Tag: Arizona (page 53 of 74)

An All Day Job

Sculptor Rasheas Mukwaira from Zimbabwe created this work, titled An All Day Job.  It was donated in 2009.  See photo of plaque for list of donors.

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Coyote and Key

Sculptor Deon Duncan created this sculpture, titled Coyote and Key.  It was donated in 2012 by Akito and Yuko Masunaga in honor of their son Riku Noah Masunaga.

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Quiet Pursuit

Quiet Pursuit, a sculpture of a bobcat, was created by artist Mike Dwyer.  It was donated in 2013 by Michael and Jeannie McGonigle and families.  (See photo of plaque for details.)

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Infinity Ring

This sculpture is Infinity Ring by Charles Sherman.  It was donated in 2013 by Dwight, Laura, and Lucas Johnson in memory of father and grandfather, Verne C. Johnson.

20140302-_DSC6145-Edit-mediumI returned the following evening and reshot the scene using  a 10-18mm lens.  It turned out that I used the same focal length as the previous night, 16mm, the difference being that there was more wind on the night of the second photo; the Fountain did not shoot as high allowing me to get it all in without having to go to a shorter focal length.20140303-_DSC6164-Edit-medium 20140302-_DSC6095-Edit-1000

Salt River & Cliffs near Saguaro Lake

This is one of the photos I got yesterday while out and about during the rainstorm.

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Marie at Saguaro Lake

Marilyn, Marie, and I ventured out into the rain yesterday, getting out of the car every now and then to take a few photos when the was a pause in the rain.  I got this photo of Marie while we were at Saguaro Lake.

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Friday Fitness Hike

Friday’s Hike started from the Wagner Trailhead.  We hiked Wagner to Granite, and went right on Granite.  The group split up in the large wash just past Stoneman Wash (which feeds back into Stoneman Wash).  Amy finished the hike with most of the group, continuing on to Bluff, then down Bluff back to Granite and Wagner.  The short hike was about five miles long.  Those of us who did the long hike made our way up to Pemberton at which point we returned via the Delsie, Wagner, and Granite trails, for a total distance of ten miles.

I took this photo on Granite Trail just before the group split up.  The red flowers are chuparosa.  I don’t recall what the white ones are.

20140228-DSC02756-Edit-mediumFrom left to right are Nick, Lena, Venie, Bob, Norm, Hiungi, Alan, Jill, George, Amy, Ellen, and Nancy.

20140228-DSC02765-Edit-medium A view of the McDowells in the distance.

20140228-DSC02768-Edit-medium A look back up from within a rock strewn wash.

20140228-DSC02797-Edit-mediumA view of Weaver’s Needle in the distance.

20140228-DSC02800-Edit-mediumBlooming Chuparosa bushes add color to the desert at this time of year.

20140228-DSC02806-Edit-medium A flat panel of varnished granite:

20140228-DSC02812-Edit-medium A panorama showing the area we visited.

20140228-DSC02818-Edit-medium The same quartz outcropping that we visited two weeks ago:

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Lena:

20140228-DSC02853-Edit-medium The McDowells in the distance with quartz in the foreground.

20140228-DSC02862-Edit-mediumA view of Morrell’s Wall and Tom’s Thumb in the distance.

20140228-DSC02877-Edit-medium Nick and Lena hiking down the Pemberton Trail towards Granite Tank:

20140228-DSC02898-Edit-medium Dead wood on the Delsie Trail.

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We saw a lot of cyclists riding up the Delsie Trail.

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New Edit of “A View from the Pemberton as Dusk Approaches”

I’ve been re-editing photos that gave me trouble in the past.  This is my current attempt, below, of a photo I had taken while on a bike ride using my Sony RX100 back in September 2012.  I’m still not especially happy with it, but I think it’s a lot better than my earlier attempt.  Perhaps my editing technique will be even better in a couple of years?

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Here is a link to my earlier attempt.  If you click on the photo above, you should be able to directly compare the two in the lightbox.

I took this shot at around the time when I started shooting RAW, but was still unsure about RAW file processing.  For a while, I had my camera set to save both RAW and JPEG files. I don’t do this any longer, but having this file provides me with an opportunity to show what an out-of-camera JPEG looks like.  The only thing that I’ve done to this file is to scale to a smaller size.  This is the -0.7 EV exposure.  I had considered posting the 0EV exposure, but it’s not all that much better; the sky is more blown, but the foreground is very slightly lighter.

