Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West

Took another excursion on Sunday to Taliesin West, in Scottsdale. Taliesin West is a campus (or camp) or even a bit of a commune that Frank Lloyd Wright created to teach architectural theory and practice to his proteges.

It still functions as a school of architecture. There are no grades, no tests, and no set period of education, yet it is a fully accredited school of architecture.

Here's the man, himself:


and here are some pix I took of TW on Sunday:

mystery castle

is neither a mystery (well, not really) nor a castle. However it is an interesting story and worth an hour of your time when you are in the vicinity of South Mountain in Phoenix. Although the house itself is supposed to be the main attraction, Mary Lou Gulley, who has lived there for 63 years really pulls it together. Here she is now...

They say that even now she sometimes stumbles upon an unknown treasure in the house left behind by her eccentric father 63 years, or more, before. Like when she spied a mismatched wedge of wood in a ceiling beam. She pried it out to discover some money hidden behind it!

the colors of Christmas...

Had some rain here in the desert on Christmas, but then a nice rainbow...

and in the evening we took in the amazing light display at the Mormon Temple in Mesa on Main just east of Mesa Dr., I believe.

Merry Christmas!

rawhidin'

The wayback machine has a short in it and took us back to Rawhide Wild West Town again on Sunday. So we made the most of it and took in the shoot 'em up show. Here's a picture or two. (The singin' fellow came out before all the shooting started!)

desert fisherman

No small feat to catch a fish in the desert.

erin and chris

Had an engagement shoot with Erin and Chris on Sunday. It was overcast and chilly, exactly what you don't see a lot of here in the desert. But they were troopers and muscled through. Especially Erin as she also has a broken foot! Here are some of my favorites from the day.

Radiopopper.....!

Well, now this is something that will quickly move up to the top of my wish list (well, right below the Canon 5D Mk II and the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens -- I'm not a crazy person).

Take a look at this video that details some of the fancy features of the new Radiopoppers. Just announced within the last 24 hours! These sound awesome!

D3X Vid

It's the same one I referenced yesterday, but I decided that it is so good I just want to embed it here to save all the bouncing around in cyberspace. Of course, I think its so funny because I'm a Canon guy... Although I must admit, the specs are impressive. But I'd still rather have a 5D Mark II.

So, without further adieu....

thursday with the finger pointing...

Welcome to another exciting episode of Finger Pointing where I point you in the direction of some recent interesting photography related content from the World Wide Pants. I mean, Web.

• Friday or Saturday, Radiopopper is supposed to announce a fancy new version of the popular radiopopper device. Syl Arena has some info here. Also, check out radiopopper's own site.
• Here's a different sort of video editorial on the new Nikon D3X. It's funny, weird, creepy, and really well-produced.
• Here you will find a free Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide - SEO PDF
• The girl from famous depression-era picture by Dorothea Lange

the spice of life

Shot this waterfall today and now it's my computer desktop background. I just can't stand to look at the same background for too long. Variety is the spice of life!

santa baby

Friday and Saturday I had the wonderful job of photographing kids visiting Santa over at Harmon Elementary in Queen Creek. Santa sure is good with kids. And the reindeer were very patient up on the roof for several hours.

Thanks Harmon Elementary, Dad's Club Dave, Chris Lineberry, Santa and Mrs. Claus, and everyone who lent a hand this weekend.

in the santans

Coming home from running errands in Gilbert a few hours ago, I took a detour and ended up along the santans, just south and west of Santan Flats. Some nice views of the mountains and the flora. Enjoy!