Photo Blog - Niebrugge Images

Pink-Flower Hedgehog Cactus.

As the wildflowers start to fade, the cactus flower begin to bloom!

This is the new Southbridge area of the Scottsdale Waterfront, Arizona.

There is a reason I live over a hundred miles from the nearest stop light - I don’t have much patience for traffic!  This is one aspect I dread when it comes time to city photography.  I try to remind myself that all the people around me sitting in their little artificial automobile environments put up with traffic delays all year around, surely I can do it for one day.  That reasoning doesn’t usually help for long.  So here is my solution. (more…)

I figured I can’t photograph the Phoenix area in spring and not include spring training baseball!

Here are Seattle Mariners signing autographs before a game with San Diego.  The two teams share a facility in Peoria.  It is pretty cool seeing some of the players taking the time to sign so many autographs for the kids at the ballpark.

Desert Tortoise.

I was thrilled to finally see a wild desert tortoise last weekend.  On top of being a threaten species, these tortoise spend more then 95% below ground in burrows.  That combination makes them a rare sight.

I spotted one while mountain biking last weekend, but by the time I returned to my vehicle and grabbed my camera, I was unable to find her.  I have looked for her everyday since then - how far can a tortoise go!  I finally spotted her again yesterday while doing some more mountain biking photos.  This time I had my camera -   what a treat! 

Saguaro Lake, Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Always seems strange to see lakes in such a dry environment.

The normal high here this time of year is 77 degrees - this week it has been pushing records highs, with temperatures in the upper 80’s.  Unfortunately it is really cooking the wildflowers.  I have been concentrating entirely on scenics with flowers - the travel, city, recreation and wildlife stuff can wait until the wildflowers are gone, which may not be long.

We have traveled all the way to Globe, and I must say the best wildflowers in the Phoenix area are in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, and out at Saguaro Lake.  Granted, there are a lot of areas left for us to explore, I’m sure there are other jewels, but you can’t go wrong with these two locations.

 I love the rich colors and textures in the landscape right now.  This photo is from McDowell.  I hope to post a photo from Saguaro Lake tomorrow.

Mountain biking on the Competitive Trails in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, near Phoenix, Arizona.

I have tried shooting from my bike while using a slow shutter speed before, with poor results.  I think having the trail lined with bright, colorful poppies really helped this attempt.  These trails are really fun!

Here are more mountain biking photos.

More McDowell wildflowers.  The bright colors in some of the hills are amazing for the desert.

Chuparosa or Hummingbird-Bush with a Saguaro Cactus, in McDowell Mountain Regional Park, near Phoenix, Arizona.

We had an exciting experience today - saw a Desert Tortoise while mountain biking!  The Desert Tortoise spends 95% of its life in a burrow, so it is really exciting to see one.  I rode back to my truck and grabbed my camera, but much to my surprise, we were unable to find it again!  How can a turtle disappear so fast - I guess that is how it beat the hare.  :)  So unfortunately, you get a picture of wildflowers today instead of a tortoise - maybe we will find him tomorrow.

Wildflowers at McDowell Mountain Regional Park, not far from Phoenix, Arizona.

Petal peepers in the Phoenix area won’t be disappointed in this years wildflowers!  We were here last year - wow, this looks like an entirely different place!  All the green plant life alone is a shocker.  There are a wide variety of flowers colorful flowers to be found, a real treat!

The bright colored flowers in the foreground are Purple Owl’s Clover.  In the mid-ground is a great patch of poppies, unfortunately they closed up before sunset.  You can see the Four Peaks off in the distance, and way off in the distance is a near full moon.

This was another time that a graduated neutral density filter came in handy!

The fountain one day before the full moon in Fountain Hills, Arizona. 

Tonto National Forest, near Phoenix, Arizona.

I decided to run out to the Tonto National Forest on my last night in Arizona.  I was hoping to do a little shooting around Saguaro Lake at sunset.  When I got there, I wasn’t surprised to see they charged $6 per vehicle.  This is in line with what we had been paying in other Phoenix area public lands and seems fair enough.  What surprised me, the nearest place to pay was 12 miles away, a 24 mile round trip to pay my day use fee! (more…)

Black-necked Stilts.  Another photo from the Phoenix area.

Red Mountain is a prominent landmark East of Phoenix, near Mesa, Arizona.  (more…)

This is Nick jumping over my camera while launching off a steep drop.  I put a very wide-angle lens (17mm) on my camera and positioned it just below the lip, on the steepest part of the bank and used a remote to fire the camera.  Nick then got a run at the drop and launched off this hill and over my camera as I fired it.  (more…)

This series of banked turns in a little draw is one of the funnest sections of McDowell.

This is Nick Verdisco tearing it up at McDowell!  We had a great time shooting with Nick, and I think we got some good stuff.  I must admit, I had forgotten about the near full moon and just happened to see it in the corner of my eye while shooting Nick taking a jump.  I definitely had to work it into a composition. (more…)

The mountain biking on the Competitive Track at McDowell Mountain is an absolute blast!  Very smooth and fast, with lots of curves, dips and woop-dee-dos!  It is no wonder it is the first stop of the National Mountain Biking Series Championship races later this month.  (more…)

We set up some biking shots in Papago Park last night at sunset.  (more…)