Cowgirl

 
One thing about the rodeo parade - there are always pretty ladies riding horses and on wagons. This exposure was with my 70-300mm zoom at 190mm focal length. The exposure was 1/640 seconds at f/8, ISO 200. 

Here comes the stagecoach

 
Another image from La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Parade. This is a typical sort of wagon drawn by a team of horses. The pretty damsel looking out of the wagon seems to have spotted the camera aimed her way. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 70mm focal length. The exposure was 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 200. 

2006 Tucson Rodeo Parade

 
The Tucson Rodeo Parade boasts of being the largest non-mechanized parade in the world. The 81st annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Parade ran today (Feb. 23rd) and since both of my kids are in it (one in the UofA's Pride of Arizona Marching band, the other in the Tucson High School marching band), I've been going since the first year my daughter marched in the parade (so this one is my 8th, I think - though I might have missed one when observing...). This year, I was armed with my 20D, an empty CF card, and lots of battery power to go with my usual cadre of lenses. I used the 70-300mm zoom for this shot at 190mm focal length as the leading parade banner approached. The exposure was 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 200. 

Spectacular sunset

 
Here's a sunset shot from a couple weeks ago. Sunsets in the Arizona desert can be quite spectacular - moreso than most other places I've been. This image was taken with my 24mm lens on my 20D, the exposure was 1/1000 seconds at f/4, ISO 400. 

The Rock in the Saddle

 
Since first noticing it a few years ago, I have marveled at the rock sticking up in this saddle north of Pima Canyon east of Pusch Ridge. I'll have to hike up to it someday and take a closer look at it, but for now, this image taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 70mm focal length will have to do. This exposure was 1/1600 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Backlight in B&W

 
Here's yesterday's image using filtered B&W in Picasa, selecting a red filter. 

Backlight

 
Looking into the sun (I even had to crop out my hat from the top of the frame). I wasn't able to get quite the shot I wanted of backlit cactus needles. This image is with my 24mm lens on my 20D. The exposure was 1/60 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. I may publish a B&W version of this image later.... 

Get the point?

 
I didn't. The needles of a Prickly Pear cactus look almost as sharp as they feel in this macro image taken with my 70-300mm zoom in Macro mode at 300mm focal length on my Canon 20D. The exposure was 1/400 seconds at f/32, ISO 1600. I had to clean up a lot of dust specks that appeared in the original image thanks to my dirty sensor. 

A view into the rugged backcountry

 
This is a view up Pima Canyon into the rugged backcountry of the Catalina Mountains. This exposure was 1/1600 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400 taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 76mm focal length. 

Birding in Pima Canyon

 
Another image from our Pima Canyon hike. This is, I believe, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. It was a small bird, only 2-3 inches long that was foraging in a bush next to the trail. This image was taken from only about 15 feet away with my 70-300mm zoom at 190mm focal length. The exposure was 1/2500 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 400. 

Pima Canyon - another view

 
This view into Pima Canyon was taken on the way into the Canyon - yesterday's image was taken on the hike out. This image was taken with my 24mm lens on my 20D. The exposure was 1/320 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 100. 

At the mouth of Pima Canyon

 
Pima Canyon lies on the western end of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson at the base of Pusch Peak and Pusch ridge. You can follow the Pima Canyon Trail all the way to the top of the Catalinas of you like, or you can follow it just far enough to get a great view of the city. My Dad and I followed it just over 1.5 miles in, to a special area that is as lush as any place around southern Arizona that I've seen. This is the view from the trail just as you begin to enter the canyon itself, looking into the northeast trending canyon. I used my 24mm lens on this shot and converted it to B&W with a blue filter in Picasa. The exposure was 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

In the spotlight

 
On a ridge high over the streambed at the bottom of Pima Canyon in the Santa Catalina mountains north of town, this lone Saguaro Cactus enjoys the first light of the sun creeping over the ridge above it. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length. The exposure was 1/2000 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 1600. 

Silverbell Mine

 
This is a view of the Silverbell Mine near the Ironwood Forest as seen from Kitt Peak. I used my 70-300mm lens at 190mm focal length on my Canon 20D. The exposure was 1/1250 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Shadows

 
The late afternoon sun casts long shadows over the rugged terrain northeast of Kitt Peak. This image was taken with my 70-300mm lens at 149mm focal length. The exposure was 1/500 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Sunrise over Tucson

 
It's just before sunrise on Kitt Peak, looking back towards Tucson. This image was taken with my 24mm lens on my 20D. The exposure was 1/1000 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400. 

Another sunset

 
Can you ever get tired of a pretty sunset picture? This image was taken with my 24mm lens on my 20D. The exposure was 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Sunset

 
This is my view of sunset a few nights ago on Kitt Peak. This image was made with my 24mm lens on my Canon 20D. The exposure was 1/1000 seconds at f/4, ISO 400. 

Sundog (Parhelia)

 
I saw this spectacular sundog (also called a parhelia) the other afternoon on Kitt Peak about an hour before sunset. This image was taken with my 24mm lens on my 20D. The exposure was 1/2000 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

On the move

 
The Spacewatch 36 inch telescope is on the move, setting on its first target of the night as twilight fades in a moonlit cloudy sky. This exposure was with my Canon 20D using the 24mm lens. The exposure was 30 seconds at f/1.8, ISO 400. 

I'm leaving then....

 
Ah, a crows life.... This is pretty much it. You fly some, you perch some. This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length. The exposure was 1/2000 seconds at f/5.6, ISO 800. 

Tonights sunset

 
My friend Rich was up visiting with his new 20D. After hearing my advice, he decided to get a Sigma 20mm f/1.8 lens (like my Sigma 24mm f/1.8) which would give a great wide field view of the sky for his astrophotos. He let me borrow it for some sunset shots and this image was one of them. The exposure was 1/50 seconds at f/8, ISO 100. 

Morning twilight

 
Just before sunrise yesterday morning, I caught this image of the distant Santa Rita Mountains with sunlit orange clouds. The McMath Solar telescope near center and the Spacewatch 1.8-m telescope on the right are silhouetted against the brightening sky. The image was taken with my 24mm lens on my 20D. The exposure was 1/2000 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 400. 

Tom Crow

 
I caught this crow flying around the mountain top. The sun was below him, providing some nice highlights. This image was taken with my 70-300mm lens at 300mm focal length. The exposure was 1/800 seconds at f/8, ISO 400. 

Earthshine

 
The crescent moon is making its reappearance in the evening sky these days and last night, showed us its Earthlit side. Astronauts going into orbit around the Moon found 3 different moons below their spacecraft - the sunlit side, the dark side, and the Earthlit side. They told of being able to see clearly all the features passing below them once the sun had set, but while the Earth was still in the sky above. It must have been pretty neat. Imagine walking on the Earthlit side of the Moon. A walk at night on Earth around the full Moon will give you an idea of how that might appear - the full Earth is about 4 times the size of the full Moon and the Earth is about 5 times brighter for each bit of it, so the full Earth on the Moon would appear about 80 times brighter than the full Moon does to us! This image was taken with my 70-300mm zoom at 300mm focal length. The exposure was 2 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.