yellow leaf payson

Fall colors are quickly retreating in Arizona. So made one last trot up to Payson, in Mogollon Rim country, to see what was left. Well, not too much, probably 2 weeks too late. Today's trip didn't yield the nice, orange and red leaves. Those peaked about 2 weeks ago. But today's trip did show some nice, yellow leaves, hence the title of this blog.

Ok, I lied. There were a few orange and red leaves hanging around. But you really had to hunt 'em down.





















This trip actually was about 15 miles east of Payson, Arizona on Highway 260, off on the Zane Grey Highway. This Highway of sorts, actually it's a paved forest road, takes you 4 miles north to the Tonto Creek Fish Hatchery.

red leaf sedona

Arizona is certainly not New England. But a few places bare some uncanny resemblance, at least for a few weeks in the Fall. One such place is the West Fork of the Oak Creek about 10 miles north of Sedona, Arizona off of Highway 89A. You can be guaranteed some good pix in late October for about two weeks. Other good Arizona locations for Fall colors include the Mogollon Rim east of Payson, the Tucson area and in extreme southeast Arizona, the Chiricahua Mountains.

Many of these colors come from the Bigtooth Maples which seem to prefer narrow canyons or hillsides. The colors are spectacular. More pix at http://www.pbase.com/scorpius/sedona2.





















Shooting in the West Fork canyon is best in the morning, after 2-3pm lighting quickly diminishes and the colors become more dull. If you choose to shoot on the weekend, be prepared to deal with some major crowds along the couple mile trail up the West Fork canyon. Else, the weekdays offer considerable more, space. One thing for sure, there are plenty of 'composition opportunity shots' here and you'll find yourself placing leaves on rocks and water and the like.

hunter-jumpers in 103 degree heat

October is a welcome month in Arizona. Both equestrian and horse alike begin showing up at Scottsdale's Westworld arenas. The 'cool' Fall is an ideal time to begin practicing for upcoming events. This day, however, wasn't so cool as the mercury reached 103 degF (~40 degC). Still, the riders and horses at the 2009 Scottsdale Fall Preview put on a pretty, good show.

The lighting inside the arena is soft, but along the entire horizon there is a band of strong, incoming sunlight. That equals spot metering! And so the rest is history, quick captures with fast glass can make for some interesting captures.

Photogs have it good at Westworld due to these relatively small size type of events, maybe 200 people at most spread out across Westworld, making shots so much easier. It is easy to roam around, set up and move around the various arenas. More pix at http://www.pbase.com/scorpius/hunterjumpers2.

I'm always amazed at the ease that these jumpers maneuver their horses. Let's face it, the horses are 20x the size of the riders!