The Long Cold Road Home by Land_and_Air_Photography

Highway 89A in Flagstaff, Arizona. At sunrise. Was cold and took my phantom up for this shot.

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Looking Up by Pcoskun

Now that summer is winding down, my mind is fully set on the colors of autumn in the coming months. The best thing about living in the southwest is that you get to enjoy autumn colors for months instead of weeks unlike many areas of the country. This image was photographed last October in Flagstaff. The aspens were at peak in this section and I wanted to get this cliche shot of the aspens rising into the sky. I had tried the same shot a week before under clear skies, but with the clouds it allowed the pockets of blue to pop and contrast with the golden foliage. I can’t wait to get my first glimpse of fall color in a couple of weeks!

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Morning Moo’s by Pcoskun

I found myself perched up above these unique spires that are somewhat hidden in the maze of cinder cones in Northern Arizona this morning. After getting skunked for a sunset that looked to be promising, I managed to wake up this morning in hopes for a little bit of redemption. Halfway up the hill in the near dark and I was beginning to reconsider this idea. I huffed and puffed while taking a few quick breaks to catch my breath. I could see the faint glow in the clouds to the east and when I finally arrived to where I wanted to be I just felt like laying down and going back to bed. I set up my gear regardless and ate a quick breakfast (if you can even call it that), and waited for the sky to do something. As I was waiting I couldn’t help but hear the many cows down on the prairie that kept mooing and making all sorts of noises. They happened to be making noises all night long as I was trying to get some sleep. The clouds to the east began to turn that beautiful orange crimson color while the clouds above and to the west were barely catching any color. I thought maybe I would be skunked again and that my efforts would not have paid off. Luckily, the light eventually caught some of the clouds above me and above the peak I was starring at. I managed a few dozen photos trying to figure out the best way to capture the whole scene and get those wonderful clouds above. When the light finally crested the horizon, it began to flood the prairie floor and Kendrick peak (the mountain on the horizon) began to catch it’s first light. It was nice to be up in the high country again, and to visit a place I have never been. I am sure I will be back in this area again in a few weeks when fall colors begin (hoping for a good year!).

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Summer Splendor by Pcoskun

Summer Splendor- I try every year to make it up to the mountains during the summer. Early plans to visit more rugged mountains quickly changed when wildflower blooms occurred nearly two months earlier than normal. This was in places like Glacier National Park and Mount Rainier, two prime locations for summer wildflowers. Now with so many fires ravaging these areas, scrapping those plans seems like such a great idea now. I made a brief visit to this location last year for the first time and it absolutely took my breath away. I feel fortunate to have been shown this area that is now so special to me and a few others. It’s just simply one of the greatest views in this great state of Arizona. These wildflowers are only present for a very short period of time. In fact, they are probably toast by now even though this was photographed only a few days ago. Perfect timing I suppose. I spent the entire weekend up on these beautiful yellow hills thinking of how lucky I am to be able to witness something so beautiful. For someone who spends the majority of my time in the hot desert, this was a much needed getaway to the mountains, and I didn’t need to travel thousands of miles to get there. When I left this place I thought to myself even if I didn’t come back with any photographs to show for, the time spent here was good enough. Luckily, I was treated to a few beautiful shows of light that seemed to be perfectly situated for whatever composition I chose. It was one of those weekends that just rejuvenated my desire to explore and create.

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Mountain Remnants by Pcoskun

This weekend was spent enjoying fresh mountain air and beautiful wildflowers that seemed to have been timed perfectly for my visit. I met up with a few local photographers from around AZ and we spent the weekend wandering through the vast expanses of yellow sunflowers. These flowers really only bloom for a very short period of time, so I was pretty happy when I got there and saw the hills covered in gold! We endured a few nice sunsets and some typical monsoon thunderstorms. I always noticed these dead trees far up on the hillside and always wanted to get a decent photograph of them. I worked a few angles on a couple trees while the sunset started to go off. These trees reminded me of both bristlecone pines and the white bark pines that one can find in Montana. It was a nice weekend spent in the high country that was definitely much needed.

For those that knew Jeff Swanson either personally or online knows he always brought joy and laughter to all of us. He was unfortunately taken too soon by Melanoma about a year ago, but his images live on and if you happen to enjoy his images please do purchase one of his prints. All proceeds from his website will go to the Melanoma Research Foundation. http://ift.tt/1Kmy8QL

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