonderful. A dependence on technology is inevitable, but somewhat less wonderful. Fellow photographer Ty Cook and I were depending on Google Maps to show us the way to this out-of-the-way natural wonder. Unfortunately, we were in between the Navajo and Hopi reservations, an area not known for good cell coverage.
Feeling useless, we stumbled a bit. We didn’t want to blindly follow just any road. This was more out of respect than fear.
Coal Mine Canyon is another one of Arizona’s hidden gems. It’s part of the same Moenkopi wash that produced Blue Canyon. It’s full of the same sort of delightfully-eroded scenic sandstone that inspired Spanish explorers to dub the area “Mesa de las Vacas” back in 1540.
If you are looking for an awesome place to watch big jumbo jetliners land in San Diego, this is your place. Laurel Airport Parking is a 9 story (I think) parking garage located about 1,500 feet from where the jet's tires hit the tarmac at San Diego International Airport.After doing some research, I've found the folks at Laurel Airport Parking don't care for people using their facility as entertainment. I can absolutely understand that too. When I visited, I paid my daily $9 and proceeded to the very top. It's an older building, so the fit is tight and a little low. Once I arrived at the roof I grabbed my 17-35mm lens, opened up Flight Aware and anxiously waited for the next airplane to land.A few minutes later I saw landing lights in the distance. From what I saw on Flight Aware, it was a Southwest Airlines 737. Not the biggest jet but certainly no Cessna 150. The lights got brighter as they passed over San Diego's Balboa Park and I saw the outline of a jumbo jet. Finally I could see it coming toward me on top of the Laurel Airport Parking building and I positioned my camera just right to catch it. WOOSH!!! Right over my head, I felt like I could touch it though the jet was still a hundred or so feet above my head.My experience at the top of the Laurel Airport Parking garage felt like the scene in Wayne's World where Wayne and Garth laid on top of Garth's Pacer and watched the airplanes fly over. What an awesome place... but be careful and respectful if you go there.https://youtu.be/4m2WutlqBk0?t=54s
I drove around for about two hours looking for a good place to photograph the San Diego skyline. I even Googled a few places to shoot downtown before I set off but I wasn't satisfied with the views of the buildings. Needless to say I was frustrated and felt I was wasting the evening which could've been better spent with some wine and my wife at our motel in Ocean Beach.On our way back to the motel, I decided to drive along Harbor Island and reminisce about my first trip to San Diego. My family spent Christmas of 1991 in San Diego and stayed at a hotel on Harbor Island. I remembered we had some incredible views of San Diego Bay and the buildings of downtown San Diego.After a few minutes driving up and down the island, I parked at Harbor Island Park and got this great photo of the San Diego skyline reflecting onto San Diego Bay. I stood there for a few minutes thinking about that first trip to San Diego with my parents and how much I loved the city. I often tell people San Diego is one of the most perfect cities in America.
Near the tip of Point Loma in west San Diego sits Fort Rosecrans Cemetery. It's a beautiful place set high on the peninsula overlooking San Diego to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. Fort Rosecrans Cemetery was opened in 1882 and includes over 101,000 grave sites. Many folks pass Fort Rosecrans Cemetery each day en route to Cabrillo National Monument at the south end of Point Loma.
This photograph of the Coronado Bridge was taken on a whim as I was leaving San Diego back to Phoenix. Instead of taking Interstate 8 home, I opted to partially take California's beautiful State Route 94. En route to SR94, however was an exit to Cesar Chavez park, southeast of downtown San Diego. This park has a wonderful view of the Coronado Bridge as it spans San Diego Bay.I only came here for a photograph of the Coronado Bridge. But when I approached the pier, a few folks where standing there with video cameras as if they were waiting for something out in the San Diego Bay. I assumed there was a seal or other interesting aquatic animal floating about. Minutes later, a little boy yelled "there it is!" I looked to the east and I saw the gigantic bow of the USS Essex LHD-2 heading out to sea! It was a real treat seeing that enormous ship sailing under the Coronado Bridge just 1,000 feet from me.The Coronado Bridge started taking traffic to Coronado Island in 1969 and acted as a toll bridge until 2002. It is 2.1 miles long and at its highest point, the bridge stands 200 feet above San Diego Bay.
