I took this photo from a bridge south of Flagstaff that crosses over I-17 and also affords a great view of the San Francisco Peaks. I used a long 10 second exposure for this photo to get the headlights and taillights of passing cars to create "lines of light". It was my first time playing with extra long exposures. Here's the rest of the EXIF data from the photo in case you're curious:
Mount Elden can be seen in the distance, partially covered by a blanket of clouds. I took this photo at Buffalo Park the other day just as some weather was coming in. 15 minutes after this photo was taken it was snowing and you couldn't see the mountain at all.
This is the Coconino County Courthouse in downtown Flagstaff. The original part was built in 1894, but has had several additions made to it over the years. Made from local Moenkopi sandstone, the building has a deep red color and blends well with its surroundings. This building is well known by locals and visitors alike and is one of the more unique structures in Flagstaff.
I took this in an alley behind Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff. I like the depth of field I was able to get in this shot with good bokeh in the background. 
This is my wife Becky, outside after a recent snowfall here in Flagstaff. It was taken with the Canon Digital Rebel XTi with the 18-55mm kit lens. The XTi kit lens can take some decent portrait photos but I can't wait to get my first new lens the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens, which is said to be one of the best Canon lenses for portraits and closeup macro shots.
We got 3 or 4 inches of heavy, wet snow last night and woke up to a veritable winter wonderland outside this morning. The branches of the ponderosa pines outside our apartment hung low with the weight of the new blanket of snow. Blue sky could be seen through breaks in the clouds this morning, however by evening, the sky was dark and overcast again.
I got this macro shot of a piece of firewood from our deck. Although the days here in Flagstaff have been pretty warm lately, the nights are still quite chilly and a warm, crackling fire is just what the doctor ordered.
My parents recently got us this fun gift. It's a welcome mat with Flagstaff's geographical coordinates (i.e. latitude & longitude), which are 35º 29' N and 111º 43' W. Thanks Mom and Dad, what a creative gift.
This photo was taken on my way to Wupatki National Monument from Sunset Crater volcano. The road in the photo is NF-545. I posted a similar photo a few weeks ago but from a little different perspective. I think I like the photo in today's post better. It has a more interesting foreground and shows more of the sky giving you more of a feeling of openness. The red and orange in the distance is the beginning of the Painted Desert, one of the most beautiful areas of Arizona.
I took this picture a couple of weeks ago on a snowy morning before work. We had gotten about 6 inches during the night, so it took me about 10 minutes to brush my car off, but not before I got this shot for Flagstaff Daily Photo. I guess it goes to show you that even at 6am I'm thinking about photography. :-)
These are the White House Ruins in Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "canyon duh shay") located on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona. Built sometime around AD 12oo, the White House Ruins are the oldest ruins in Canyon de Chelly National Monument. There is a two mile trail that takes you from the canyon rim to down to the ruins and is well worth the effort.
This is a photo of my wife inside the Chapel of the Holy Dove, which is located on Hwy 180 between Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Here are some more photos of inside and outside of the Chapel. The Chapel is extremely small and actually has a dirt floor, which can be seen in some of the photos. It has a large triangular window on one end (see above photo) that faces the San Francisco Peaks. It's an interesting little place and I recommend a visit if you happen to be passing that way.
I took this photo is late afternoon near Sunset Crater. The low winter sun casted the trees shadows down the hill creating a great black and white photo opportunity.
This photo is the result of a little experiment I conducted around Christmas. The object in the photo is actually one of those spiral light Christmas trees that looked something like this. Using a tripod and long shutter speed (15 sec.) at ISO400 and f/14, I slowly and carefully manually zoomed out while the shutter was open. This is called the Zoom during Exposure Technique and is a simple way to add a "special" effect to your photo.
These sandstone walls are part of the reconstructed Wupatki Pueblo located in Wupatki National Monument. Once consisting of about 100 rooms, Wupatki Pueblo was probably home to 85-100 people, comprising one of the largest settlements in the area. Today evidence of ball courts and ceremonial structures can still be found here. Here's another photo of the ruins.
I found this little immature ponderosa pine tree growing from seemingly nothing in the Bonito Lava Flow near Sunset Crater. Although mostly bare rock, small signs of life could be seen here and there on the lava flow, this small pine being one of them. Here's a previous post with more signs of life on the Bonito Lava Flow.
This is part of the Bonito Lava Flow near Sunset Crater northeast of Flagstaff. Click here to find out more about the Bonito Lava Flow. The contrast of the black lava rock and the white blanket of snow made for an excellent opportunity to use black & white.
I took this photo at Arizona Snowbowl ski area. It had snowed the day before and the ponderosa pine were still covered in a thick blanket of snow. It was gorgeous up there.
This photo was taken from the Aspen Meadows ski lift at the Arizona Snowbowl ski area. My wife and I went for a day of snowboarding last week and it was a perfect day to be on the slopes. The temps were in the mid 30s, no wind, clear sky, strong sun....perfect! The two peaks in the photo are the two highest points in the state of Arizona; on the left is Humphreys Peak (12,637 feet) and on the right is Agassiz Peak (12,356 feet). There is a ski lift that takes you up to the top of Agassiz, but since I'm still in the learning stages of snowboarding I stuck to the bunny hill.
I had my wife stand next to this huge icicle outside our apartment to give it some scale. It's at least 6 feet long if not longer. We've had an unusually high amount of snow so far this year and although much of it melts during the warm temperatures of the day, at night it refreezes and forms huge icicles like this one. 
Smoke from the Woody Fire in June of 2006. The fire started near I-40 just west of Flagstaff and was blown by heavy winds north near town. This photo was taken from our apartment's parking lot. The fire came within a quarter mile of our place before it was put out. Scary!
This photo was taken during a September 2005 trip to Canyon de Chelly ("Chelly" is pronounced like "shay"). The tall, narrow rock formation in the center of the photo is called Spider Rock and if you look in the upper right hand corner just above the horizon you can see smoke from a distant wild fire.
Here's a macro shot of a decorative plant at the hospital where I work. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of it, so if there is anyone out there who could help me ID it, it would much appreciated.
This photo is from when we went skiing at the Arizona Snowbowl Ski Resort last December. The weather started out clear, but toward the end of the day the clouds started to come in and cover the mountain. As you can see in the photo, the chairlift seems to disappear into the clouds. After getting off the lift we had to ski down half the mountain with little or no visibility. It was the first time I had ever downhill skied in a cloud!
OK, so this is a photo from wayyyyyyy back. I took this on a September 2006 camping trip to Lockett Meadow. Lockett Meadow is about 15 miles outside of Flagstaff on the north side of the San Francisco Peaks. The weather was nice during the day for this trip, but it got to about 25 degrees F at night. Brrrrrrrr!
