The majority of the time, Ocotillo look as if they are dead. Given even the slightest moisture, though, and they respond by sprouting leaves. We’ve had rain two nights in a row now so this Ocotillo will be full of leaves in no time.
Category Archives: arizona
patriotic water drops
Happy 4th of July! I’m posting from my archives today. This water drop technique was something I always wanted to try and it turned out pretty well considering I didn’t put much time into it.
Below is my setup which includes a flag graphic from the local newspaper, a window screen, a spray bottle with water, window light, camera, tripod, cable release and most important (of course), a macro lens. All in all, it was a fun (but messy) project 🙂
monsoon
The Monsoon gives hope of rain almost every afternoon but so far not a drop. This quick shot from last night (Canon S5 ) needed a lot of help so I opened it in ACR, converted it to 16bit and opened it as a smart object. I then manipulated the heck out of it to give it more of an impending rain look 🙂
Here is the original.
hot
The spines in back look like hot pokers to me.
(lensbaby plus 4x diopter)
front row seat
Cleo and Cloe watching us working in the yard.
sunset
The Monsoon season has arrived. This is last night’s sunset reflected in our garage windows. I superimposed another photo (taken at the same time) of trees on the horizon.
rescue
Chris and Cleo found this tiny baby rabbit on their walk this morning. VERY long story short: After calling for help as to how to care for it, we deduced that this little baby had actually dug himself out of his burrow. I had filled in the hole four days ago not knowing what it was 🙁
Thanks to animal rescuer, Annette Urban, for taking on the task of trying to nurse it back to health. Good luck little guy.
pretty in pink
I spotted this photo of the day under a Jojoba bush by the garage. I then checked the other Mammillaria in the yard but I had missed their blooms…darn.
Mammillaria like the safety and shade of overhanging shrubs so that’s the place to look.
overcast
This eerie sun and clouds turned out to be a result of a fire about 40 miles away. Over 1000 acres of brush, mostly Tamarisk (Salt Cedar), were burning in the Salt River bed. These trees produce a really dark smoke.
summer fruit
What a surprise to find this fruit yesterday. In fact, there were two!
(Animals usually eat them before I get a chance to get a photograph).