San Diego...and Autumn on top of the Santa Catalina Mountains

Aquarium, beach, mountaintop;

a few snapseeded scenes from the past couple of weeks...

Some of the underwater faces at the Birch Aquarium in San Diego:

Placing your iPhone right up against aquarium glass and then fixing a focus-zone with your finger,

then waiting for something to swim into view--some fun shots...

In this PicFrame, clockwise from top left:

weedy seadragon, moray eel, a shrimp, and then--can't resist, must say--"found Nemo"

Using AutoStitch, a panorama--watching surfers from Crystal Pier:

...dozens and dozens, calmly waiting...meditative...

Closer to home--up in the Santa Catalina Mountains, just north of Tucson. Drive up high enough this time of year and the scene is more like something you'd imagine in New England--a deciduous forest with autumn foliage at the top of this 'sky island' in the desert...Above 8000 feet there are a few little valleys that come alive with fall color, an unexpected change from the cactus-studded lower slopes:

Driving back down at sunset, about halfway down,

looking out over Thimble Peak and the Tucson mountains beyond...

The other day, after work, decided to go for a trail-run into Bear Canyon,
at the base of the mountains--such a contrast from the evergreen-and-deciduous forest at the top:

About a half-mile in, there's a natural arch up the eastern wall:

Overlooking the entrance of the canyon:

Below, some fun with black-and-white, then warming up the temperature, 

and then playing with the grunge filter:

 And, from just a few hours ago, tonight--moonrise over the Santa Catalinas:

faces, restaurants, landscapes

The first week of October was a vacation-week for me. (The school district I work for tried something new this year: after the first quarter, a week off--a welcome break for students AND teachers.) Good timing, as we had an out-of-town friend and family reunion at our home in Tucson...which led to walks in the desert and eating out...and some iphoneography...

So, a few local highlights for this posting.

First, some Mexican folk-art faces, on the walls and floating above the tables in Elvira's, down in Tubac, about an hour south of Tucson.

And, from what is truly one of the best restaurants in southern Arizona, 

downtown Tucson's Café Poca Cosa:

Close to home--a bloom on a cactus in the backyard:

...out of the backyard, into the open desert...

(fun with the 'grunge' filter  for the AutoStitch panorama above and the 

square shot below)

The other night, on the way to some friends' for dinner, I just had to pull over to get this phone-shot--check out the 'double-helix' cloud on the right:

...and then as the sunset continued to 'ripen,' the strands got taller and pinker:

(PicFrame used to create the 'mosaics'.)

--from down in Tumacácori, the Santa Cruz Chili Co., across from the old Spanish mission.

One of my new favorite apps on my iPhone is ColorSplash; I used it on the above cactus flower and chili sign photos...here are a couple more photos edited with it--these are 'transplants'--photos taken with a different camera that I e-mailed to my iPhone specifically to edit with snapseed and ColorSplash--fun with selective desaturation:

--seeing the landscape through my wife's eyes, 

Horseshoe Bend on the Colorado River, just south of Page, AZ 

...and back in Tucson; reflection of autumn color (which peaks in December) 
along the creek in Sabino Canyon