Cavaz Photoblog

Good News and Bad News

2006-01-04T21:51:00.000-07:00

The bad news is I won't be updating this photoblog anymore. The good news is it's only because I've finally created my own which is now incorporated into my web site at www.cavaroc.com/plog/. Please update your bookmarks and links.

Thanks!

Panorama from Tom's Thumb

2006-01-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

Tom's Thumb is a rather adventurous hike located in the McDowell Mountains northeast of Scottsdale. The hike is on the other side of the mountains it's a pretty rough road to get to the trailhead. Once on the trail there are boulders to climb, bushes to avoid getting scratched by and a trail that seems to disappear a lot. The trail is actually very makeshift in places especially once you get to the top of the mountains and are making your way toward Tom's Thumb. The view however is amazing and makes it all worth it. There's also a couple of neat little caves where large boulders hang or are supported up by other boulders. This is taken looking northeast from the Tom's Thumb which is the large boulder extending out of the left of the photo. It's stitched together from 9 photos originally.

Our House in New Orleans - Post-Katrina

2005-12-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

These photos are of my parents house in New Orleans and a couple others are a couple of houses away. This is what my parents house and neighborhood looks like four months after Hurricane Katrina. These are all in uptown New Orleans and no post-processing has been done on them just yet. Plenty more are on the way of other areas of uptown.

Phoenix From the Top of Camelback Mountain

2005-12-18T22:17:00.000-07:00

I was a little disappointed in the weather when we started our ascent up the Echo Trail of Camelback Mountain. From there it only got drearier and the brown cloud of pollution that sometimes comes out was making a pretty prominent appearance. I wasn't really too excited about the conditions until I started playing with a couple of the photos when I got home and wound up with these two. It makes me wish that I had taken more.

Out of Africa Safari

2005-12-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

Last weekend a couple of friends and I headed up to Camp Verde to visit the Out of Africa Safari Park. It's a really neat park with a lot of expansion in the works. We also discovered while we there on that Sunday that on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays they let people watch them feed the carnivores. I unfortunately didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked because my battery was only half-charged and went to low after ony a few minutes there. So I only got one or two shots of each area. Luckily there were lots of tigers.

Leftover Plants From a Fire

2005-12-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

The fire in this area this past summer took out a lot of the plant life that lived here. I hadn't been back here since before then and it looked entirely different. This was taken on my out as I was coming up over the hill.

Verde River

2005-12-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

Well my First Friday show has come and gone after having an insane last week involving lost sleep, stress, 3 stitches in my right index finger and all sorts of last minute shenanigans, I decided to take a small road trip into one of my favorite areas: Tonto National Forest. It wouldn't be a long one though, the last gas station along the way wouldn't take my debit card so i was stuck with only about 1/4 of a tank. Oh well. I got some good shots anyway. More to come also!

Phoenix from Squaw Peak

2005-11-20T19:20:00.000-07:00

This is a 14 photo panorama taken of Phoenix at night on top of Squaw Peak in the Phoenix Mountains. For those familiar with the area, or wanting to learn, the big highway running across the middle is highway 51. To the left is South, straight ahead is West and to the right is North. The two main roads coming toward the camera are Glendale Ave and Northern, respectively. The small red light floating in the left of the image are actually the towers on the South Mountains. In the hi-res version you can also see the 101 and I-17 north of the 101 in the distance.

First Friday

2005-11-14T19:06:00.000-07:00

I was just informed today that my work will be on show in a gallery for First Friday. If you're interested in stopping by on December 2nd, it will be at Holy Click located at:

1326 W. Roosevelt
Phoenix, AZ 85007

For those that don't know, First Friday is a monthly event in downtown Phoenix where galleries, houses, shops, etc all open their doors and expose as many artists as possible to the public in one night. Thus, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity they're giving me. Hope to see you there!

Sunset from My Driveway

2005-11-12T14:37:00.000-07:00

This was sunset this past Thursday taken from my driveway in Scottsdale, Arizona. They were taken right when I got home from work. Had I caught longer red lights on the way home on Hayden, I would have taken more. But the lights weren't long enough. I probably should've taken the 101 that day since that always seems to crawl.

Grand Canyon at Desert View Panorama

2005-11-03T23:21:00.000-07:00

This is a 10 photo panorama taken at the Desert View at the Grand Canyon during the golden hour.

Grand Canyon from the Desert View

2005-11-03T22:14:00.000-07:00

This is one of the 10 photos that I picked out of a panorama I just started of the Grand Canyon. This one seemed to stand out really well on its own so I decided to put it up here before making the panorama. It was taken during the golden hour at the Desert View area of the Grand Canyon which is about as far east of the Grand Canyon as you can get.

Dead Tree at Zion National Park

2005-11-01T21:21:00.000-07:00

This is a dead tree that was taken along a trail in Zion National Park. One of the few non-panorama shots that I like from there.

Grand Canyon North Rim

2005-11-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

This is a 12 photo panorama taken of the Grand Canyon North Rim when we stopped on our way back from Zion National Park. A few of us crawled up on top of a small rock above the main trail and enjoyed the view from there rather than the typical viewing areas. We preferred making our own viewing spots much more.

Zion Canyon

2005-10-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

This is a 4 photo panorama of Zion Canyon taken on the way down from the Angel's Landing Hike.

Angel's Landing at Zion National Point

2005-10-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

This is a 3 photo vertical panorama taken from about halfway up the last leg of the Angel's Landing Hike at Zion National Park. You can get a sense of how narrow the path up really is and how steep the drop on either side is with only a chain to hold on to.

Rocky Point Sunset

2005-10-20T18:30:00.000-07:00

This is a panorama of the sunset from the similar looking photo that was posted before this. It's a 5 photo panorama and was taken at sunset (obviously) on the beach of Puerto Penasco (Rocky Point), Mexico.

In case it's not blatantly obvious...I'm really anxious to get back.

Rocky Point, Mexico

2005-10-16T23:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend some friends and I headed south of the border to Puerto Penasco, Mexico, aka, Rocky Point. It was a great trip and an amazing getaway.

Zion National Park in Black and White

2005-10-04T22:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a previous post's panorama but in black and white. Something about this composition was screaming to made into a black and white and I'm glad I listened to it. This is the top of the Angel's Landing hike.

More from Grand Canyon and Zion National Park

2005-10-03T22:10:00.000-07:00

Here are some more quick shots taken from Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon. The two on the left are from Zion while the other three are from Grand Canyon South Rim. Also if you're in that area and you're only visiting one, I'd highly recommend visiting the other since they're so close.

