After two days of nonstop rain, I was ready to see what the Arizona landscape had to offer. I decided to head back to the Four Peaks area in an attempt that I would be able to capture better photos then I did yesterday.
I left my house approximately at 2:00PM. The weather was partly cloudy with great visibility. By the time I got on Maricopa Road, (AZ 347) I could easily see snow capped peaks hugging around the northwest part of the Valley of the Sun. It felt like the drive took forever, but I’m guessing it had a lot to do with the fact that Four Peaks, and several other snow capped peaks were taunting me as I drove across the Phoenix Metro Area.
About 70 miles and an hour and ten minutes later, I finally arrived at Four Peaks road. I decided to venture a few miles down the road in an attempt to find some cactus close to the road. This adventure was unsuccessful and it appeared I would be needing to get out my hiking boots if I wanted to see any Cactus.
I decided to head back down the road and park my car in the same place I parked it yesterday. Yesterday I remembered seeing a Cactus Oasis just a short hike away so I thought I might be able to take some great photos from there. The hike was a very enjoyable 15 minutes, at least for the most part. On the way out to this oasis, I accidentally ran into some kind of ground cacti. The needles stabbed my knee, and unlike many other small cactus, these needs were thick, and they got me good. Thankfully I was prepared and was able to provide first aid to myself before continuing my hike.
By the time I arrived at this Cactus oasis, the sun was making the clouds look absolutely beautiful. The shot below was one of the first photos I took yesterday. My goal was to get a bunch of Saguaro cactus in the shot, to contrast the Four Peaks mountains in the background.
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After taking the photo above I quickly turned my camera about 30 degrees to the left. By this time the clouds were beginning to reflect some color, and the cactus were absolutely radiating in color. The photo below was my best capture from this vantage point.
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After grabbing this photo, I began to look for Mike Olbinski and Chris Frailey another photographer I was going to try and meet up with (You can check out Mike’s post from yesterday here and Chris’s Post here). I bee-lined it towards my car, but this proved to be somewhat difficult. Every few hundred feet I had to regain my bearing by looking for my car, or using the sun and other various natural landmarks. As I went up a hill, I adjusted my course, and eventually made it back to my car in one piece. Thankfully the weather was very mild or I could easily see how unforgiving this desert can really be.
Shortly after arriving at my car, and catching my breath, Mike arrived. He explained to me that he knew a spot he was going to head towards. Seeing that the sky was beginning to become very radiant I wasn’t going to even think about asking him to wait, because time was running out and the sky was getting very colorful.
About 3 miles down Four Peaks road, I decided I wasn’t going to catch Mike. I pulled off next to a large hill and quickly grabbed my gear. I decided to hike up to the top of a fairly decent sized hill. This proved to be well worth the hike, because I believe I got money shot of the day. I really love the photo below, because it clearly shows how beautiful the sky really was. The photo does have a HDRish look to it, but this was no HDR. In fact it’s one exposure lightly touched in Lightroom. The rest is simply mother nature and timing. The light was absolutely perfect thanks to the clouds and its softening effect on the light. If you look on the right side of the photo about half way down you will notice the foothills radiating color as well. I love the reddish tone the mountain gives off. I also like how you can see the snow and peaks of “Four Peaks” radiating in the distance. Finally I love how you can see the road below winding its way towards the summit of Four Peaks.
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Great shots Bryan! You guys sure had some awesome light and clouds that evening!
Thank you Chris! It was a perfect night for sunset photos.
Both you and Mike wet my photographic delights. I was in Arizona some years ago and loved. Someday, I hope to return, maybe with some luck hook up with you & Mike. Magnificent photos..What a place to be! Thank you for the delights of Sunset, Cactus, and snowcapped Four Peaks!
Hey Aaron thank you sooo much! Mike is an outstanding photographer and very awesome person just in general. I actually met Mike while shooting storms this summer and we’ve kept in touch sense.
Beautiful shots! I found your blog through Mike’s site. Looks like a tremendous evening of photography. Nice work.
Thanks Adam for stopping by! It was a great day of photography. So glad to see many photographers out and about taking advantage of a great opportunity. I saw several pictures on 500px.com of this same sunset around the four peaks area.