Tag: desert

Finding Balance

A young Harris’s hawk flares out its wings as it tries to find its balance while perched in a tree on the Latigo Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on June 8, 2024. Original: _A675514.ARW

This young Harris’s hawk and its sibling had learned to fly short distances but it was still early days in their development. It was working on learning to balance as it moved about the tree, flaring out its wings and holding the pose until it was confident it wouldn’t fall.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: June 8, 2024

Euphoria

My shadow stretches across a massive rock face, making a pretend tree trunk for a tree growing amongst large boulders with Granite Mountain in the background on Januargy 26, 2024. Original: _ZFC9300.NEF

It’s funny how personal photography can be. This is my favorite image from my leave of absence but if I had shown it to myself at the start of my leave I would have been confused, recognizing the scene but not the significance. For me it captures the joy and even euphoria I felt as my mind unwound taking Bear into the desert every day. As big as he is his shadow was too short to stretch across the massive rock face so you won’t see him, but I do. I see myself too and not just my shadow, but a self that was coming out of the shadows. I had to put him back into semi-hibernation for a while but we’ll meet again.

📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon 16-50 DX
🗓️: January 26, 2024

This Is Why You Should Never Leave the House

A gophersnake patiently waits outside a rodent hole in Scottsdale, Arizona on June 30, 2024. Original: _A675628.ARW

We were in the backyard with Bear when my wife noticed this gophersnake in the green space below us. It was patiently waiting to introduce itself to its neighbor living in the hole and was still there much later when I went out to say hi to the tarantulas. The sun had already set when we first saw it, I leaned the lens on the fence but still not the sharpest of pictures.

📷: Sony A6700 | Sony 100-400mm | Sony 1.4X
🗓️: June 30, 2024

Desert Shadows

Long shadows (including mine) stretch up into the desert landscape full of saguaros and boulders on the Granite Mountain Loop Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 13, 2024. Original: _Z728602.NEF

A different take on a favored scene, deliberately adding my shadow to the desert’s own. I can’t remember if Bear’s shadow mixed in with mine or if his was too short even for this wide view, but I loved hiking this trail with him this past winter and spring.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-200
🗓️: April 13, 2024

Coming Down the Mountain

A view of saguaros and wildflowers on the Granite Mountain Loop Trail in McDowell Sonoran Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona on April 13, 2024. Original: _Z728573.NEF

A quick snap of a favored view as Bear and I were on our way back to the trailhead, surrounded by saguaros and wildflowers with mountains in the distance. I had been back at work for a couple of months and missed our daily hikes, but these days I’d settle for even weekend walks as I haven’t been able to get up early enough on my days off to beat the heat. We did go swimming yesterday for two hours lest you feel too sorry for us.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 24-200
🗓️: April 13, 2024

Damp Defenses

A close-up of saguaro spines covered in drops of rain on January 7, 2024. Originals: _Z729811.NEF to _Z729855.NEF

One of the many nice things about my leave of absence this winter is that if we got a gentle rain I could step outside and soak it in, instead of driving home in it or even worse coming out at the end of the work day and seeing it had rained while I was trapped in the bowels of the building.

📷: Nikon Z 7II | Nikon 105mm macro
🗓️: January 7, 2024