Angel's Landing at Zion National Park - The Other Side

2005-10-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is what the view from the Angel's Landing hike looked like directly opposite of the previous one. It's a 5 photo panorama looking over the other side of Zion Canyon.

Angel's Landing at Zion National Park

2005-10-01T22:59:00.000-07:00

I threw together this quick 4 photo panorama while procrastinating from unpacking. So now that I've got internet and SNL on in the background, I don't think the tornado debris that is my room will change much in the coming weeks.

But about the panorama...it was taken at the top of a hike that takes you up a narrow cliff to the top of a mountain with only a chain to keep you from falling a thousand feet or two. Well worth it though. Quite an adventure.

Terry at the Grand Canyon South Rim

2005-09-28T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a 9 photo panorama of a friend of ours named Terry taking a break along the South Kaibab Trail in the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Grand Canyon South Rim

2005-09-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

Continuing on from my little moving/packing break, I went ahead and did a few from our trip last weekend to the Grand Canyon South Rim. As with the last post, there's still a lot more to come...mostly in panorama form.

Zion National Park and Grand Canyon North Rim

2005-09-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

So I decided to take a small break from packing and moving and put up a few photos. These are a few photos from two weekends ago when we went to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon North Rim. There are many more to come though. This is just a small sampling of them. I'm probably going to make some black and white and there are several panoramas that I still have to put together. In fact the first one isn't even from Zion National Park. It's actually from the Marble Canyon and Painted Desert area. The other two don't really give you a good idea of what Zion is like, but that'll be the panoramas' job. The last one is a quick shot from the Grand Canyon North Rim. Again, more is on the way.

They're Coming...

2005-09-22T07:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went on an amazing trip to Zion National Park and the Grand Canyon North Rim. So where are the photos? They're on a little portable hard drive I have that I can dump my memory card onto when that gets full. I can't download the images yet because the cord got mixed up with someone from L.A. that we met up there. He overnighted it yesterday so I should be getting it back today, but I'm leaving Friday morning for the Grand Canyon South Rim. But you can't expect to see any pictures next week either cuz I'm working 9-10 hour days while in the process of moving and I have to be out of my apartment on the 30th which leaves absolutely no time to do anything but move :-(

So yeah don't be surprised if this photoblog goes about a week with no updates. But rest assured that when I do finally move and get my internet back up there'll be some sweet pics of Zion National Park and two rims from the Grand Canyon :-)

Schnebly Road Panorama in Sedona, AZ

2005-09-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

This is a 9 photo panorama taken from a little mountain-top on Schnebly Road in Sedona, Arizona. It's another one from the road trip this past weekend that me and some friends made to scenic Sedona.

Back to Sedona

2005-09-11T23:01:00.000-07:00

I headed back to Sedona this weekend with some friends that I had gone with last time. I'm really tired right now so I don't know what to type right now other than enjoy :-)

Driving Home from Work

2005-09-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things about working a 9 hour day and then driving an hour home is it's timed pretty well with something like this. This is occasionally what I see at the end of my drive from North Scottsdale to Chandler.

The View from a Sedona Vortex

2005-09-01T22:23:00.000-07:00

It took me a while to finish this one because a) it's hand-stitched together from 19 photos in Photoshop and b) I still have a lot of family that lived in New Orleans so I've been kinda a wreck the last few days. I'm amazed that that's the place I was born and raised. Oh how the times they are a-changing.

But since Hurricane Katrina has nothing to do with this image, I'll quit rambling now. This is a 360 degree panorama taken on top of a vortex in Sedona, Arizona. As I said before it's also comprised of 19 photos. The two standing in the middle of the photo are a couple of the friends that I was with, Austin and Tammy. Austin injured his arm and Tammy's doing Reiki on him, but alas, it was fractured and so there was only so much she could do. A couple of other friends are in there along with some other tourists on the left. And yes the tree on the left is the same tree as the one on the right.

Back to Sedona

2005-08-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

I went with some friends on a camping trip back to Sedona. We actually wound up camping in Flagstaff, but that's a different story. All the pictures here were taken in Sedona. The panorama is stitched together from 10 photos and was taken at Slide Rock State Park. The last, vertical one was taken on the way down from a vortex in Sedona. A panorama or two from the top of the vortex will hopefully be up here in the next few days.

Panorama Coming Home from Work

2005-08-15T21:27:00.000-07:00

I was driving home from work today and for some reason felt compelled to drive around the Indian reservation that lies just to the east of the 101 in Scottsdale, Arizona. After a little driving I noticed this area against the clouds and found out why I had felt compelled to exit.

Perseid Meteor Shower from the Mogollon Rim

2005-08-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I didn't get any good shots of any meteors. But I did manage to get a couple of panoramas of the view of the Mogollon Rim north of Payson, Arizona. This is the view from our campground that was about 100 yards away off the rim. It's stitched together from about 8 photos, though after it was completed it looked better with about 1 or 2 of the photos cropped out from the right.

Lightning Storm

2005-08-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm about out the door for Vegas with a bunch of friends but just wanted to share this photo from a kickass lightning storm that came through last night. This was taken off my balcony and assuming all the other shots came out, is a little sneak peak at the panorama I'll have of it when I get back.

Have a great weekend!

Experimenting After Work

2005-08-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

I was on my way home from work and saw a pretty nice sunset. I wanted to try a trick that I had read about recently where you shoot one shot so that it comes out properly exposed on the histogram but then you overexpose another shot in the exact same position to bring out the darker areas. Then in Photoshop you combine them and blend them accordingly.

Not quite sure how successful this was, but I figured I'd throw it up here just in case somebody might like it.

Another Panorama from Sedona, AZ

2005-07-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

Here's another panorama taken from Sedona, Arizona on the Upper Red Rock Loop road. It's stitched together from 4 photos.

Panorama from Sedona, Arizona

2005-07-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

This is a panorama from Oak Creek Canyon which is just west of Sedona, AZ. Really nice place. I'd recommend it and most likely head back there at some point during the monsoon season. The photo is stitched together from 9 photos.

A Glimpse of Monsoon Season

2005-07-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

These were taken last night as a crazy little storm came ripping through Chandler, AZ. I initially drove around trying to find a better place to take them from but Chandler doesn't have too many of those places other than wide open fields. I wasn't willing to take that risk so these were taken from my apartment balcony.

Sedona with my Mom

2005-07-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

My mom came to visit me this week and I took off work today and headed up to Sedona, Arizona so she could finally see it. These were a couple of them...more coming soon.

