Arizona Photo Adventures

Arizona Photo Adventures Photo tours by photographers for photographers

Blue hour in the Blue Canyon... From a recent trip to Blue Canyon in Arizona. I arrived much later than planned and had ...
09/01/2026

Blue hour in the Blue Canyon...

From a recent trip to Blue Canyon in Arizona. I arrived much later than planned and had only about an hour before sunset. That, combined with the smoke from a distant wildfire, made for rather not-so-sunny conditions, so the grand sunset I was hoping for didn't happen. But I did get the chance to capture different hues than on my previous visits there, and they turned out quite interesting.

This is Lower Blue Lake, the first of a trio of lakes in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. It’s not exactly ...
08/25/2026

This is Lower Blue Lake, the first of a trio of lakes in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado. It’s not exactly blue—more like a deep green. The blue color depends on the season, angle of view, and position of the sun. But if you make it there just before sunset, the views are fantastic anyway!

And the hike is quite pleasant, despite starting at 9,300 ft (2,830 m), with most of the trail winding through the cover of an evergreen forest.

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch last night, seen from South Chandler, Arizona.These launches are becoming pretty frequent, and Ar...
08/01/2026

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch last night, seen from South Chandler, Arizona.

These launches are becoming pretty frequent, and Arizona is well positioned to catch some spectacular views. When the sky is clear and the launch occurs about 30–45 minutes after sunset, the rocket's exhaust plume is still illuminated by the Sun high above the Earth, creating some amazing twilight displays.

I've photographed a few of these over the years, but this time I realized I didn't actually understand everything I was seeing 😉. So after taking this photo, I asked my friend Chat to annotate it with the different phases of the flight and an approximate timeline showing what was happening along the plume.

It turns out the bright point at the left is the second stage carrying the payload into orbit, while the long glowing ribbon is older exhaust left behind earlier in the ascent. The actual liftoff isn't even visible from Arizona—it happens below our horizon.

The last couple of weeks were hot in Arizona, but we got some good rain and good photo ops, too! And a full moon!
07/30/2026

The last couple of weeks were hot in Arizona, but we got some good rain and good photo ops, too! And a full moon!

07/13/2026

Last night's timid cloud action before today's slightly more interesting monsoon in the Phoenix area...

A quick hike last night at the edge of town
07/06/2026

A quick hike last night at the edge of town

Fireworks in Tucson, Arizona - July 4th, 2026
07/05/2026

Fireworks in Tucson, Arizona - July 4th, 2026

Progression - Strawberry Moon 2026
07/01/2026

Progression - Strawberry Moon 2026

06/29/2026

Last night's almost full Strawberry Moon rising over Weavers Needle in the Superstition Wilderness, Arizona.

My sunrise at Point Imperial, the highest point (8800 feet / 2600 m) on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.
06/28/2026

My sunrise at Point Imperial, the highest point (8800 feet / 2600 m) on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

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