Shutter Mike Photography

A Different Perspective

This shot required a little dirty work.  I wanted to get as low as possible so I was not only looking up at the tree but also at the flowers, the the extent that was possible without digging myself a hole.  So by lying down on the ground and getting the camera as low as I could I was able to achieve the bugs-eye-view I wanted.

Apache Lake is a series of four lakes on the Arizona Salt River that are the result of damming the river for power generation and flood control.  So although it may not be entirely “natural,” in the sense that man had a significant role in its formation, it is still a beautiful spot in a beautiful state.

The hunt for wildflowers in the desert is on.  With heavier than usual rains this winter the promise of a bumper crop of desert wildflowers has been enticing for photographers.  The various wildflower spotting sites have had reports coming in from all over Arizona of sightings of everything from Mexican Poppies to Lupine and Globemallow.  I headed east of Phoenix this past weekend along the Apache trail and although there were not carpets of wildflowers covering the landscape they are starting to pop up mostly along the roadsides.  I would anticipate in another couple of weeks we are going to see some spectacular displays far beyond the medians.

I am by no means an expert on identifying wildflowers but with the help of a guide like National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers: Western Region I think I have come pretty close to getting the flowers I saw identified.  Please let me know if I have gotten any wrong.  The flower to the left is the Desert Chia (Salvia columbariae).  It almost looks like it is two flowers in one with the smaller blue flowers attached to the larger deep purple ball of spines.

Coulter’s Globemallow

Apache Lake Arizona

Apache Lake is east of Phoenix and was formed with the damming of the Salt River by the Horse Mesa Dam in 1927.  It is one of a series of 3 lakes formed by dams on the Salt River along a stretch of Highway 88 also known as the Apache Trail.  There are some prime opportunities to capture some beautiful Arizona landscape photographs along this stretch of the Apache Trail.

I am almost hesitant to let out the secret of Las Cienegas National Conservation Area.  If you did not know it was there you would easily miss it.  There are no roadside signs indicating its distance from your current location or “next left.”  But if you know where to look or just stumble up on it, this area of Southern Arizona is simply amazing.  The rolling hills and vast grasslands were once private ranch land and are now managed by the Bureau of Land Management as a national conservation area.  Landscape and nature photography opportunities are abundant.

Arizona Grasslands

Historic Empire Ranch

An Arizona Landscape