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This photo was taken at Bartlett Lake, a reservoir lake located north-east of Scottsdale and slightly north of Rio Verde, Arizona. Popular with anglers and campers, it’s quite unique lake with rugged mountains surrounding it and saguaros growing along its shoreline. Sometimes, we photographers have to be very persistent; I went to Bartlett Lake 4 times to get this shot! It was a 45 minute drive from my RV so I left early (in the darkness of night) so that I’d be there before the sunrise. The first time I went, I chose to go on a day when there was snow on the mountain tops but unfortunately the combination of cloud cover, rain and the (icy cold) winds made it impossible to get any kind of shot. On my second attempt I didn’t have much luck either. I was disappointed by the dark and dreary sky so I spent the morning hiking and searching for future compositions; so it wasn’t a total loss. Eventually I found this one and vowed to come back on a sunny day. The next time I went, everything was perfect until I had a run in with a *Cholla, and it won…. Ouch! So, that quickly ended that photo shoot! Regardless, I wasn’t going to give up and with visions of this pre-planned composition in mind, I head out there for yet another visit. Finally, I got the shot I was hoping for! A Chollas are a desert plant that are completely covered with barbed needles. They are also known as a Jumping Cholla, for its habit of jumping (rolling) along the ground in the wind. They easily fall off their mother plant and then have a tendency to “jump” (if you will) on to the skin or clothing of a passerby…. it’s pure 100% OUCH! I must say this was on of my most “painful” shots! LOL
I captured this image, in the early morning light, while visiting Patagonia State Park, Arizona. I love the way it looked back at me and how, at this angle, we can see its colors and feather patterns on its back. See this image framed and hung on a wall in the "Sampled" section.
“Rise from the mud and bloom out of the darkness” …unknown author. I had taken some photos of lily pads before and then I realized afterwards that I really hadn’t paid enough attention to the varied colors. So, when I stumbled across these lily pads I took a moment to study the colors, and not just the lily pads but the reflective blue sky and the shadowed darkness as well. Then I considered the patterns, and asked myself, where does my eye enter the scene and where do my eyes want to settle? This is called flow, which is a very important artistic element in this particular photograph because without it, your eyes would endlessly wander. That said, notice how your eyes enters this photo from the bottom left, and then flows and settles on the lilies at the top right.
