Northface Nut Brown hops 5402

A new hobby of mine is homebrewing beer. This photo is of the hop pellets I used to flavor my second batch of homebrew called Northface Nutbrown.

Mailbox 5407a

Mailbox 5407a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

We got a couple of inches of snow last night here in Flagstaff. When I went to put our netflix movie in the mailbox there was still a small layer of snow on the box. Happy Winter!

Scheurman Mnt Trail 5331a

Scheurman Mnt Trail 5331a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

Just a 40-minute drive from Flagstaff is a town called Sedona. Since it is almost 3,000 feet lower than Flagstaff, the environment is very different as you can see from this photo. It is a high desert landscape with drought-resistant, succulent plants with a gorgeous red sandstone background. On the right is the ubiquitous prickly pear cactus; on the left is a fibrous yucca plant; and just peaking around the corner in the upper left side is a juniper tree.

This photo was taken at the top of Scheurman Mountain on Scheurman Mountain Trail.

Over the Town

This photo was taken from Mars Hill Road on the way up to the Lowell Observatory. The city of Flagstaff can be seen on the right and Mount Elden on the left.

Little Sugarloaf Trail

This photo was taken in Sedona, Arizona from Little Sugarloaf Trail. Even though it was around 65 degrees that day, there was still a thin layer of snow in the shadowy areas.

History Being Made

Whether you agree with his politics or not, you have to admit today was an historic day for our nation. Personally, I look forward to the next four years of hope and eloquence.

Waiting

This ponderosa pine tree, just one of millions surround Flagstaff, has stood for decades on McMillan Mesa in the center of town, just waiting for me to come along and capture it as the moon rose behind it.

Action Shot

My wife and I (and our dog) love taking walks on one of Flagstaff's urban trails on McMillan Mesa. It has beautiful views of the San Francisco Peaks and, although it's right in the middle of town, you can't see any buildings or houses from the mesa, so you feel like you are in the wilderness. While on the walk, I caught this photo of my wife "exercising" our Irish setter puppy Curry.

Annual Pine Cone Drop

Every New Years Eve, in Flagstaff, there is the Annual Pine Cone Drop that occurs in the downtown area of Flagstaff. For several weeks before December 31st, a large stylized pine cone hangs from the Weatherford Hotel over the intersection of Aspen and Leroux. Like the ball in Times Square, the giant pine cone drops to street level during the countdown to Midnight. Although we missed the countdown this year, the pine cone was still hanging when we took a stroll downtown several days after the ringing in of the New Year. A jet happened to be passing the background when I took this photo, and I think it helped balance the composition and made the image more interesting. What do you think?

One Car Width Only

We got another 8 inches of snow here in Flagstaff over the last 2 days. The piles of snow on either side of our driveway are now about 6 feet tall. And to save my back I've only shoveled an area just wider than our car width, so we can get out.

Melt then Freeze

Flagstaff is one of those places where, in the winter, it can be very cold at night (around 10 degrees) and then very warm during the day (even in the 50s). And this makes for a lot of melting and refreezing of snow and ice. The grill on our deck is situated under the overhang of our roof and as the snow on the roof melts it flows down on top of the grill and then freezes in the evening, making some interesting icicle formations.

From the Mesa

The snow covered San Francisco Peaks as seen from McMillan Mesa after a recent snowstorm. My wife, Becky, gets credit for this photo. Unfortunately, I was at work during this beautifully clear day. Oh well.

Icicles on Icicles

These large icicles formed on our icicle Christmas lights outside our front door.

Overhang

About 4 feet of snow was hanging off the roof over our front door after a snowstorm last week. Even though it looked cool, it presented a bit of hazard for our mailman who delivers mail and packages to our front door from time to time, so I had to hang out the upstairs window and knock the snow off.

I hope everyone had a very happy and safe holiday season this year.

A Dusting 4777a

A Dusting 4777a, originally uploaded by dustinjblodgett.

