diid the same - took one pad from a large 'pear' that a neighbor was having taken out of his yard put it on a shelf outside for a month, stuck in a small pot of dirt, gave it a little water once in while and here it is 3-4- yrs later!

we Arizonans, in this pandemic economy, appreciate your business; and, as usual, bring plenty of money! oh - nice pics too!

look like cardon to me, native to mexico

i agree, living in az u can get pretty wimpy,, where we think anything under 70 is starting to get a little cool, and below 50 - that's downright chilly; on the other hand i remember playing golf in iowa city one winter centuries ago, in shirtsleeves when it was 40 deg - felt like spring 'cause it hadn't been above 15-20 in 3 weeks. we humans are adaptable i guess! nbb

you poor devils! i don't know how ya do it? my thermometer also reads 63 deg. but that's OUTSIDE! in the shade, getting ready to take the dog out for a nice walk in the phoenix mountain preserve- in short pants. good luck with the rest of your winter. nbb

i have had no probs with fedex, so i'm hoping not this time either - ordered a camera from mpb and the always use fedex for shipping.

a good quality 20" diffusion screen can really help with reducing contrast, it's hand and folds up nicely; the fotoflex 5in1 also has the reflectors along with one diffuser screen in various sizes depending on you needs.

john gerlack's book - "Close Up Photography In Nature" is a real good one with many tips; whole chapter on flash doing macro.

#4 - by a neck

actually in southern utah, just up the road from monument valley, past mexican hat. a "mini" monument valley - without the crowds, roads ok and you can stop anywhere you want. there's a rustic b&b just at the west end of the road, once owned and developed by a very vague relative of mine, don't know if they still have it or not.h
when we visited some years ago for a few days we had staying with us for one night a group of "real" rocket scientists who were in the process of moving form houston or canaveral to california.....its a real nice place to visit if you have an extra day in your grand circle tour.

don't be in a hurry, spend a night at hannagan meadow lodge then mosey down the road; hannagan meadow might offer wildflowers there are any number of places to pull off and wander in the forest; a side trip to the black river is nice; hope you can go in the fall when the aspen are changing colors - the very best time of year to go. the mine and morenci are of some interest(i'm not a mine sorta person). the road itself can be winding here and there and drops down from 8000+ ft elevation. as someone noted , gif not in the fall the scenery is nice but not spectacular by any means. hamlet of alpine is a nice stop for a bite to eat.

#3 using a polarizer might have reduced a lot of that sheen and saturated the blossoms ; #4 use diffuser to limit contrast; #9 brighter , contrasting colored background - ? yellow, ? orange; #10 not really an attractive flower - skip it

shade can be your best friend when shooting flowers - removes all that glare and contrast; would love to see some closeups of some of those very nice blossoms. maybe the next time up the trail!

stay in tucson somewhere maybe downtown, forget gila bend. benson would be a nice stop going or returning as someone mentioned earlier

lovely-here's another "pear"blossom, a prickly pear

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