Tatahatso Point overlooks Point Hansbrough and the Colorado River in north-central Arizona. This huge meander is bigger than the ultra popular Horseshoe Bend a few miles north. That said, it isn’t nearly as easy to get to.
I was inspired to visit Tatahatso Point thanks to this awesome photograph by Mark Metternich. I spotted Mark’s photo while searching for interesting places in northern Arizona. Once I found where this place was, I had to visit!
One weekend in a hot July, my good buddy Ty Cook and I headed up to Flagstaff to escape the Phoenix heat for a few days. That evening, we photographed a cool storm and lightning over Sedona. The next day, we were off to finally visit Tatahatso Point about 80 miles north. The drive up Highway 89 was the usual Grand Canyon/Antelope Canyon traffic. Once we reached the small town of The Gap, we turned off onto Indian Route 6110 and headed west. It was only about a 20 minute drive on the dirt road until we reached Tatahatso point. The wind was absolutely mind-blowing as it trusted up the sheer cliff side. Ty and I stayed there for a good few hours getting shots and watching another awesome storm in the distance. We even got to witness some rare mammatus clouds briefly forming in the distance.
I found out about Eggshell Arch while laying in my motel bed one evening perusing Panoramio. My wife and I were heading to Monument Valley the next day and I was hoping to find some cool sights to see on the way there. Thankfully I stumbled upon this hidden gem. It reminds me of the famous Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park. It sits on the edge of a cliff and overlooks a vast valley underneath. It was fairly easy to find but the road certainly required a high-clearance vehicle. Eggshell Arch also resides on private land which I later found out. While shooting, a young man named Sylvester came by on his quad. He was searching for a lost heard of sheep which had escaped their pen the night before. This is his family's land and he told me all about the many visitors who come to photograph this place. I enjoyed chatting with him.
My fellow photographer and frequent partner-in-crime Ty Cook and I found ourselves enjoying our trip a bit too much. We had tarried that day at the attractions along the way to Muley Point. The sun was setting fast, and in the parlance of the Hollywood cinematographer, we were burning daylight. We had to make it to the overlook before the last traces of good light disappeared, since we lacked the thermonuclear device that would have been necessary to illuminate a vast array of natural wonders spread over hundreds of square miles.
A few miles out of Mexican Hat, Utah State 261 turns into dirt and heads up through a section known only as the Moki Dugway. You might have heard of the Moki Dugway: It’s frequently written up in articles with titles like “Deadliest Roads in the World.” It’s only about three miles, but those miles are carved into Cedar Mesa with more switchbacks than a swing state senator in a contested election. In those three miles, the road climbs 1,100 feet. Ominous signs showing out-of-control trucks warn of 10% grades.
And we were burning daylight.
Needless to say, we made it, though there were times when I wondered if the contents of Ty’s stomach would still be with us at the top. We were greeted by a panoramic view of the Valley of the Gods. Through about 270 degrees of perspective, we saw the curvature of the earth punctuated by the astounding peaks and moguls of Monument Valley, with just enough daylight to capture the pic you see above.
The trip back down was more leisurely, and Ty and I remain friends to this day.
I love light trails from cars at night. They somehow add so much more life and detail to the photograph. I took this photo about 30 minutes after sunset on a cold October night and only expected to capture the silhouette of Monument Valley. Then I heard a car coming from the north and decided to leave my shutter open. I was left with an awesome but short light trail from the car's rear lights. Inspired, I waited about ten minutes for the next car to come and was left with this treat.
This is a classic view of the lonely highway 163 heading into Monument Valley. Highway 163 connects Bluff, Utah and Kayenta, Arizona and goes through some of the most beautiful sights to see in the four corners area. I will never forget taking this road for the very first time in 2005. I was driving south toward Monument Valley from Bluff with a good friend and had no idea what I was about to see as we came over the hill.
