The other day, while visiting here in Arizona, I went looking for spring flowers hoping to catch some blooming cacti.  Unfortunately I seem to be here a bit early and there was little to shoot.  Luckily I was able to visit the Boyce Thompson Arboretum East of Phoenix.  The property is well kept and somewhat manicured (for a desert).  Cacti and palms and flowering plants from here and abroad.  I'm sure it's quite a sight in another few weeks.  Even so, there was plenty to point one's camera at.  It was the middle of the day, so getting good even light was a bit of a chore.  Luckily I had my parents there to play assistant with my reflectors and diffusers so I was able to get a few decent photos.

Denver Orchid Society: Today I went to see an Orchid show. Pretty cool stuff. It was kind of difficult to photograph as I could only use my speedlight and a reflector due to all the folks walking about. Anyway,, I manage to grab a few good shots. I foucsed on getting in close to show the unique character of the Orchids "inner flower" (no idea what that's actually called).

Last week I took one of my tour clients up to Hanging Lakes in Glenwood Canyon.  In the summer this unique lake and waterfalls is abnormally lush with green and flowers.  A real treat within the arid canyons of the area.  In the winter it turns into a surreal wall of frozen drizzled icecycles.  Very cool.

It's that time of year again.  Love is in the air.  While most of nature seems to get it's viagra boost in the Springtime, Colorado's big horn sheep are feeling the heat in the chill of late Autumn.  

Today Kevin and I headed up near the Georgetown area to see if we could photograph some Big Horns.  We found three groups in different locations.  I did a bit of hoofing it myself around the cliffside to get some pictures that were not just looking up at them.  My fingers were crossed that a big Billy would not take offense to me being on his turf.  I don't think I'd have much chance eluding one of these guys on the side of a rock wall.

I was hoping to see some of the males butting heads, but it did not happen.  Maybe they've already done there fighting for harems.

Had a fun night of photos last night in downtown Denver.  I spent a few hours walking downtown Denver last night for one of my Denver Night Photography Tours (http://www.bigsunphototours.com/colorado/denver-lights.htm).  For some reason many of the buildings were not turning on their lights leaving the buildings dark.   I don't know what the reasoning was…  However there were still some good shots to capture.  

So I've been a busy boy the past week or two.  Running all about the mountains taking folks on photography tours to capture the height of the Fall Aspen color change (which by the way is happening very early this year).  I guess the drought conditions are effecting the trees as they are not only turning early, but sporadically.  In some areas there are pure gold Aspen stands, right beside fully turned Aspen stands (dead and dry).  

Nevertheless, the mountains are still full of lots of amazing color and beauty.  If anyone is interested in getting photos of the mountains this Autumn, please contact me ASAP as you are quickly running out of time.  I give most of the good locations another week before they start going downhill.

Check out some of the Fall photos I've captured over the past week: http://www.genetewksbury.com/p713715414

Hey folks,,, been a long time since I've put out any new textured photography (which I'm now referring to as "Distressed Art")…  I don't love that name,,, but I can't seem to think of a good one.  If you have any suggestions, by all means please let me hear your ideas.  Anyway.  This piece is a blend of about a dozen images.  The monk himself was shot in Thailand.  All the rest of the images in this photo came from Vietnam.  Look real close and see if you can find other images in the artwork that are not so obvious.  It's like "Find Waldo".

As always you can view this artwork in it's entirety on my gallery.  Museum quality prints are available as well.

http://www.genetewksbury.com/p379416644/h40BD8DF8

The SongKran Festival in Thailand (Thai New Years) is held throughout the country and revolves around religious ceremonies, lots of parades and a never ending battle of water weapons in the streets. It's four days of real good times.  While this video only has a few photographic images (in the beginning), I'm including it in my blog simply because it's a fun video to watch and took place during a successful photography trip to Thailand.  

To view  the more "cultural" photography I captured while in Thailand this year, please visit the following gallery (Thailand 2012).

So fire it up and enjoy.  It might make you want to spend New Years in Thailand next year.

Watch Video: http://youtu.be/amOQOp9Yh5M

Each year as part of the Buffalo Bill Days celebration in Golden Colorado, thousands of little yellow duckies are released "into the wild" of Clear Creek.  Each ducky has an adopted sponsor who pays $2.  If you're duck wins the half mile race you get prizes.  All proceeds benefit local charity.

Today I added a new location to my growing list of photography destinations for my photography tours.  Hanging Lake is the latest entry.  Hands down it is the most "lush" location that I know of in Colorado.  It's like a small rain forest eco-system trapped in the Rocky Mountains. This emerald green lake is bordered with a long line of waterfalls.  The cliff walls are adorned with moss, ferns, flowers and greenery of all types.  Seriously, this is not the normal dry Colorado environment we're used to.  Learn more about the photo tours here: http://www.bigsunphototours.com/colorado/hanging-lakes.htm