Winter Scenes

I won Visit Arizona's January photo contest with this submission to the theme "winter." This was one of the first photos that I took with my new DSLR, which I purchased less than a week before I snapped this photo. The following is the blog post I wrote for the Visit Arizona website.

Last October I left the great state of Texas and moved to Flagstaff. I must confess, I knew almost nothing about Flagstaff. Like many people, when I thought of Arizona I thought of the Arizona desert – the blistering heat, desert sand and tall saguaro cacti.

But this state has a breathtaking array of climates and landscapes. Perhaps nowhere in Arizona is this more evident than in Flagstaff. At 7,000 feet and in the middle of a huge Ponderosa Pine forest, Flagstaff’s climate is not what one expects to find in Arizona.

Flagstaff is a laid-back, eclectic mountain town. It is perfect for nature lovers and the San Francisco Peaks to the north provide picturesque views throughout Flagstaff. I love mountains and am constantly on the lookout for good photo opportunities.

One evening in early December, this opportunity arose. The view of the peaks from the Museum of Northern Arizona’s research center, where I work, is fantastic. As I leave work each day, I look up at the mountains and soak in the beauty.

On this particular day, the mountains had been shrouded in heavy clouds. After several rainy days I was looking forward to a covering of snow at the higher elevations. I headed outside after work and noticed that the clouds were parting. Hoping to capture fresh snow on the peaks, I grabbed my camera, found a good spot and began shooting. As the sun dipped below the horizon behind me, the last beams of sunlight glinted off the snow and cast a pink glow on the mountain.

This photo captures the majestic peaks, the fresh coat of snow and the wispy, low-lying clouds. This is the beauty of Flagstaff.