I like shooting scenic vistas. Most of my experience as a nature photographer has come shooting in Colorado, where if a hike doesn't end with a summit or alpine lake and pass a few overlooks and waterfalls along the way its not worth doing. One of my challenges since moving to Texas has been trying to find spots to shoot that are relatively free of the hand of man, which isn't easy given how developed the area is.
One of the best parts of my summer road trip was getting to some pretty remote locations and just looking around and seeing nothing but nature.
Saguaro National Park, despite being split in two by the city of
Tucson, provided some truly wonderful moments in that regard.
I drove through some heavy rain on the way from
Joshua Tree National Park which actually forced me to make a slight detour. But when I got to Saguaro the afternoon sun was shining brightly and the remaining clouds were adding some terrific texture to the sky.
The saguaros themselves were fun to work with and compose around. Seeing them reach for the sky lent itself to portrait shots like this one.
The Valley View Overlook Trail leads to exactly that -- a wonderful look to the west.
Cacti and clouds -- not a bad combination.
These suckers really do get pretty tall, some as much as 45 feet.
The late afternoon sun was at a perfect angle to shoot some silhouettes.
As the sun descended the clouds grew thicker. But I still took the advice of a park ranger and stopped at the overlook along Gates Pass Road at sunset just in case there was something to see. A tiny sliver of open sky on the horizon provided just enough of a break to make the stop worthwhile.
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