Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Photography

Throwback Hoodoos

Hoodoos at Bryce Canyon

Damsel took this image of Hoodoos at Bryce Canyon in July of 2008. Seeing it in the archives gave me some serious wanderlust, so Bryce Canyon NP just may be one of our vacation destinations this year after the weather gets a little warmer.

We have several excursions in mind over the next few months, not the least of which is to see our first great granddaughter in April and to go witness the All American Eclipse in August. We anticipate that during the extended eclipse excursion, we will be visiting the only two states in America that I have not been in – North Dakota and Iowa.

We will be taking a shorter trip this month which is a repeat of the maiden voyage when we will be out in the California Desert visiting with the Kids and our Grandson who will be nineteen months of age. This will be the last such trip to Palm Desert due to conflicts in the Kids’ work schedules that make it tough on them to meet us halfway. We will see them in April when we will go by their home on our way to see the new great granddaughter.

02 Mar 2017 by Photography Wanderlust

Winter Sunset

Winter Sunset

Wintertime brings cloudy skies from time to time, and, so far, this January has been more cloudy than not. A nice thing about the partially cloudy skies late in the day is the brilliant, fiery color display produced as the sun sinks below the horizon. I took this image last week during a break in the weather.

For the rest of January, the weather outlook is for more sun and more occasional rain. We can deal with the clouds now, since there are statistically likely to be 300 days of sunshine this year. Most of the overcast cloud covers seem to occur in the Winter. We are looking forward to having warmer, sunnier days.

15 Jan 2017 by Arizona Environment Photography

Bottle Brush Shrubs

Bottle Brush

We purchased these Bottle Brush shrubs last spring from a local (overpriced) nursery to replace the Cleveland Sage shrubs that had a propensity to partially die and then grow partially back. Very ugly in the courtyard. But now, the new shrubs have green foliage and are making red flowers just in time for the Christmas season. These have already attracted bees and hummingbirds and a few of the remaining butterflies.

Once these shrubs have established themselves, they should expand to about the same size as the old sage bushes, but seem to be considerably less messy and less work to keep them pruned to a size appropriate to the courtyard environment. Click on the image to enlarge.

23 Nov 2016 by Arizona Flowers Home & Garden Photography

Supermoon over Wickenburg

Supermoon

We drove from our camping spot in K-Stan back home today. Safe arrival with light traffic and no incidents other than a little roadwork enroute. It was a good trip to see the Grandson and his folks.

I snapped this photo of the Supermoon (Luna at perigee) shortly after moonrise this evening. Camera Canon EOS Rebel SL1 with 75-300 mm zoom lens. Settings: 1/500 sec, F8, focal length 300mm, ISO 800 and no tripod. Click on the image to enlarge.

14 Nov 2016 by Arizona Astronomy Photography

Second Spring Butterfly and Red Bird

Butterfly and Red BirdNow that the really hot daytime temperatures have abated, we have what we call “second spring” here in Arizona. That is the time when there are still flowers blooming, bees buzzing and of course hummingbirds and butterflies browsing the remaining flowers.

I captured this image of a black and yellow butterfly alight on one of the red bird of paradise flowers in the courtyard. The butterfly browsed there long enough for me to get my camera, go out into the courtyard and take several images of it before it flew away in the late morning breeze.

Second spring will be over within just a few weeks, giving way to actual autumn-like weather with leaves turning or falling and the red bird shrubs going dormant for the late fall and winter. Although we love the summers here, it will be nice for some cooler weather to prevail and, as we know, harsh winter weather seldom comes our way. In nearly six years of living here, we have seen snow stick to the ground only once.

Click on the image to enlarge.

05 Oct 2016 by Arizona Critters Flowers Home & Garden Photography

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