Photography.... My take

I consider myself a descent photographer, I love nothing more than being out in the elements with my camera. At times my photography borders on excessive. I don't have the very best equipment, and I don't have photo shop software in order to help when a photo shoot goes bad. I have two lenses, tripod, and a remote control and a 2 GB memory card .. it will hold 482 fine photos. My Sony DSLR A -100 was a gift from my wife, and I thank her everytime a photo comes out well .

Photographing anything takes a lot of thought process. I try to tell a story, my camera is my pad and pencil, and my photo is the culmination of my hard work.

I do not take photos just to take them, in my mind everything has to be right.  Every photo I shoot are memories that my family and friends can enjoy together long after I leave . Every photo I shoot means something, every photo I shoot is a celebration of life.

I have special places throughout the valley with wonderful vantage points. Sometimes you have to be above it all to see everything. Sometimes you have to be on the roads less traveled away for the city lights in order to take advantage of a photographic opportunity. It really isn't important in what direction I go, the experience is what drives me.

Recently I have been after a lightning shot on a hill over looking  Phoenix, my hometown. I have always wanted a photo from that vantage point. Twice I have set up a mini camp  and waited for the right condition, and a storm to roll across the valley floor. I have had descent photos from this location but still not completely satisfied.

Wish me luck

Arizona Weather thoughts ..

I have been a big fan of the weather for sometime now. I have never been a fan of those who actually do weather for living. I'am sure there are very knowledgeable people in the meteorological field, who do know their shit, but I haven't seen one. Even with today's new tools and toys including Doppler radar,  computer models, and satellites measuring probably everything, including the sweat off our knee caps, they seem to get it wrong more often than not! The boys/girls at the National weather service ( NWS) are Lucky that the weather is an inexact science. Where else can you work for a living, stare at a computer all day, make a forecast, send it off to the media, and then not giving a rats ass whether you were wrong or right?

Some people say that I'am too harsh and should be careful what I say. Those same people are concerned that a few "real" meteorologists might take offense to the fact ( in my humble opinion) they are as dumb as a box of frigging rocks! I was writing for the Arizona Sky warn website a while back, a site frequented by the old guard and quite a few ham operators, who never seemed to have any issues with what ever I had to chime in about. I considered this a vote of confidence ... after all I never have worked for the NWS in any capacity, but have had a lot of friends who do and they have taught me a lot.

Believe it or not I do have pet peeves. I despise those paper pushing, fluorescent light riding, no account media meteorologists who are more concerned about their frigging hair, smiling, and what they have on than placing an accurate forecast, with real time pertinent information. I watch the news most afternoons, why do newscasts feel the need to discuss the weather every ten minutes for two frigging hour straight? When those media darlings decide to discuss our local weather, the first thing they mention " it is "hot" out there!" No Fucking way ! Really?  I 'am sure glad they told me , because I was fixing to throw on my winter coat and rush out there and toss a few snow balls! How would they know whether it was hot outside or not? Everyone of them seem to never get out in the sun, maybe they could get their white zombie looking asses outside and experience what a majority of us all ready knew before they told us!

Enough of my ranting .. I appreciate your patience. At least I can catch my breath for a while, and get my second wind. My philosophy is this .... If it is hot outside it will be this way for a while, unless something extraordinary happens like rain or a cold front! This is not likely especially when hell and Phoenix have switched places. If there are clouds in the sky and they happen to be floating in our direction, The probabilities of rain will increase accordingly, determined by a couple factors, 1) the thickness there of 2) whether pretty little bright streaks are shooting out from underneath said clouds or 3) whether a brown cloud is visible, this could  be a big indicator of a dust storm. Then and only then do we still have a 50% chance of rain ,.. it either will or it won't .. I always lean towards the latter.

A Train in the distance ..

I heard a train in the distance, you could feel
the slow rumble of its wheels upon the tracks.
If you listened close  you could hear
the faint whine of it's horn carried by the wind.
This is where I go, when closing my eyes
day dreaming of far off destinations,
so much better than this ......
vacant landscapes are all that I see ...
asphalt and pot holes, concrete and dirt
telephone wires and traffic.
City noise invades the solitude,
but in my mind ...
The sound of the train whistles reverberate off of canyon walls,
 mountains, and trestles, over crystal clear running streams.
Mountains tops not to far in the distance, as thunderstorms reach
ever skyward from the horizon I see ..
the train rolls along glistening tracks
Wispy clouds overhead ....
as if they were sails attached to a passing schooner ...
riding the waves of an invisible ocean.
Everyday brings an opportunity, and the promise of a better day ahead
through it all the train continues rolling along

without me ....

A refreshing change

Usually spring is a reason to celebrate, flowers blooming, and trees are getting their canopy of green. Good times to say the least. But ... In  the deserts of Arizona this only means the heat of summer is just around the corner. I think we all tolerate the heat of summer, but not excited about sweating our ass off. The rest of the year is wonderful,and this winter has been no exception.We have had a wonderful winter, much colder than usual and much wetter. Snow pack has been huge this year, and all dam's around the valley had to release water down stream. There are signs the long term drought is over, but we know this is a desert for a reason.

