Sunset Trail

This photo was taken late last Fall, while my wife and I were on a hike on Sunset Trail. On the right side of the trail, you can see evidence of a recent wildfire that passed through this area. Not long after this photo was taken Winter finally arrived.

Simplicity

A light post in downtown Flagstaff. I just liked the simplicity and various contrasting tones of this photograph. I hope you enjoy it, too.

Fall Flashback

Here's a little flashback to Autumn for you.

Pink Church

Another photo of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel in downtown Flagstaff. I have posted photos of it before and you can see them here and here.

Winter in Flagstaff

I took this photo outside of town on Hwy 180, the road everyone takes to get to the Grand Canyon. The mountains in the background are the San Francisco Peaks, obviously.

Icicle vs. Sun

A few days ago, I found this icicle right outside our front door. If it wasn't for the ponderosa pine blocking most of the sun hitting the icicle, I'm sure it would have been long gone.

Merry Christmas!

Santa says, "Merry Christmas, Everybody!!"

More Christmas Lights

Christmas lights on our deck. I used a nice, long exposure (about 20 seconds, I think) to get the star-burst effect on the lights.

Flagstaff Welcomes You

This sign welcomes you as you come into Flagstaff on Hwy 180. Here is a similar photo I took of the sign and Peaks right after the summer monsoon season when the field was filled with yellow flowers instead of snow.

Christmas Light with Long Exposure

I used a long exposure (20 sec I believe) to get this photo of a Christmas light on our deck. The long exposure is what gives the light that starry, twinkle look. Using a 30 sec. exposure, I got the same effect on our Christmas tree. I'll post that photo in the future. I hope everyone is having a safe and happy Holiday so far.

Half Moon

This is one of the first photos I took with my new camera. You can see a half moon in the upper left corner and a ponderosa pine (very common in Flagstaff) on the right.

Snowy Night

I caught this photo of my sister-in-law in downtown Flagstaff during a snowstorm last year. We were on our way to the Wine Loft, a local wine bar, and had to fight our way there through the snowy streets.

Christmas Reflection

I took this photo with my new Canon Digital Rebel XTi camera last night. You can see me and some of our apartment reflected in one of the silver glass balls hanging from our Christmas tree.

Snowy San Francisco Peaks

This photo was taken from Switzer Canyon Dr. just north of Route 66 in Flagstaff. We got a snowstorm last week and it covered Flagstaff and the San Francisco Peaks with snow.

Special Gift

Well, there's a good reason for my late posting today. This morning I took my ARRT Registry Exam to become a registered Radiologic Technologist. A 3 hour exam of 220 gut-churning questions. But I survived and now it's just a waiting game to find out my results.

But I came home to a great surprise from my wife. As a graduation gift, she teamed up with her parents and my parents and they got me the camera I have been wanting for several months, the Canon Digital Rebel XTi. I wasted no time opening it and taking it for a "test drive". I'll post some photos from it soon, but until then here are a few pics of my new baby! :-)

Paw Prints

Guess who's been out on the deck! This little monkey's been out "playing" in the snow.

Cliff Reflection

This photo was taken on West Fork Trail north of Sedona, AZ. The creek in the photo is the west fork of Oak Creek, which ultimately forms Oak Creek Canyon. I believe the cliff is made of red Moenkopi sandstone. The light was just perfect to give me this reflection of the cliff in the water.

Remnants of Fall

Even though we just got our first snow fall of the year here in Flagstaff, I'm still reluctant to let go of Fall. So here's a "different" view of an autumn aspen leaf as a tribute to my favorite season.

Xmas Koko

Although Kokopelli is extremely overdone when it comes to Southwest decor, I still like him. This is probably one of my favorite ornaments on our tree. We got him at a Christmas store in downtown Flagstaff called "Christmas in Flagstaff" that sells pretty much any Christmas ornament or decoration you can think of.

Chocolatey Treats

It's that time of year again. Time for baking and making holiday treats. This is a macro shot of a treat my wife made a few days ago. They are Ritz crackers dipped in mint chocolate with crushed candy canes on top. VERY GOOD and easy to make. Here's another shot of her chocolatey treats.

Fresh Snow

We got a few inches of snow over the weekend and I caught a photo of this "mini-drift" on the railing of our deck. Although many people think Arizona is only hot, dry desert, there are actually many parts of it that are high enough in elevation that they get cold temps and a decent amount of snow. Flagstaff is one of those parts. For example, in 2004, the year we moved here, we got somewhere around 39 inches of snow in 48 hours in late October.

Christmas Tree 2007

Here's a photo of Christmas tree this year. I used a long exposure (about 4 sec) to get this shot. All of the light you see is coming from the little Christmas lights on the tree.

Desert Fishhook

This shot was taken near Bumble Bee, AZ, located on the very north end of the Sonoran Desert. It's a fishhook cactus and gets its name from the way its spine curl at the end to resemble a fishhook. Although this one is very small (maybe about 4-5 inches tall) they can grow to be very large. Click here to see a photo of this guys bigger brother.

First Snow Fall

We got our first snow of the season earlier this week. Although it never snowed in the city, once the clouds cleared, it was clear that the Peaks had received a healthy layer of snow. In this picture, you can see clearly the elevation below which it was too warm for snow to form.

Of course, as soon as we got our first snow fall, the buzz around town was when our local ski area, the Arizona SnowBowl, would open for the year. As I write this, we are getting our second helping of snow, this time even in town, so there is a good chance it wont be long before skiers and snowboarder are cutting trails in the new powder.

Color Accent = Fun

I used the color accent feature on my camera to get this shot of a yellow leafed plant entwined with a yucca. This feature is fun to play with. All you do is pick a color and the camera will make everything in the picture black and white except things of the chosen color. In this case yellow. I image you can do this same effect using post-processing software (e.g. PhotoShop, GIMP, etc), but I've never tried.

Also, if anyone can ID the yellow plant for me, that would be great. They are all over the place near the Grand Canyon, but I have never actually seen any in Flagstaff. Thanks for the help.

Downtown Clock

In downtown Flagstaff, there are clocks strategically placed here and there. This one is on San Francisco Street right out side of the local coffee shop Late for the Train Cafe. Here's another photo of a downtown clock.

Return of the Train

Once again, another photo of a train. As I've mentioned before there are roughly 4 trains per hour that run through Flagstaff, so it was pretty easy to get a photo of them behemoth as it passed by the train depot where I took this photo.

Needles

Pinon pine needles in the crotch of a tree. The forest floor is thick with them. Unfortunately, they are extremely flammable and help to spread wildfires very quickly.

Weatherford Hotel

The front of the Weatherford Hotel on a Fall day. As you can see from the historic photo on their website, the hotel facade hasn't changed much in the last 100 years. On New Year's Eve, the city holds an event where a huge pine cone is lowered from the top of the Weatherford to the street and is timed to reach street level right at midnight. I guess it's supposed to be a Flagstaff version of the ball-drop at Times Square in New York. It's a little hokey, but it gives you something to do downtown.

Silhouette

This photo actually from a ways back, back when there were still leaves on the trees. The tops of aspen trees can be seen behind my wife's silhouette. The photo was taken on Inner Basin Trail.

Shadow

I found this shadow on the sky bridge in the hospital I work in. I thought the criss-cross pattern was interesting. We could sure use some of that sun today, its cold, cloudy and sleeting out right now. Hope the weather is better where you are.