Mission Canyon

2005-07-08T23:00:00.000-07:00

This 6-photo-panorama of Mission Canyon was taken somewhere around the Bagdad, Arizona area if my memory serves me correctly. I'm a lot happier with this one than the last one, but everyone's entitled to their own opinion :-)

What do you think? Better or worse?

Panorama from North of Wickenburg, Arizona

2005-07-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

Wickenburg's the first major town you hit on the 60 going northwest out of Phoenix once you're out of all the suburbs, which by the way, go on forever. This was taken north of Wickenburg going up into the mountains and was stitched together from 7 photos. I messed around with it a bit and I'm not sure if I like the results. I was a little hesitant to even upload but I figure even if I don't like it, somebody might.

To Northwest of Phoenix and to Prescott, Arizona

2005-07-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

Today I finally made it out Hwy 60 to the northwest. I've been wanting to go there for a long time because I knew the terrain would be something different than what all my previous road trips across Arizona had shown me. As I said, I took Hwy 60 northwest out of Phoenix and over to Wickenburg. Before heading over to Prescott from there I took a couple of detours off of Hwy 89 over toward Bagdad and Hillside and then finally headed back toward Prescott by means of Skull Valley (not as interesting as the name sounds). After Prescott I headed back to I-17 hoping to catch some of the fire before they got it all out, but at the moment, it looks to be pretty under control. Besides, I was hoping for a night shot of the fire and there was still much day left. So I went ahead and headed home after my long day of driving.

Now that the weather's so clear though and I've got new tires on my Cherokee, I'm considering doing Four Peaks next weekend since I haven't seen the view from up there under clear skies. Stay tuned to find out if I do :-)

Two New Ones from Camelback Mountain

2005-06-29T20:37:00.000-07:00

I know. It's been forever. Life's gotten crazy lately and hasn't let up much. But the camera's been nagging at me for use and luckily it doesn't take much nagging from it to get me to take it out and shoot. The pollution this past Sunday had cleared up nicely so I figured it was as good a day as any to head back to Camelback Mountain for a little hike.

There are also a few panoramas coming with views of the McDowell Mountains and Four Peaks as well as the Phoenix area.

Two More from Camping at Crown King

2005-06-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more from this past weekend's camping adventure at Crown King, Arizona. Both of these were actually taken on the way down so you still haven't seen what Crown King really looks like :-)

Panorama Coming from Crown King, Arizona

2005-06-05T21:33:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went on a camping trip with a large group of friends up to Crown King, Arizona. It turned out to be a little closer than I expected, but was still way up in the mountains and a much needed weekend getaway. This is a 10-photo panorama taken on the way down.

Vertical Panorama from the Plateaus

2005-05-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

This was taken last weekend from the plateaus east of Roosevelt Lake up Young Road. You can even see the Four Peaks in the distance. I had a buddy with me for a change who seemed to enjoy that area just as much as I did. But then again, who wouldn't?

East of Roosevelt Lake

2005-05-24T23:18:00.000-07:00

So here's the first picture from my little expedition back up to the cliffs east of Roosevelt Lake up the Young dirt road. I brought a friend along for a change this time and while I was up there shooting this picture we played a pretty fun little game throwing rocks off the cliffs and listening to the explosions of them hitting other rocks hundreds or even thousands of feet below.

Why Must Life Get in the Way of Fun?

2005-05-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. Life's been getting a little crazy and hectic and hectic and crazy. But don't worry. I still got some new shots coming. I made a little road trip just the other day up the back roads east of Roosevelt Lake. The crazy difference this time was that I actually had someone else with me. That was a new experience, but luckily also a lot of fun.

So I'll have those pictures up soon. Also hopefully a few from the plane trip to Texas. So yeah, I'm still here and will always be taking pictures.

An Update! ...Sort of

2005-05-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

Finally! I know I haven't updated in a while. My life's been pretty hectic lately. I didn't even get a chance to make a road trip this past weekend :-(

Oh well. I've got a couple of images here that I redid and wound up loving much more than their color counterparts. I'm curious to know if ya'll like them as well.
Thanks!

PS - I've also uploaded some photos to a place called dotphoto that I was referred to. The cool thing about them is they'll print poster size prints of my images! :-)
So if that's something that interests you, be sure to check it out!

Scottsdale from Camelback Mountain

2005-05-01T22:17:00.000-07:00

Here's another panorama from last weekend taken of Scottsdale from Camelback Mountain. It's roughly 270 degrees and is made up of 13 photos stitched together in Photoshop.

Vertical Panorama from Salt River Recreation Area

2005-05-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

I was driving down the Bush Highway when I stopped into the Salt River Recreation Area parking lot to check out some of the cliffs across the river. This is a vertical panorama of those cliffs from the edge of the parking lot.

McDowell Mountains National Park

2005-05-01T00:30:00.000-07:00

My original plan for today was to go hiking out in the McDowell mountains. But upon seeing a few snakes and scorpions I began getting one of those bad feelings about being on a trail like that alone with poisonous things and no way to get help. So I scratched that plan and took the Bush Hwy down to Hwy 60 and over to the Superstition Mountains for rest of the day. These are a few of the grabs I got while I was at the McDowell Mountains National Park.

Another Panorama from Camelback Mountain

2005-04-28T22:43:00.000-07:00

Here's another panorama from up on Camelback Mountain taken on an amazingly clear day. Stitched together in Photoshop from 7 photos.

Vertical Panoramas from Camelback Mountain

2005-04-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

These are two vertical panoramas that I shot from Camelback Mountain, one facing Southwest, the other facing Northeast. Both also started off with 5 photos but they each had one that was only getting in the way.

On the one facing Northeast (the one with the big rock in the foreground), you can just barely make out the Four Peaks on the very right side. On the other one you can see the South and Estrella Mountains in the background.

Phoenix from Camelback Mountain

2005-04-24T23:33:00.000-07:00

This is a panorama of 7 photos stitched together in Photoshop of what you'll see from part of the trail on Camelback Mountain, one of the bigger mountains in the Phoenix area. It's also one hell of a hike. We didn't get all the way to the top, but it didn't look too much farther. Besides, the view from here was rewarding enough.

Camelback Mountain and Papago Park

2005-04-24T22:10:00.000-07:00

I was originally planning on going out of town to escape the pollution and the city, but I looked out my window this morning and the weather was crystal clear and there was even a nice breeze. So I figured this would be as good a day as any to finally conquer Camelback Mountain. I called up a friend of mine and we began our ascent at about 3:00pm. Unfortunately we didn't make it all the way to the top because I had forgotten to bring food and was getting hungry and he hadn't eaten for a few hours, so sadly, we figured it was smarter to put our health first. We got pretty high and up to a nice view that overlooks both Scottsdale and Phoenix. I should have some panoramas from that point up later this week as well. Once we got back down I got convinced to go to Papago Park. After grabbing a bite to eat at Subway, I headed over there and found a cozy spot to sit for sunset, which is when most of these shots were taken.

