… with June and the warmer weather upon us it is fun to look back at January and the colder weather that we were living through … also listening to some Elton John music; specifically Cold Heart … I remembered some shots I took in January one year when Sunset Crater was blanketed in snow, and it is above. You can see the heart shape in the lower volcanic cinder cone … it is cold! So was the entire Colorado Plateau … of the nine volcanic cinder cones in the photo, only Sunset is named, and the others are numbered … more than 600 volcanos in the San Francisco Volcanic Field covering more than 1800 square miles … and there are other volcanic fields up there too.
Back to the reality of today and summer temps in the Phoenix area. Lake Pleasant has hit the high mark at 1693 feet and withing days the water level will begin to go down as the stored Colorado River water is released to the agricultural industry in the state … they get dibs to about 80% of the water and Phoenix gets the rest. By the end of August it will be down about 30 feet.
Now is when we get the best shots of the birds along the shores as the water is up to and in the trees … as it goes down, the bathtub ring begins to appear, and more work is required to get a great shot, and this means getting as much shooting in as possible before the water level goes down. Launching by 5:30 AM is best as we can get about four hours on the lake before the heat gets to the point that the birds and critters all seek shelter from the high temps, and we get off the lake and head home. The first photo below is the view we see as we make ready to launch around 5:30 AM and it is beautiful!
Below that is a photo of a Black Crowned Night Heron heading to shore in a bay where we were getting a lot of birds fishing last week. I love that place and later this week I’ll be down there with friends … 2:45 AM wake up calls … my usual bedtime!
Have a beautiful day … choose to enjoy life and share the beauty with those you meet and greet.
Smiles,
Ted
O World of green and shafts of golden sun; of
nightly, silent, silver moonlight; and the strange
songs of lisping winds! O time of dreams, and trysts,
and olden memories come to life! Sweet summer, may
I sing as thou, for every leaf of thine is pregnant with
music in the soft winds, and every rose inspires the
tenderness of song. I yield myself to the thousand
enchantments of sky and field and wood, and play again
like a child on the soft green of the earth. And as the
God of the universe has made thee to bloom in tenderness,
so also may my heart be softened, and the
gardens of my life be made to bloom again.
A Prayer of Summer, by Max Ehrmann
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The easiest way to reach Mr. Grussing is by email: ted@tedgrussing.com
In addition to sales of photographs already taken Ted does special shoots for patrons on request and also does air-to-air photography for those who want photographs of their airplanes in flight. All special photographic sessions are billed on an hourly basis.
Ted also does one-on-one workshops for those interested in learning the techniques he uses. By special arrangement Ted will do one-on-one aerial photography workshops which will include actual photo sessions in the air.
More about Ted Grussing …