Monte V Neon Sign

This is on the corner of San Francisco St. and Aspen Ave. in downtown Flagstaff. The neon sign is for the Monte Vista Hotel, which I talk about here. I use a point-n-shoot type camera (a Canon Powershot SD600 Digital Elph), so I don't have a lot of options when it comes to manual settings. For this photo I put it on the nighttime setting, turned off the flash, set the camera on a level surface (e.g. parking meter) and put it on a 10 second timer. And this is the shot I got. I hope to do better night shots when I get a decent camera.

Stone Wall

A stone wall of one of the older buildings in town, probably dating to around the turn of the century. It's made from a combination of local volcanic stones. You can see that a door once existed on this section of wall, but has since been filled in.

Railroad Worker

This statue of a railroad worker can be found on the corner of San Francisco St. and Route 66 in downtown Flagstaff. The railroad has always played an integral role to the history and culture of Flagstaff. Originally, the rail line was used to ship lumber that was cut from the surrounding pine forest. Today the line is still very busy with an average of 1 train every 15 minutes 24 hours per day.

Route 66 Dog Haus

This is the Route 66 Dog Haus located, appropriately enough, on History Route 66 in Flagstaff. It's a retro hot dog stand where you can walk up and order or, if you're in a hurry, use the drivethru. I have yet to get a dog here, but I'm sure when I do it will be delicious.

Busy Bee

I was pretty lucky. I had stopped to take a picture of this flower and as I was setting up for the first shot this small honey bee landed on it. So I just started shooting before he decided to fly away and was able to get this great shot. It looks like the bee has been busy at other flowers, too. Look closely at his hind legs, they are covered in pollen. Does anyone know what species of flower this is? It was growing wild next to the road.

Canyon Sunset

This photo is of my wife during a recent trip to the Grand Canyon. The Canyon is only about an hour and a half away from Flagstaff, so we often drive up there and watch the sun set over the northwest rim. The light and shadows do some amazing things to the Canyon at sunset, so if you do visit the canyon I recommend staying until sundown. You wont regret it.

Pink Church

This is the steeple of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel on Cherry Avenue in historic downtown Flagstaff. Although a church has been on this site in some form since the late 1800s, this building was built in May 1930 from local malapai stone donated by the church's parishioners. Around town it's known as the "Pink Church" because of the light pink color of the bricks they used in its construction.

Bank

Although today this building houses a store that sells pianos and decorative clocks, it was once Flagstaff's primary bank. Also, the upper level served as a hotel and it was the main departure point for a trip to the Grand Canyon during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Traveling by horse and wagon it took visitors about 8 hours to make the trip from Flagstaff to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, today you can make the drive in about an hour and a half. Isn't technology wonderful? :-)

Regrowth

We found this burned area on a hike the other day. It has been more than a year since this area burned and just now plants are starting to come back. I'm not sure the name of this flowering plant, but its pink flowers made for a great contrast against the blackened trunks of the trees behind it. In a couple of years this area will have rebounded and will be a thick pine forest again.

Mini-garden

Since my wife and I still live in an apartment, we don't have much room for a garden. So in the summer we do our best to turn our second floor deck into a garden. This year we have 2 tomato plants, 1 green pepper plant and a couple of spreading petunia plants which produce these beautiful magenta flowers.

Peaks with Snow

Snow on the San Francisco Peaks, just north of Flagstaff. This photo is from last February after we had just gotten a heavy covering of snow. As you can see it's also the photo I chose for my blog title background.

Study!

Although I'll graduate in about 5 months, right now I'm still a student in a Radiologic Technologist (X-ray Tech) program in Phoenix. So much of my time consists of reading, studying and taking notes that I thought this photo of my notebook would be an appropriate addition to help represent my life here in Flagstaff, AZ.

1st of the Season

We were so excited to see our first ripe tomato of the season yesterday that we picked it right away and can't wait to have it for dinner tonight. (see below)

Too bad it's only this big!! :-(

Prickly Pear Cactus

Although they do grow here in Flagstaff, prickly pear cactus aren't very common. They have a hard time surviving at Flagstaff's 7,000 foot elevation where there is snow on the ground for much of the winter months. This photo was taken near the city of Sedona, AZ where, at 4,500 feet above sea level, the environment is much more desert like and is perfect for cactus plants of all kinds.

