Autumn Leaves in Our Town

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On August 7, 2022, the user community on Pixabay.com voted to approve my photo, and it was published today! It’s the featured image of this blog post. Select the link below to view it on the Pixabay website.

Autumn Leaves in Our Town – iPhone Photography

October 2021, my husband and I spent an afternoon at our town’s civic center to capture photos and video of the beautiful autumn leaves before the first frost would cause them to fall to the ground. The approximately two dozen trees glowed a buttery yellow in a canopy above us. It was delightful!

The colors inspired me to write a haiku verse:

Autumn’s Bliss – Scheduled for October 7, 2022. Will update with the link.

If you visit my photo on Pixabay, you can register for free, and then download my photo for free. If you use, it please let me know how and where. I’ll be happy to promote your work.

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Your Turn!

In the Comments section below, feel free to share your thoughts about autumn leaves, fall colors, the changing of the seasons.

Note: When you write a comment, I’ll respond. To view my response, make sure you get notified via email by selecting the checkbox for “Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment.”

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Arizona Snow and Sunset

Arizona’s weather and sunsets inspire many photographers. I carry my iPhone with me almost all the time to capture “grab shots”.

View each photo using the links below:

Buckeye, Arizona Sunset | Snow on Branches | Snow on Branches, closeup

Northern Arizona Snow

January 2021, we had almost blizzard conditions. After the storm passed, I shot these two images of our neighbor’s tree that’s right outside one of our windows. The snow on the branches reminded me of images for Japanese haiku verses, so I wrote one:

Haiku Verse: White Winter Carpet

Southern Arizona Sunset

During the same storm I mentioned above, while warm and cozy inside, I found a favorite sunset photo I had captured when we RV camped at Buckeye Regional Park, in Maricopa County (Metro Phoenix area; we dry camped for free, for eleven days during March 2017).

Enjoy the haiku verse this sunset photo inspired me to write:

Haiku Verse: Fading Sunset

Your Turn!

In the Comments section below, feel free to share your thoughts about the images, my haikus (be nice, LOL), about snow storms, sunsets, Arizona… etc.

Note: When you write a comment, I’ll respond. To view my response, make sure you get notified via email by selecting the checkbox for “Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment.”

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Scenes on the Mother Road

Ah, historic Route 66! When Williams and Flagstaff began to ease some of their SARs-COV-2 guidelines, we drove to Route 66 country for lunch and a walk-about in cooler temperatures (we had masks and maintained social distance from others).

I had my trusty iPhone in my hand while Mark captured images on his digital cameras (he also shoots film). Pixabay accepted the five iPhone photos I submitted of some iconic scenes and businesses. Register on Pixabay for free to download any of the images. There’s also an optional “coffee” feature to use, if you’d like.

View each photo using the links below:

Williams Route 66 | Babbitt Brothers Mercantile | Hotel Monte Vista and Babbitt Bros. | Hotel Monte Vista sign (no trees) | Hotel Monte Vista sign (framed by trees)

Williams, Arizona

Williams is the Gateway to the Grand Canyon, South Rim. Its downtown, filled with restaurants and tourist-oriented shops, sits right on historic Route 66. When the weather is nice, musicians play on outdoor patios at the eateries. Laughter fills the air, classic cars line the sides of Route 66, and the horn of the Grand Canyon Railway’s train fills the small valley with the sound of adventure as it enters or leaves the town.

Flagstaff, Arizona

Flagstaff is home to one of Arizona’s three four-year (state) universities, Northern Arizona University (NAU). The city also serves visitors to the Grand Canyon South Rim, plus it has a vibrant downtown with great restaurants. It’s also the gateway to Arizona Snowbowl for downhill skiing.

Learn about historic Babbitt Brothers Mercantile and the Hotel Monte Vista. I enjoyed capturing images of the Monte Vista, framing it with the trees.

Your Turn!

