Last Gasp
The title of this photo has a couple of meanings. The first being the fact that a little storm system which moved through Arizona the last two days could end up being the final bit of weather we get from the monsoon season (it officially ends on Sep. 30th). Despite all the stormy clouds during the day, my week has been quite busy and this was the only shot I ended up with. So in another way, this is likely my last monsoon photo until next year. Of course, there is always that slight chance something could pop up before [...]
Arizona monsoon lightning photos from August 28th
My daughter sat in her little car seat, enjoying Toy Story and staying safely away from any lightning or the bazillion numbers of mosquitos I encountered last night out in the Arizona desert. Probably was a little too close to a couple of canals out there, but at times it almost felt like a swarm of bugs attacking me. I definitely have more than five itchy bites on me today. The above lightning strike was my favorite of the night. A tip to lightning photos out there (not that any of you would do this), if your car is running [...]
More storms over the Superstitions
Yesterday was supposed to be a 60% chance of rain in town, but we ended up with only a few afternoon storms to the east of Phoenix and nothing else all night. My little girl and I headed out to the Superstition Mountains after picking her up from the sitter and saw some beautiful clouds to go along with the stunning vistas of those great cliffs and peaks. This is looking northward from the southern side of Apache Junction. We weaved our way through the housing up there to find a spot devoid of man-made objects to get this shot [...]
Watchers of the Storm
Everyone has those “bucket list” shots you want to get someday. Yes, for me one of the big ones has to do with the weather. Shocked? Now, the shot above doesn’t completely satisfy my inner desire to get another shot like it, but it’s the kind I’m looking for. I was inspired first by this photo taken by Sabrina Henry when she was in Africa. The way the cloud seems to appear on the horizon out of nowhere with a tree in front of it…just amazing perspective. To me, there is something inspiring about a small silhouette of a tree [...]
Wandering with the Arizona monsoon: On the Apache Trail
What’s amazing about Phoenix is that stuff like this can be seen on just a short drive east of town. Now, it’s not Grand Falls or anything spectacular in the sense of landmarks or stunning vistas…but if you take the time to stop, get out of the car, walk down a short path and look around…you can see beautiful scenes everywhere. This was a short distance from a pull-off on Apache Trail, a road that takes you to Canyon Lake and eventually Roosevelt Lake. My buddy Bryan (Whom I made famous yesterday) and I made all kinds of stops along [...]
Storms over the Four Peaks
What I love about Arizona are the unique places that make it obvious where you are. The trademarks or characteristics of this fine state. In reality, there are probably hundreds of these kinds of places that when you see them in a photograph, you automatically know it’s Arizona. The Four Peaks is one of those places for me. They’ve always been there. I’ve lived here my whole life and for some reason, it’s comforting to look up and see them. Like four big brothers keeping an eye on Phoenix and the surrounding deserts. They usually get snow on them during [...]
Wandering with the Arizona monsoon
One of my goals for this summer was to chase the monsoon around Arizona and essentially create a journal of my travels in a photobook. I have no idea if that will pan out once the monsoon season is over, what it might look like, if it’s silly, whatever. But part of the plan is to take a few day trips each month out into the Arizona wilderness and follow the storms around as they develop and move towards Phoenix. Wander around if you will, see what I see. Frame the monsoons with the gorgeous Arizona deserts and high country, then [...]
Saguaro Sunset in the San Tan Mountains
A shot of a tall Saguaro cactus with the sun setting behind it. I drove out to the southeast side of the San Tan Mountains on Friday afternoon, hoping to find some flowers to photography at sunset. I didn’t find much, but I did like this shot. Beautiful, stunning mountains on that side of those mountains.
Mike is a Phoenix Wedding Photographer based in Arizona and can be contacted via all the normal methods and then some.