I could go ballistic over the systematic dismantling of humanity, also known as the GOP. But y’all already know the abysmal realities there, so I’m going to post something a bit more cheerful, dammit.
Warning: slow-loading due to a photographic glut.
I took an actual vacation day this week. The husband person and I took advantage of the free time, driving a little further than our usual daytime jaunts. We did a round-trip to Prescott, Arizona, some 140 miles each way.
The day was absolutely glorious. Temperatures were in the low 80’s in the Phoenix vicinity but when we moved up in elevation, those numbers dropped. It was in the mid-60s all day. There were just enough clouds to make the photo-ops perfect. Blinding sunlight washes out colors. The hazy light let colors positively glow.
And
Tonight’s album isn’t ultra-artistic. It’s 99 percent touristy. I figured you wouldn’t mind.
They’re everywhere, I tell ya. I thought this little alien totem pole was fun and kitschy. He guards the front door of a tourist shop at Rock Springs, Arizona. 
Because in otherwise lovely surroundings, antlers were…. well… um… antlery? 
The trees are just starting to leaf out in the higher elevations. This garden (and a lot of these photos) are from a tiny spot called Rock Springs. 
This balancing rock sits on a small island in Watson Lake, at the edge of Prescott. 
I took a closeup of the hand beading. The workmanship is spectacular. This was one of several motorcycles parked next to us when we stopped at Sunset Point. 
I didn’t expect to see berries – certainly none of this shade – so early in the season. I believe this was one of my snaps from Prescott proper. 
This motorcycle is even more gorgeous in person. I’m not a “bike” person in general, but I still appreciate a magnificent machine like this one 
A lot of trees were in bloom. This was a couple of blocks from the historic district in Prescott. 
This is another shot from Rock Springs. They painted every light fixture a different color, but allowed them to weather. 
And more from Rock Springs. 
This tiny little church – and it’s TINY – is hidden down a hill in the tiny town of Dewey-Hunbolt. The town is barely a blip on the map and is utterly charming. 
More from Rock Springs. Their biggest sign advertises homemade pie. Which, sadly, we didn’t sample, because we had just eaten a ginormous breakfast. 
Yeah, I know it’s hardly fancy, but I still love the occasional dandelion, They do grow here, but they’re rare. 
This is part of a professional building in Prescott. I loved the colors – the pink blooms on the trees, the rich greenery, the creamy white walls, and the pale blue trim. 
A slightly different angle. There were actually about 5 doorways, for five businesses. 
More from Watson Lake. These ducks were unperturbed by the humans sitting so close by. 
I couldn’t get a great snap of this fountain, but wanted to capture some of the tile work at its base. 
This old jalopy was sitting in the parking lot of an antiques shop in Prescott 
I used a telephoto lens to capture the dots of cows grazing next to Watson Lake, near Prescott. 
No great shakes, I know, but I kind of liked the composition of plants and rock. 
This is to the immediate left of the alien you saw earlier. The “hog” inside is… unique. 
A hillside of historic homes in Prescott. 
Dewey-Humbolt’s signs mostly reference Humbolt. When you can read them at all, anyway. 
This outdoor light reminds me of the Statue of Liberty for some reason. 
The ducks still weren’t impressed by my camera skills. 
This whole area was marked by spectacular rock formations. Some of them were small enough to sit on. 
I can only imagine the scoville value on this bundle of tiny chilies. This isn’t the ancho chilies you see all over the Phoenix metro area. These are tiny, and I’m pretty sure they’re HOT. 
More from Rock Springs. The pink lamps were in an odd spot. 
Close up of purple blooms. 
Close up of red blooms. 
Rocks. As a rockhound I generally like ’em. 
A little better image of the rock formations at Watson Lake. 
And Rock Springs. I don’t know what the rusty farm tool is called, though I suspect I know how it’s used. 
These Mexican blankets – once known as serapes – are everywhere. But not all of them are as colorful as this one in front of a shop at Rock Springs. 
Even the thrift store sign at Dewey-Humbolt was charming. 
I captured this bloom just as it was beginning to emerge from its spiky parent plant. Once it unfurls it’ll be mostly yellow. 
This stagecoach sits in the parking lot of the sheriff’s office at Dewey-Humbolt. 
Another angle of the stagecoach. 
These low rock walls lined the walkways at Rock Springs. And everywhere you looked, things were in bloom. The tiny pinpoints of red and white were blooms on a bush I didn’t recognize. Each bloom was a stark mix of red and white. 
This is an overview of Sunset Point, north of Phoenix. It’s a dormant volcano. At least, that’s what they tell us. It last erupted 1000 years ago. If I remember my science right, that’s about the geological equivalent of fifteen minutes. 
A slightly different perspective of Sunset Point, though you can’t exactly scoot back to take it all in. 
And more of the ducks at Watson Lake 
Okay I didn’t promise NO artsy-fartsy shots. I liked the rust patterns, colors, and the old locks of this weathered old trunk. It was tied to the stagecoach at Dewey-Humbolt. 
Roll out the barrels… Well, maybe not. The half-barrels were planters. At Rock Springs. 
Tin roof, red door, stone walls, and green vines. Color was a theme this trip! 
Not the best shot of it, but this is a three-tier waterfall just outside the fence at Rock Springs. 
