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Early One Morning in Phoenix

In August I spent a week at a conference in Phoenix, Arizona. I didn’t get much photography time while I was there – conference ran all day into the evening most days – and it was ridiculously hot. 

But I did head out early one morning to see what I  could find  – and I found some wonderful desert plants to photography.

First was a night blooming cereus cactus – cereus peruvianus. Native to South America, these cactuses can grow to 10 feet tall. The flowers bloom only for one night.

Cereus peruvianus - night blooming cactus

Cereus peruvianus - night blooming cactus© 2012 Patty Hankins

Cereus peruvianus - night blooming cactus© 2012 Patty Hankins

I also photographed some Red Bird of Paradise – caesalpinia pulcherrima – flowers. A member of the pea family, these beautiful red, yellow and orange flowering plants can be found throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the western hemisphere. 

Red Bird of Paradise - caesalpinia pulcherrima

 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

Red Bird of Paradise - caesalpinia pulcherrima

 

© 2012 Patty Hankins

I’ve always loved the patterns created by the needles of the barrel cactus. I had fun photographing this one from above.

Barrel Cactus

© 2012 Patty Hankins

And finally – the fruit of a prickly pear cactus. 

Fruit of a prickly pear cactus

© 2012 Patty Hankins

I think it was definitely worth getting up and heading out to photograph that morning! What do you think?

 

Morning at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona

One of the more unusual photo shoots of my trip along Route 66 in December was the morning we spent photographing at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona. The trip itinerary had us meeting in the parking lot about half an hour before sunrise and we were scheduled to be photographing for a couple of hours. I will admit I had no clue what we’d be photographing for that length of time

But I figured – Alain knows what he was planning – so I was ready to photograph before the sun was up. I was really glad I did get up for sunrise – it was a beautiful sunrise – with pinks, purples, oranges, reds & yellows.

Wigwam Motel, Holbrook, AZ(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Once the sun was up – I was a still rather perplexed and unsure what we’d be doing for the next hour or so. After all – we were in a motel parking lot – surrounded by wigwams and old cars. It turns out the cars were what we were going to be photographing.

My guess is there were probably 20 cars from between the 1940s and early 1960s in the parking lot. Now I’ll be honest – old cars aren’t something I know much about – much less have much interest in photographing. So it took me a while to get into the spirit of the photo shoot. Fortunately, some of the guys in the group were able to help me see some interesting things to photograph on the cars. Once I started looking at the details of the logos, the chrome and the hood ornaments, I was able to find some things to photograph.

As I spent more time looking at the details of the cars I realized they were actually pretty neat – and had a much greater sense of style than the details of any car I’ve ever owned!

So here are a few of my photos of the cars at the Wigwam Motel – and no – I have no clue what type of cars these were from – but I’m sure some of the guys on the trip can tell you!

Hood ornament on a Ford

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Side mirror on the same car

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Airplane shaped hood ornament on another Ford

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Even the gas tank covers had a sense of style

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

And one last hood ornament – practically glowing in the early morning light!

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

Despite my initial skepticism about finding anything to photograph – I did get some interesting photos that morning. However – it wasn’t interesting enough that I’m likely to seek out more old cars to photograph! So chances are this is the only set of photos like this you’ll see from me. Hope you’ve enjoyed them! 🙂

 

 

Dinosaurs Along Route 66

One of the photographic themes from my trip along Route 66 in Arizona last month was dinosaurs. Many species of dinosaurs lived in what is now Arizona as far back as 245 million years ago. Their fossils are still being discovered in the state. There are some wonderful educational dinosaur exhibits and displays throughout the state.

And there are the dinosaurs I photographed along Route 66 . . .

The first set were at Stewart’s Petrified Wood Shop just outside of Holbrook. Their dinosaurs were unusual to say the least – constructed of paper-mache, strung with Christmas lights and most had a mannaquin attached to them in some way.

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

We found more dinosaurs to photograph across the highway at the Painted Desert Indian Center. Since we were traveling Route 66 in December, it was nice to see the dinosaurs getting into the holiday spirit by wearing Christmas bows!

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

And then finally I photographed one cute little dinosaur at the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook.

(c) 2011 Patty Hankins

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed my Route 66 dinosaurs. They definitely helped get everyone on the trip in right frame of mind for photographing some of the fun sights we saw.

 

A Charlie Brown Christmas Parade in Holbrook, Arizona

On my recent trip to Arizona and New Mexico I participated in a Route 66 photographic workshop organized by Alain and Natalie Briot. We started the workshop in Gallup, New Mexico and photographed attractions on and near Route 66 as far west as Hackberry, Arizona. This was unlike any photo trip I’d been on before – I photographed everything from dinosaurs to wigwams to old cars to the Grand Canyon. I actually took alot of photos with my Graflex Crown Graphic camera using Fuji Instant film. I thought an old camera and instant film was perfect for capturing the spirit of Route 66.

The trip was great fun. I’ll be posting some of the photos from the trip in coming weeks – and you’ll see – it was completely different from my usual style of photographing!

One of the unexpected photo opportunities of the trip was the “A Charlie Brown Christmas” Parade in Holbrook, Arizona. As we pulled into town – all of us on the trip were trying to figure out why there were so many cars parked along the sides of the road – and families clearly waiting for something. It didn’t take long for us to find out what was going to be starting in just a few minutes – the town’s annual Christmas Parade. It was a classic small town parade – with the high school marching band, floats sponsored by local businesses and families – and of course Santa Claus on a fire truck at the end of the parade.

Here are a few of my photos from the parade – I hope you enjoy them.

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Navajo County Sheriff’s Office float

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

Holbrook Head Start Program’s float

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

National Park Service float

(c) 2010 Patty Hankins

And of course – the jolly old elf himself – Santa Claus!

Santa Claus on fire engine(c) 2010 Patty Hankins