New Love

There is nothing like new love fresh and alive. This is Mike and Stephanie who wanted their engagement shots to be at sunset with the desert as their backdrop.

If you traveled down the old HWY 88 past Canyon Lake and Tortilla Flats the pavement eventually comes to an end. This was going to be our location and we were not disappointed by mother natures glory as the setting sun surrendered itself to the night.

The light was leaving us fast but I think we were able to capture the mood as in visioned.

Airport

Airport. This is one of my favorite lookouts in Sedona. As I have mentioned before I love Sedona and my wife and I try and get there both spring and fall. I will also try and get there in between for some R&R and shoot a few images.

I have been trying to make my way back up there since its been a few months but have been derailed each time.

Maybe next month.

1903

This week in the Phoenix area they are calling for rain almost all week. I think this is the first time in 22yrs that I have lived here that I have seen this. Most may know that Phoenix only gets like 9" of rain a year so to even have rain in the forecast for two or three days in a row is a big event. You will even see people standing outside when it rains just looking into the sky in wonder and amazement.

I decided today to take a little walk around ASU campus being it was a holiday and school was closed which meant plenty of parking would be available.

This church is a Catholic church which was built in 1903 right across from the original ASU building. In 1903 this place was still the wild west but you would never know it now with ASU being the biggest college in the country with over sixty thousand students.

I shot this at 18mm, ISO 320, f6.3 at 1/200 of a sec. I really love the textures and color of the old brick as it is flanked by these palms.

The palms of course not original to the desert but a great addition.

Light Rail Bridge

I have really been itching to do some dusk and night time long exposure photography lately so I decided to get my butt down to Tempe Beach Park and see what there was to photograph.

This shot was taken between the light rail bridge and the old train bridge with the shutter speed set at 30 seconds at ISO 100 at about f4.

I love the outcome of this shot! The cool thing about the light rail bridge is that the lights that you see along the bottom of the bridge change colors as the light rail approaches it with reds, blues, purples and greens.

I will for sure get back down there again soon to shoot a little more. Don't forget you can click on the photo to enlarge it.

The Old Church

One of the things I really enjoy photographing is old churches. This church is out by the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, AZ.

I am not exactly sure why I am drawn to old churches, maybe it has to do with the history a church tends to have when it comes to peoples lives. Many start off their lives with some sort of dedication as a family vows to raise their child in their faith, then the child once old enough to understand their family's faith gets baptized into that faith, many move on to getting married at their church then dedicating their child's life to their faith, and last the old church holds the remains of that persons life while others come in celebration of it.

I fear that many churches built today may not have such a history. People get tired of the old church and build new bigger and better churches to replace them while other churches fall into decay and are just torn down in order to provide more space for progress.

Last & First

Well this was my last shoot in 2009 and my first shoot in 2010. It was from the New Years Eve wedding of Dustin and Ashley and they wanted to celebrate their wedding while bringing in the New Year.

Of course everyone was tuckered out and only a hand full of the guests were left to help them bring it in but that's OK.

Me being the pro that I am stuck it out with them right till the end.