Author Archives:

Views of the Phoenix Valley From South Mountain

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

I shot these photos February 12, 2011 from Dobbins Lookout on South Mountain, which sits about 1,200 feet above the valley floor below. The South Mountain Preserve is the largest municipal park in the world, and includes a lot of hiking, mountain biking, and equestrian trails. Best of all, there are no entrance fees to the park.

The photos below show:

  • a U.S. Airways Airbus (most likely an A320) departing Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (Airport Code KPHX),
  • a view of downtown Phoenix, including Chase Field with its roof open, and
  • Camelback Mountain, approximately 15 miles northeast. Sky Harbor Airport (KPHX), including its easily identifiable Control Tower, is visible in the foreground.

South Mountain Park Preserve Information: http://phoenix.gov/recreation/rec/parks/preserves/locations/south/index.html

Thank you for stopping by!

Like what you see?  Please leave a comment below.

-Dan, a.k.a. PHX Photo

The Hoover Dam- One of the Wonders of the Modern World

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

I took a trip to Las Vegas with Lynn and her family earlier this week, and on the way back, we stopped at Hoover Dam for some quick photos.

I can spout off all sorts of facts and figures pulled from the internet:

  • The Hoover Dam is a wedge-shaped arch-gravity dam more than two football fields (660 feet) wide at the bottom, but only 45 feet at the top;
  • The Hoover Dam is taller than a 70-story building (at over 726 feet from top to bottom);
  • The Hoover Dam contains over 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete- enough to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York;
  • The Hoover Dam’s 1,200-foot span formed the artificial lake- Lake Mead- that is used as a reservoir as well as for recreation;
  • Lake Mead has a surface area of 247 square miles and a maximum depth of over 500 feet, with a total water volume of 28,500,000 acre-feet.

But until you actually see it, it can be difficult to appreciate the enormity of those numbers.

As the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are 10,000 or so words worth of photos taken by yours truly.

The Downstream Face of The Hoover Dam and the U-Shaped Powerhouse taken from the new Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.  Lake Mead is in the background.  The Powerhouse houses 17 generators with a maximum capacity of 2,080 megawatts.

Access to the Nevada Upper and Lower Penstocks.

Access to the Arizona Upper and Lower Penstocks (For my fellow ‘Transformers’ fans out there, behind this door is the All Spark as well as NBE-1, aka Megatron).

One of the two 30-foot bronze “Winged Figures of the Republic”.  Tradition is to rub the statues’ toes for luck, which explains why the toes don’t have the same weathered patina as the rest of the statue.

View of Lake Mead from the Hoover Dam.  Lake Mead’s average water level is around 1,173 feet above sea level; it is currently around 1,090 feet, 83 feet below average, evidenced by the white “bathtub ring”.

The Hover Dam Powerhouse as seen from the top of the Hoover Dam.  The new 1,900-foot-long Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (aka the Hoover Dam Bypass) is in the background.

The Hover Dam Powerhouse and face of the Hoover Dam as seen from the top of the Hoover Dam.

Standing in Nevada, looking towards Arizona across the downstream face of the Hoover Dam.

The new 1,900-foot-long Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge (aka the Hoover Dam Bypass), viewed from the Hoover Dam.  The roadway soars 900 feet above the Colorado River.  Its concrete arch is the longest in the Western Hemisphere.

What not to do when walking across the Mike O’Callaghan – Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge.

Thank you for stopping by!

Like what you see?  Please leave a comment below.

-Dan, a.k.a. PHX Photo

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Mead

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_O‘Callaghan_–_Pat_Tillman_Memorial_Bridge

Experimenting with HDR

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

HDR, or High dynamic range imaging, has been around for a while, but has gained popularity with the advent of digital photography. High-dynamic-range photographs are generally achieved by capturing multiple standard photographs, often using exposure bracketing, and then merging them into an HDR image. For these images, I used 3 and 4 standard photos respectively, and combined them into the two finished images you see here.

I was going for a more natural look, but HDR is often used for a more artistic effect.

I was used a trial of Photomatix from HDRsoft: http://www.hdrsoft.com/ .

