Despite getting soaked by rain all morning, we had a great hike in the desert yesterday. We noted a few more downed Saguaros. In this case as well as many others, the water logged ground became too soft to hold the rain swelled Saguaros in the strong winds and they were just pushed over.
Fallen Saguaro on Trail 4 – State Trust Land
Here’s another gigantic specimen spotted at Rock Knob last weekend. So sad 🙁
Chris walked right past this face on the Tom’s Thumb Trail but then patiently waits while I record it. He’s the most patient guy in the world 🙂
Moss and Lichen face
I’m currently working on gathering faces for my Frankenstone and Friends book and finding a lot! These two remind me of cartoon characters.
Mister Magoo and friend
Disney Hippo ballerinas
I published a trial version through Blurb. The real book will have triple the content and will benefit the Conservancy.
I spotted this guy by the side of East End Trail. His small ears identify him as an Asian elephant 🙂
Yesterday was also spent checking for trail damage due to our heavy rains. We came across very little damage all of which can probably be helped by rolling down some boulders into them. All in all, the trails held up well.
When Prickly Pear cactus become severely dehydrated, they often take on colors like yellow, red and purple. I shot this one at the very end of our hike yesterday. I need to go back with my macro lens and work this!
Also…a repeat of yesterday’s photo. With no sun, it wasn’t a great exposure to begin with. I did a quick Photomatix HDR which I didn’t particularly care for it so I worked on a single image this time turning it B/W with a hint of color. Much better, I think.
While exploring the Marcus Slide area early this morning, we came across several fallen saguaros. Most were healthy so the wind must have been really strong! It’s so sad to see these big guys go down 🙁
Did you notice the face in the boulder?
Before implementing my new landscaping skills, rain water would collect on one side of the house because the grading wasn’t done correctly. My solution was to create a large mound close to the house which would direct water away and then dig a long trench about two feet deep and fill it with medium sized rocks and then smaller rocks on top. The small rocks fell in all the spaces resulting in a nice path for walking. It’s working really well so far so I’m patting myself on my back. Thank you Landscaping School 🙂
Storm update: Tornado warnings last night! Talk about rare! We made it through the night with only one tree half way down but two possible tornadoes touched down in the Valley….about 10 miles from our house. It picked up one of the tents at a popular car auction held every year at this time. Lots of car owners crying over losing million and multimillion dollar collector cars 🙁
The rain was just light enough this morning for a few Gambel’s Quail to come out looking for birdseed. Of course I can’t resist so I obliged and got wet for my efforts. I’m hoping their feathers are keeping them dry.
Tech: Shot through window using Canon 100-400 mm lens at 400mm.
Yesterday, I worked on a recent desert landscape and came up with three renditions.
HDR – three exposures blended using Photomatix
Black and White – I used Photoshop’s B/W adjustment layer and Topaz Ajust for contrast
High Key (sort of) – I used various Topaz filters on this one
Also…a correction to what I said yesterday regarding our rain storms. The worst is yet to come! It’s starting tomorrow afternoon and continuing through Friday. I always get Tu and Thu mixed up 🙂
Rain…finally! Like the rest of the West, we’re experiencing several storms this week….one after the other. Our strongest will have high winds and is due tonight. Love the rain but the winds barreling down through the mountains around us will almost always overturn trees. I tied down all my new trees when I planted them so I think they’ll be OK.
Tech info: Rain splashing on my patio captured hand held through a window. Canon 7D, Canon 70-200 (non IS) at 200mm. ISO 800, 1/180th sec at f5/6. Nik and Topaz filters added to accentuate the splash.