I traveled to Scottsdale recently for a wedding and I am so in love with the desert landscape.  We (my wonderful friend and assistant, Gabriel and I) had a free morning the day before the wedding so we got up super early and headed to the Desert Botanical Garden to take advantage of the softer morning light.  (Funny story:  when inquiring at the hotel about the best place to “go to the desert and shoot cacti”, the concierge thought I meant shoot with a GUN and simply looked at me in horror, totally speechless!)

Anyhow, we ended up at this beautiful garden and I’m so glad we did.  It was really well-done, beautifully maintained, and incredibly informative about life in the desert.  If you are in the area, I highly recommend it.

From soft and golden...

To spiky and strong.

This reminds me of birds that perch on the backs of the wild ponies in Chincoteague, Virginia. Doesn’t this seem like it would be poky on those little bird feet?

Meet docent Charlie. I love the sway of the trees framing this shot, and the edge of the path drawing me into the image. (Compositional elements, people!!)

Charlie is 90 years old, and logs the most volunteer hours of anyone at the Botanical Garden. He's a character, full of stories and it was a real treat to meet him.

We were lucky enough to be there for their very, very cool butterfly exhibit.  It was like a large greenhouse constructed of screens, and it was SUCH a relaxing place to be.  We stayed quite a while to enjoy watching the flutters.

And, a-one

and, a-two

I can't say that I totally planned this, but I quite like the soft effect of this shot, with sharpness only on the outer wings. Sometimes sweet photos are a happy accident.

I can never resist these types of goofy things. Gabriel was a good sport.

I wish I’d had more time to stay in town after the wedding.  Now my brain is spinning on the idea of a southwestern road trip…