Kachina Photos Blog

Once upon a time I was a sports photographer in the Northern Arizona University athletic department. I was shooting film then, 400 Tri-Ex to be exact. I had 36 shots per roll and could rip through 36 images in six seconds if I held the shutter down continuously. Then there was the problem of missing the shot while changing film rolls not to mention the hours in the dark room. Digital changed all of that. Well, most of it anyway. I can still fire off hundreds of shots in seconds but I never have to change the roll!

The ostrich is an interesting bird. In going through my collection it turns out I have several pictures of these dinosaurs. Here are also some interesting facts I discovered about these birds. 

The representation of shadow, and especially of cast shadow, is as old as art itself, for according to classical writers art was born when the outline of a human shadow thrown onto a wall was first traced out in order to capture it in the form of a silhouette. 

 There are around 200 species of Agave, but only about 30 have been cultivated for commercial use. Most of these are from Mexico, although they occur in the southern United States and into South America. Plants are characterized by forming rosettes of fleshy (succulent) leaves which have a sharp point or spine terminally. The leaf margins may be smooth or spiny.

The word mural is a Spanish adjective that is used to refer to what is attached to a wall. The term mural later became a noun. In art, the word mural began to be used at the beginning of the 20th century. In ancient Roman times, a mural crown was given to the fighter who was first to scale the wall of a besieged town. "Mural" comes from the Latin muralis, meaning "wall painting". This word is related to murus, meaning "wall".

Our beloved Coyote Hawk turns three at the end of this month. We drove her home from Southern California on November 29, 2021. It has been three years of wonderful adventures with 227 nights spent inside and more than that parked at people's homes and sleeping in THEIR beds. She has been a wonderful investment. 

Pelicans are my favorite birds. They do so many  cool things. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before swallowing. 

The other day I took the long lens out to our local wetlands to see what was up. Per usual, it did not disappoint. The red-winged black birds were out in force. 

This week I'm continuing with the transportation theme Air. I was going to make it about hot air balloons. However, I have SO many images that need to be gone through that I got overwhelmed and settled for the Parachutes/Paragliders theme instead. Enjoy.

This is the beginning of a monster series based on the keyword: Transportation. It covers Air, Land and Sea. I'll begin with air and hit on helicopters, planes and hot air balloons. 

On Sunday January 7th, 2024 Flagstaff, AZ had a one foot snowstorm. It began snowing early in the morning and didn't stop until nearly sundown. It by far is not the largest single day snow event but it added enough snow to the previous storm's five inches to allow us a lovely jaunt into the forest on our snowshoes. Flagstaff, Arizona is one of the snowiest cities in the United States, with an average annual snowfall of 102 inches. The snowfall is heaviest in January and February.

I like taking pictures of mailboxes. They mostly look the same but often times are different enough to create a pattern. I love patterns. In gathering images for this post I began to wonder...where did the mailbox come from? In an effort to keep this a quick read I won't go into the complete evolution involving the Pony Express and the telegraph machine. You're welcome.