Maricopa Pict of the Week

Sunset at the Corner of Out There and No Where July 2010

I noticed there was the look of a great sunset. So I went out driving to find a cool spot. I saw a dirt road and took a hard left off the 238. I wanted to get past the power lines and got in as far as a low sports car could get. Here is what I found.

LOCATION: 238 W, Left 83 Ave S, about 15 minutes in.

Monsoon

Christmas is Here '09

Preying Mantas

Ran into another very sweet little critter while doing the garden. Had to grab the camera and luckily he was very inquisitive.

LOCATION: My backyard

Across the Railroad Tracks

When you are in Maricopa, you can not help but see our water tower. There is alot going on in this area. Lots of history with this old and rusting tower. As well as the trains that go by with all the equipment that is there sometimes.

LOCATION: Just south of the 347 and 236 intersection

Leaf And Feather Farm

I ran across and advertisement for a place you can get some beautiful plants for you garden that also has some animals. Makes it a little bit of everything for the full family to enjoy the visit.

LOCATION: Just south/east of W. Papago Rd and the 346

Halloween '09

Have you ever heard people say, "Halloween is my favorite holiday"? There are so many holidays and some people go the whole nine yards to deck out their houses. I have been noticing that more and more each year. Well I past a house in my neighborhood that had a pretty good setup and as I passed it one night thought to myself that would make a cool photo shoot. So I cruised over there late one Sunday night. This way no one would be asking me questions about what I was doing and I could get the shots I had envisioned.

LOCATION: House in my neighborhood

Abandoned Warehouse With Audi Feb '10

So here is the first image of the shot I had this afternoon. I was hoping for a sweet sunset in the background. Well next time.

LOCATION: At the North West corner of N White and Parker Rd and 238

Freeze Sucka!!

Well I have to give a shout out to the Maricopa Sherrif's department. I was only at the Abandoned Warehouse about 10 minutes before I had company. The officer was very nice. Wanted to check to see if I was up to no good. We had a short chat and I explained I was just taking some photos. I hoped it would not be a problem if I hurried up and left everything the way I found it. He was cool about it. Thanks. I hope to post some new pictures soon.

Places to Visit

Some things that came to mind recently. I have to hit where the 347 hit the railroad tracks. Here we have the very old and rusting Water Tower. Will make for some nice shots if paired with a cool sunset, sunrise or having the train in the shot as well. Then across the street is the AmTrak station. Out front they have an old train car. So those are on my radar.

Warehouse Jan '10

I have passed this warehouse multiple times and never really thought anything about it. One stormy afternoon I was driving home and this place jumped into my mind. Well I drove like crazy to get here before the sunset. Made for an interesting foreground shot. I have to remember to come back here when conditions are right for a beautiful sunset and try again. Now that I know the lay out of the land I can do a better job in the short amount of time I will have to capture a sunset. Maybe take some pictures of my car in the carport area.

LOCATION: At the North West corner of N White and Parker Rd and 238

Burrowing Owls

We have some burrowing owl in Maricopa. I have to get a better lens for zooming in or work on my stealth abilities to get up close to these very skittish guys.

LOCATION: End of Smith Enyke heading East. Just after entering the Maricopa Agricultural Center. Look on the left of the road. You will see the pipes, rocks and stumps they use for homes. The plowing marks frame around their area.

Pointsettia Bush Critters 02

Okay so I have a pointsettia bush in my back yard. Had it here for about 4 years. I always seem to find little critters hanging out on it. I will have to dig out some shots I took. Might be the last year though on this bush. Seems like this last winter took it out. See in spring if it comes back. It has in the past but never been this far gone.

I think it was because it was a cold morning that this little lizard let me get so close for some photos. As I took photos' and the day warmed up' he was more active. Glad I am warm blooded.

Took this little lizard quite a while to climb up here. I guess he could tell he needed to get up higher to catch the sunlight.

LOCATION: My backyard

Sunset as HDR Jan '10

Here is the same Sunset shot I had just posted. I ran a process to convert this to an HDR image. Brings out the detail and color of the shot for sure. I hope to experiment with HDR shots alot more.

LOCATION: Rancho El Dorado Prkwy. In the wash area between Greenway and Santa Rosa.

Suffer for the Art

So I took Julian(Jogging Stroller) and my dog Wrigley over to the sunset spot. Had on my new shoes. When I got there I realized the best spot to take the photo was in the middle of the muddy road just to the right of the still flooded area. In this spot I could get more of the mirror affect of the sunset on the water. Well even walking slow and carefully the shoes took a hit. ;(

RED Sunset

We recently had some crazy rains up in Maricopa Az. As always there are two spots in the RED community that get flooded out. NICE DESIGN people!. Sheeesh. Anyway I could see a nice set turning up.

I usually don't go out and take pictures when I have my son but I thought to myself this will be a nice one. My son was good enough to accompany his dadda and stay out of trouble as I took the shots.

So here is the shot. The area to the left that looks like the river path is the road. Yes that is the way I get out. 2 of the 3 ways out of here are flooded.

LOCATION: Rancho El Dorado Prkwy. In the wash area between Greenway and Santa Rosa.