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Granite Mountain Big Loop

Marilyn, Nick, and I did a big loop out in the Granite Mountain area on Sunday.  We did a loop starting at the Granite Mountain Trailhead just off of 136th St.  We rode Bootlegger to Granite Mountain Loop Trail, and turned left.  From there it was Granite Mountain loop Trail to Balanced Rock Trail; Balanced Rock Trail to Chuck Wagon Trail; Chuck Wagon Trail to Powerline Road #2; turn right; Powerline Road to Vaquero Trail; turn right; Vaquero Trail to Wrangler Trail; Wrangler Trail to Cone Mtn. Trail; Cone Mountain Trail to Upper Ranch Trail; turn left; Upper Ranch Trail to Brown’s Ranch Road; turn right; Brown’s Ranch Road to Corral Trail; turn left; Corral Trail to Dry Gulch Trail; Dry Gulch to cholla Mtn Loop Trail; turn left; Cholla Mtn. Loop Trail to Branding Iron Trail; Branding Iron to Granite Mountain Loop Trail; turn left; Granite Mountain Loop Trail to Bootlegger; Bootlegger back to parking area.  Total distance was somewhat over 16.5 miles.20140216-DSC02478-Edit-medium 20140216-DSC02484-Edit-medium 20140216-DSC02499-Edit-medium 20140216-DSC02529-Edit-medium

 

Friday Fitness Hike

Fourteen hikers showed up for the February 14 Fitness Hike.  Starting at the Wagner Trailhead, we crossed the road and took the Tortoise Trail to the Pemberton.  From there, we hiked Pemberton to Stoneman Wash, and Stoneman Wash to the Bluff Trail.  At that point the group split up with Amy leading the majority of the group back to the Wagner Trailhead.  Bill, Janet, Nick, Linda, and I went the other way on the Bluff Trail, eventually returning on the Wagner Trail as well.

A buckhorn cholla on the Tortoise Trail:

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A dead tree on the Pemberton:

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Anders said that this is a 1960 Chevy.  There had been speculation in the past that it was a ’59, but Anders said that the 1959 Chevy had bigger fins.

20140214-DSC02234-Edit-mediumFrom left to right are Amy, Jill, George, Linda, Mary Ann, Christina, Venie, Nick, Janet, Mary Lou, Per, Anders, and Bill.  We had such a big group today that not much of the car is visible in this photo!  (And they made them really big back then!)
20140214-DSC02242-Edit-mediumEven though it’s a fitness hike, Amy tells us about desert mistletoe during one of our water breaks.
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A view of Stoneman Wash.  The green plant at the lower left is called Bebbia, but is also known as Sweet Bush or Chuckwalla’s Delight.  (Thanks to Amy for researching this and sending me this information after the hike was over.)20140214-DSC02279-Edit-medium

A chuparosa bush in bloom:

20140214-DSC02316-Edit-medium Janet, Nick, and Bill wait for me on some rocks.20140214-DSC02331-Edit-medium Linda took this photo of me next to a chuparosa bush.  An ocotillo is behind it.20140214-DSC02337-Edit-medium A fairy duster in bloom:20140214-DSC02340-Edit-medium The McDowells with a bunch of boulders in the foreground.

20140214-DSC02349-Edit-medium A similar view, but this time with a saguaro in the foreground too.

20140214-DSC02352-Edit-medium A boulder strewn wash:20140214-DSC02355-Edit-medium A view from the wash:

20140214-DSC02367-Edit-medium We encountered many large boulders on our hike.20140214-DSC02370-Edit-medium 20140214-DSC02376-Edit-medium 20140214-DSC02379-Edit-medium Another dead tree:

20140214-DSC02382-Edit-medium 20140214-DSC02385-Edit-medium Making our way towards a quartz outcropping:

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A field of small quartz rocks:

20140214-DSC02397-Edit-medium Two views of the quartz outcropping atop a hill:

20140214-DSC02400-Edit-medium 20140214-DSC02403-Edit-medium Another rock formation beside a wash:

20140214-DSC02421-Edit-medium An unusual saguaro:

20140214-DSC02430-Edit-medium A dead saguaro; it seems to have fallen recently.20140214-DSC02439-Edit-medium

Janet examines the roots of the fallen saguaro.

20140214-DSC02451-Edit-medium A poppy:

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The remains of a burnt tree on the Delsie Trail:

20140214-DSC02460-Edit-medium Christmas Cholla:

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