Oak Creek Canyon

I went to Sedona, this past Sunday along with friend and fellow photographer, Bill McAdam. We worked with a local photographer/guide, Susie Reed on Sunday afternoon and evening in an effort to explore and photograph some locations we hadn’t visited before. On Monday morning, we completed our visit with some shooting in the Oak Creek Canyon area, just north of Sedona.

Today’s blog features some of my favourites from Monday morning, beginning with this scene showing the Midgely Bridge over Wilson Canyon, a tributary of the Oak Creek Canyon. The picture was taken in the early morning. With the sun still low in the sky, the canyon is heavily shadowed. You cannot see into the depths of the canyon very well but I like the visual effect of the shading.

This brilliantly coloured tree in the bottom of the canyon caught my eye. The autumn colours are past their peak, but this tree still shows quite brilliantly. This tree is a cottonwood, to be more specific I believe it’s a black cottonwood. Let me know if I’m incorrect.

Before moving on, I took this tighter shot of the bridge, zeroing in on the structure at its south end.

From Wilson Canyon, we moved on to Slide Rock State Park, where I took this next shot, looking almost due south. The sun was to my left shining across the line of my shot. Interestingly, and somewhat to my surprise I captured some sun rays beaming across the scene. I’m at  a bit of a loss to explain it in the absence of particulates or some other haze in the air. I don’t believe it’s due to moisture in the air either, a prismatic effect. More likely it’s the result of being at just the right angle to the sun. I do see some evidence of lens flare (circular spots), perhaps it’s related.

Among the many interesting subjects in Slide Rock State Park, there were some old “character” buildings that I also photographed. I particularly like this picture of a window. It’s interesting because you can see through it and see the ceiling support beams and a window on the opposite side of the building. And, at the same time, there’s the reflection of what’s on the outside of the building.

Wrapping up for today, I’ve included this picture taken in a grove of fruit trees in Slide Rock State Park. It’s nicely backgrounded by the colourful cliffs of Red Rock Country. As you can see from the brilliantly coloured trees in this scene, autumn lasts longer in Arizona.