Have you traveled Route 66? If yes, feel free to share your memories below!

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28 June 2020 | Flowers

The latter part of June, Pixabay accepted my two iPhone photos that I call “grab shots”. It’s sheer coincidence that they’re both images of flowers. These blooms cheer my heart! Select the two links below to view and download these images (free registration/log in needed).

Glowing Tulip  |  Cactus Blooms

The Tulips

I love tulips, and had bought a bouquet of yellow tulips from the local grocery store. When the last tulip remained, I placed it in a small, clear glass jar. Early the next morning, a ray from the rising sun snuck through the window and glowed on the little tulip and the glass jar. I grabbed my iPhone, pressed the shutter, and I love the result.

The Cactus Blooms

We very much enjoy our local public library, and its doors were open during COVID-19 (masks required, social distancing requested, in-person classes on hiatus). With my iPhone, I captured these cactus blooms in the library’s side garden. The blooms’ orange color vibrated in my eyes as I gazed at them.

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Prescott National Forest

Groom Creek Schoolhouse Gulch

On 11 August 2019, Pixabay.com approved for upload one of my nature photos (featured image on this post). It’s now in my Photo Gallery on Pixabay.

We visited the Groom Creek, Arizona, community with my cousin in 2013, on a beautiful October day. We walked the Schoolhouse Gulch trail, which is wheelchair accessible as the trail is laid with asphalt. If you’re ever in the area, I recommend this easy trail, especially after 3:00 PM, so you can catch the light from the setting sun. Bring your camera!

Download Photo from Pixabay.com

My photo is free for you to download and use. You can sign up on Pixabay for free. If you do use my photo, please add a credit that links back to the image, if you can. Here’s the link:

https://pixabay.com/photos/forest-dusk-nature-landscape-4397399/

When you are on Pixabay as a registered (free) user, you’ll then have access to download a myriad of gorgeous images for free from many creative people from all over the world.

Tip the Photographers

Plus, you can use your PayPal account to send a “tip” to the photographers, but that’s optional. No one is required to send funds to any of the photographers, but if you can afford to, it is a nice way to encourage them/us.

Note: I am promoting Pixabay because I like the images. I receive no funds from Pixabay. I will do the same for any other photo image sites that I want to recommend.

Enjoy!

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Nail-Pierced Hand of Christ

When Mark and I first visited The Shrine of Saint Joseph of the Mountains  [Facebook] in Yarnell, Arizona, we walked the stations of the cross up and down the hill. After we visited the tomb, we didn’t know what awaited us just a few steps away.

Before us stood a life-size bronze statue of the resurrected Christ Jesus, His left, nail-pierced hand extended out to us (to visitors). I sucked in a breath and stood in awe, thinking of Doubting Thomas at that moment.

Then… “I gotta take a picture of this!” sprang into my mind.

Yeah, the photographer in me showed up in a somewhat sacred moment. However, the image has had an impact on, and inspired, others.

Inspiration and Impact

I captured this image in 2012.  About a year later, our community’s beloved Granite Mountain Hotshots (GMIHC) bravely fought, and tragically died at, the Yarnell Hill Fire, losing nineteen crew members (one survived – LODD June 30, 2013).

The fire burned through the shrine’s property, but the cement figures of Christ at each station remained, although some of the wooden crosses and markers were burned. The shrine also lost its retreat center buildings and its gift shop. Volunteers are slowly rebuilding, and you can still walk the stations.

When I put this image out to the public, the following has happened:

Pixabay link to view and download the image – free registration and login needed to download my free image.

How to get this image on a greeting card.

My verse “Lifesaver” and this photo in Lost Pen Magazine, Issue No. 1 (ps. 14-15, September 2019)

My post about Dyane Ford’s blog post about this image (March 18, 2018)

Norma Gail Holtman, blogger, used this image (September 10, 2017)

Your Turn

Share your thoughts in the Comments. Let’s chat!