This is a retrospective diary of the day I created my print “Ocotillo Sunset.” You can see “Ocotillo Sunset” by clicking on any of the following photographs.
On a Tucson November 2005 afternoon, after my volunteer work for the University of Arizona, CALS college, alumni board of directors, in the mid-afternoon I headed for Sabino Canyon with my photography kit.
With a 25-pound pack on my back, walking from the parking lot I looked up at the incredible rock formations of the Santa Catalina mountains. It took some time to set up the tripod (at that time I was using a cheap swivel head on adjustable aluminum legs) with a 200mm telephoto lens (Canon L-series EF 200mm USM) I grabbed this shot of the hoodoo fringed peaks beyond the foothills (f16, 1/30, ISO160). The lower sun angle made the formations pop out.
Hoodoos in the Hills
That is Window Peak, at the head of Ventana Canyon. Among the hoodoos is a spectacular rock arch, or window, not visible from this direction. “Ventana” is window in the Spanish language.
You call those strange formations of upright rocks “hoodoos. Some people believe the fantastic shapes were created by spirits, today the explanation is wind, water and time create hoodoos from rock of the right stuff. It is a wonderful experience to wander among hoodoos, though unsettling because some of these large rocks are seemingly in danger of falling over at any moment.
Click any photograph to view Ocotillo Sunset 
Moving On
I have a mental list of photographic “to do’s” and the gathering clouds, typical for a Tucson November day, reminded me an awesome desert sunset was on this list, so I packed up to head for the east side of Tucson for a shot looking toward the Tucson Mountains (on the west side).
Clouds gather at sunset above a ridge serrated by saguaros.
Click any photograph to view Ocotillo Sunset 
Sabino Canyon House
Before we move on, this is a fascinating image of a typical southern Arizona house perched on a ridge at the mouth of Sabino Canyon. In this image the viewer sympathizes because the telephoto lens gathers the majestic rocks around the tiny structure.
Click any photograph to view Ocotillo Sunset 
The house is perched on a Santa Catalina foothill ridge running east west, a wall of picture windows facing south with a view across the Tucson valley toward Mount Wrightson of the Santa Rita mountains, 42 miles distant. Summer thunderstorms gather on this peak, wreathing it with lightening. These times, evenings and night, the view pays for the inconvenience of this distant, hot ridge. Another time to be there is for sunsets.
Click Me for the next post in this series.
Michael Stephen Wills Photography 
Your Sunset is excellent! 🙂
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Thanks for checking it out, Tom, and for the compliment.
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So Gorgeous Michael! Having seen so many of these spectacular sunrises and sunsets here, I know you captured an amazing one💕I really love your Tucson posts!!
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Great shots – I like the diary format. Hearing about how others go about their creative tasks is always something I’m interested in.
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I have a few more in store….taking off over the Easter weekend. Thanks for writing, Sarah. Happy Easter
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Happy Easter to you, too!
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Beautiful 😊
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Thank You for the compliment. Happy Easter to you in Norway.
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Happy Easter to you too 🙂
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Sabino Canyon is a good place to visit. I remember it from several hours spent there on October 2, 2014.
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April/May are great month for the cactus blooms and ,depending on the winter rains, wildflowers.
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I enjoyed the journal of your travels, Michael. I’m glad you captured that starkly bright sunset, with the simple silhouette of the very thin saguaro cactus.
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Thanks for visiting and your kind thoughtful comments, reocochran.
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Thank you for sharing the world 🙂
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My pleasure, tripmonkey. thanks for reading.
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I’ve visited AZ twice — each time I’ve been impressed with its beauty, as well as how proud its residents are of it 🙂
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I think of myself as a Tucsonian and feel the same way. Good to hear from you da-Al.
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Beautiful photographs! Makes me homesick for my former state. Beautiful.
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I graduated from the University of Arizona and in my 50’s rediscovered the state.
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