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Arizona

Monochrome Madness: MM4-30

abstract, patterns, desert, aerial photography, Steve Bruno

I’ve had plenty of time in airplanes recently, and this is the view of the desert just east of here in the Arizona desert.  I have crossed this location several times, but never with this beautiful early morning light.

This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week.  Next week there will be a theme of Up In The Air.  My photo next week will not be another aerial view….this is just a teaser.  To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions on how to join in, visit Leanne’s website.

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Monochrome Madness: MM4-27

White Rock Canyon, Lake Mead, Arizona, desert, canyon

Some places are just off limits in summertime.  The canyons feeding into the Colorado River from western Grand Canyon on down towards Parker, AZ are all in that category.  This is White Rock Canyon, in Lake Mead National Recreation Area, just below Hoover Dam.  Just like nearby canyons, the gravel in the bottom is your trail, the grade is very light, and the chances of wanting to take out your camera are very good.

You will find this photo along with the work of others on Leanne Cole’s site.  There are also instructions on how to join in every week.

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WPC: Rounded

Texas Canyon, boulders, abstract, southern Arizona, gottatakemorepix

This week’s Daily Post Challenge of Rounded made me think of a river bottom full of smooth rocks.  Perhaps that’s because many river bottoms in the desert don’t have rivers in them.  Water’s erosive power works on larger boulders, too, and that’s where I searched through my files.  These rounded boulders are in southwestern Arizona, in a place called Texas Canyon.

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Monochrome Madness: MM4-23

autumn, inner basin, san francisco peaks, snow, flagstaff, steve bruno, gottatakemorepix

I love this time of year when the air gets cooler and the leaves change color.  Occasionally, cold fronts come through with a little moisture, and hopefully, not much wind.  That was the case for this photo from the San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff, Arizona taken a couple years ago.

This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week.  To see what other photographers have contributed, or instructions to join in, please visit her website.

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Monochrome Madness: MM3-43

You won’t find any covered bridges in the desert, so this is as close as you’ll get to one.  On a lonely road somewhere west of Phoenix, I discovered this bridge.  It had such incredible oxidation taking place, that I couldn’t resist taking a few photos.  In order to maintain a vintage feel, I didn’t convert it to b&w, but desaturated the original to the point that you see.

This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week.  Instructions on how to participate, and the contributions of others can be found on her website.

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WPC: Solitude

When I first started venturing out on photographic journeys, I felt solitude almost immediately upon leaving the city.  Unless it was a holiday weekend.  Nowadays, finding a quiet space seems a little more difficult, but not impossible.  There are still places where I can hear the pulsing of a hawk’s wings, or a lizard moving upon the sands, or just plain silence.

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WPC: Graceful

A 2000 pound animal graceful?  Are you kidding?

There are 2 places in Arizona where you can find buffalo.  One of them, House Rock Valley Ranch, has no fences.  The Grand Canyon, Kaibab Plateau, and Vermillion Cliffs all form a natural perimeter.  With that much land to cover, don’t expect coming here for animal sightings.

On my first visit to House Rock Valley, I had my brother and his daughter along.  She got excited when she saw the sign about the buffalo ranch, but we let her know about the vastness of the property so her hopes were not too high.  We drove many miles out to where we set up camp overlooking Marble Canyon, then drove back slightly for another overlook.  When we came across a road junction which we had crossed not more than an hour before, there were 5 buffalo standing in the road.  Collectively, they easily outweighed my vehicle, so we just sat and watched.  After a minute or so, they got bored with the standoff, and started to move along the side of the road.  We drove slowly beside them, and then they picked up their pace.  We matched them.  They continued to pick up their pace, at which point I noticed we were driving 35mph.  We were on a fairly smooth road, they weren’t!  After about a minute of running with the herd, they peeled away until we lost sight of them.

A few years later I returned to House Rock Valley.  This time was specifically to cover the buffalo, and unfortunately, it was hunting season.  The herd’s numbers are maintained, and only a handful of permits are issued each year.  These buffalo know when it’s hunting season, and become scarce.  Rising from the valley at about a 45 degree angle, the Kaibab Plateau has some twisting, sheer walled canyons.  The buffalo traverse these canyons like bighorn sheep, and the hunters can’t follow. I met with the manager of the ranch, and he was full of information about these animals.  One story he relayed was about the animals’ ability to leave no trace.  There are no reliable water sources here, so they have placed water tanks about in several spots.  In hunting season, the buffalo will enter from one side, then step on a rock or clump of grass, get their drink, walk around to the other side of the tank, all the while being selective as to where they step, and not leave a track within ten feet.  Is it any wonder these animals were so revered by Native Americans?

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Monochrome Madness: MM3-39

Now that winter snows have returned to the mountains of the southwest, the small streams that lie dormant much of the year are returning to life.  This one never really dries up, but this is a decent non-flood rate.  In the mountains east of Tucson, Arizona, my photo comes from the desert oasis of Tanque Verde Wash.

You will find this image, along with those taken by other photographers at Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week.  Instructions on how to participate are there as well.

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WPC: Ambience

For this week’s Daily Post Challenge of Ambience, I tried to think of one place that captures the mood of the southwestern deserts.  Monument Valley, in the heart of the Navajo Indian Reservation, tops my list.  As with any location that is highly visited, there is the tackiness that comes with tourism.  But spend a day in this valley, and seek out moments of solitude.  If you happen to be here when the rains come through, you might be rewarded with sunsets like this.

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Monochrome Madness: MM3-38

The South Rim of the Grand Canyon can be miserably hot in the early parts of summer, so many people find it surprising how miserably cold it can be in winter.  As with many canyons of the southwest, snow doesn’t stick to the sheer walls, so the layers are accentuated by the snow.  Even in relatively flat light, this adds depth to the scene.  Photos taken when winter storms are in the clearing process are some of the most dramatic I’ve ever seen of the canyon, and the temps are usually tolerable at that point.  Watch out for the days following, when wind chill factors can make it feel like Canada.

This is my contribution to Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness this week.  Instructions on how to participate, and the contributions of others can be found on her website.

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WPC: Path

Sycamore Canyon Wilderness, trail, hiking, Arizona, Steve Bruno

Although I spend a fair amount of time on hiking trails, I rarely photograph the actual trail.  On my first trip to the Sycamore Canyon Wilderness in central Arizona, it was past season for the autumn color, yet the canyon floor was filled with lush growth of tall foxtails.  The narrow path would have been taken over if it were not so well worn in.

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WPC: Relax

Black River, White Mountains, Arizona, Steve Bruno

I do a lot of hiking when I take my photographs, and in those cases, there is often strenuous activity involved in getting results.  But there’s one place I’ve gone in which I don’t remember working up a sweat, or even a raised pulse – the White Mountains in eastern Arizona.  Even though the elevations are between 8000 and 11000 feet, the word mountain is a bit deceptive.  Much of the terrain is flat with many lakes and gentle streams.  Yes, there are a few trails where one can get the adrenaline going, but mostly it is a popular spot for people to camp and fish, and in general, relax.

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