Seeing 2013 (#20)

For your consideration:

Gleaming in the still-awakening moments of a fresh day, the distant (fully thirty-one miles from this scene's vantage point) housings of some the planet's premier astronomical instruments stand as ironic sentinels over their brightening surroundings.  The inverted-vee-shaped encasement at the leftmost of the plateau is the world's largest solar telescope;  thus it alone is congruent with the opportunities afforded by the rising Sun, while in contrast its kindred structures are undoubtedly already dormant until well after the dusk, still many hours off.

 Meanwhile, one can rest assured that the non-wandering cacti in the foreground will remain implacably  and firmly rooted in their posts and roles as passive, sleepless witnesses to the full twenty-four hour spectrum at hand . . . and for many more to come.

Frankly, this is not one of my most stellar photographic submissions.  The oddly flat lighting and relatively large distance between the essential elements in the scene conspired to produce serious challenges to hue, saturation and contrast.  Ah well, one does the best they can with the skills and materiel at hand.  (I actually spent several hours in the post-processing phase of this offering 'ere finally uploading it:  at some point diminishing returns threaten to intrude.)

Nonetheless:  while this effort will certainly leave Zone-system adherents and Van Gogh admirers underwhelmed, on a deeply personal level this image brings me great satisfaction.

For I've spent many childhood hours atop yon distant scientific edifice, thanks to the ever kindly, ever persistent nurturing of my abiding interest in astronomy (and all things science) at the hand of my grandfather.  Later, during my college years, I spent far more time simply soaking in the beauty and warm memories of this tableau, most usually in the company of dear friends while absorbing astounding sunsets . . .  ever blessed by the gifts of the desert.

Kitt Peak and Saguaros at Dawn (Observatory Observers), #2944-7D; 

© 2013 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details:  April 8, 2013, Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/200 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 320;

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 300mm

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Visit my full photographic repository at jwmurray.smugmug.com

Seeing 2013 (#19)

For your consideration:

An encounter during the earlier portion of my recent trek to the summit of Wasson Peak, west of Tucson.

Depicted is one limb ("arm") of a rather sturdy and grand Saguaro, this one standing perhaps twenty-to-twenty-five feet tall.  On the tip here reside what will soon become blossoms of the Arizona State Flower;  they only bloom at night and are primarily pollinated by bats.

I have loved the majesty and grace of these huge cacti since my childhood (we had one growing in our back yard).

I've grown older I've come to appreciate the combination of their pointedly formidable exterior, their astounding strength and subtle flexibility under harsh conditions (the >70mph winds which persistently nearly blew me over on my hike didn't faze these entities in the least) . . . and their stoic and vulnerable foundation in their desert home.

Warriors of the Light, perhaps, à la Paulo Coelho.

Saguaro Limb, #2976-7D; 

© 2013 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details:  April 8, 2013, Canon 7D; f/8 @ 1/400 sec; ±0 EV; ISO 500;

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 140mm

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Visit my full photographic repository at jwmurray.smugmug.com

Seeing 2013 (#18)

For your consideration: another entry in the Sill LIfe series . .  here, a pivotal moment of apparent élan —an exemplary display of defiance and courage in the face of overwhelming odds.

Perhaps.

There are oddities to be discerned by closer inspection . . . our protagonist may well be a fallen warrior fighting to the bitter end, even in the face of impending doom . . . yet, alas, 'tis not the case.

Au contraire, this  tableaux speaks to a larger, far more commonly found truth:  there is often less than meets the eye;  we too frequently draw quick conclusions based on cursory observations of unexpected situations.  And so it may well be here, for the main subject had be in static repose, inanimate, for several days prior to its discovery by the wielder of ominous tweezers.

Thus this image presents challenges to our notions of perception and outcome, perspective and nobility, and highlights the fact that our discernment of the nature of time is highly subjective.

Sill Life: Pièce de Résistance, #2368-7D; 

© 2013 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details:  March 14, 2013, Canon 7D; f/11 @ 1/250 sec; +1/3 EV; ISO 640;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM  (w/ 36mm extension tube)

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Visit my full photographic repository at jwmurray.smugmug.com

Seeing 2013 (#17)

For your consideration:

An instant of pure bliss:  the pristine, sublime atmosphere of cool desert solitude, in nocturnal transition. Capturing this scene was just as surprising as my willingness to voluntarily arise from bed at 4:30am.

I was intensely motivated:  I yearned to simply encounter the virtually silent terrain just west of my cherished, native Arizona's Gates Pass 'ere the intrusion of modern society's buzz and bustle du jour. Never before have I had the insight or consciousness that greeting the Sonoran landscape on its own terms, before the onslaught of tourists and partying locals, might be both restorative and deeply healing.

And perhaps an opportunity doomed to be ever more elusive . . .

Yes, sadly — the tentacles of my metropolis birthplace now threaten to utterly surround this spirit-laden refuge, effectively smothering any last chance to authentically experience a last bastion and harbor of severely, uncompromisingly beautiful scenery.

Thus it was an extraordinary and fleeting gift to witness the wonderfully balanced moment when night's last shadows blended perfectly with the sun's impending greeting.  Discovering the Moon's thin crescent, still just visible before sol's overwhelming emergence,  was quite simply exquisite to behold.

I was able to pass nearly the entirety of the day roaming among my beloved arid soil and its denizens.

Yet, even without any competition for having the expanse all to myself (I encountered but two other people), after mid-morning the blessed peacefulness quickly evaporated:  unbelievably — absolutely beyond any prior desert weather I'd known — winds exceeding seventy miles per hour appeared out of nowhere (well, literally from the southwest) . . . Sustained and unrelenting, enshrouding Tucson and its environs in a murky blanket of dust and causing lengthy power outages (I later was told) at both the University of Arizona and the hotel I shared with my wife, this unexpected and frankly unwelcome development cast a challenging pall on my agenda of reading, writing and perhaps even a Siesta.

Ah, well, no matter . . .

Sonora Desert. Gates Pass. Camera. Spring.  Palo Verde. Ocotillo. Saguaro (stationary, of course).  Paradise.

Gates Pass Dawn with Moon, #2928-7D

© 2013 James W. Murray, all rights reserved.

(click image for larger version)

Details: April 8, 2013, Canon 7D; f/6.3 @ 1/125 sec;  ±0 EV; ISO 640;
Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM @ 116mm

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Visit my full photographic repository at jwmurray.smugmug.com