Moon Tree

Through the tree comes the moon. I have learned that using my DSLR camera, you can't take pictures of the moon at night. The moon turns out to be completely white and you can't even tell it's a moon, it just looks like a white dot. By waiting until the sun rises, you can take pictures of the moon without worrying about the quality of the picture. You get all of the cracks and holes in the moon with a nice bright blue background.

Bleeding Yellows

This is another type of bleeding flower. Unlike and like yesterdays flower, this flower also bleeds but it is not purple. The center of this flower is brown, unlike yesterdays flower. It also doesn't bleed at all, there is no brown mixing into the yellow. The edges of the brown in this flower are not as sharp but they still give the flower sharp points.

Bleeding Flowers

These flowers are bleeding. It is not a bad thing, it's just what these flowers do to show their colors. The lower flower has edges of color but it doesn't bleed. The top flower is much bigger and is bleeding. The purple is spread out in the white part and gets brighter as you move toward the center. The top flower is also the only flower that has a purple center while the other purple flowers just have a black center.

Pokey Nature

Yesterday's nature had soft but rigid edges, today's nature has sharp pokey edges. This is the pokey ball that was out of focus yesterday. I like this picture because of the colorful background that it has. The leaves give the background different colors that show off the pokey ball. The brown stands out off of the colorful background, making the ball the star focus.

Simple Nature

Nature can be as simple as this or as sophisticated as wildlife. This is just a focussed dry leaf and a blurred pokey ball that falls from this sweet gum tree. You can see the tiny details on the leaf including the specs in it and the jagged edges. You can also see the shape of the pokey ball. It's sharp edges hurt the skin but don't break it.

3-Pointer

This is a shot for three points, commonly called a 3-pointer. Ranging 22 feet in the corners up to 23.75 feet in the top, the three-point line surrounds the hoop. I say it's nearly impossible for myself to make a 3-pointer from the NBA length but I have never tried. I think I'm good if I can make a 3-pointer at a college-length 3-point line.

Drive

After you take the ball down the court to the other team's side, you try to shoot a 3-pointer or drive into the basket for 2 points. This Memphis player decided to drive to the basket and go for 2. As he drives, the Phoenix defenders try and stop him. But if you look at how tense his arms and neck are, I don't think they have a chance at stopping him from scoring.

Tip-Off

As the game starts, two players jump and try to hit the ball, onto their side. Behind them is a teammate who will get the ball and take it to the opposing team's side to try and score. From this picture, it looks like Memphis is going to get the first possession and Phoenix will get the ball to start the second half.

Fun

Sometimes as you warm up before a game you just want to have some fun. This basketballer for Phoenix chose to have some fun be practicing his one hand, no jump shots. He will probably never do this in a game, but it seems like he is having fun even as he warms up.

Focus

Next we go to the Phoenix Suns Talking Stick Resort Areana. The Phoenix Suns played the Memphis Grizzles. It was a very close game, the final score was 97-95 Phoenix. In the picture, we see how much focus that the shooter is using to shoot this shot. Even when he puts the ball directly in front of his, face he still keeps his eye on the basket.

Birds of the South

This bird looks like a hummingbird and according to a bird identification website, this is a Ruby-throated Hummingbird. We can't see it, but the bird is supposed to have a red spot under its mouth and white going down its front side. What was in the identification that we can see is the dark green tail and green back. You can't see it in the picture, but it hovered quite often and had rapid wing movements. Also, like the website described it.

Volcanic Sunset

One of the sunset shots that I took was this one. The mountain is called Pinnacle Peak, it was another one of the mountains that I hiked. The red and dark colored clouds seem to flow out of the 'volcano.' On the bottom left side is where yesterdays photo was taken from. The red colors from the sunset brought out mountains.

Mountain Sunset

While reading after our hike, the pages of my book turned red. I looked up to a red sky with hints of white mixed in. I ran inside and grabbed my camera. I had my big lens on, but it was too big. I wasn't able to get the full sunset. I switched lens but when I walked back outside there was a tree in the way. Not wanting to miss the sunset, I ran barefoot over gravel and concrete to find a new angle. After taking several shots, I walked back happy with the pictures that I took.