Horny Toad

We found this little guy on a trail during a hike. Surprisingly, he didn't seem too scared of us.

Where there's smoke........

This photo is from last summer when a small wild fire broke out just west of Flagstaff, frighteningly close to our apt. The firefighters got right to fighting the blaze and within 24 hours it was out, burning only 50 acres.

Agave

This is an agave plant. A common desert plant you see in Arizona. I doctored the photo a little, obviously. I like the sharp lines and contrast on this one.

Painted Desert

Just northeast of Flagstaff is an area called the Painted Desert. It gets its name from the colorful rock strata that make up the cliffs in the area. Often you can see different shades of red, purple, blue and gray in one cliff wall. It makes for some stunning photography. This photo is of chunks of red Moenkopi sandstone eroding from a canyon wall near Wupatki National Monument.

Iced

Generally, I'm not one to drink the foo-foo iced coffee drinks. I like my coffee hot and black. But when it's 95 degrees outside, you have to make allowances, you know?

SkyRide Feet

This photo is of my feet (obviously) as I ride the Scenic SkyRide down from the top of Agassiz Peak. The SkyRide is a chair lift at the Arizona SnowBowl Ski Area that takes visitors up to the top of the San Francisco Peaks during the summer. The top of the lift ends at about 12,300 feet above sea level.

Start of the Monsoons?

This rainbow came out last night after an evening rain. A sign of the monsoons beginning? Mid-July usually marks the start of the Monsoon Season here in Arizona. During the monsoons it rains for about a half hour each day, usually around 1 in the afternoon, until about mid-September. It used to be that you could practically set your watch by when it would start raining, it was so precise. Not so much the last few years, however. Now, the rain is much more sporadic than it used to be because of the decade long drought the Southwest is experiencing. Too bad!

Stitched Peaks

This is my first attempt at stitching several photos together. I think it turned out pretty good, especially since I don't have the most advanced software out there. What do you think? By the way, these are the San Francisco Peaks. Humphreys Peak is the tallest one on the left and middle little peak is Agassiz Peak and the peak on the right is Fremont Peak.

Morning sun

My wife's face in the morning sun.

Autumn Forest Floor

I love Flagstaff in the fall. The weather is cool and crisp and the aspen leaves turn a vibrant, yellow color. When you pass through a golden aspen grove, it's like walking through a European cathedral. The light filters through the leaves and the gives the air a thick, buttery quality. In a word, it's AWESOME!

Rendezvouz Cafe

This is the Rendezvous Cafe located on the first floor of the Hotel Monte Vista. During the day its a quaint little coffee shop, but at night they break out the booze and it becomes a hip cocktail bar.

Courthouse tower

The Flagstaff City Courthouse tower built from local red sandstone.

Agazzi Peak

Sign at top of Agazzi Peak at the Arizona SnowBowl ski area. Agazzi Peak is one of several mountains in the San Francisco Peaks mountain range. Humphreys Peak (next to Agazzi) is the highest point in the state of Arizona at 12,637 feet above sea level. It is snow capped for much of the year, believe it or not.

October Snow

Pumpkins on our deck after an October snowstorm. I like this photo for its use of color, with the contrasting orange of the pumpkins, blue of the sky, white of the snow and black of the tree trunks. What do you think?

The Monte V

The sign on top of the Hotel Monte Vista in historic downtown Flagstaff. The Hotel Monte Vista was built in 1926 and is located one block north of historic Route 66 in Flagstaff. The Monte V has hosted several movie stars back in the 1940s and 50s when the area around Flagstaff was popular for filming westerns.

Aspen Grove

A grove of aspen trees on Inner Basin Trail north of Flagstaff. Flagstaff is famous for its ponderosa pine and aspen trees. In the fall people come from all over the state of Arizona to see the colorful leaves of the fall aspen.

Flagstaff Photos

Hi, the purpose of this blog is to allow me to post photos of my town, Flagstaff, AZ. If you've been to the Grand Canyon, then you have probably passed through Flagstaff. However, if you have never been here, you will see from the photos that it is a very beautiful and photogenic place.

I'm a sort of budding, (very) amateur photographer and this is my first attempt at some semi-serious photography. I hope you enjoy the pictures and it perks your interest in Flagstaff.

I will be posting pictures from time to time (not every day, but almost), so I hope you will check back regularly to see my newest work.

A field of sunflowers during the monsoon season with the San Francisco Peaks in the background.