Through the Desert Pass

The night here in the desert had a feeling that time had slowed to a stop like these light trails left by the passing cars.

Ever since my first visit, I’ve always had a love for the Sonoran desert in Tucson. The rough, rocky mountains in shades of brown, reds, and purples broken by the saguaro cactus standing guard.

find it here:  32°13’21” N;  111°6’6” W

The Neon Glow of Printers Alley

Near downtown Nashville, you’ll find this little alley bathed in the seedy glow of neon light.

Let’s see - bars, country music, and crowds of people. Typically not a place you’d find me but a work trip and the awesome team I’m part of made it fun. I was able to get out one night to grab some photos of the city. This alley was my favorite spot of the night, watching the people and pedal cabs milling around.

Find it here: map  

desert racers

Usually my work travel takes me to the Pacific Northwest or Midwest but a meeting in Phoenix let me get to Tucson for a couple days.  I was lucky enough to live there for w few years (15 years ago) and interestingly it hasnt changed much.  The funny thing is the city and the people remind my very much of Portland if you ignore the climate differences.

This awesome place is just outside Tucson, AZ (city lights off in the distance). I scrambled up a rocky hill in the dark to get to this view point and used a wide angle lens capture both the up and down sides of the pass. It was an awesome view with a near full moon out to illuminate the bluffs and cactus!

I thought I was sure to run into a rattlesnake but after an hour and seeing nothing I started flipping over rocks trying to at least see a scorpion. Believe it or not, I couldnt even find one of those - I felt a little let down, ha ha!

A combination of 6 exposures - one for the night sky and city, two for foreground and mountains, and a few for the car trails all hand blended in Photoshop.

Find it here:  32°13’21” N;  111°6’6” W

the flatiron

during my trip to New York, I left Times Square where we were staying in the alte afternoon and figured I’d wander down Broadway until sunset then turn around and head back. as I got down to somewhere about 25th, I could see this building down the way that looked oddly shaped and clearly different which I’ve since come to find out is a pretty well known landmark called the Flatiron building.

I took a short detour through a nearby park and made it to the building just before sunset. As you are walking up, you notice the roofline sweeps back making the building look like the bow of a ship coming up the street. It is a neat looking building no matter what angle you are looking at it from but when you get up close on the sidewalk just in front of it, the rest of the building nearly disappears behind the front curvature.

Find it here: 40°44’29” N; 73°59’22” W

first congregational at twilight

on my last night in Riverside, i was wandering around downtown when i came across this church and the greenish lights in the bell tower caught my eye…

Find it here:  33°58’55” N;  117°22’19” W

stars glow at the dark lighthouse

I spent some time this holiday weekend exploring my new state of Minnesota and took a drive up to Duluth and Lake Superior.  I planned on spending the day in Duluth, but just kept driving north along the western shore of Lake Superior stopping along the way to take some photos.  State Highway 61 hugs the shore all along the way, passing through a few small towns.  My plan was to make it to Split Rock state park (and lighthouse) by sunset so I spent some time in Two Harbors checking out the steel agate loading docks, and Gooseberry Falls a little further North.

I got to Split Rock Lighthouse State Park just before sunset, then realized that today the Minnesota government shut down (couldn’t reach a budget agreement) so the state parks were closed too.  The entry road was under construction, and since there wasn’t really a gate (just some cones and a wooden barrier), I pulled over on the side of the road and hiked in.  It was probably a little more than a mile walk through the park and down to the bottom of the cliff to get to the vantage point here.  I got here just as the last of the sunlight was striking the lighthouse and cliff.  With the park closed down and no one else there, it was amazingly serene and peaceful.  The only sound was the water gently washing up against the rocks.  I took some photos but even with the great light, there were no clouds which would have made it even better.  Being so clear and not windy, I decided to stay until it go dark enough to photograph the stars with the silhouette of the lighthouse in the background.  It was roughly 7:30pm and using the VelaClock iPhone app, I figured I had to wait until at least 10:45 to get past nautical twilight and it would be dark enough so I just sat on the rocks and watched the light fade listening to the splashing water.

Next trip, I’m looking forward to getting all the way up to the Canadian border and later hopefully to travel the south/eastern portion of the lake in Wisconsin to the Apostle Islands (but may need a kayak for that).

Find it here:  47°12’0” N;  91°22’6” W

Arch Rock - Joshua Tree National Park

This is Arch Rock in Joshua Tree National Park.  It’s just a short 0.3mi walk off the White Tank Campground parking area.  This area is very rocky and I was out in the complete darkness (it was new Moon) for about 2 hours.  I kept freaking myself out thinking I was hearing a mountain lion wandering around out there with me - not that there was, I was just being a chicken, ha ha. 

Taken about a hour after sunset, 2min 50sec exposure.  The bright cluster of stars in the center is the Pleiades and just below that is Taurus and  the star Aldebaran.

I’d like to get back out there sometime soon and find an angle to capture the Milky Way in the background and maybe try out some light painting.

Find it here:   33°59’10” N;  116°0’56” W

Santa Monica Pier

It’s obvious where I took this photo. We were down in Santa Monica to run the Malibu International Marathon the next morning.  Its quite an interesting here with the mix of tourists, hippies, homeless, and well off people all in the same place.

Find this here:  34° 0’ 41” N; 118° 29’ 42” W

Transmissions From the Mothership

Night three in Minneapolis. I couldn’t come to town without photographing the reason I came here - Target HQ in downtown.  The colors at the top of the building are really cool - the only thing that would make it cooler is a giant King Kong sized Bullseye dog climbing up the top side!

Find this here: 44°58’24” N 93°16’32” W