Final week in America

I have been a bit lazy with my posting in the last week. I was due for another two posts before I returned home but I was distracted.

My final week in America was spent doing more social things rather than photography. I had a great time all the same, in fact I think I had a much better time than when I had been out taking photographs.

I am now home and it is bitterly cold, especially with no heating. I am working on a few photographs from America, but with other priorities, I think it will be a week or so before any images get posted. So keep a look out!

Arizona is an amazing state in America. Everyday is bright sunshine and low humidity, you cannot help but be happy. It really has made me realise that England is not the place I want to live, even though I have said all my life that I would never leave. Everything about Arizona is better, wider and cleaner streets, less traffic, fewer taxes and generally more cheerful people. Oh and everything is so much cheaper!

The rest of last week

Friday was time for Tombstone and Tucson (too-s-on). Tombstone is an old town in the south of Arizona, near the border with Mexico. It was a silver mining town and has alot of history! Too much to say so have a read here.

On the way we stopped at the Casa Grande National Monument. I was disappointed as it was hard to photograph. The position of the sun and the roof over the monument just made it almost impossible.

In Tombstone we went to watch a gun fight at the OK Corral. It was good but hard to photograph. The noise from the guns was very very loud and the drama was a little overdone. It was like watching kids in some parts. The rest of Tombstone was fun. Plenty of old shops with traditional items for sale.

Friday night was spent in Tucson and on Saturday morning we went to the Pima Air and Space Museum. There were tonnes of planes and the B-52 bombers were huge. Not as big as I thought they would be though. But anything that needs 8 jet engines must be heavy! The B-17G and the SR-71 blackbird were magnificent.

A long long long week...

I cannot believe it has been almost a week since I have posted. I have been busy but also lazy too.

Sunday was a quiet day, we went to Kristins sisters house for dinner and some drinks. It was fun.

On Monday I went to the cinema to see Jackass 3D, it was excellent. Could've been longer but then again if it had been longer, the huge cherry coke I had would've worked its way out somehow. After the cinema we went to the Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. They were good. Lots of different colours, smells and new plants I have never seen. It's amazing how many different types of cactus there are.

Tuesday was spent travelling upto a cabin in Prescott, Northern Arizona. We stayed in a log wooden cabin in the middle of a pine forest. I was a little worried at first because I have had so many warnings about bears and I know mountain lions are widespread here too. We used a log fire too which was so so warm.

After what seemed the longest, highest (6000ft) and most curved road in the world, we arrived in Jerome on Wednesday. It is a small mining town on the side of a mountain. We went to the Ghost Town section and it was good. Met real life 'hicks' There was a large scrapyard of old American trucks and other vehicles. Then lots of old original buildings. We then went to the modern Jerome where we had a famous haunted burger at the Haunted Hamburger. It was the biggest and best hamburger/cheeseburger I have ever had. We then walked around for a while before heading back on the travel sick highway.

Thursday was another drive along the curvy road on the way to Sedona. In Sedona we hiked to Devil's Bridge. It was a tricky hike because I am not used to the heat, altitude and sandy ground. Once we hit the shady trees, it was all ok. The bridge was quite spectacular and the view from the top was just as good.

I am having issues with software so that's why there's a lack of images.

Saturday at the Zoo

Saturday was time for the zoo. Arizona Zoo. We were due to go to the botanical gardens afterwards too. The zoo was great, lots of animals and lots of sun. I don't quite know how hot it was but it was nice. All the animals were amazing, the tiger and lion especially. Not to mention the extravagant people. We managed to spend most of the day at the zoo so there wasn't enough time to go to the botanical gardens, so we're saving that for Monday. Afterwards we went to Tempe centre and to the lake they have there. It was nice, we had frozen yogurt (no cream so it wasn't ice cream) and sat in the shade eating it. A few pictures beside the train tracks then it was time to head back to Surprise.

Frickin' Awesome Dude

So it has been a few days since I have last posted, but I have good reason. I have spent most of the last few days camping in northern Arizona and driving around quite a bit. On Tuesday we left for the three canyons (Walnut, Grand and Slot).

First up was the Walnut Canyon, it was big. The pictures I took don't really show it for how deep it was. It was really beautiful too. The walk was also good, at 6700 feet, you really get a good work out even though it is less than a mile. There were a few old houses in the side of the cliffs where people used to live a long time ago.

