Prescott, AZ - Watson Lake and Granite Mountain

We had dramatic skies and cold temperatures for this weekend's shoot in Prescott.  A meetup group (Beth Ruggiero-York's Arizona Night Photographers) decided to see what the winter day in Prescott had to offer.  We weren't disappointed.

Watson's Lake and the trees around the edge.

 These were taken from the pull-off.

 I turned around to see what was happening in the direction of the sun and saw the clouds behind the subdivision on the hill.

 Earlier in the day we took a drive to Granite Mountain and the horse corrals.

And we went to see sunrise on the lake.  This rowing team of five ducks came by several times. Karen Martin thinks that the white one was the crew chief because of the timing of "quack (row), quack (row) quack (row).  It was a fun day and worth the drive.  Stayed at an AirBnb that borders the forest at Thumb Butte.  Friday night dinner at Rosa's was very good with pizza.  Saturday brunch at Waffles and More before the crowds showed up.  And a quick soup and salad after tonight's shoot at Panera.

Tempe and Phoenix, Arizona - Early Morning Photo Adventure

I was awake before dawn and decided to take a local photo tour to capture dramatic lighting and early mornings sights.  I incorporated my black and white photography work in to this trip.

I had my smaller lens because I intended to only work on landscapes. But when I saw this beautiful bird in Papago Park, I had to quietly approach it to get close enough for a photograph.  I was ready to take this "bird in take off position" type of photograph.

 This is a view of Papago Park.  Today it is a municipal park in Phoenix and Tempe.  The area is know for the desert plants and the geological formations.  It is a former national monument (1914) but the ownership was transferred to Arizona in 1930.

 This is the First Solar office building.  It is interesting with the top part of the wall leaning away from the main part of the building.

 This is the new Salt River Project (SRP) office building.  This is a stunning lobby with the neon artworks.

This photo is taken on the opposite side of Tempe Town Lake and shows the magnificent new buildings in Tempe.

Dark time lighting makes one notice areas that had gone unnoticed before.  This is an area under the  202 Freeway that is used to store racing boats.  A few of the teams were practicing on Tempe Town Lake.