Dance of the Raptor

Okay, here is what is perhaps my all time favorite photo I've ever captured. I take pride in it because I was at least 40 yards away using my Canon EF 70-300 mm telephoto lens all the way at the telephoto end to capture it. This Ferruginous Hawk came in for a landing on this narrow mesquite branch, and I love the slight field of depth as well as the hawk's raised wings. The smaller image does the photo a disservice unfortunately.

The Raptor Free Flights can be viewed by those who visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. For more information, click HERE.

The Ty Fighter

This Ty raptor is a part of the Raptor Free Flight show that the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum hosts intermittently during the year. The show is nothing less than spectacular to be able to see such magnificent creatures take flight directly overhead.

This is my SECOND favorite photo from this photo shoot. Stay tuned to the next post for my ALL TIME favorite photo.

Triple Tree Hotel

This photo was snapped just a few days prior to the International Foundation for Gender Education conference in Tucson in April 2008. I loved the height of the palm trees along with the height of the building. I had to use an ultra-wide angle lens (EF 12-22 mm) to capture the base of the tree and the top.

Kind of ironic there are three trees standing in front of the Doubletree Hotel.

McKlintock? Oklahoma? No, Arizona!

I paid a visit to the San Raphael Valley in Southern Arizona. This photo was taken from the back porch of a famous house used in the film's McKlintock, Oklahoma!, and several other western movies. If you watch John Wayne's movie McKlintock, this identical view can be seen in the movie...only the windmill and barn is hardly rusted! This Arizona valley is so beautiful and has so many rolling hills that they shot many scenes at this house to include the vast grassland. Who would have thought Arizona could look like Oklahoma!

I used a point and shoot Kodak to shoot this, but it too became one of my early favorites that got me excited about shooting digital photography.

Cowboy Sunrise

This was one my early favorites. I was hiking in the desert south of Tucson when I observed a cowboy riding over the ridgeline. Noticing the dazzling sunrise above him, I quickly focused on the rider and snapped a few as he rode by. I still love this photo to do this day. The depth of the contrast, the sharpness of the outline of the rider and his horse, and the mesquite horizon all came together to make what I thought was a great shot.

Them cowboys are up and at 'em at an early hour!

"T-Minus"

A Rose is a Rose

 

Felines and Directional Light

Warmth

Raptor Skies of Blue