Another Panorama from Seven Springs Road

2005-04-24T12:00:00.000-07:00

This was hand-stitched together in Photoshop CS from 10 photos taken along an Arizona back road called the Seven Springs Road east of I-17 and north of Phoenix. I did a little extra post-processing though. Noticing that the dominant color in the land was kinda yellow I tried to bring that out some more and then to complement that I gave the sky a purplish hue to it. I kinda like, but I'm curious to know what you think. Does it work?

Panorama from Seven Springs Road

2005-04-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

For the regulars that come here, you've probably noticed there aren't as many photos going up this week as normal. It has nothing to do with the leg and it's not because I didn't take enough. I actually have plenty I want to post, but what's been holding me back is that I've been redesigning my personal site (no it's not up yet, as of this writing). I'm hoping to have it up at the end of the weekend. But we'll see.

Anyway, this is another panorama I took last weekend that I'm trying to get up before going on another road trip tomorrow. It was taken along Seven Springs Road and was, as always, hand-stitched in Photoshop from about 8 photos.

Panorama from East of I-17

2005-04-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

I was on a dirt road that runs parallel to I-17, but lies about 30 miles east of it, when I started to hit rocky mountains (not the rocky mountains). I saw a really neat place to pull over for a panorama and this is what I got.

My Leg + Jeep Wrangler = Ouch

2005-04-17T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was on my out of the mountains (those photos coming in the next few days) heading toward I-17 on a dirt road when I noticed a Jeep Wrangler flipped on its side down the road. There were two other larger trucks (one Dodge Ram and a Ford F-250 I believe) that had already stopped to help out but I figured in a situation like this, it'd be nice to have all the help you can get. So I got out and discovered that it was all the work of a coyote that had caused the Jeep to lose control. We got it hooked up to the Dodge and began dragging it out of the ditch so we could prop it up enough on the cliff to get it onto the road. Luckily Jeep Wrangler's aren't relatively heavy cars. With a little more dragging, we got ready to prop it up. While pushing it up, I somehow lost my footing into the small ditch on the side of the road and slipped underneath a bit. I gathered myself just in time to look up and watch the rear tire of the Wrangler roll right onto and over my leg (I'm in the orange on the ground...obviously). I can tell you from experience now, a pretty freaky sight is watching an actual car roll over your leg like a small log in the road. The passenger of the Wrangler (whose name I've already forgotten :-( ) was a certified EMT and diagnosed it as nothing more than a sprained hamstring and I was (literally) able to walk away from it with nothing more than a limp, though I imagine I'm going to be in a bit of pain tomorrow. So what happened to the Jeep? Well we got it back upright, checked the engine, and started it up with no problems other than some leaky oil. ...I guess that's an important problem, but that's most likely from being dragged because the great thing about Wranglers is that they're made to flip over and turn back on as opposed to other cars whose fluids will leak all over the place and then won't start (learned a little new trivia from one of the other Sumaritans).

At the moment my leg is comfortably relaxing with an icepack.

Here are the thumbnails:

A Break From the Norm

2005-04-16T12:23:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday I met up with a group from meetin.org. For those not in the know, it's a web site that lets you meet up with random people in your area and go do practically anything that anybody wants to do. It's a really cool place and I've met a lot of really cool people through it so far. For example: this past Thursday was a museum outting; Tuesday was a Creative Connect where artists and commercial artists can colaborate and network; and just yesterday was a Happy Hour event where everybody meets after work at a random bar and...well...enjoys happy hour...for several hours. And this is just for Phoenix!

Ok, enough rambling. As I mentioned, these are from the museum outting from Thursday where we went to a museum that was designed by a greedy bastard of an architect. For some moronic reason you weren't allowed to take pictures of the structure at all. So I could've showed you some really cool pictures of the architect's work, but I wasn't allowed. It's really ok though because in all honesty, it wasn't that good. I've seen much better...practically everywhere. There were also some pieces in the museum that were on loan so I wasn't able to take pictures of those either, such as the first photo. But it's actually a photo of one of the meetin'ers with the painting that happened to be in the background. So it's ok...right? I've also already seen this one in the Fort Worth museum of modern art in Texas. But about the second one, I was walking back and noticed Raphael standing perfectly in front of the photo. So I took a couple of shots. Unfortunately with the dim lighting it came out blurry, so I just did my best to sharpen it and then put a smart blur which I think actually works because now he almost becomes part of the painting. The last one was a really neat painting that was painted on brushed alluminum. Speaks for itself.

West Phoenix from the White Tank Mountains

2005-04-11T23:45:00.000-07:00

I was going through some old photos from earlier this year when I came across this one. I had originally passed over it but gave it a 2nd look tonight and after a little tweaking decided I actually liked it. It's taken from the White Tank Mountains west of Phoenix facing northeast. Kinda puts things into perspective.

Storm Nearing Scottsdale

2005-04-10T23:32:00.000-07:00

I was on my way home from teaching a co-worker a few CSS tricks today when I looked in my rearview mirror and saw this storm over the McDowell Mountains. I took the next exit and found a nice little isolated place to the east of the 101 loop and grabbed this really quick.

For those not in the area, the McDowell Mountains lie just to the northeast of a suburb called Scottsdale which is also to the northeast of Phoenix.

Down the Apache Trail

2005-04-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

Once you get into the Apache Trail a good ways it turns into a dirt road. Once you get into that dirt road a good ways you descend from the top of mountain all the way down to the bottom. This is the view from the road on the way down where you can see the road winding along creeks at the bottom.

The road is really narrow so since I stopped in the middle of the road and got out to take this I didn't really have time to stop and take the time to do twice as many portrait shots. So this is 3 landscape photos stitched together.

Vertical Panorama from Above Roosevelt Lake

2005-04-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about the plateaus above the east side of Roosevelt Lake are the huge cliffs that are all over the place. You can walk right up to the edge of them and look straight down. It's probably the farthest distance I've looked down since being at the Grand Canyon almost a year ago.

I wanted to try to capture that distance knowing it wouldn't really work in a single shot so I got a bright idea to do a vertical panorama. I don't think I pulled it off as well as I could have, as this is only 4 landscape shots stitched together, but as far as this particular photo goes, I'm pretty happy with it. I'll definitely be going back there one day to try it again.