 Standing out along the river bank of our normally dry "salt river" its nice watching the water flowing, kind of soothing actually. I can only imagine what this river looked like before we turned this river vinto a wasteland. I have been told that years ago Cotton wood trees lined the river bank. Lush green grass and plenty of shade was every where. Families would  load up there wagons and spend the day enjoying the cool water and the desert oasis. I see why  why people were drawn to this valley if nothing else for that! But that was an easier time ..nothing but memories.

Just looking out my back door this morning, I could see Shawe Butte to the Southeast, shrouded in low clouds, and off to the East Moon Mountain had a crown of clouds as well.  I could imagine standing here just a 100 years ago, looking up at the same view, without buildings light poles, and electrical lines this would have been a beautiful sight. Sometimes progress is not a good thing. All the recent rains have turned the dingy desert brown into a sea of emerald green. The smell of the desert has changed as well, nothing like the aroma of a desert after a rain. I noticed that water is actually flowing in normally dry washs and creeks for the first time in years. 

Even though the intense heat of our summers will soon take a strangle hold, everyone needs to get out and enjoy this time of year,wild flowers should be in abundance as well. A carpet of color as if an artist was using the desert floor as a canvas! A lot of wonderful photo opportunities await in just about every direction you go from the Phoenix metro area. Just take your camera and GO !

Eventually the summer will take hold, the green will turn into brown, the Rivers will dry up and the rains of 2009/2010 will be a distant memory. I have taken this experience in like a sponge, on day trips to no place in particular, hikes into the hills and trails around the valley, train ride into the Verde Canyon, chasing snow flakes in Prescott and hanging out in shops in Jerome. I have photographed the Four Peaks with it's crown of white,  Eagles on their nest, and desert lakes.  I have talked and visited with some wonderful friends, and met a few more who all have stories to tell along the way. Yes this has been a very good winter .. we are truly blessed.

Thanks everyone ....

Have a wonderful day   =)

Rick Delaney

Earthquakes ....

I think about things a lot, from earthquakes to aliens, weather to sunbathing on a nude beach, and from getting my nails done to what will we have for dinner. Now I was kidding about the nails getting done though. Sometimes you just have to throw out things like that from time to time, to see if anyone was paying attention. I have been fascinated with earthquakes, tectonic plates, super volcano's and the chaos it generates. It is amazing to me just how fragile, and at the same time how resilient our world is.

I do actually have an earthquake website I visit and an E-mail notification service to be one of the first to know when the big one strikes. Being one of the first to know, even though I imagine those lucky people at "ground zero", would have the slight advantage in the notification department. I witnessed an earthquake years ago, well found out later that it was, let me explain.

My wife and I spent a few days with other family members in a little town called Idylwild California, a beautiful town actually, elevation 7,000 ft. From the top of this mountain you could walk out to the edge of the property and look down upon the valley below. On a clear day ( free of Los Angeles smog)  you could see the Pacific ocean glimmering in the distance. The cabin was one of a kind, and in order to gain access, you had to walk over a little bridge onto the porch of the second floor. Not like a lot of cabins this one was octagonal, with a huge fireplace as the center piece. The lower floor contained the bedrooms, and each elevation was surounded by a wrap around porch. This was a place you could deffinatley hang out especially during the summer. It was a small  town with it's quaint shops and restaurants, pine trees, and secluded enough so you could actually just sit back and relax.

Our bedroom was very cozy, queen size bed, wood paneling, nice picture window, and a huge down filled comforter on the bed . If you took that same comforter and covered your head with it, no one would know you were there until they sat on you. On those cold mornings you would hesitate to climb out of the warmth and onto the cold wooden floors. We  enjoyed our quiet time and wasn't in to big of a hurry to join the rest of the family out in the kitchen on most mornings.

When my wife and I finally made it out to where the family was, all of them wanted to know if we felt that earthquake? "what earthquake"? They all looked kind of puzzled at My wife and I, and we just shrugged our shoulders. My father in law couldn't understand how we didn't feel the cabin shaking, and hear the boulders tumbling outside. I told my wife later I thought it was just us. she just smiled and told me not to say a word.

have a nice day 


Rick Delaney

Weather or not ...

After all that rain we have had in the last couple of month's, the weather has become somewhat benign. Temperatures were in the low 80's today with an occasional wispy cirrus cloud passing overhead. I would have liked to see the warmth of spring come just a little later this year.

Having all this rain and so much at one time is a novelty for us desert dwellers. To the right is a map of our yearly rainfall totals beginning in 2006. As you can see, we seem to have rain early on, and now until the Monsoon season we basically flat line. It is not unusual to show no significant amounts of precipitation for long stretches.

What is interesting, our official Phoenix rain gauge at Sky harbor International airport, has not received more than eight inches in the same span. I'am sure that orographics, and a slight elevation difference has some effect upon our rainfall totals. Maybe because our home is farther north by almost 15 miles from city center plays a role.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Rick Delaney