• desert,  landscape,  mountains,  quotes,  sunrises

    Predawn Sky

    April 30, 2026
    Predawn sky along Peralta Trail from August 2012

    Violence is what happens when we don’t know what else to do with our suffering.

    Parker J. Palmer

    My sister Sheree and I arrived home about 1:15 pm yesterday afternoon. We left on Tuesday morning, stayed the night in Raton, New Mexico then finished the trip yesterday. It was a good day of travel. We had a near miss with a deer just outside of Raton, New Mexico yesterday morning and then one driver almost swerved into us somewhere in Denver a few hours later. Seems road construction was/is everywhere! Both of us were tired by the time we got home. My sisters keep different hours than I do, staying up later but on this trip I did also. So I was even more tired. I emptied the car, unpacked everything and then sat for some meditation and quiet. I slept in this morning. In spite of the fatigue, I had a wonderful time with my family.

    It’s been a cloudy and cool with a 40% possibility for rain. Because of the possibility for rain I drove to coffee this morning. At the present time the possibility of rain has been about 23 1/2 drops of rain. Well, maybe 25. Guess I need to dance faster. The gray skies offered a day to relax, journal, and read. I have also been going through some of the things belonging to mom and dad that we brought back. I have already discovered some jewels and shed a few tears. All good stuff! I still pray for the end of violence!

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  • clouds,  landscape,  sunrises

    Dust Spots

    September 12, 2016
    Sunrise on Peralta Trail
    Sunrise on Peralta Trail

    I arrived at my parents home yesterday afternoon about 12:15. I have had some wonderful weather for this trip. But, let me tell you the heat difference driving into Phoenix was a major shift for my body. It was a 100 degrees when I arrived.

    I awoke early and could see lightening north of the Superstition Mountains so I jumped in the car and drove out to Peralta Trail. I had to spend extra time on this image due to dust spots on the sensor. Frustrating.

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  • landscape,  sunrises

    First Light

    January 25, 2013
    First Light

    Well I’m back home after 16 flights in 4 days. Over those 4 days we are locked inside a long metal tube with approximately 1500 people. We are always on alert for any safety or security situations and making all attempts to meet the passengers needs. It can be draining. When I get home my feet are sore and my back hurts. I’m too the point where traveling by car, camping along the road and taking photos of sunrises and sunsets alone is more enjoyable. Shooting a sunrise requires leaving before most people are on the road. I drive out of town in search of a quiet place to refresh my spirit. No people. This image is from my last trip down to visit my parents. I was just south and east of the Superstitious Mountains just after sunrise. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. I’m going to relax, enjoy some time with my family and friends and shoot a sunrise or two.

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  • landscape,  mountains,  sunsets

    New Software

    October 7, 2011
    Peralta Trail

    I was one of those photographers who carried two GND filters, a one stop and a two stop. A year or two ago I removed them from the bag and started bracketing certain scenes for HDR images, even though I did not own any HDR software nor did I know what the technology would evolve into. I also did know how well it would be acceptable by myself or others. The only cost to shooting more images would be a small amount of my time and disc space. So, why not.

    Just as any software there is a learning curve involved. We all go through the steps. I mumble to myself a question like: What happens when I do this? I watch the image form on the screen then mutter something close to “Yuko!” I then quickly hit command “Z” and try something else. I’m quickly noticing how important it is to expose them correctly. A good series of images will make a good final image.

    The scene above was taken while visiting my parents in January of 2010. I took a total of seven images, bracketed at one stop each. This scene is created with three exposures, one at metered, the second at plus one stop and the third at minus one stop, and using one of the presets in Nik HDR Efex. I settled on the Nik HDR Effex software over Photomatix because it was more intuitive for me. Only time will tell if I made a sound decision.

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  • Barry López,  landscape,  sunsets

    Evening Sunset

    September 18, 2011
    Superstition Mountains

    “Because mankind can circumvent evolutionary law, it is incumbent upon him, say evolutionary biologists to develop another law to abide by if he wishes to survive, to not outstrip his food base. He must learn restraint. He must derive some other, wiser way of behaving toward the land. He must be more attentive to the biological imperatives of the system of sun-driven protoplasm upon which he, too, is still dependent. Not because he must, because he lacks inventiveness, but because herein is the accomplishment of the wisdom that for centuries he has aspired to. Having taken on his own destiny, he must now think with critical intelligence about where to defer.” 

    Barry Lopez, Arctic Dreams: Imagination And Desire In A Northern Landscape
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  • Family

    Enjoying some sunshine….

    January 15, 2010
    Saguaro

    I will be missing in action for a few days as I travel to Arizona for a visit with my parents. Want to celebrate my dads 81st birthday with them. I’m not taking my laptop but will have my camera. I also plan on soaking up a bit of sunshine.

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