Panorama Over Roosevelt Lake

2005-04-10T11:14:00.000-07:00

This was taken on top of the plateaus overlooking Roosevelt Lake. There were a few storms in the area and I knew if I got up high enough that I could get a pretty good shot of them. So I did what I could.

This one started out as 7 photos, but I think I threw away one and probably cropped out an entire photo from the right side. So if I had to guess I'd say it's close to 5 photos now. But I think it works.

East to Roosevelt Lake

2005-04-10T00:53:00.000-07:00

I decided to stay relatively near Phoenix this time and so I decided to head back east to one of my favorite spots...to a series of plateaus overlooking Roosevelt Lake. It was an incredibly clear and enjoyable ride up there. But once I got near the plateaus the weather looked as though it was going to try and rain me out. Once I got up there I got caught in what I thought was a small rainshower until I payed attention to the sound it was making when it hit my car. That wasn't rain. It was actually snowing that close to Phoenix in mid-April. Granted it didn't stick and there wasn't very much of it, but I'd still call it snow. So did the biker I came across on one of the plateaus who had to turn around and find a camping spot. It was definitely cold enough up there and the wind blowing roughly 30mph didn't help much either. Glad I randomely brought my sweatshirt along.

Another Old Panorama

2005-04-09T11:49:00.000-07:00

I found yet another panorama that I hadn't posted. It was stitched together, but I never did save it most likely because it wasn't as nice as I had thought it would be. Truthfully I'm still not too crazy about this one either. But my posts the last couple of weeks have been pretty weak because of the little ISO mishaps so I figured I'd dig through some older stuff and give ya'll something rather than nothing.

Don't worry though. I'm actually about to head out now to the Roosevelt Lake area (probably) and I'm going to triple check all the settings on my camera this time and hopefully come back with something.

As for this panorama, it's stitched together from 9 photos and was taken on the way back from the trip where I almost made it to Globe. I thought the Four Peaks were visible back there somewhere, but they could be behind clouds or one of those hills.

So anyway, I'll leave you with this and be off on today's adventure.

Panorama from Picacho Park

2005-04-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

I had forgotten all about this panorama and so last night I threw it together really quick before I went to bed and just now took a few minutes to throw on the finishing touches. Personally I think I've done better, but I don't think it turned out too bad. It's stitched together from 6 photos.

And yes, that's me in the bottom left corner :-)

You'd Figure I'd Have Learned

2005-04-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

I got home today from a small road trip out west and realized that I hadn't changed back my ISO setting from this past weekend...even with the little lesson I gave myself to always check it before you go shooting. I had left it at 800 from the Austin picture so, once again, I came back to a bunch of noisy images. I decided to go ahead and play with a few since 800 has a lot less noise than 1600. I guess it's a good thing all the roads I wanted to go down were closed and that I didn't really see all that much to inspire me.

Since I had been north, south and east since moving here, I decided to head west and see what's out that way. ...Not very much. I missed all the wildflowers blooming so there weren't many of those and the interesting roads were either closed or didn't really go that far. The other roads that promised wildlife failed to deliver with the exception of lizards running across them. I'm beginning to think the Arizona wildlife has a conspiracy against me.

All in all it wasn't that great of an escape. But then again that's most likely a good thing considering the little ISO thing I keep failing to fix. Rest assured though I just finally set it back to 100 so next weekend I should (hopefully) have more and am already on planning heading back south to explore a little more.

Alaska Road Trip Revisited...Again

2005-03-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

Due to the little failure I had from this past weekend I decided to give some of the photos from my road trip from Texas to Alaska a second chance. They aren't my favorite shots, but I think they deserved a little exposure.

For those that don't know, this was a road trip I embarked on after graduation this past May with a friend of mine who's still stuck in East Texas ;-)
We left East Texas and went all over the west hitting every state except, sadly, California. Three weeks later we're in Sitka, Alaska. If you want more shots from the trip there are several pages up on my personal site.

Brilliant!!

2005-03-28T22:33:00.000-07:00

So I'm back from my little trip. But sadly, only 1 picture. I took about a dozen shots from the plane that I was really psyched about seeing on the computer because of how much potential they had on the camera screen. Going to New Orleans, I actually got some great shots of huge storm clouds over Texas and New Mexico doing very interesting things and casting scenic rays down onto the ground. On the way back I caught some scenic shots of Lake Maurepas and the Mississippi River that I could tell had some good potential. We stopped in Austin to get a little more fuel and I had some great shots of some of the vehicles that were nearby.

However here I am with only one shot of Austin at 10,000 feet. So what happened? I'm still pissed at myself for this and I will be for a long time. My camera was left on ISO 1600 from doing night shots a few nights before. If you know about photography, you know why those shots are absolute crap now. For those not in the know: to put it simply, I left it on a setting that made my images extremely grainy. So grainy, they're no good unless I come up with some brilliantly creative way to salvage them. This sadly, was not realized until we were pulling out of Austin, hence the reason I was able to capture this one abstract photo of Austin at 10,000 feet.

So let this be a lesson. ALWAYS double-check your settings before you start shooting.

Creative Commons

2005-03-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this from work so they're aren't any photos in this post. But it's more of an informational post anyway so there wasn't going to be any photos anyway. I decided to list this site in the Creative Commons web site because a) it's free advertising/exposure and b) I'd be one hell of a hypocrit if I didn't. What does that mean? It means that all photos on this photoblog are totally free for commercial use. I only ask one thing in return: if you do use a photo, please provide a link or a screenshot or something for me to see in the comments because I'd like to see who's using my stuff where. It'd also be great if you gave credit where credit's due if it's possible :-)

If you'd like to donate, which is of course always welcome, you can either get in touch with me and work out something with Paypal, buy a print or 7 from Photographica, or buy a high-res version of a photo I have up on Shutterpoint.

Also a little info on Daylight Fading version 2: I've been working on it but I think I messed up a couple of the shots in shooting. I'm gonna keep trying and see if I can exclude them somehow and hopefully have it up sooner or later. But tomorrow I'm leaving for New Orleans for Easter weekend and won't be back till Monday. However once I'm back then I'll have 3 days off from work so I'll plenty of time to either finish it up or reshoot it.

So if I don't post here before then, have a good Easter and I'll be back Monday!

