The Verde Valley just south of Flagstaff is one of our favorite places to warm up in the winter and stretch out summer as the days cool up north. It also boasts a little know national monument.
Tuzigoot National Monument preserves a 2- to 3-story pueblo ruin on the summit of a limestone and sandstone ridge just east of Clarkdale, Arizona, 120 feet above the Verde River floodplain. The Tuzigoot Site is an elongated complex of stone masonry rooms that were built along the spine of a natural outcrop in the Verde Valley.
It’s a tricky place to shoot. It doesn’t have the grand landscapes of the Wupatki ruins to the north. Shooting on a day with dramatic skies helps. You are able to get to the top which helps in the “vary your angle” department.
The good news about it being little known is that the times I have been there it hasn’t taken long to wait until there are no people in the frame.
Here’s what I’ve decided is the difference between a landscape photographer and a travel photographer. The landscapers would plan out their shoot and come during a full moon or late in the day for nice lighting and shadows. As a travel photographer I am where I am right now. I need to be able to shoot right now. So here it is, mid day shots that capture the monument nicely.
Here is a more late in the day shot. I was up here for a night workshop one time with Arizona Highways Photos Workshops.
So, don’t be intimidated by landscapers with all the fancy equipment. I travel light. Most if my images are hand held and considered grab shots. I have been known to use a tripod but very rarely when traveling.
Happy Shooting!
We didn’t take the time hike back to Navajo Falls on this trip or beyond Mooney Falls to Beaver Falls. We stayed close to camp, mostly due to me recovering from my consecutive falls (no pun intended) and spend our first full day exploring Havasu Falls, which you see here. At this time of year it was always in the shade which dulls the color of the water just a bit. I actually shot this image on our way to the trail that leads out of the bottom of the falls. I happened to glance back to get one last view of it and spotted this great curving piece of wood which leads your eye right up to the pool.
Here is another nice example of putting something in the foreground to lead you into the picture. These were all hand held images with my point and shoot that stayed securely in my pocket until needed.
I worked my way across the pool and onto the opposite shore. As I approached that side I got a few of the falls not everyone sees. The mossy green rocks behind it caught my attention. I shot this one as a horizontal as well with the focus being more on the rocks. Water fall images don’t have to be vertical!
Here’s my wife, Ellen, standing in the pool I walked across. There was a little beach entrance you can barely see in the way upper right corner. 
Here’s a fun picture of a leaf floating by. I loved the way the water was making the light dance across the colors of the leaf. It was moving in the current and because of the water my auto focus wasn’t working as quickly as normal. We must have picked this leaf up and replaced it in the current at least seven times!
That night, while hanging out at camp, I set up my point and shoot on the little Joby Gorillapod and aimed it at the sky. I set the ISO on 3200, f/2.8 with a 30 second exposure and here is what I got. I was pretty please!
Heading to the spring to gather water for the day. The early morning light casting long shadows on the trail and giving a nice halo around the hair.
On our way to the spring we ran across this tree with a crazy root system. Check it out! It seems to all be in the air with the trunk plummeting down into the ground. Cottonwoods are insane trees.
This is the rushing water we were camping by. Hearing the little rapid all night made for some nice nights of sleep. It’s also an example of where logs end up in flash floods. The dirt on the far bank is another camp.
The next day we headed to Mooney Falls. Given my shaky state of affairs and how sketchy the climb down to the bottom is, we didn’t make it all the way but it was beautiful nonetheless.
This is Ellen emerging from one of the tunnels just before we had to start holding chains and descending down wet and slippery rock. I do love silhouettes.
And there she is, Mooney, in all her glory. I really like this picture because of the frozen travertine waterfall in the foreground. These rock falls are all around both Havasu and Mooney Falls.