Shutter Mike Photography

If you find yourself in Albuquerque, NM with a camera there is one spot you cannot afford to miss if you want the best sunset photographs.  That is Sandia Peak northeast of the city.   There is a tram that will take you the 2.7 miles to the top of the 10,378 foot Sandia Peak.  That will cost you $20 plus $1 to park, well worth it!  I went in December right at sunset.  That time of year requires keeping a few things in mind.  1) It is 20-30 degrees cooler at the top than at the base, and very windy.  So it was about 15-20 degrees.  2) The ski slopes close at 4 so there are very long waits for the tram back down the mountain, 2-3 hours if you go right at sunset when the slopes are emptying.  But still I say the spectacular sunsets make it well worth it.  I have not gone in the summer (yet), but it might be a bit easier (and warmer).

This photograph was taken about 10 minutes after sunset on Sandia Peak near Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I was photographing the sunset when I turned around and noticed these skis leaning up against a lamp post (that is not the moon behind them).  I loved the coloring and composition and how the lamp looked like the moon behind them.

The Tempe Town Lake was created by damming two ends of a dry river bed and filling it with water.  The point was to create a public space near Tempe’s downtown district.  There are often complaints, some valid, of wasting water on something like this in the Arizona desert.  But based on the number of people who use the lake and the surrounding parks the complaints aren’t too loud.  That is until the rubber dam that holds the water in the lake burst after baking in the Arizona sun for several years.  Millions of gallons of water rushed down the dry Salt River emptying the lake.  The dam was fixed, the water filled back up and the fish restocked.  And then a bridge was built over the dam to shade it from the brutal sun.  Whatever your position is on building a lake like this in the middle of the desert, the bridge is a very cool design (and functional) element crossing over the west end of the lake.