Saguaro Sunset

 
The clouds behind it aren't quite as spectacular as they were later, but this multi-armed Saguaro screamed for a photograph - and I took many of it during a sunset hike along in Tucson Mountain Park. This image was taken with the kit lens on my 20D at 18mm focal length. The exposure was 1/1600 seconds at f/4, ISO 400. 

Stolen Base

 
Tucson Sidewinder Alberto Callaspo slides in safely at 2nd base ahead of the ball as he successfully steals the base. This image was taken with my 760-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 1600. 

Stadium Lightning

 
As the game on Tuesday night ended, lightning was striking all around the area and it started to rain lightly. The game ended just in time and the ground crew rolled out the tarp. I took my time leaving and as they turned the lights out one by one, the lightning kept striking all around the area. This image was taken with the kit lens at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 4 seconds at f/4, ISO 100. 

Sonoran Sunset

 
This one is for my Polish blogging friend Martha and anyone else who loves sunset pix. I took this out in Tucson Mountain Park the other night about 10 or 15 minutes past sunset. I was using the kit lens on my 20D at 27mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/4, ISO 400. 

Home Run Swing

 
Tucson Sidewinder Scott Hairston hits the ball over the fence in the bottom of the first inning against the Iowa Cubs on Tuesday night. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 190mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 1600. 

The Pitch!

 
Tucson Sindwinder starting pitcher Mike Bascik delivers a pitch in the 1st inning of last nights game against the Iowa Cubs (the hapless Chicago Cubs AAA minor league team). Judging by the trailing of the ball (visible in the top left), I'd say it was an offspeed pitch around 75mph. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 800. 

Noisy Cicada

 
I walked past a noisy tree and found this cicada making all the racket, so I took his picture. The first try without the flash didn't show much, so I popped my flash up and set the FEC to -2/3 stop. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 214mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400, with the on camera flash. 

Dragonfly

 
I found this dragonfly while exploring the west end of campus. This image was taken in macro mode on my 70-300mm zoom with the lens at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400. 

Golden Gate Mountain sunset

 
The glow of sunset lights up Golden Gate Mountain south of Gates Pass in the Tucson Mountains west of town in this view from the west along Kinney Road. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Macro abstract

 
Sometimes rather ordinary things look much more interesting when viewed very closely. This shot was with my 70-300mm zoom in macro mode at 300mm focal length. The exposure was 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. I rotated the image and converted it to B&W in Picasa before uploading it. 

Running Dog

 
This dog was playing fetch on the UofAs mall, so I practiced taking longer exposures to blur the background while she chased the red ball her owner had thrown. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Rainbow

 
A storm passed northeast of the UofA Campus last night around sunset and while I didn't quite get the lightning that came with it (too bright to take a long exposure and not fast enough on the shutter to catch the lightning...), this double rainbow was quite spectacular and made me wish I had a fisheye lens! I used the kit lens at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/8, ISO 400 to capture this view looking towards the east end of campus from the center of the mall. 

Cactus Flower

 
Watch out for those cactus needles! This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 190mm focal length with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Bushmaster Peak sunset

 
Bushmaster Peak is the tallest point along the ridge above and north of Gates Pass. This is the view of Bushmaster from Tucson Mountain Park west of the peak as the sun was setting. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom lens at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/100 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Petroglyphs

 
While out hiking, I came across these petroglyphs. This image was taken with my 24mm lens on my 20D with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/4, ISO 800 using my Sigma EF-500 DG Super flash in TTL mode. 

Cactus Macro

 
While out exploring the Tucson Mountain Park west of Tucson, I found this small cactus with its bright flowers and couldn't resist setting up my camera on tripod for a macro shot. The light of the setting sun was indirectly illuminating the scene. I used my 70-300mm zoom at 190mm focal length in Macro mode with an exposure of 1/10 seconds at f/16, ISO 400. 

Evening storm

 
I took the long route home (over Gates Pass and into Tucson Mountain Park west of town) and stopped to get some shots of a storm off to the south of town after the sun had set. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 30 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400. I got home not long before this storm hit our house, so I won't have to water the plants in the morning - yippee! 

Cactus flower

 
One of the many cacti in bloom in the Krutch Cactus Garden on the UofA Mall. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

White Winged Dove

 
I found this White Winged Dove in a tree west of Old Main on campus. She didn't seem to mind my sitting on a bench about 4 meters away. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Wet abstract

 
You might think this is a sidewalk in the rain, but it isn't - it's a sidewalk with sprinklers raining on it.... This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length with an exposure of 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Wildcat Family closeup

 
A closeup of one of the Wildcats in the "Wildcat Family" statue next to the Krutch Cactus Garden in front of the UofA's Administration building. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 133mm focal length with an exposure of 1/60 seconds at f/5, ISO 800. 

Rollergirl

 
While I was wandering around campus after work last week taking the long way to the parking lot to the other end of campus with camera out and ready, I noticed this young lady skating around the center of campus listening to her ipod. A few minutes later, having moved to a different subject on the west side of Old Main, I saw her go by again, this timen talking on her cell phone. The third time I saw her, I aimed my camera and got some pix of her, including this one. Later, after visiting the far west end of campus, I was heading back towards the east end of campus where my car was parked, and saw her still lapping the mall. She was still going when last I saw her, and it must have been more than half an hour. Seems like good excersize.... This image was taken with my 70-300mm lens at 263mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 800. 

Over the rainbow

 
Rain and a sunset combine to produce this rainbow. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 70mm focal length with an exposure of 1/1250 seconds at f/5, ISO 800. 

Artsy light - 2nd version

 
Here's a bonus version of the previous image. I used Picasa's selective focus to soften the edges of the frame, particularly the concrete wall below. 

Artsy light in the storm

 
After the fireworks show, a dust and thunderstorm moved into the area and while I waited for the traffic to clear, I noticed these lights with the glow of the light through the dust. This image was converted to B&W in Picasa. I used my 70-300mm zoom at 76mm focal length with an exposure of 3.2 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.