Boyce Thompson Aboretum just East of Phoenix, Arizona
If you travel East out of Phoenix on highway 60, you'll find a little known desert oasis called Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Highway 60 offers a leisurely, scenic alternative to Interstate 10 for those traveling through Arizona and New Mexico. I was on the return leg of a trip from my home in New Mexico, to Phoenix and back, which included a stop at the Pima Air and Space Museum which you can read about and see the photo gallery in my previous blog post. For this trip I had brought along two cameras; the Sony RX1RII featuring a fixed focal length 35mm f/2 lens and the Sony A7RII with a manual focus Zeiss 50mm lens f/2 and a Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 lens. Both cameras feature an extremely high resolution, 42 megapixel sensor, I've included some cropped images so you can see exactly how much wiggle room high resolution cameras can give to a photographer, it's incredible really.
If you're traveling East, you can take Highway 60 to Highway 70, the two of which meet in Globe, Arizona, and you'll eventually find yourself in Lordsburg, New Mexico and can jump back on Interstate 10 to expedite the rest of your trip. This is exactly the route I chose to take on my return trip from Phoenix a few months ago. My hope was that I might see places and sights I might not otherwise get a chance to discover, I wasn't disappointed.
The Boyce Thompson Arboretum is officially designated as a state park but calling it a park really sells short the fact that it's marvelous and inviting oasis in the desert, complete with a lake and streams! For a small entry fee, guests can enjoy the foliage and wildlife that is found along several miles of well-maintained and manicured trails.
I spent a couple hours enjoying a nice walk along the trails, taking in the sights and smells of herbs and flowers, it was extremely relaxing and delightful. There's so much to see, but you have to take your time and really pay close attention. I even encountered a few surprises along the way.
Below you can enjoy my photos and please consider making a small donation to help support my continuing artistic endeavors.
Here's the first of several examples showing the resolution power that the 42 megapixal Sony sensor can capture. Above is the original image, below you see how sharp the cropped image is, it retains a great deal of detail even when cropped more than 100%.
Another sample of the cropping capabilities, above the original, below the cropped image.
Another crop. Above the original image, below the cropped image.
Here are a series of 3 crops, above the original and the two images below have been cropped more than 100%, you can even make out fine details like the rivets and rust on the water tower.
Along the road home, New Mexico State Highway 9
If you're in Tempe, try out Snooze for a delicious breakfast and champagne mimosas.
The Arboretum offers a full schedule of fun and interesting events.
The drive home offered an endless number of breathtaking sights
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