Two New Panoramas From Sunday

2005-03-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Coming down Young Road from the north, there's a certain curve you come around where the scenery becomes absolutely mesmerizing. In the distance you can see the Four Peaks towering above Roosevelt Lake below. I went crazy stopping in the middle of the road and shooting panoramas because there was no place on the road to pull over and there was too much scenery to try and capture with just one shot. I didn't get to go everywhere I wanted and see everything there was to see because I was trying to make it to a particular scenic overlook by sunset, which I did make. But I'll most likely be going back in the near future.

The first panorama I believe had 6 photos while the 2nd had 9. Both were hand-stitched in Photoshop...as always.

Here's the Snow

2005-03-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

A friend pointed out that I had gone searching for snow but failed to post any photos with snow in the previous post. So far the only one I caught from yesterday with any snow was this panorama that shows it all melting into a little lake.

Many Thanks!

2005-03-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

I've noticed a lot more comments being left up here. Not sure if it's just cuz I got over a little rut I was in for a week or two or if I'm getting more traffic here, but either way, it's hugely appreciated! I don't have time to respond to everything so I thought I'd put up this post just thanking everybody for all the kind words that have been left so far.

It was asked what kind of camera I'm using. So I decided to throw that in on the left under Tools.

Also, as far as the magazine thing goes, it's going to remain just an idea until I start getting some more cash flow and can research it a bit more.

But once again I appreciate every comment that is left on here. So thanks again! :-)

Finding Snow Before it Melts

2005-03-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

I headed up northeast today knowing that whatever snow is left is going to start melting pretty fast now. I did find a good deal of snow, but I think it was actually the coldest I felt all year up there. I'm sure it probably had something to do with the fact that the wind up there was howling. That always seems to affect the cold on an already very cold day. You'd figure I'd have learned by now that if I'm going into snow, I should wear more than a t-shirt, jeans, my N.O. Saints hat and a sweatshirt. It still hasn't clicked yet though. I'm sure it will this summer. I'm thinking that if I were in The Matrix, then that would be my residual self-image. Coincidentally it sounds a lot like Neo's, only his sweatshirt was black. Mine on the other hand is red, like what Adam Sandler sang about.

Anyway, I headed up through Payson and over to Heber. I had a little bite to eat there and turned around and headed back south by means of Young Rd. For those that don't know, Young Rd is a very long dirt road that I was on for somewhere around 50 miles. Once I came out behind Roosevelt Lake, the scenery went from really nice, to simply amazing. I went crazy shooting panoramas but I noticed a few that got overexposed in certain areas. Hopefully I'll figure out a trick to cool it down.

Once I hit the Apache Trail, I began trying to make it to a scenic overlook that has a nice view of the Four Peaks before sunset hit. I barely made it and made another attempt at shooting Daylight Fading, version 2 this time. Hopefully I can get that up this week.

Tonto National Forest from Tuesday

2005-03-19T12:50:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Big Bad Voodoo Daddy - Go Daddy-O
I had gotten pretty busy this week and had left some photos from this past Tuesday untouched until today. The weather was so amazing that day I had to grab my camera and head just a bit north of town after work. I didn't get much and was disappointed with most of the shots, but I got a few I liked.

I was also planning on heading northeast today but the area I was heading to is having really bad weather right now so I decided to postpone that trip until tomorrow and hope I make it back in time for Arrested Development :-)

Daylight Fading

2005-03-14T21:28:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) U2 - Angels of Harlem
Yeah so I borrowed the title from Counting Crows. A) I love that song and B) It fits too perfectly.

This was taken on my way down from Mount Lemmon this past Saturday on the dirt road from Hell. I stopped about halfway down to capture this facing Northeast. I started earlier and got better shots of more daylight but due to technical difficulties with my ailing memory card I was forced to start over just before sunset. I shot a couple of shots every 15-20 minutes, would rotate the tripode a bit, and repeat step 1. I was hoping to make it till dark, but I was forced to pack up early since the battery in the camera ran out of juice around twilight. That'll happen when you head out at 7:30am and shoot all day long. It began as 18 photos that I was stitching together in Photoshop and was eventually reduced to 14 after finding some shots that were redundant and/or just getting in the way.

Honest comments are greatly appreciated on this shot as this is only the 3rd time I've attempted to do a photo like this, the first being in May 04. I'm also curious if anyone's seen anything like this anywhere else. I find it hard to believe that I'm the first person to do panoramas like this.

Picacho (Pikachu?) Park and Mount Lemmon

2005-03-13T10:29:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Nine Inch Nails - March of the Pigs
Yesterday morning I headed out with John and company to Picacho Park just north of Tucson. It's definitely something I'll have to head back down to along with my eventual destination for the day. I parted ways with them around midday and headed for Mount Lemmon. It sits to the northeast of Tucson and rises above 9000 feet. It's mid-March and there was even still snow up there, to give you an idea of how cold it gets. The little ad campaign you'll see on random signs and maps is that it's like taking a trip from Mexico to Canada because for every 1000 feet you climb, it's like going 300 miles north. It was definitely cold and it definitely did look like British Columbia (again) at the top. More so than the Four Peaks though. In trying to catch a nice shot of a stream (which didn't come out as nice as I thought) I landed a foot into it and had to walk around with a wet foot for the rest of the day. And for the record...melted snow is cold. After a little hiking here and there I eventually started looking for a place to set up for another day-to-night panorama that I wanted to do. I found some nice spots, but I was concerned about being a certain distance from my car in bear country, especially next to picnic grounds. I eventually began heading down the back way which is an old dirt road that isn't really maintained at all and it's high clearance vehicles are required to take it. I found a nice spot and began shooting it, but just as it was becoming night my battery died and so I don't think I got enough of the night time to make it work, but we'll see.

Here's where things got interesting though. Keep in mind I'm on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere after dark that I've never been on in an area I've never been in. The road was a lot longer than I had anticipated and I even made a wrong turn at one point and had absolutely no idea where I was going. I was lucky enough to find a random person driving down that road that pointed me in the right direction. I found the right direction but I couldn't tell because there are no signs and no visual landmarks anywhere to let you know where you're going. Needless to say I was freaking out a little. On a lighter side though I did get to see some deer, cows in the middle of the road, and a large bird attack my windshield. On the darker side though my battery was dead so I couldn't capture any of it. But finally seeing a paved highway was like winning the lottery. After that it was all downhill back to Phoenix.

Just an idea...

2005-03-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: Work :-(
I recently emailed a certain highly renowned magazine here in Arizona about a possible link exchange since they had the option on their page. I noticed other links on their page that were probably put there in the same way, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try, right? The response I got back was my domain blacklisted from sending them anymore email. Yes, they weren't even kind enough to say 'no.' They had to go totally elitest and snobby on me and completely ban me from emailing them anymore. Seriously, even a simple 'no' would have been rude, but it would have sufficed and it would have been much nicer.

