Northern Arizona

Arizona. What do you think of when you hear the name of this state? For most people that I know/have asked, it's usually one or a combination of these words: desert, hot, cactus, Grand Canyon, illegal immigration, Republicans, guns, and/or Sheriff Joe Arpaio. But the thing is, almost all of those words only deal with the Phoenix-Metro area in Arizona, which houses over 2/3rds of Arizona's 6.7 million people. So while it may apply for the majority of Arizonans, the Phoenix-Metro area is only around 23,500 square kilometers in area, compared to the 295,234 square kilometers in area that the whole state occupies. Thus, there is a LOT of Arizona that lies outside of this sphere that many people don't think about. 

Arizona is a beautiful state, politics aside. It's amazing how driving only an hour or so north already begins putting you in part of the other 272,000 square kilometers of the state that isn't a desert burning at God-forsaken temperatures like 115 degrees Fahrenheit (for the rest of the world, that's around 46 degrees Celsius, but you have to admit, the triple digit number makes it seem even more threatening and Hell-ish). But alas, as you move north, the shrubs and cacti of the desert make way for thicker, denser bushes, and then eventually, real trees that are dozens of feet tall, laying in areas surrounded by grass and greenery. All within an hour or two's worth of driving. Fun fact of the day: The Orre region in Pokemon was inspired by Phoenix and the rest of the state due to the diversity of biomes (dry, flat deserts, high-altitude mountain ranges, deep forests, etc). 

As stated in the preview post, I went on a trip with friends up north in Flagstaff. We were there for 5 days, hiking and going to various places up north to enjoy the beautiful views and weather. Up north, there are real rivers, like Oak Creek, that we visited. We also visited the Lava River Cave, which was wonderfully dark and mysterious, as well as cold (around freezing temperature in certian parts). However, I did not have a chance to take photos in either of these locations. But, I did snag some photos at this mountain, whose name I cannot find anywhere. Absolutely beautiful.

We also hiked on Fatman's Loop, a popular hiking trail located within Flagstaff. The difference in scenery was beautiful; it was wonderful seeing a trail littered with greenery and tall trees, as well as clear, blue skies and forest all around. Sometimes I had to remind myself I was still in the same state. It's just so different from home.

Northern Arizona is beautiful. Don't get me wrong, I think the desert is beautiful and amazing as well, but each area has its own aesthetic that makes it beautiful. Although, the lower temperatures, pleasant breeze, and fewer people are also very nice. Sometimes, a change in scenery is wonderful.

More pics:

Beautiful Weather

The summer this year has started off rather strangely, with cool temperatures and, on the 15th, a torrential downpour of rain. On the 16th, there were still scattered showers, but for most of the Valley, all that remained were beautiful skies.

Here are some shots I took up in North Scottsdale, where I was at the Penske Cars and Coffee event (coverage of that coming soon). The weather was indescribably beautiful, and the scenery was wonderful. 

When I got home, I decided to go for a hike in the mountains by my house to get some pictures of the beautiful sky and enjoy the air. It was the type of day where it didn't matter what you were doing, you just wanted to be outside.

I took photos as I went up the mountain, as well as at the top. The hike up is not difficult, nor very long, making this a nice spot to go to for nature and landscape photos. The photos below are ones I took on the way up.

The path I take is great because the closest way to access it is through a neighborhood rather than a park, so there were not too many people by me. It's a great place to sit and think.

At the top, I was met with a wonderful view. Blue skies, white clouds, a beautiful breeze of fresh-smelling air; I wanted to remain up there for the entire day. The skies were wonderfully clear, except for over downtown, where a pollution cloud was already forming. Still, the clouds and blue skies allowed for some wonderful photos.  I loved how the clouds cast shadows on the ground, creating pockets of light, which for some reason centered for a while on the several houses built on the mountain.

The clouds moved fast; in fact, I tried taking some time-lapse photos of the sky (about 5 seconds worth according to my calculations), which I will play around with after all the photos I have are edited.

Enough of me talking. Enjoy the beauty of nature, and how such a place can exist in the middle of a sprawling city.

I decided to come back later in the evening for the sunset; however, the view was not what I was hoping for. Still, I might post the photos later.

South Mountain Photo Shoot

Thanks to school, I have been extremely busy, and while I have time to take photos, sorting and editing them remains a different story. Hence, this blog, about a shoot that happened on the 26th of March.

A good high school friend of mine was in town that week for her spring break. She wants to enter photography and was hoping to learn a little from me, as well as take photos/get photos taken. It was around 4:30pm, and she suggested going to the (kind of) near South Mountain.

South Mountain, relative to Arizona State University and Sky Harbor in Phoenix.Image from Google Maps.

South Mountain, relative to Arizona State University and Sky Harbor in Phoenix.

Image from Google Maps.

Thanks to rush hour traffic, it took around 35 minutes to get to the base of the mountain. But the road that lay ahead was amazing. A little too amazing, to control myself.

As a person who loves driving, this road was heaven. Hence, I drove a little too fast uphill, getting me and my friend kicked off the mountain for the day. So, we headed back down to the base. With the golden hour quickly passing, we decided to hike to a smaller hill, and I taught my friend some basics about DSLRs and photo techniques. After this, with the sun already almost below the horizon, we decided to take some photos. 

 

There was still some light left, and I managed to take some solid photos, which ended up being the "fierce" photos. Although she did not like them as much as the other photos, I really liked these pictures because of the attitude I saw in them. Also, thanks to the sun, the lighting was very nice, creating a sun-glow/shine effect that I like.

Because there were windows, we also took some photos of her looking out of them. First, from behind. Personally, I like these photos because I feel that it conveys a large amount of emotion, as if the photo is about reminiscence of the past, or uncertainty towards the future. I think these will make great monochrome conversions; I'll have to try it some time. 

The first photo is soft, partly out of creativity, partly because the camera did not focus on her hair like I intended, making it rather fuzzy. Instead of trying to sharpen and blend the hair in, I softened the rest of the image to match it, creating a neat effect my friend pointed out to me; her hair looks like flames. While we were at the window, she and I decided to take some photos of her from the other side of the building.

My friend also wanted some photos of her taking pictures, so of course I obliged. I brought my Nikon D3100 with me so that she could use it. It functioned as both a camera and a prop here.

At this point, daylight was running out quickly, since it was already around 7pm and the sun had dipped below the horizon already. But, there were still photos to take, as the building we were in served as a perfect backdrop. Thanks to my tripod and my friend's ability to stand still, I was able use longer exposures to take some low-light portraits without flash or noisy ISO settings.

Although some of the shots came out softer than I would have liked, they were still good, in my opinion. With sunlight practically gone (it was 7:30pm, after all), we decided to head back to Tempe. However, I saw the perfect photo opportunity. I asked my friend to sit on a wooden fence so that she would be facing the remaining light in the sky from the sunset. 

I originally wanted to HDR the images together, but because of the movement between each image, I couldn't do it. So, instead, I decided to create the "sun-glow/shine" effect, as mentioned previously. Because I couldn't decide how soft and bright I wanted the image, I made multiple versions.

With daylight now completely gone, my friend and I headed back to Tempe. While I may have screwed up getting us to the summit of South Mountain, we did come back with some nice shots and increased knowledge of photography.