We received about 23 inches of snow over 3 days here in Flagstaff, last week. And now that we have just dug ourselves out, the weather channel says we are due for another 12". Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Lady, Are You Crazy?

We got at least 15" of new snow yesterday in Flagstaff. I had the pleasure of shoveling our driveway for the first time. Ah, the joys of home ownership. Although I took this photo before the bulk of the snow had come down, Curry still didn't want to leave the deck to do her "business" with just an inch or two on the ground. Can you blame her though?!

'Tis the Season

My wife is an avid baker, especially during the Holiday season. This is one of her first batches of the season, a delicious cookie called Caramel Cocoa Delights; they have a layer of caramel in the center of the cookie. Don't ask me how she got it in there, I just assume it's some kind of baking magic.

Squinty

Our Irish setter puppy, Curry, soaking up the morning sun; although from the look on her face and squinting of the eyes it may be a little too bright. :-)

Again, my wife, Becky, gets credit for this photo.

Cosmic

Another shot of the moon, Jupiter and Venus from last Monday night. A contrail from a jet can been seen in the upper right hand corner, reflecting the rays of the setting sun.

Watch Cat

Our cat, Imara, keeping an eye on our Irish setter puppy, Curry, while she takes a nap.

My wife took this photo.

Brefkist

A macro shot of the beginnings of my breakfast the other day: scrambled eggs with onion, green pepper, shredded cheddar cheese and green tomatillo salsa. Yummmmmm!!!!!

The Stars Align......kinda

On Monday night, a unique cosmic event occurred. Venus and Jupiter, two of the brightest planets seen from Earth, appeared very close to the crescent moon in the night sky. In this photo, taken just after sunset, Venus can be seen below and to the right of the moon. Jupiter is the slightly less bright star above and to the right of Venus. I took this from my backyard facing southwest.

Long Exposure Twins

Wow, it's been a while since I posted. Sorry for that. With the new puppy and the holidays coming, I haven't had a lot of extra time.

However, since it gets dark so early now, it has given me more time to experiment with long exposure photography. I took this photo a few days ago in our bedroom. For those shutterbugs out there, the EXIF info is as follows: exposure time=30 sec, aperture= 3.5, and ISO=400. I stood behind the chair for about 7 sec and sat in the chair for about 11 sec of the 30 sec exposure. I am working on reading about how to do startrail photography next, so if I get a good one I will share it. Enjoy the holidays!

Curry in Flagstaff

OK, so I guess this photo isn't really Flagstaff-related, but I had to post it. Last week, my wife and I got our first dog, an Irish setter puppy named Curry, from a breeder in Denver. This photo was taken during her first full day living in Flagstaff, so I'll use that as my justification for posting it here. :-) She's a lot of responsibility, but totally and completely worth it. Here are some more photos of her if you are interested....

Shadow

The sunset behind me caused my shadow to stretch out over this field of Autumn grass near Snowbowl Ski Area. The peak in the background is Humphreys Peak, the highest point in the state of Arizona.

Windy, Wild Hair

On a windy hike a few weeks ago, I captured this shot of my wife with some wild, wind-blown hair. I like how the bokeh turned out on this one, in that her eye is in focus, but her ear is blurred out.

Sunset over Volcanos

Another shot of the extinct volcanic field northwest of Flagstaff.

Into the Hills

A trail near the Snowbowl Ski Area in Flagstaff. The hills and peaks in the background are actually an extinct volcanic field.

In the Grass

My wife and I took a hike around sunset a few weeks ago on an unnamed trail near Snowbowl Ski Area. The light was just perfect to catch this shot of my wife walking through some Autumn grass.

Snow on the Peaks

Well, I think the cold weather is finally here. Until now we have been having some unseasonably warm weather in Arizona, but with today's high of only 45 degrees and obvious snow on the Peaks, I think winter is on its way. I included two photos for this post the first (above) is a closer view of the peaks detailing the snow cover and the second (below) is a zoomed out image to include some interesting cloud formations that were present at the time. Hope the weather is good where you are. Enjoy Fall while it lasts!