Haboob Sunset
As most locals know, during the monsoon season, Phoenix is prone to dust storms, also known as haboobs. Weather officials say haboobs only happen in Arizona, the Sahara desert and parts of the Middle East because of dry conditions and large amounts of sand.
Yesterday (August 18, 2011), Phoenix experienced the 4th largest haboob on record. Once the storm passed, there was still a lot of dust in the air, which led to a fantastic sunset.
This photo was taken August 18, 2011 at 7:20 pm off of Pima Canyon Road in the South Mountain Park preserve- the largest municipal park in the country, according to the Trust for Public Land.
Taken August 17, 2011, South Mountain Park, Phoenix, AZ. 7:23 PM (about 11 minutes after sunset).
Details:
Nikon D200 dSLR
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED Lens
12mm (18mm equivalent)
ISO 100
5 exposures (bracketed) blended into one HDR photo: f/4, shutter 1/20; f/4, shutter 1/40; f/4, shutter 1/10; f/4, shutter 1/5; and f/4.5, shutter: 1/80;
HDR generated using Photomatix, Tone Compressed (using default settings). Adjustments include the Color Temperature being dropped to bring out the blues, as well as the Color Saturation being increased to bring out the reds and increase the overall contrast.
Enjoy!
Dan, aka @PHXPhoto
That's No Moon...
...it's actually the sun, taken during this evening's Haboob.
Sunset over the Painted Desert
Taken August 17, 2011, South Mountain Park, Phoenix, AZ. 7:23 PM (about 11 minutes after sunset).
Elevation: Approximately 1,600 Feet (450 feet above the City of Phoenix).
Details:
Nikon D200 dSLR
AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 12-24mm f/4G IF-ED Lens
12mm (18mm equivalent)
ISO 100
3-shot HDR-
f/4, shutter 1/40; f/4.5, shutter: 1/80; and f/5, shutter: 1/100 (bracketed)
HDR generated using Photomatix, Tone Compressed (using default settings). Color Temperature dropped to bring out the blue, Color Saturation increased to bring out the reds and increase the overall contrast.
Enjoy!
Dan, aka @PHXPhoto
Lightning Over Phoenix
A nice cloud-to-cloud capture. Looking south, not really any rain to speak of, however.
Details:
- Nikon D200 dSLR
- AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 Lens
- 18mm (27mm equivalent)
- ISO 100
- f/3.5
- 10-second exposure
Dan, aka @PHXPhoto
Views of the Phoenix Valley From South Mountain
I shot these photos February 12, 2011 from Dobbins Lookout on South Mountain, which sits about 1,200 feet above the valley floor below. The South Mountain Preserve is the largest municipal park in the world, and includes a lot of hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails. Best of all, there are no entrance fees to the park.
The photos below show:
- a U.S. Airways Airbus (most likely an A320) departing Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (Airport Code KPHX),
- a view of downtown Phoenix, including Chase Field with its roof open, and
- Camelback Mountain, approximately 15 miles northeast. Sky Harbor Airport (KPHX), including its easily identifiable Control Tower, is visible in the foreground.
South Mountain Park Preserve Information: http://phoenix.gov/recreation/rec/parks/preserves/locations/south/index.html
Thank you for stopping by!
Like what you see? Please leave a comment below.
-Dan, a.k.a. PHX Photo
The Hoover Dam- One Of The Wonders of the Modern World
I took a trip to Las Vegas with Lynn and her family earlier this week, and on the way back, we stopped at Hoover Dam for some quick photos. I can spout off all sorts of facts and figures pulled from the internet- that the Hoover Dam is a wedge-shaped arch-gravity dam 660 feet wide at the bottom, but only 45 feet at the top, and that it is taller than a 70-story building (at over 726 feet from top to bottom); that the dam contains over 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete- enough to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York, or that its 1,200-foot span formed the artificial lake- Lake Mead- that is used as a reservoir as well as for recreation. Lake Mead has a surface area of 247 square miles and a maximum depth of over 500 feet, with a total water volume of 28,500,000 acre-feet. But until you actually see it, I don't think you can really appreciate the enormity of those numbers.
As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here is 10,000 words or so worth of photos taken by yours truly.
One of the two 30-foot bronze "Winged Figures of the Republic". Tradition is to rub the statues' toes for luck, which explains why the toes don't have the same weathering as the rest of the statue.
View of Lake Mead from the Hoover Dam. Lake Mead's average water level is around 1,173 feet above sea level; it is currently around 1,090 feet, 83 feet below average, as shown by the white "bathtub ring".
The new 1,900-foot-long Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (aka the Hoover Dam Bypass), viewed from the Hoover Dam. The roadway soars 900 feet above the Colorado River. Its concrete arch is the longest in the Western Hemisphere.
What not to do when walking across the Mike O'Callaghan - Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.
Thank you for stopping by!
Like what you see? Please leave a comment below.
-Dan, a.k.a. PHX Photo
References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Mead
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_O'Callaghan_–_Pat_Tillman_Memorial_Bridge
Experimenting with HDR
has gained popularity with the advent of digital photography.
High-dynamic-range photographs are generally achieved by capturing
multiple standard photographs, often using exposure bracketing, and
then merging them into an HDR image. For these images, I used 3 and 4
standard photos respectively, and combined them into the two finished
images you see here. I was going for a more natural look, but HDR is often used for a more
artistic effect. I was used a trial of Photomatix from HDRsoft: http://www.hdrsoft.com/ . What do you think?
Snow On Four Peaks
From Wikipedia:
Four Peaks (Yavapai: Wikopa[1]), at 7657 feet (2335 m) in altitude, is a prominent landmark on the eastern skyline of Phoenix, part of the Mazatzal Mountains. It is located in the Tonto National Forest 40 miles (64 km) east-northeast of Phoenix, in the 60,740-acre (245.8 km2) Four Peaks Wilderness. On rare occasions, Four Peaks offers much of the Phoenix metro area a view of snow covered peaks, and is the highest point in Maricopa County.
The name Four Peaks is a reference to the four distinct peaks of a north-south ridge forming the mountain’s summit. The northernmost peak is named Brown’s Peak and is the tallest of the four at 7,657 feet (2,334 m).[2] The remaining summits are unnamed, and from north to south are 7,642 feet (2,329 m), 7,575 feet (2,309 m) and 7,524 feet (2,293 m) in altitude.
January 21, 2010: The Aftermath
Captured with my iPhone 3G
Sent from my iPhone 3G Do you have photos of the storm damage out by you? Post them (or a link to them) Thanks for stopping by! Dan, a.k.a. @PHXPhoto- Posted from Chandler, AZ
