Phoenix (AZ) - AZ Highways Workshop Day 2

This is only one of the many classes offered through Arizona Highways.  "dSLR: Focus on Photography" was held at the Desert Botanical Gardens for the full day on Saturday and Sunday.  We had two very full days of lecture (a fun one!), photography field work in the Gardens, plus a critique by professional photographer Jeff Kida.

A lot of the flowers and bushes were in bloom.  Wow, I can't wait until Spring!

 Some cacti look fuzzy.

 Some are menacing!  This seriously says "KEEP AWAY"!

 This is a very cool service cover.

 Wow, a backlit "Old Man of the Andes".  Looks cute and fuzzy, but beware of the sharp spikes underneath.

 The Monarch butterflies are on exhibit.  One of the trip leaders, Suzanne Mathia, was a tremendous help in my education on "Live View".  The technique (and location of the buttons on my camera!) made it possible for me to finally get a sharp photograph of a butterfly.  Thank you, Suzanne! (Click here to see her beautiful professional photographs.)

The " Chocolate and Chilies" festival was held for four days over the long week end. A lot of good food for sale.

 Sunday's entertainment featured a flamenco dance team.

A fun day and the workshops are highly recommended.  Click  here to see the details.

Phoenix (AZ) - Carolina Escobar at Desert Botanical Gardens

Carolina Escobar is a local artist who creates her art in steel, copper screen, and resined cloth.  Her work will be on exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden through May 2013.

I didn't have a chance to walk the entire garden to see if there were any additional pieces of her work.  

The large chilis are hanging from the arch.

Phoenix (AZ) - AZ Highways Workshop at the Gardens

Day 1 with the Arizona Highways Photography Workshop with Jeff Kida was held at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens.  Our focus for the workshop was macro photography, up close and personal with the Garden.  This light is hitting the cactus from the side, emphasizing the spikes with shadows.

For some of the close-ups I have included a view of the entire plant.

 The side lighting allowed the shadows to darken portion and serve as a background for other leaves.

This was back lit and the sharp tack edges seemed to glow.

 I liked the back lighting that gave the outline of the cactus a halo.

 Clouds were rolling in.  This is looking east, and the sun was setting in the west, highlighting the cacti.

 Our Dale Chihuly pride and joy with a back ground of approaching storm.

Phoenix (AZ) - Art at Desert Botanical Garden

The Desert Botanical Garden is filled with art work.  Here are some of the examples:

Phoenix (AZ) - Philip Haas at Desert Botanical Gardens

Whimsical art at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Gardens.  The faces were very fun.  Read more about Philip Haas here.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Lawrenceville Neighborhood - Divertido

We walked for a block or so until we found the shop "Divertido".

 Divertido is located at 3609 Butler Street.  http://divertidoshop.com
It has clever and interesting products.  I could not resist a nested set of measuring cups that look like the Russian dolls.

 Outside, clean streets, trees and plants, and fun garbage collection containers.