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Saguaro Sky

Sometimes photography is painful! On a trip to the American Southwest in 2008, we spent a couple of days at our favorite B&B on the outskirts of Tucson, right next to the eastern unit of Saguaro National Park.  The grounds of the B&B are spectacular for photography, with 40 private acres of prime Sonoran Desert habitat.  This is the "king" of the saguaros on their land, a truly massive saguaro pock-marked with many cavities from birds that have nested here over the years. On this morning, the sky was really beautiful as the sun was coming up, so I thought I'd lay down at the base of the saguaro and shoot skyward, in an attempt to capture both cactus and sky.  It worked! It was painful! Who knew that a Sonoran Desert landscape had ground covered in hard-to-see cacti needles? I got the photo, but also spent half an hour having my wife pick cactus needles out of my back and legs.