cacti wall

cactiwall
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

The sagura waits
Rain will come. It knows it must
only be patient

mission side view

missionsideview
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

The history of the west is filled with incidents where the anglos mistreated the native people whether they were indians or mexicans. The Catholic Church in the hands of the missionary priests were right up there in the ranks of the culprits. The spanish priests could be cruel and often betrayed the indians supposedly under their care to the spanish soldiers. But I have to admit, they designed some beautiful missions.

Staged fist fight Old Tucson Studio

fistfightoldtucson
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

The dust in the picture makes this fake fist fight and the gun fight that followed much more dramatic.

breaker boxes

breakerboxes
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Some simple electrical breaker boxes made bold and colorful and noticeable by the paint applied to them. If I was only interested in the big picture (the building they were a part of) I would have missed the design of these boxes.

hummingbird

hummingbird
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

The hummingbird's wings flutter at some astronomical number of times per minute, an arbitrary statistic that I'm sure the bird could care less about. It is amazing to view it in flight, and this is one of those rare instances where a photograph can't ever compare to the real thing, but seeing a hummingbird is a rare thing, taking a photograph of one is just a bonus. Taken at the Desert Museum outside Tucson where they have a hummingbird garden and a hummingbird aviary, which I guess does not make this as rare or hard as it would normally be.

Wall, Downtown Tucson

greenbluewall
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Butterflies aren't the only ones attracted to bright colors.

butterfly orange flower

butterflyorangeflower
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

This was taken at the Desert Museum outside Tucson. Butterflies are a favorite of photographers, and there was a butterfly garden at the museum. They are colorful and are attracted to colorful flowers, an unbeatable combination.

red bars yellow wall

redbarsyellowwall
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

A wall in the El Presidio District of downtown Tucson. Red and yelow. Two colors meant to draw our attention. It's said that people who own red cars are ticketed by the police more than any other because red is easy to spot, and emergency workers wear yellow for the same reasons. Colors trigger emotions, colors attract us, colors calm us or excite us. There is a whole industry built up around how to package things to attract us to pick them up in a store and purchase them. Manufacturers study which colors are more likely to attract buyers. The colors of this wall and bars attracted me the second I saw them.

one way street

onewaystreet
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Brisbee is an old copper mining town south of Tucson which because it is in the mountains is actually a lot cooler than Tucson. I met an excellent photographer there who had just opened a shop and we talked for a while. Photographers seem to be always willing to talk to other photographers no matter how busy they are. In this shot, I like the old brick wall, the faded sign, and the angular, dramatic shadow that cuts across the right side of the photo.

Downtown Tucson

purplewallelpresidio
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

In downtown Tucson, near the El Presidio Historic District there is a shopping center where the walls are painted with very vivid and vibrant reds, purples, oranges, yellows. The buildings are all stucco with a sort of adobe feel. There were many very interesting angles, reflections, shadows, and other photographic moments.

Tumacacori Mission, Arizona

missionbelltower
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

The missionaries.
What they did was despicable,
what they left was art.

windmill

windmill1
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Away from Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona is a land of wide open spaces, ranch land, a place that we think of when we think of the old west. Maybe because so many of the movies that give us our impression of the old west were filmed there. Driving back from Brisbee, an old mining town, after visiting Tombstone, where most of the ambiance of the old west has been preserved or else in a disneyland fashion, made up, I saw this windmill on ranch land, the sun setting, the mountains in a haze in the distance. Sometime all the elements come together and all you have to do is press the shutter.

interior agave

inneragave
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Cacti are rampant all over Tucson. This picture and the picture yesterday were taken at Old Tucson Studios, a movie set in Tucson where many cowboy movies were filmed.

mens restroom

mensrestroom
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Spent the last week in Tucson, Arizona. Took a lot of pictures which will show up in the blog over the next few months or so. Tucson and the area around it is very photogenic but usually when I visit a place, like Venice, Sedona, Paris, Provence, I can see myself living there, but I couldn't see myself living in Tucson. The desert is not attractive, the city is really just shopping malls cobbled around houses. I guess I've been spoiled by living around New York and Philadelphia, and now living near Savannah. Tucson is a nice place to photograph though, with the colorful houses and the southwestern ambiance.

holding on

holdingon
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

A rough sea, a stiff breeze, a contraption that resembles a surfboard attached to a kite, the adrenaline rushing, the mist from the waves slamming into your face, seems like a nice way to spend an afternoon.

more heron in flight

heroninflight923
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

Sometimes you get lucky and get a bunch of pictures with a heron in flight, other times you get nothing. Maybe the heron was leary of my dogs, maybe it just felt like flying, but as we got closer, it took off and I was able to take a few photographs of the heron in the air, where it is its most beautiful.

into the surf

intothesurf
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

What goes up must come down, and here's what happens when you come down. Holding tight to the kite, covered by the surf, the kite surfer lands.

in the air

intheair2
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

While walking on the beach, the wind was fierce, and off in the distance was a guy who was attached to a large kite and strapped to a small surfboard frolicking in the waves. The wind actually picked him up off the waves and carried him in the air making this shot possible.

sunset

sunsetreardriessenbeach
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

The sky is a magnificent tapestry where clouds are hung at random

mauseleum, Revolutionary War Cementary, Hilton Head Island

mauseleum
Originally uploaded by fauselr.

The cemetary was a very difficult place to shoot as it was totally shaded by trees, with the light uneven as sunlight poked through the trees. On the back wall of the mauseleum on a ledge was a beautiful lizard with a blue tail and a body of a different color but it was very shy and stayed hidden behind the abandoned fence posts making it impossible for me to get a photo.