Ladee's Travels: Tempe

Showing posts with label Tempe. Show all posts

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.

Tempe, AZ - Tempe Town Lake at Sunset

A coworker wants to practice photography skills for an upcoming trip so we went to Tempe Town Lake to capture some sunset shots.

Tempe, Arizona - Holi Festival of Colors

Holi is a Hindu spring festival celebrated in India and Nepal. It is also known as the "Festival of Colors". The festival signifies victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a way to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships.

In recent years the festival has spread to Europe and North America (and Tempe!) as a spring celebration of love, frolic and colors. [Source: wikipedia]

I was introduced to this festival by co-workers. I was a little concerned about the powder and water with my camera, but Naran assured me that I would have a safe spot away from the elements with a good view of all of the action. He was right! It was fun to photograph and next year I would like to participate...right in the middle of it all. The big camera will need to stay at home and I will bring a water resistant point and shoot. Look for artistic work from my efforts here as the colors and motions were beautiful.

Answers to questions that you may have.
1. It washes off and does not stain. Given that, I still would bring cloths that could stand up to the colors.
2. Ah, yes, you have to drive home afterwards. Clean clothes? blankets for the car?
3. My motivator is in one of the last photos. She had a scarf on her head and covered her hair. That is exactly what I need to do!

Global fun. Boy chases girl. Girl chases boy. You purchase bags of colored powder and toss them in the air, or at a specific person.

A bubble machine added to the fun.

The little boy in the blue shirt must be trying to figure out what is going on!

Well into the spirit of the fun. These three were having a blast.

This girl is my motivation for participating next year.

Tempe, Arizona - A Rare Foggy Morning

It was a delight to awaken to a foggy morning. We have had a few days of light rain, and with the perfect conditions...fog rolled in. I drove to Tempe Town Lake and walked from the Tempe Arts building to the Mill Avenue bridge sets. I normally produce the photographs in color, but these begged to be black and white.

The Pedestrian Bridge by Tempe Arts building.

The walkway surrounds the lake.

Ducks on the water.

There were several photographers out to capture the fog. This man said that he grabbed his camera and dashed out the door, shouting over his shoulder "Honey, I will probably be late for church!"