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On my drive back home during my recent summertime roadtrip, I stopped at a roadside rest stop in southern Arizona, to take a photo of the beautiful Saguaro cacti that were sprouting up everywhere. Because I know that the desert has all kinds of poisonous snakes and insects, I looked carefully and thought I didn't see any. However, I apparently didn't look carefully enough, because this creature suddenly stood up, hissed, and rattled at me when I got close to him, on my approach toward a cactus!
Mojave Rattlesnake (detail) (2009)
Location: Sacaton, Arizona
Camera: Olympus e-300 Digital SLR
EEEEK!!! I jumped and shrieked, then went back to my car to get the longest-lens camera I had on me. It was only 150mm, but it did the trick and I got the above photo! He was already curled back up, but that was fine by me! I have since learned that this was a Mojave Rattlesnake, and that they are the most venomous rattler in North America!
Needless to say, I did NOT get my Saguaro Polaroid photo at that stop! I kept driving, and eventually, by the time I got to the lovely Picacho Peak turnoff, I felt secure enough to try again. This is my resulting diptych, taken safely from the paved road!
Picacho Peak (2009)
Camera: Polaroid SX-70
Film: Polaroid Artistic TZ
click here to see it larger
Moral of this story? Don't assume there are no poisonous creatures near you in the desert, just because you cannot see them! Fortunately, rattlesnakes give you a loud warning!
Hello! I'm sorry for my extended silence here on my little blog, but I have a good excuse! I went on a three-week road trip! I traveled from Texas to California and back, taking different routes each way, visiting family and friends, taking loads of photos, and enjoying some summer fun before the new academic year begins! I've got scads of Polaroids to scan, many digital photos to edit, and lots of film pictures to develop, so I imagine I'll be posting images here from the trip for some time!
To begin, I'd like to share a photo that I'm very proud of, which I took in Holbrook, Arizona along the old Route 66, that famed road of the American Imagination. This is one of only three wigwam-style motels left operating in the USA, and arguably the most fabulous! I definitely want to go back and stay there one day!
The Wigwam Motel (2009)
Camera: Holgaroid
Film: Polaroid 89 (expired)
Signed prints are in my Etsy shop! Stay tuned for more photos from the American Southwest and California!
