Sticks and Snow
Lately the blog has been returning to more and more of my usual landscape and storm shots. We’ve had quite a few nice winter storms since December and it’s reignited my passion for this stuff. I was out last weekend a few times, and this weekend I went out Sunday morning to chase after some high desert snow, but it was a lot higher than I was hoping. This image is from back in late December when we had daytime highs of around 36 degrees and some fun snow storms along the Beeline Highway. One thing that helps your landscape [...]
Two spikey peas in a pod
I’ve been having a ton of fun this fall/winter playing around with urban exploration, processing grungy images and discovering my love for shooting in downtown Phoenix. But I absolutely miss the summer storms. Big time. I feel like I’ve learned something about the kind of photography I want to produce when it comes to weather images and now I’m anxious to see that vision come alive in the upcoming monsoon season. I love this picture. It was shot during the cold weather that brought some snow storms to the deserts in late December. One of my favorite moments in weather [...]
Tarantula!
What, where is the tarantula?? Okay, nowhere…but sometimes I have a hard time coming up with titles and this one especially. But to show you how my mind works, when I looked at this image…and saw the kind of miniature looking saguaro cactus, it made me first and foremost think of an old movie backdrop or set in the 1950s, which then reminded me of the movie Tarantula that I saw at some point in my childhood. More than likely because of my dad…I mean, when you’re 9-years old, who else but your dad is going to make you watch [...]
A new year begins
Well…here we go. It’s 2011 and time to forget whatever I did last year, start with a clean slate, try some new things and see where it all goes. Okay, kind of hard to do if you realize I posted the color version of this photo on Friday, the last day of 2010. Where is the new? There is a reason of course, and I think a good one. Last year I was inspired by Mitch Dobrowner’s storm photography. His work is absolutely incredible, powerful and spellbinding. He’s naturally become my favorite storm photographer. There is a picture in his [...]
Fresh snow on the Four Peaks
Just under a year ago I captured a beautiful, slightly snowy sunset on this mountain range known as the Four Peaks.These mountains are at the 7,000 foot level, so they tend to get a dusting of snow once or twice a year. You just never know when it’s going to happen or how many times. In fact, after the previous one last January, there hasn’t been snow up there until today. Once it melts, it could be another year before it happens again (although I think we’ll see more in the coming weeks). All that to say…when there is snow [...]
A few more shots of that building
A reader named Kathy asked for more shots of this abandoned building I found in the Wasatch National Park, so here are three more, non-HDR versions of the shot. I really loved the whole setting of this thing…the cliffs behind it was just fantastic. This is just a standard black and white of the building. After looking at these shots yesterday, it makes me want to go back and sneak a little closer! This is a two-shot “panoramic” stitch in Photoshop. I added quotes because to me a panoramic means wide, but this scene was so TALL, I had to [...]
A tour of Wasatch, Utah: Part 3
Part 3 of my little series of photos of the Wasatch National Park east of Salt Lake City. I visited there last week for work and got a chance to escape and explore the mountains a bit. Needless to say, I loved the snow and the trees and the roads…such a great time.
A tour of Wasatch, Utah: Part 2
The second part of my series of photos taken in the Wasatch National Park just east of Salt Lake City, Utah. Such an amazing drive, temperatures dropped into the teens, it was snowing and the views were awesome. I loved the little bush/tree on top of this mini-peak. Hope this guy doesn’t have to go anywhere soon. Great tree overlooking a little valley. A balancing act. Roads and roads…and I still have a few more road shots.
A tour of Wasatch, Utah: Part 1
Wasatch National Park is just east of Salt Lake City and essentially is nothing but high, snowy mountains and low creeks where the valleys are. I was able to get away from work a little early yesterday and had a good amount of time to explore. I took waaaay too many photos, so this is just the first entry in a little series I’ll be doing. This was shot from a cemetery in Dell’s Dimple as I approached the Wasatch area. I loved the clouds and the big tree on the left. Green, brown…interesting mixtures. I took many, many shots [...]
Trip up the Beeline
Last week I posted a photo of the Four Peaks sunset, one of my most favorite photos ever. However, that day was not just about the Four Peaks, but also of a little drive I took up the Beeline Highway whilst waiting for the clouds to clear the Four Peaks and the sun to set. Here are a few of those shots! This is a mountain just northeast of where the Beeline crosses the Sycamore Creek. Another shot of that peak…the Beeline runs off in the distance. A shot that I took while dodging traffic on the Beeline. I just [...]
Mike is a Phoenix Wedding Photographer based in Arizona and can be contacted via all the normal methods and then some.