Photos from this day in Saguara The photos from this day are all from the Saguaro National Park West. We met at our place after breakfast, then, following Jakub's suggestion, Barb & I followed the Edge to the park. By this time we knew that if we ever got behind the wrong black Edge we'd probably follow it anywhere. The first photo in the gallery was taken at 10:41am so the morning shoot certainly spilled over into the harsh afternoon light. All of the photos were taken somewhere along the Hohokam loop road (I believe). After a couple hours of roaming the trails and shooting what stopped us, Jakub had a suggestion for the afternoon. He wanted to go to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum to try out his new 300mm lens on the birds there. Yvonne ... read more

Photos from this day in Joshua Tree We arose early enough to get to the Pinto Basin when the light first appeared in the park. Our target was the Cholla Gardens to capture some backlit teddy bear plants. When we finally got to the parking lot there was a sign telling us the area was closed. We knew there was somewhere in the park where road repair was taking place and 30-minute delays were said to be expected. It was too early for road construction so Jakub noticed a ditch on the other side of the road that didn't have a No-Parking sign, and I was happy to see we were going to shoot first and answer questions later. These spiny cacti seem to shoot needles that stick to every part of your clothing, including boots, ... read more

PHOTOS FROM THESE DAYS AT WEST FORK & FLAGSTAFF Not much to this day. We checked out early enough to make a last stop at West Fork on our way to Flagstaff. Then the rest of the day was walking around the town with my Olympus PEN camera. Our West Fork stop was short. We retraced some of the way I'd gone with Larry Lindahl, now so long ago. The structures found in photos 3 thru 7 are of what is left of a production crew's digs for the 1922 Zane Grey movie Call Of The Canyon ---er, I read something about a Mayhew's Lodge. The Reader can do the research if necessary. In any event, I heard a woman ask the party she was strolling with, "Is this an old Indian village?" I augmented the ... read more

PHOTOS FROM THIS DAY AT V-V, BORED ROOM & LOOP The V Bar V section of this gallery (1 thru 13) belong more to the preceding one. It was included with the late-day stuff just to get a better balance of numbers in each group. After our morning drive down Route 179 and back we played around town awhile, then laid around the hotel room. My favorite shot of the so-called boredom is number 19. Notice my shoes still drying out from my fun with Larry Lindahl. You can also see a bit of his new book on my first read through in photo 18. Arresting our rest was the rest of the day. On our scenic drive around the Red Rock Loop yesterday I noticed a few trees I wanted to meet. They are on ... read more

PHOTOS FROM THIS DAY AT PALATKI & HONANKI We returned to Palatki making sure we called for a reservation. We arrived when the light was high and harsh. For reasons I forget we were not allowed up into the ruins; we could only shoot them from a nearby hill. From there I got this 15-shot pano. We then made the short climb to the pictographs. We were told that the Honanki ruins, just around the corner, might allow more access to their ruins. They did -kinda. After maneuvering the rental out of the dusty environs of historical ruins we took a pleasant drive around the Red Rock Loop and headed back to Picazzo's. Now that is a place I recommend. Bellies full, we made a quick stop on Upper Loop before heading home for our nightlife. ... read more