A few more photos from our road trip with Joan and Rudy- this time we were shooting the Skull Valley gas station.
Choo Choo
Tracks and Train Station in Skull Valley
I think his name was John. . .
When we visited Yarnell with Joan and Rudy last week, Rudy spent some time talking to and photographing this delightful gentleman outside a local eatery. I snapped a quick shot and went inside, because I was hungry. Rudy ended up with a wonderful portrait, and I got this candid shot.
I’m a little bit country. . .
There’s nothing I like better than a windmill, a silo, or a grain elevator as a photo subject!
Our longtime friends, Joan and Rudy have been here for a visit and to celebrate Joan and my birthdays. On Friday, we took a drive over to Skull Valley and Yarnell so that Rudy and I could do a little photography. You will see a few of my photos in the coming week.
Traditions
Over the weekend, we spent some time at ‘Tis, the gallery where my show took place. Yes, the Fourth Friday reception was wonderful, but the seemingly endless self-promotion part is finally done- so enough said about that! The main gallery had the annual Native American show- arguably the best show of the year- and it was phenomenal. On Sunday there was an exhibition of dances by an Apache family featuring their children, who are learning the hundreds of years old traditions of their people.
This image is a closeup of the dad playing one of several flutes he demonstrated .
iPhone image, edited in Photoshop and Topaz Impression
And to the right we have. . .
Another shot at Red Rock Crossing in Sedona- a little tranquil oasis.
Another View
It’s all about the reflection.
We Were Here
As Arizona newbies, we tried to get to the Red Rocks Crossing view of Cathedral Rock in Sedona several times over the last few years- always without a map, unfortunately. Once we even got to the trailhead, but it was almost sunset- too late to start out. So a couple years after our last attempt,we set out this weekend without any expectations (or map. . .) and drove to the trailhead in the middle of the afternoon. It was a fairly easy and short walk to the view above, and I got to sit with my feet in the water and look at nature (my happy place)! What this does NOT show is the huge, NOISY crowd of families- complete with boom boxes. The iconic shots of this spot never show that scene. I hope to return at a better time of day for photography and explore a little more of the area now that we know where it is.
Tripping
Lonnie and I took a short trip over to Payson for two nights. We had never been in the area east of the Verde Valley and wanted to explore a bit (and I wanted some photo ops!). Our first visit was to Tonto Natural Bridge State Park to view the 183 foot tall travertine arch (believed to be the highest in the world). After reading that the hike down to the bottom of the arch was strenuous and on slippery, unstable ground, we decided to save our knees and look at things from a higher vantage point- on level ground.
The arch is magnificent- I wish I could post photos from the bottom looking up instead of the top looking down! Here are two shots (basically the same except for the orientation) from one of the viewpoints at the top. That white stuff is water dripping down.
Butterfly Boys
When we visited Butterfly World Last week, Henry was fascinated by the butterfly that was resting on Justin’s shirt. This photo records the moment when he realized he was also wearing a butterfly!
Henry is growing up- he spent a lot of time taking photos with his mama’s iPhone.
A fun time was had by all!
Fly Me to the Moon
The huge full moon rose ahead of us as we navigated the Phoenix freeways on our way to pick up our daughter’s family at the airport 2 weeks ago. It was bright orange and so huge that I kept forgetting to give Lonnie directions as we headed toward the airport. By the time we got back to the hotel it was no longer huge and no longer orange alas, but I did go out to the parking lot to snap a few shots before heading to bed.
Toucan!
At the beginning of our visit with our grandboys, we went to Butterfly World and the new OdySea Aquarium in Scottsdale. I fell in love with this toucan (I had never been so close to one) and spent a lot of time watching him watching us. He was in a fairly unreal environment, which I enhanced in post-processing.
Reflection Duo
Watson Lake reflections
Autumn version:
Winter version:
Submerged
Water, water everywhere at Watson Lake!
Snowplow at Sunset
Arizona sunsets are amazing!
You can see the Thumb Butte ahead with our hill to the right (our house is off camera).
Photography notes: Unfortunately I only had my iPhone with me to capture this (and the snowplow was waiting for us to move, I think)- and I haven’t learned enough about iPhoneography to know how to capture the dynamic range of this scene. I would automatically bracket this scene on my big camera- and could have done it with the phone camera if I knew my controls better (on my to-do list. . .). I edited it on the computer, but I can’t help wondering what it would have looked like taken with my Nikon!
melinda anderson photography 