Teddy Bear Cactus

These types of cacti are named after their soft looks. From here it looks like the cacti is a soft object but stand next to it and look at all of the needles waiting to poke you. Another interesting thought about the cactus is why is it multicolored? It starts black on the bottom, turns brown, then yellow on top.

Hillside

Facing away from Scottsdale were clear blue skies. Facing toward Scottsdale were hazy/ smoky skies. The hillside cuts into the blue sky and attacks it with cacti. The sharp rocks and needles on the cacti are no match for the clear blue sky.

Arizona's Mountains

These mountains are different than the ones that I have seen in Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. These mountains were much rockier, had cacti on them and didn't have any trees on them. The other mountains that I have seen have big tall pine trees, don't have cacti and have some rocks but not nearly as many as these do.

Dead Tree City

As we hiked away from the city, I turned around for one look and saw this dead tree. I believe that this is one of my best pictures from the trip. The dead branches just break off into different directions almost like a firework. Then you look behind the tree and there is the city of Scottsdale. Then behind the city are the mountains that surround Scottsdale.

Birds of the South

Still, on our hike, I saw this white and gray bird. After looking at several bird identifier websites, I still can't figure out what type of bird this is. I found several close looking types but they all say a small detail that this bird doesn't have. It could be an out of state bird that was just flying by, who knows.

Red Rocks

While walking on a trail, I saw this rock that had an interesting color. On the sides and bottom, the rock looks normal but on top is this red mark. The rocks does look very smooth making it a possibility that it could have been cut open and this is the center. This is a very cool but mysterious rock.

Desert Lands

Outside the house, where we stayed, were hundreds of acres of open land. In that land, I saw several types of birds, two types of rabbits, and I heard but did not see coyotes. I also learned that there are snakes but they are dormant. In the picture are several different types of plants. There is the brown grass, cacti, shrubs and several other types of plants that I don't know the name to.

Mountain Sunrise

As the sun rose, it caused the mountains to become black. The mountains made sure that the picture was not too bright and overpowering. Your eye is drawn on the mountains border with the sky before being taken all around the top of the picture. After your eye follows the darker clouds it starts to focus on the bright yellow and orange clouds before returning back to the dark mountains. 

Birds of the South

This sparrow is the next bird in Bird of the South. After taking this picture the sparrow flew away. I walked toward the bush to see if there were any more birds, which there were not, but I did see spikes on the bush. How could this sparrow sit on a spike? This is the last Bird of the South picture since the night is falling and the next day we were on another drive, this time to Scottsdale.

Birds of the South 

On this trip I took several pictures of different types of birds, these pictures are going to be called the Birds of the South. This bird, which I believe is a woodpecker, is atop one of the old, native New Mexican homes. This picture the almost like a silhouette. The bird is black and house is mostly black or a very dark color. This is contrasted by the bright sky.

Rolling Clouds

I would have liked to capture this picture with the clouds parting over my head but instead the clouds broke a few miles to the Northeast. This is what the rain came from. While it might not look very big and dark, it was a very rare and impressive rain for Las Cruces. Also notice the old, native style homes. With Stucco walls and red trimming around the windows, this is what the old New Mexican houses looked like.

Cactus Animals

I was sitting outside during the end of the rain storm and I looked down. I saw this cactus and noticed something on it. I can't tell if they are spiders who made a home in the cactus or are pieces of an object the look like spiders. If it is a spider then its head would be really small but if it was an object, then what would the object be?

Flying High

After the rain storm, this hawk flew out looking for a meal. I had seen several other birds flying about in the sky but I couldn't quite take a good picture of the bird. This hawk started in the right side of my eyesight before circling above me the swooping down in front of me. I chose this picture because you can see the detail on the bird all the way to the point on the beak.

Water Leaf

On the end of my rain walk, I found this leaf hidden in rocks. It was a jewel that a nearly missed if I had not looked down at a circle of rocks. The water droplets were in perfect spheres on the leaf. They reflected the sky and surrounding leaves. Making them a yellow and red color.