What do you think?

 

Snow On Four Peaks

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

From Wikipedia:

Four Peaks (Yavapai: Wikopa[1]), at 7657 feet (2335 m) in altitude, is a prominent landmark on the eastern skyline of Phoenix, part of the Mazatzal Mountains. It is located in the Tonto National Forest 40 miles (64 km) east-northeast of Phoenix, in the 60,740-acre (245.8 km2) Four Peaks Wilderness. On rare occasions, Four Peaks offers much of the Phoenix metro area a view of snow covered peaks, and is the highest point in Maricopa County.

The name Four Peaks is a reference to the four distinct peaks of a north-south ridge forming the mountain’s summit. The northernmost peak is named Brown’s Peak and is the tallest of the four at 7,657 feet (2,334 m).[2] The remaining summits are unnamed, and from north to south are 7,642 feet (2,329 m), 7,575 feet (2,309 m) and 7,524 feet (2,293 m) in altitude.

January 21, 2010: The Aftermath

Posted by Dan Mitchell on
So we’ve been having some pretty unusual weather here in Phoenix the last week or so. Last night, January 21st was some of the craziest weather we’ve seen in quite some time. I had several people telling me that they’ve lived in the Valley for 10 to 16 years, and they’ve never seen weather like we had last night.

It was so windy that there was a tornado warning issued for Scottsdale. A tornado touched down at Desert Ridge. A tornado! In Phoenix! In January!

So this morning on our walk, Peanut and I saw that we weren’t spared from the wind damage:

Captured with my iPhone 3G

Sent from my iPhone 3G

Do you have photos of the storm damage out by you? Post them (or a link to them)

Thanks for stopping by!

Dan, a.k.a. @PHXPhoto

There’s A Difference Between Freedom OF Religion and Freedom FROM Religion…

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

Why is it that whenever something comes up that involves the topics of Government and religion, invariably talking heads start regurgitating “Separation of Church and State! It’s in the Constitution!” (or some derivation thereof) impersonating experts in Constitutional Law.  In reality, it’s regurgitating some easily memorized sound byte.  Next to a complete disregard for proper spelling and grammar, it’s probably one of my biggest pet peeves.


Maybe I’m just a stickler, but whenever I hear that verbal vomit, like a fork on a chalkboard, it makes me wince in pain.  Often literally. 


Being a bit of an American History buff, I don’t recall ever seeing the phrase ‘Separation of Church and State’ anywhere in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or any of the other 17 Amendments.  Yes, the phrase is used in some of Thomas Jefferson’s later writings, as well as some Supreme Court opinions, but it is not in the Constitution. Why this distinction?  Because when pressed, the same talking heads cite the “First Amendment Rights”.

 

So what does the First Amendment say anyway?

 

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.


That’s it in its entirety. Forty-five words. “Congress shall make no law…” Congress cannot establish a national religion, and they cannot prohibit anyone from practicing their chosen religion.


But nowhere does it state that the Federal Government must be fully and completely devoid of any and all religion.  Most of the founding fathers were deists, believing in a God.  They were trying to lay the groundwork for freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion.


Telling people what they can or cannot practice is a direct contradiction to the principles this Union was built on.  


In my opinion, this also applies to all of those trying to remove any and all reference to God from every last public place, parchment, and promissory note (that last one being poetic license for ‘money’). 


Why is that?  Glad you asked.  The Tenth Amendment, the last in the Bill of Rights:

 

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.


Any powers not specifically given to the Federal Government by the Constitution inherently belong to the States or the People.  If it’s not specifically spelled out here as a power of the Federal Government, then it is up to the individual States, if not you and me, and our friends and neighbors, to govern ourselves.


There’s nothing Unconstitutional about a statue, monument, the slogan ‘In God We Trust’, or The Pledge of Allegiance.  ’So help me God’ wasn’t even in the Oath of Office initially, but every President since George Washington has uttered those words.  If any of those specified which God, then it would most likely be a different story, but they don’t.  Your city/county/state may have enacted laws to remove any and all mention of God, but a mention of God in and of itself is not Unconstitutional.  And since 73% of Americans believe in a God or Supreme Being, I wonder- why are we as a society agreeable to removing any and all mention of ‘God’ to satisfy the (sometimes vocal) minority?   


