Gilbert, Arizona - Spring at the Riparian

I joined a group from Arizona Night Photographers this morning on a photo walk at Gilbert Riparian.   While 4:30 am comes around very early, it was good to get out as the sun was starting to rise and the animals were beginning the morning routines.

This is a summary of my photographs with some spring color especially for those who have spent this spring in a bit too much snow.

Phoenix, Arizona - Scottish Highland Games

The Scottish Highland Games are held by the Caledonian Society of Arizona.  This year 2018 the event was held at Steele Indian School Park for two days in the beginning of March.  There were many food booths, entertainment, and "heavy athletics" with both women and men divisions.  The general idea is to throw the furthest, the highest, and carry the furthest.  Interesting event with a lot to see and eat.  And a note on parking for next year.  I drove around the park but there were no spaces.  Then I saw a sign that a free shuttle was running from Park Central and decided to go there.  You can also take the Metro Light Rail because it stops near the entrance to Steele Indian School Park.  $20 entrance fee for adults and then discounts for children, seniors and military.

This is a grouping of the practice for the women's events on throwing various items.

Kilt study.

This event involved carrying this huge pole the furthest.

 This is a swing it around then let it fly event.  Furthest wins, not the highest.

 Time to break out the Scottish attire for the weekend.

 Another "swing it and throw it" event with the participants queued waiting for their turn.

 This event was a hay barrel toss.  You make it over the bar, you go to the next round.

 Higher and higher the bar went.  Crazy!

It was a beautiful day and a fun event.  This was my first "Scottish Highland Games" and to those who were asking throughout the day via text messaging, no, I did not find Jamie.  (Outlander fan question).

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.

Arizona - Coatimundis

A weekend adventure outside of metropolitan Phoenix can deliver some never-before-seen sights (by me, at least) as a reward for making the effort to pack it up and see what is out there.

The search for the reported coatimundi started with an action that reminded me of the days living in southwestern Pennsylvania searching the wood's edge for deer.  Every branch was a suspect!  I knew what I was looking for when the target was deer, but I had no idea what a coatimundi was.

"It's like a raccoon."

"You will know it when you see it." (Great, is it going to jump at me or something?)

We drove around for a while in our search. It's not here, it's not there, I'm jinxed, etc.  Then, all of a sudden, there it was!  It didn't run off right away so I was able to take a few "yes, I did really see one" photographs.  It was like a raccoon.  And I did know that this was it as soon as I saw it.

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.