Where am I getting with all of this? I want to start a magazine. Right now they're the only ones that I know of that are covering Arizona landscapes. But they're doing a lot of things wrong. They do have a great following and they do have some incredible submissions, but a) they're obviously snobby and would rather choose to stick their noses up in the air to people that aren't driving Porsche SUVs than give them a fair chance and b) here it is in 2005 and they still only accept film prints. I'd like to start something that allows submissions from everybody (assuming quality meets the requirements) and gives this magazine a run for its money. Maybe it doesn't even have to be a magazine - maybe it could be just a monthly publication of photos with just a small story to go along with them. I don't know, at the moment it's still just an idea.

What I want to know is would there be interest for this, what kind of costs would it require, and would any readers be willing to contribute?

Leave some comments and let me know.

...and yes more photos are on the way :-)

More From Four Peaks

2005-03-08T21:36:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (rndm) Red Hot Chili Peppers - I Could Have Lied
Just when I think this week's shots are way below par, I get a comment like this:
Your pictures and beautiful and inspiring.
That made my day. Not just because it was a nice thing to say but also because people seem to be commenting here less and less..."wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more."

Anyway, I don't usually talk about the photos themselves, but I figured since I already told the story of going up there, I might as well make this post about the photos.

I actually didn't like these at first, but I went back through them all and did some work to most of these to make them a little more interesting. I'm not sure if the exposure itself was so successful with the first one, but I was driving along and saw a little strip of red rocks mixed in with all the tan ones and thought it looked interesting. It could be a better shot because it was shot as I was still in my car, but I did what I could to make it somewhat interesting. The next two are the same tree up top at the Four Peaks. The one all the way to the right I really only like for the color. At the top of the Four Peaks road the colors everywhere are a lot more vivid I'm guessing because you've gone above all the pollution. Like I said the only reason I posted this one is because the colors reminded me of British Columbia and it's really in my mind the only thing this photo has going for it. The first one on the bottom row was really cool to watch. I actually have a series of this that I'm still considering posting that actually shows that cloud rolling in over the mountains. There aren't too many as I didn't stick around long because my Digital Rebel told me it doesn't like rain. Actually I've never exposed it to real rain so I don't know if it does or doesn't, but I'm not going to give it the chance to tell me. I'll safely assume it doesn't. The last one was shot out my window going 75mph down Hwy 87, so I'll admit it - catching the cloud mimicking the mountain was total luck.

Descending the Four Peaks...Some More

2005-03-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Franz Ferdinand - Auf Achse
Actually I think this was taken some time before the previous post. Regardless, it's an 11 photo panorama of another scenic point along the Four Peaks road. The thing I like about this one is that the clouds were blocking the sun down the road from where I was standing but not up, which is why it's brighter.

Descending the Four Peaks

2005-03-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Better Than Ezra - This Time of Year
This is a panorama I took on the way down from the Four Peaks composed of 9 photos. I went crazy shooting panoramas on this road so expect a few more in the coming days.

Four Peaks...Finally

2005-03-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Muse - Citizen Erased
Today was a dreary and soggy morning. So I decided to head out to the Four Peaks once and for all, this time with my wallet so I could get gas. I put about half a tank in since the Four Peaks are so close to Phoenix I didn't think I'd need any more than that. However on the way up it dawned on me that eventhough the road to the top is only 20 miles, it's also in that 20 miles that you climb about 6000 feet, something I forgot to take into account. It ate up a good quarter of a tank getting up there, but going down was practically nothing - just put it in 2nd gear and coasted practically the whole way down. I wasn't sure what would be at the top and was hoping there'd be places to drive around in the peaks. But all I could find was a dead end road that led to trailheads. I pulled into one of those and headed down one of the trails in the densest population of black bears in Arizona...by myself. "Brilliant!" Though, sadly, I didn't see any bears or any other wildlife other than a road runner. I noticed once the trail got back into the woods a little ways that that headed up to at least one of the four peaks, but I turned back because it was beginning to rain, which after I had already descended a good ways and it had cleared away, had apparently switched to snow. Doh!

It wasn't a total loss. Now I'm a little more familiar with the area so I've got a pretty good idea about where I'll go next time I head up there.

I Think It's Gonna Rain

2005-03-06T09:37:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Caba Kroll - In Your Face
I got home yesterday and began unloading the pictures from yesterday's adventure onto my computer when I noticed the weather outside getting a little (sid) vicious. I checked the radar and sure enough, there was a pretty nasty storm headed our way. I went out on my balcony to shoot a couple of shots and was about to go back in when I saw lightning. Then I decided I wasn't going back inside until I got a shot of lightning. Patience paid off.

Almost Made it to Globe

2005-03-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Collective Soul - She Gathers Rain
I left today with intent to make it to Globe (east of Phoenix) and explore that area a bit eventhough I think I'm going next weekend as well. I had been driving for about 45 minutes or an hour to where Hwy 60 becomes a 2-lane highway when I realized I had forgotten my wallet. I only had half a tank of gas, no way to pay for more gas, and no license. So I did what any good person would do in such a situation. I kept going. I had almost made to a town a bit west of Globe called Miami when I decided not to push my luck and turn around. However I turned around at an intersection that had a dirt road that went back into the middle of nowhere...so I took that first. It led up deep into the mountains and was a nice little drive, but once I reached the top of the mountain that's when I decided to really turn around.

So tomorrow I'm either going to head back out that way since it was a shorter trip than I thought and since the radar is showing lots of snow in that area, or I'm going to head up to the Four Peaks since I saw it was snowing up there on my way out.

And I know, it's a pretty weak update. But there are a couple more coming, there's still tomorrow, and it's pretty weak getting out that far and realizing that you don't have a way to fill up your gas tank if you run out of gas.

Alaska Revisted...Mostly

2005-03-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Tears For Fears - Shout
The first pic is from this past weekend that I went back and cropped and now love a whole lot better. It's gotten a lot of positive feedback from other places as well. The other 5 are from the Alaska Road Trip I made with a friend back in May and June. The trip took us from East Texas to Alaska over a span of 3 weeks. They're mainly photos that I never uploaded anywhere because I couldn't really find anything I liked about them. Though I just took another look at a lot of them and found these 5 to be interesting after all. I'm particularly fond of the bald eagle shots. Not sure how I went over those.