This isn’t painted – it weathered that way. I believe the metal is copper, but the purple suggests it’s an alloy. 
A closer shot of the stone arch. That wheel is at one end of a well pulley system. Rock Springs, in their garden area. 
A closeup of the wheel. The irony is the walls of the well are completely obscured from this angle. 
Just because I like flowers. 
This is a faux well, obviously, but still a nice touch. 
The husband and I were trying to figure out what these yellow blooms are. I don’t know if they’re a wild rose or something else entirely. 
Another shot of the masses of yellow blooms. The red door and stone walls – this is the opposite side of the small building with the tin roof. 
And the yellow lamps at Rock Springs. I told you all their light fixtures are different colors! 
This one’s technically closer to home. This is the front end of an old fire engine. It’s got a for-sale sign and sits about a mile down the road from us. 
Also closer to home – the last of the wildflowers are orange, and still making themselves known. 
A slightly wider shot of the old fire engine. 
This is a closeup of the dials on the side of the fire engine. 
Bougainvillea climbing up a post in the mall parking lot close to here. 
Mister Peacock here was posing for me atop the white rail fence. He didn’t deign to move when I was snapping pictures. I think he might have turned his head, as if to say, “Be sure you get my good side!” 
Close up of the orange wildflowers. I showed the field a while back. 
More bougainvillea – this time a sunset-peachy variety. 
Not its best coloring. I took this snap of the Superstitions late in the afternoon, but a little TOO late. The optimal light had faded/ 
And more close ups of the orange wildflowers. 
Last wildflower snap for the day, I promise
What a lovely bunch of photos from an obviously enjoyable day out! That was a lot of fun to scroll through. I think my favorite was the “old jalopy” in Prescot – very well composed, and you nailed the focus – followed by the hanging chilies (because I’m fat). But they were all wonderful to see, thank you for posting them. (Oh, and take it from a golfer who is plagued every year by their poop on the course: “These ducks” from Watson Lake are geese. Canada geese. 🙂
ps. Did I miss an equipment story? Your pics are all tagged as being taken with a Nikon D3200. I know you said your husband person got a D3400 a while back. Did you pick up a 3200 for yourself?
Also…not to be too geeky, but do you use “back button focus”? If you don’t, I recommend it. It’s super simple to set up on these Nikons, and soooo much easier to use than pressing the shutter button halfway to autofocus. Just type “D3200 back button focus” into YouTube search and I bet you get a ton of hits that’ll show you the advantages. But either way….WELL DONE!
🙂
Yep, I bought a D3200 for myself a while back. I always hyperventilated when using the husband’s camera, afraid I’d do something to break it. So I got my own – cheaper, gently used – and we share all but the 18-55 lenses. We bought the camera body from Adorama online, had under 700 actuations and came with a 90-day warranty. With the exception of a second 18-55 for me, all our subsequent lenses were found through local Facebook groups, pawn shops, etc. You know me by now. I never pay retail.
Thank you for the tip! I’m absolutely looking up “back button focus” asap! Tapping the shutter button is okay but if there’s a faster/better way, I’m all for it.
We had a blast this trip. Mother Nature was cooperative, and my body didn’t even crap out on me (much.) We had a good cheap meal at a familiar buffet restaurant for lunch, and made it home alive at the end. I took well over 300 photos and my better half took about 700; but a lot of them were duplicates (and triplicates, and quadruplicates, and… you get the idea.)
Thanks for pointing out the obvious – all but one snap I got was geese. I saw a mallard in there somewhere, and the brain went on hiatus from there on.
Somebody over at my blog said they weren’t sure about the concept of back-button focus because they had shaky hands. I’ll cut/paste my reply to her here, just by way of elucidation (plus, it makes me feel important):
Back button focusing is actually better for someone with shaky hands, because it’s impossible to fire the shutter with the back button. You can’t accidentally take a pic if you press too hard while trying to focus, or while you’re recomposing and trying to *hold* focus.
The biggest advantage is actually related to that: you don’t have to hold any buttons once you’ve chosen what you want the camera to focus on. If you want to focus on an object in the background you put your focus square on that object, press the back button til it grabs focus, then release the button. You can now swing the camera all over the place and put that object anywhere in the frame, and when you press the shutter release it will not try to focus on whatever is now in the focal square. In shutter-button focus, you have to hold that button halfway down while you compose the shot.
AND the back-button focus will allow you to stay focused at that spot until you choose to move it – no re-focusing if you’re Continuous shooting of an object that may be moving left-to-right, for instance. Great for sports photogs, nature photogs, and many others, which is why many are using that now.
Great set of pics! Looks like you had a very fine day off 🙂
Thank you. We had a LOT of fun. I hadn’t taken a real day off in a while other than when I was sick. We were both well and it was perfect weather. That kind of serendipity doesn’t come around often!
I enjoyed all the photos and your comments on them. I love the idea of painting all the lights different colors and then allowing them to fade. So pretty. Nice that you two got a day away from every day life to enjoy together.
It was heavenly to just get away and enjoy ourselves. We’ve gone before, but this trip was different. We didn’t feel like we had to rush through, and the weather was just spectacular. I have a couple of days off over Easter weekend (my daughter’s getting married) and we’ll probably do some more photography that weekend, too, in addition to the wedding shots.