Flagstaff's Snowpocalypse

A few weeks ago, Flagstaff got socked by a massive, 6-day snow storm. The second biggest in its history. We got approximately 55 inches of snow from Monday to Saturday. I heard the Snowbowl ski area got from 6-8 feet. For several of the days, most of the town just had to shut down (except the hospital, of course, so guess who still got to go to work!). Anyway, since I was at work once the sun finally came out, these photos were taken by my wife, Becky.

This is our Irish Setter, Curry. She has the weirdest hair I've ever seen on a dog. I had to share this photo even though it's not exactly "of Flagstaff".

Backyard Startrails

Backyard Startrails, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

Another attempt at startrails. This photo was taken from my backyard. I really want to try to get out of town and into The Dark to get some good, clear startrails. Maybe when it gets warmer. :-)

8 Month Mark

8 Month Mark, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

My wife, Becky, is at about 8 months pregnant and, after a recent snowfall, I figured the snowy backyard would make for a good background for a silhouette photo. She is due February 24th...THAT'S NEXT MONTH!! I can't believe it! It's gone so fast.

Hot Christmas Morning

"There's nothing like a cold beer on a hot Christmas morning." -Home Simpson

Merry Christmas, Everyone!!

Mount Elden At Sunset

Mount Elden (right) and some of the San Francisco Peaks (left) as seen from our front bedroom after a storm that dumped 2 ft of snow on Flagstaff.

As is probably pretty obvious, it is the new header for the photoblog, too.

Curry By The Tree

Our Irish Setter, Curry, sleeping near the Christmas tree. She's grown since last year....check out this photo:

Curry Last Year

She must have been really deep in sleep since this photo is a 30 sec exposure and she didn't move at all during it!

Curry watching birds

Curry watching birds 6909, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

Our Irish Setter, Curry, watching the birds at the feeder during an early winter snowstorm

Courtesy of the Little Woman

Hi Everyone. Even though I didn't take this photo, I had to post it. My wife took it a few weeks ago from our backyard. One of Arizona's famous sunsets. Unfortunately, I was at work at the time and missed the whole thing. Thankfully, she snapped several photos to share with me later.

Watching

Our Irish Setter, Curry, scoping out the backyard from the newly constructed steps on our deck. My wife watches in the background.

Sunflower

Sorry folks. Just had to include a shot of the ubiquitous wild sunflower. Enjoy.

Hops

As some of you may know I brew my own beer. And since store-bought hops are so expensive, I thought I would try my hand at growing my own. This photo is of my hops plant. The small, green cones are the hops flowers and are what are added to beer to give it it's bitter taste and floral aroma. My hops plant is of the Cascade variety.

View

This photo was taken during a hike on Humphreys Peak Trail. We were taking a break in this open area where you could practically see the Grand Canyon. I believe the peak in the distance is Kendrick Peak. The red blob next to my wife is our dog Curry, an Irish Setter.

Good Measure

OK, so here is one more macro wildflower shot, just for good measure. I'm about 95% sure it is a California Poppy, but please correct me if I'm wrong.

My Equipment

Just for those other photographers who may be curious, all of these macro shots were shot with my Canon Digital Rebel XTi with a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 prime lens and a Canon Extension Tube EF12 II. I love the lens, it makes extremely clear photos and the extension tube really allows me to get close up.

Black & Yellow

Here's another wildflower from my yard. The contrast of the black center and yellow petals really caught my eye.

Wildflower

Sorry for the flood of macro photos of flowers lately, but it is "wildflower season" in Northern Arizona right now, so I'm gettin' out while the gettin's good. Here's another wildflower macro that I took in my yard. I'm not sure what kind it is, so if anyone knows please let me know. Thanks and Happy Summer to everyone!


EDIT: I was searching the website for a local nursery (Flagstaff Native Plants and Seeds) and I just happened upon the name of this flower.I'm pretty sure it's called a Firewheel (Gaillardia pulchella).

New Mexican Vervain

I went backpacking recently and found this little guy on my way down the trail. Not sure the kind of flower, but the purple really caught my eye.

EDIT: I was searching the website for a local nursery (Flagstaff Native Plants and Seeds) and I just happened upon the name of this flower. It's called New Mexican Vervain.

Beautiful Weed

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted last. Sorry about that, everyone. It's been a busy summer, but that's no excuse. Here's a macro shot I took recently of a thistle in our backyard. Weeds can be beautiful at times.

Give Me a Hug

Backyard Prickly Pear6127a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

A macro shot of a prickly pear cactus in our backyard.

Ice plant 6109a

Ice plant 6109a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

The blooming pink flowers from our Ice Plant in our front garden.

Red Hot Poker 6087a

Red Hot Poker 6087a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

A newly planted Red Hot Poker plant (a.k.a. Torch Lilly) from our garden

Hunt n' Peck

A bee hunts for pollen on a lupine flower near Veit Springs Trail.

Just Starting

A fern stem just starting to unfurl. Photo taken on Veit Springs Trail near Flagstaff, AZ.

On The Trail

My Irish Setter, Curry, on Veit Springs Trail near Flagstaff.

Elements of Life

Some elements of a relaxing evening in Flagstaff. ;-)


FYI: the beer in the background is the superb Fat Tire Amber Ale produced by the New Belgium Brewing Company.

Ice Plant

I love how this macro shot turned out. It is a close-up of an Ice Plant, which we transplanted from a friend's house. They fell in love with this little, unassuming plant during a trip to Mexico.

It is a succulent that thrives in hot, dry areas and works well in landscaping as a groundncover. Ours is starting to bloom with small, magenta colored flowers. I love the texture of the "leaves" in this photo, as well as the swirl of the flower bud just starting to grow.

Landscaping

My wife and I have made it our mission to do some major landscaping this summer. One of our smaller projects is putting in a "border" along the side of the driveway. We wanted plants that were low maintenance, required little water once established, and could handle having 4+ feet of snow piled on them during the winter. And it sounds like these three types of plants fit the bill perfectly.

From bottom to top they are: bronze carpet stonecrop, variegated stonecrop and Elijah Blue grass.

A Rose By Any Other Name.......

A macro shot of a pink rose.

Little One

An HDR image of a little cactus I found when we pulled over off of Schnebly Hill Road.