"Photo Of The Day" Honors Awarded To Me Three Times Recently on "Capture My Arizona"
The Real Star Of John Ford's Westerns by John Morey in Landmarks
When it comes to capturing iconic Arizona imagery, perhaps nothing is more iconic and indelible to the Western motif as the ruddy mesa and dusty plains of Monument Valley -- nowhere more so than in director John Ford's films.
The location's popularity dates back to Ford's use of the Utah-Arizona border in 1939's Stagecoach. "I wouldn't make a Western on the backlot," Ford once said. "I think you can say that the real star of my Westerns has always been the land." It's no wonder then that Monument Valley appeared in the best of his films (nine in total), including Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and of course The Searchers.
Ford's Tombstone Western My Darling Clementine perfectly illustrates this love for the land. A stubborn realist who claimed to have consulted the real Wyatt Earp about the Battle at the O.K. Corral, Ford chose Monument Valley as the setting despite the fact that it lay nearly 500 miles north of the actual Corral. Perhaps he knew the limits of historical accuracy. More than that, he knew a star when he saw one. And while Monument Valley is a big place, John Ford's favorite backdrop was later renamed to be "John Ford Point", which is a mesa sitting next to geological feature of buttes known as "The Three Sisters", pictured in the background here.
In my attempt to pay tribute to John Ford, and this amazing land and culture, I was fortunate enough to capture this amazing image of Navajo men conducting a wild horse roundup next to The Three Sisters and John Ford Point.
Photo Of The Day: May 24th, 2014
The Control Tower Of Coyote Buttes by John Morey in Landscapes
"The Control Tower", in the heart of the Cottonwood Teepees formation, is one of the most beautiful sandstone features within Coyote Buttes South, in the Vermilion Cliffs / Paria Canyon wilderness of Arizona. Vivid earthly hues, swirling shapes and fragile layers makes this and many. many other nearby features a must see.
http://johnmoreyphotography.com/vermilioncliffs/e1e4118f9
Photo Of The Day: May 24th, 2014
Bald Eagle Sonoran Success by John Morey in Wildlife
Photographed on the cliff-banks of Canyon Lake, Arizona.
Bald eagles in the Sonoran Desert are officially threatened no more. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service removed them from the list of endangered and threatened species in September of 2011. It essentially took effect the year before in 2010 with a federal court ruling. The ruling came a day after the Arizona Game and Fish Department reported record numbers of bald-eagle eggs laid, breeding areas occupied, and eaglets taking flight in the state. They are such a great success story, and noticeably so in the past few years, that it would be an unusual day for me to look for them and not find them.
http://johnmoreyphotography.com/birdsofprey/h424C79DE
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