There are bigger issues out there right now that we could and should be concerning ourselves with. But if you’re going to (mis)quote the Constution, please take the time to not only read it, but to comprehend it.


End of rant.

 

Thanks for stopping by and letting me vent.

 

What do you think?


-Dan, a.k.a. @PHXPhoto

 

Now THAT’s What I Call A Light Show…

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

My holiday gift to you-

Consume mass quantities of your favorite (legal*) intoxicant, watch this three and a half minute video, spend the next three and a half hours wondering if what you just watched was real, and how they did it.Enjoy!

Dan, a.k.a. @PHXPhoto

*While I said legal, I’m pretty sure whoever first though of this was under the influence of, shall we say… a little stronger.

68 Years Ago Today…

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

“December 7th, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy.” -President Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941

Today marks the 68th anniversary of what, until the September 11th, 2001 attacks, was the deadliest attack on U.S. soil in history. Unfortunately, every year that goes by takes more of the survivors- the ones who were there who can tell us what it was really like that day, not the sanitized, politically correct history contained in most history books, History Channel specials, PBS shows, et al. The youngest survivors still living are approaching their 86th birthdays, almost a decade over the average life expectancy in the U.S.

As my High School history teacher used to joke: “Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it.” Of course he was talking about the class, but the larger meaning is no less appropriate today. Indeed, some would argue that we’ve already forgotten some of the lessons of that day- overconfidence (or if you prefer, a feeling of invincibility), lax security measures, lack of communication, lack of preparedness, et cetera, and have repeated some of those same mistakes, as evidenced by the aforementioned September 11th attacks. But that’s not today’s topic.

If you have a chance to talk to a veteran, do it. Take some time, sit down, and listen to their stories. Because once they’re gone, so are their oral histories.

In the mean time, here are some photos from the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii:

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

U.S.S. Arizona Anchor

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

U.S.S. Missouri- The View Over Mighty Mo's Sixteen-Inch Guns


Thanks for stopping by! Please feel free to leave a comment below.

Dan, a.k.a. @PHX Photo

Look! Up In The Sky! It’s A Bird! It’s A Plane! It’s…

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

A Hot Air Balloon landing in a field next to my apartment complex!

I took several shots, but the grey, overcast morning didn’t exactly make it pop as much as I’d like; that being said, this shot of the descent with South Mountain n the background adds some interest to the shot.

Thanks for taking the time to view my photos! If you like what you see, please feel free to leave a comment below!

-Dan, a.k.a. @PHXPhoto

The Rolls-Royce Hood Ornament “The Spirit of Ecstasy”

Posted by Dan Mitchell on

More to come from my trip to the 2009 Arizona International Auto Show, but here’s a little teaser: 

The Rolls Royce mascot "The Spirit of Ecstasy"

Who knew there was such a story behind Rolls-Royce’s hood ornament. From Wikipedia:

The Spirit of Ecstasy is the name of the hood ornament on Rolls-Royce cars. It is in the form of a woman leaning forwards with her arms outstretched behind and above her. Billowing cloth runs from her arms to her back, resembling wings. The Spirit of Ecstasy, also called “Emily”, “Silver Lady” or “Flying Lady”, was designed by Charles Robinson Sykes and carries with it a story about a secret passion between John Walter Edward Scott-Montagu, (second Lord Montagu of Beaulieu after 1905, a pioneer of the automobile movement, and editor of The Car magazine from 1902) and his secret love and the model for the emblem, Eleanor Velasco Thornton. Eleanor was John Walter’s secretary, and their love was to remain hidden, limited to their circle of friends, for more than a decade. The reason for the secrecy was Eleanor’s impoverished social and economic status, which was an obstacle to their love. John-Walter, succumbing to family pressures, married Lady Cecil Victoria Constance, but the secret love affair continued.

Thanks for reading!

Dan, a.k.a. @PHXPhoto