Snowy Panorama

2005-02-28T12:06:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Prima Donna - Dam Da Dam
This was taken on the way to Mormon Lake and was originally made up of 8 photos. But I screwed up with the exposures on the last 3 and had to crop them out. Part of me is a little upset I had to do that but another part of me kind of likes it like this. But I still think it looked better with all 8. I may try to make it work again later in the week.

Strawberry Panorama

2005-02-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) The Who - Baba O'Riley
This was taken on the way back from yesterday's road trip just outside a little town north of Payson called Strawberry. It's made up of 13 photos that started out as 14. Somehow in the editing process I found that an entire photo could be taken out. I'm not sure how that happened and how it actually looked better without it, but it worked.

Four Peaks Back to the North

2005-02-26T23:51:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) David Bowie - China Girl 2001
I woke up this morning with the intent to drive out to the Four Peaks, a famous Phoenix landmark of...well...four peaks. They're the highest visible point around the Phoenix area at over 7,000 feet each. However while waiting for my oil to get changed I had noticed that it was a particularly smoggy day. I decided to weigh my options:
1) Go anyway and hope it clears up
2) Wait till tomorrow and hope it clears up
3) Go north and find more snow before it melts
Well that was an easy decision. A freshly tuned up car - why wouldn't you take it on a road trip?? So once the oil was changed, it was up I-17. I tried going a couple of exits past where I got off last weekend but they were both closed. I decided to turn around and see what else I could explore in the same area I went to last week since the snow was coming down really bad and I didn't exactly feel safe driving on the interstate in those conditions. So it was back to the Stoneman Lake exit where it wasn't snowing. Doh! That changed though. Instead of turning off at Stoneman Lake I headed back even farther where the snow was thicker than I've ever seen. I got out at some points and would fall literall knee deep into the snow. That's new to me so don't laugh. I headed up to Mormon Lake Village but the snow was coming down so badly there I had no idea where the lake actually was. The road eventually turned into nothing but snow and that's when I decided to turn around and head home. On the way down I went straight down Hwy 87 after learning that the road I was on eventually ran into it. I passed by Four Peaks on my way in and decided to stop for 1 or 2 shots since the sun was beginning to set. That of course quickly turned into 20 or 30 shots. After that it was off to eat my first pizza since moving to Arizona with a couple of friends. Anyway, here they are completely out of order. The Four Peaks are in the first photo.

As always, more photos are on the way.

More From This Past Weekend

2005-02-25T22:18:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: (random) Soundgarden - My Wave
Added a few more from this past weekend and redid one of them from the original post. I wasn't really happy with the original, but I like it a lot more now. So that's good.

For some reason I've been diggin on the duotones lately. I don't know. We'll see where that goes.

Stoneman Lake, AZ

2005-02-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: random - Michael Jackson - Beat It
This is a panorama consisting of 4 photos from the lake I found hidden away in the middle of nowhere. I was so excited to find something this cool that I forgot to take the photos in portrait to capture more vertically, but I'm still fairly happy with how it came out. There's even a rare glimpse of me in there. If you want the full story of how I found this place check a couple of posts down from yesterday.

Panorama from the Backroads

2005-02-20T23:30:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: random - Static Revenger - Longtime
This is a panorama taken on the way to the lake that had all the snow from today. The whole thing consists of 6 photos.

The Unknown Destination

2005-02-20T21:49:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: random - Sublime - What I Got
Everyone's been telling me I have to see Sedona, AZ because of how amazing it is. Even my mom who's never even been there has been telling me to see it. So I figured today was as good a day as any. The weather cleared up here and there and it was enough to convince me to go on the farthest road trip so far since I moved to Arizona. I headed north on I-17 knowing that Sedona wouldn't be my main destination. I didn't know what would be but I knew Sedona was going to be too touristy for me. I did finally make it there and it was nice. But there were too many people and too much civilization for me to really enjoy it. I'll have to head back on a weekday or something sometime. So after getting back on I-17 I decided that I wasn't going to drive that far north and not see any snow...especially with all the storms that have come through recently. I took another exit north of the Sedona exit and headed down some random road that eventually turned into a dirt road. I followed that back for a few miles and sure enough, back in the middle of Elk Country in the middle of nowhere, I came across snow. I made it to a small lake tucked away a little farther back where it began to snow moderately heavily on my camera and I. That's when I realized I had reached my destination. That was what made the trip worth making. After turning around thinking I might get stuck in the mud I decided to start heading back. Only this time I wouldn't take I-17 back. I'd go detour through Payson and head back down Hwy 87. Before reaching Payson, I found even more snow. I didn't get to stop where it was really thick because I was worried my tires weren't equipped to pull over, but I eventually found a place where it was a little thinner. After that, it was all downhill back to Phoenix...literally.

I've got some more photos from the trip. But these made up the first batch that I was able to edit somewhat quickly to have something to put up tonight.

Another From This Past Weekend

2005-02-17T21:09:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: random - Our Lady Peace - Potato Girl
Started dabbling around with a photo from this past weekend. I only liked a certain part of it so I cropped it and started playing with that area. I wasn't sure which one I liked the most so here's all of them.

Bush Hwy to Hwy 87

2005-02-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: King of the Hill
Today we headed out east down Bush Hwy east of Phoenix and then took that till it ran into Hwy 87. We went out east a little more and then turned back around.

Bad Week

2005-02-11T17:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. I caught something really nasty last weekend and it had me pretty much lying on my floor watching movies unable to move up until yesterday (Thursday). I'm starting to feel a lot better now minus the constant coughing and sore throat, so hopefully I can get some more photos up here really soon...

Climbing the Waterfall

2005-02-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: Super Bowl XXXIX
In the White Tank Mountains there's a trail called the Waterfall Trail. At the end of that there's a small waterfall. Granted when there's more rain there's more water, but on this particular day there wasn't very much, but it was still a little. Once I reached the end there was a group of people climbing up the first ledge. One of them had a little more trouble than the others (who was the one in the photos trying to climb), but he did eventually make it by going up the back. I didn't stick around to see how they got down though. I'm sure it involved getting wet. Sucks for them because the water was damn cold.

White Tank Mountains

2005-02-05T23:22:00.000-07:00

Background distraction :: Muse - Origin of Symmetry
The White Tank Mountains are located to the far west of Phoenix, but have a lot of scenic areas to them. This was where John (from last weekend) had us meet for a picnic with other friends and relatives. I wound up wandering around a couple of trails, once while there and then one on what I originally intended to be my way out. Being close to sunset though, I decided to go the other way and see where the main road lead to. It wasn't quite what I was hoping, but now I know for next to bring a bike to go down the last trail I wound up at, which was made for such a thing.
Anyway, here are the newest photos.







...More coming soon...