January Full Moonrise

Moonrise over Watson Lake and the Granite Dells, north of Prescott, Arizona

Another gorgeous Central Arizona Highlands evening, this time on the evening of the Full Moon.

Several miles north of Prescott along Highway 89 lies Watson Lake, a waterfowl rich reservoir formed by a dam on Granite Creek. Bordering the lake are the weird and beautiful rock formations known as the Granite Dells. To the east (upper right in this photo) lies Glassford Hill, an ancient volcano.

A warm January day (unseasonably warm, but so comfortable), calm winds. Using The Photographer's Ephemeris application, I could find out exactly when and in what compass direction (azimuth) the full moon would rise. This month it rose in the northeast at 70 degrees, which is 20 degrees north of straight East. The information allowed me to pick a spot with an enticing landscape, since tonight the moon would rise after sunset but before full dark.

Finally the moon peeked over Glassford Hill and, as the light faded, reflected off the surface of Watson Lake.

Clouds Make the Sunset

Photo: Sunset beams, Chino Valley, Arizona. [Click on image for larger version]

Sunset time. Always beautiful if there aren't too many clouds obscuring the western horizon. For the scenic photographer, though, no clouds at all makes for a relatively boring sunset. Why? Because the right kind of clouds, in the right location above the setting sun, reflect and intensify the colors. Too many  clouds, or too low on the horizon, cut off the sun's rays. At the other extreme, no clouds at all and it's merely a little yellow ball sinking out of sight. 

As this photo shows, it doesn't take many of the right kind of clouds to dramatically enhance the sunset colors. A few puffy clouds above the horizon and there you have it. The moisture in the sky made the sun's rays stream out into sunset beams, and the clouds acted as reflectors of the warm yellow colors.

Photo Location: Little Chino Valley, Yavapai County, Arizona.

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May Moonrise, Lonesome Valley

Today was full moon Friday, time for May's Full Moon. It would be "100% illuminated", as the scientists say, at about 9:30 PM. After dark, that is.

So, the time to make moonrise shots was around sunset time, before it got too dark. The moon would rise early enough to make it happen. Who cares, or could tell, that it would only be 99.999% illuminated at that time?

Lonesome Valley basalt butte and Granite Mountain (far horizon).

I was in place at the north end of Lonesome Valley, in the central highlands of Yavapai County, Arizona. The basalt buttes and the distant skyline of Granite Mountain provided a nice sunset light scenic to the southwest. 

Then, my attention was to the southeast, toward Mingus Mountain and the Black Hills, where the moon would appear. 

It was a calm, peaceful late spring evening, and nobody was around. The Earth's shadow made its familiar gradation from blue to pink. Then the moon began edging over the horizon of the mountains. Perfect. 

And it was. I made several exposures from wide angle, which showed the Earth's shadow colors better, to medium telephoto, with the mountains larger within the frame. 

Then it was time to go back to my studio and see how I did. Now you can see, too. 

High Desert Reading Room

A perfect May afternoon in the Central Arizona Highlands of Yavapai County: not just the trademark Arizona blue sky, but also featuring perfect cumulus clouds for an added, slowly changing treat. 

I pulled over at one my my favorite spots at the north end of Lonesome Valley. Time to kick back, drink some water, eat a snack, watch the afternoon go peacefully by. Savor and savor some more until the sunset hour arrived.

I was reading Ellsworth Kolb's Through the Grand Canyon From Wyoming to Mexico, the first person account of he and his brother Emery's famous river expedition that captured the first motion pictures of running the wild river, way back in 1911-12. Being professional photographers, their equipment was their life, especially on that hazardous trip.

Meanwhile, here I was about a hundred years later, with my jewel of a digital camera to photograph with on a lazy spring Saturday, about 80 miles south of Grand Canyon. I was in such a perfect spot that I actually took some of my photos from the cab of my pickup truck, while reading the book. Not exactly an expedition. Just incredibly satisfying.

Then I got the idea of shooting a panoramic image from inside the truck, using it as the frame to the scenery I was reveling in. Even a clip of video. To document my mobile reading room.

The Kolb brothers would have appreciated it, I'm sure. Get the shot, no matter how hard, or how easy.

Lonesome Valley Basalt Buttes

From the town of Chino Valley in the Central Arizona Highlands I drove east on Perkinsville Road for another sojourn into the hills at the north end of Lonesome Valley. 

A dry early spring. Little rain. Some of the high desert shrubs and forbs and wildflowers appearing, but overall the grasses seem to be waiting for some real moisture. Meanwhile, the blonde prairie grasses, dead since last summer, provided the soft straw yellow coverings to the land. 

The basalt lava buttes here have no names, so I have to make up my own. The double hump on the left is called Was A Pair, since the one hump is much more eroded than its twin. Behind them to the right is Nipple Butte, though it doesn't look like its namesake from this viewpoint. 

Photo location: Lonesome Valley, east of Chino Valley and north of Prescott, Yavapai County, Arizona.

Spring Snow, Prescott Basin

Photo: Thumb Butte and the Bradshaw Mountains, near Prescott, Arizona

April 9 dawned cloudy but clearing. Snow had fallen after rain, hopefully soaking the ground enough to trigger grasses and wildflowers soon. 

The clouds began to break up at sunrise. Traveling west from downtown Prescott on Thumb Butte Road I wound my way up into the hills. The snow coating on the trees and shrubs, along with the brilliant light, made for a wonderful batch of new photos. 

In this photo from Skyline Drive above Happy Valley, Thumb Butte and the Bradshaw Mountains were given bright but soft light through the dissipating clouds.

Photo location: Skyline Drive, Prescott, Arizona

Moon Over the Black Hills

The Black Hills in Yavapai County form the eastern edge of the Prescott valley basin.

Here, from the northern end of Lonesome Valley, the Black Hills darken in the Earth's shadow just after sunset.

Yavapai County, near Chino Valley, Arizona.