From the Walnut Canyon we drove to the Grand Canyon camp ground. I have not camped since I was young so I was a bit apprehensive about it, especially when I found out it was going to be close to -5°C at night. It was good though, the camping was a lot easier and more fun than I expected it to be. We spent the night under the stars, literally. The milky way was easily visable and I was quite taken aback. Marshmallows on the camp fire made it extra special. We managed to see the Grand Canyon before the night though and it was amazing. Photographs and video just do not look the same. It has to be seen with your own eyes.

The day after we drove to the Vermillion Cliffs/Paria to see the Slot Canyons. The camp ground was just as good, if not better, than the Grand Canyon. It was more secluded, wild and unique. The next morning we set out to the Slot Canyon. We got lost on the way and entered into the area for the Wave. The Wave was almost impossible to see, a lottery system was in place that allowed only 10 visitors per day. So after walking around in the baking heat for what appeared to be forever, we bumped into a ranger. He could've fined us each $500! But he let us off. We found our way to the Slots and they were amazing. Again photos just don't do it justice, well at least mine don't. From there we drove to Flagstaff and stayed the night.

In general, America is good. I could easily see myself living here. The people are super friendly and polite. The weather is amazing and the food choices are endless. There's so so much to see also, everywhere has something to offer.

Highways and dirt tracks

I haven't done much the past couple of days. We went out to Lake Pleasant on Sunday to take some pictures. A nice off road drive which I filmed... it was quite fun except someone thought I was driving whilst doing it! Whilst driving to Lake Pleasant we stopped on a highway and walked toward the lake, but still quite far out, and took some pictures. There's cacti everywhere. It will take some time getting used to. I am used to being able to just walk anywhere. Got a couple of pictures but they didn't turn out so good, but I had taken pictures of the highway before so at least I had something. I also drove for a while which was fun. It was odd at first but you soon get used to it, but what I am not used to is Kristin telling me to take a left right at the very last second to pull in and get some petrol.

Yesterday was just a day preparing for the 3 day road trip. Going to the Walnut Canyon, Grand Canyon and Paria Slot Canyons...

America

So I actually arrived in the USA yesterday. 12 hours ago. It was such an experience getting here. I got to Manchester Airport to find I needed a visa waiver form. Was a little odd because I went through the whole visa site before I left and it wasn't as clear as it should've been. I managed to get on in the airport but it cost me $14! What a rip off. The flights went well. Both were on time and arrived at the places early and even though I was flying standby, I managed to get window seats both times. The first flight wasn't so scenic until we arrived in Philadelphia, which by the way, is really quite nice. So many trees in such a big city. I could easily live there. The flight to Phoenix was so much better. Apparently we flew over the rockies. I was not impressed if they were actually the rockies. They looked tiny at 30,000 feet.

My first night was a good one. I went to Kristins sisters house with some junk food to be bombarded with questions about where I am from and my accent. Oh and what England is like. It was quite fun. Eating the half a cow I had in a burger was a trial though. I don't think I will be eating again for a few days!

Weekend and more

This weekend didn't go as planned. I spent most of it just pottering about and doing nothing much. Had planned to process some more photographs for idiotbox but I never got round to it. I did one on Friday.

I learnt a few new techniques during post processing and then photoshop. Was quite fun. The tutorial I used can be found here.

Finally managed to do some other photographs too that I cannot release yet. Will not be long though.

5 days till America...I literally cannot wait.

Make sure you sign upto my fan page here.

Word.

IdiotBox and Jade

Well this is my first post in my brand new blog to run along side my new website. Hopefully I can keep up with it and not let it die a long slow horrible death, like with previous attempts. Ha!

Today was such a busy day. I had an idiotbox shoot this morning at the Bradford Playhouse. It didn't go to plan. So many problems and in the end, I weren't that inspired. Probably due to my being ill and not giving the idea much thought. Got a couple of good shots that I haven't managed to process yet. Thanks to Vicky , Kate for helping me find her and Will.

After a busy morning, it turned into a busy afternoon and evening. Spent all of it with Jade going through images and co-processing some too. Turned out with a really good one too, which can be seen on my website. www.csphotographer.co.uk