Monday, October 22, 2012

Reid Park Rose Garden

This morning I arrived early for my Sketchbook Brigade meetup at the Reid Park Rose Garden so that I may photograph the roses in the morning light.  The skies were blue, so I knew I wasn't going to benefit from the soft light of cloud cover, but I hoped that this time of year the light would not be too harsh (like it is during the peak of summer).


I was pleased!  Hundreds of roses were nicely in bloom, and I enjoyed photographing the morning light on them.  I was even able to find some roses still in shade, and some nicely back-lit.  Though there were plenty of deep red roses in bloom, I found myself favoring the subtle colors in the lighter blooms.

 It was wonderful to get back behind my 20D and 70-200 lens photographing flowers again.  Having the camera on a sturdy tripod allowed me to find compositions I liked, and keep the camera steady.  I set my camera to mirror lock-up enable, used the 2-second timer to further optimize sharpness.
Reid Park Rose Garden is located off Country Club just north of 22nd Street in Tucson, and is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Fall in Northern Arizona

Our recent visit to Flagstaff coincided with one of the most spectacular displays of fall color that can be had in Arizona.  The abundant aspen groves that reside on the San Francisco Peaks were aglow with yellow fire during our October 1st hike up the Inner Basin trail from Locket Meadow.  A few images from my LX5: