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One late fall afternoon in Sedona, I noticed some strange cloud formations begin to roll in and wondered if they’d stick around and lead to yet another one of Arizona’s famous sunsets. In anticipation, I grabbed my camera, my 200-600mm len and got everything set and ready to go on my tripod, just in case. Sure enough, as the sun began to sink behind the Misgus mountain range those clouds came alive with colour. "Wow" I enthusiastically thought, "The entire sky is filled with colour". I took a few shots before I reviewing them and in so doing I noticed that the colours were not true to what I saw; obviously my camera was auto correcting the colour. What I saw behind the clouds was the brilliant blue sky however because I had my camera set to auto white balance, that sky was yellow. Quickly, before the sun sank, I flipped through the colour balance choices until of found the one that was true in colour and I immediately gave a mental thanks to the gentleman whom years ago that taught me that. I continued then to snap quite a few more, until I thought I had what I wanted and I packed everything up. A few moments later however I looked again and the sky was even more magnificent so I again set everything up and shot a few more, until I thought I had what I wanted and I packed everything up. Wouldn’t you know it, a few moments later I repeated the entire process but it was so worth the effort! "Captivating", as I named this photo, was one of my last photos I took and I chose it as my favourite because of the range in colours and densities throughout the entire photograph. While travelling, I’ve witnessed a number of sunsets however none have been as spectacular, nor as frequent, as those I’ve seen in Arizona.
While in Scottsdale, I asked a friend where I might find some Sante Fe style homes that would be worthy of photographing. I was told we should visit Tubac (which is south of Tuscan and near the Mexican border). He also suggested that we visit the many great art galleries too; it sounded like a perfect excursion. We arrived in Tubac around 8:30 a.m., when the sun was still low, the streets where quiet and the businesses were still closed; we basically had the town to ourselves. It was so quaint, it was lovely. As we drove and then walked around this tiny town I spotted this brightly colored adobe home, with the stark contrast of the the casting shadows and white framed window. Then, while framing this photo, I also noticed how the tree, the shadows, fence and saguaro tree (together) created a natural frame around the entire photograph, and the white framed window too. This was the shot I was after. After completing our tour, we visited a coffee shop and soaked in the warm morning sun until the shops and galleries opened. We ended up spending the entire day in Tubac (really enjoyed the galleries), and although it was a 6 hour round trip, we had such a fantastic (fun) day that we considered the drive well worth it!
My favorite time to photograph the Grand Canyon is during the “golden hour”; the hour after sunrise and before sunset. The day we were there however, the colors of the setting sun (and subsequent bounced lighting) were lack luster; so I looked for other photographic opportunities. When I looked across the canyon, I noticed the many layers between foreground and background, I knew instantly that this was going to be a great shot. Notice how dark the foreground is (both in color and in density) then, notice how light the far-off mountains are (also both in color and density). What I love most about this photograph are the the many layers, the contrast and the vivid colors!
