Tucson: Where the Sky Meets the Land

The desert southwest is problematic for a woodland photographer from the east. Making photos in the east involves shooting close to your fingertips—the subject is perhaps a few dozen feet away. In these photos from Tucson, the image starts a few feet away and travels for miles into the sunset. The clean desert air lacks the haze of the east. The foreground has exotic and beautiful cactuses—silhouetted in the foreground to add mystery. An unusual cloudy sunset with multiple layered mountain ranges draws the viewer to the horizon. Sunset photos always risk being cliche, but in Tucson, I challenge you to NOT photograph a great sunset.

On a chilly Saturday morning, I headed out at dawn to hike in a local park. I saw a rabbit, a few runners, some cactus wrens, and beautiful scenery. The Saguaro cactus dominated the open landscape. Birds were nesting and perching on them. The sun lit the saguaro from the side, making their spines glow a bright orange or red. The scrubby, convoluted Teddy-Bear cactus peppered the space between the saguaro.