Payson, AZ & Rim Country

When people think of Arizona they think hot, cactus, dry, brown, palm trees, & snakes.  While this is true, there's also another side that's often forgotten even by us city slickers down here in Phoenix.  The state is actually home to very diverse geography including pine trees, waterfalls, rain forest type atmospheres and fern carpeted forests.  And you don't have to travel far from Phoenix to find this.

Just a simple 1.5 hour drive northeast of Phoenix lies one of the most serene areas of the southwest. The Tonto National Forest is 3 million acres of rugged and spectacularly beautiful country, ranging from cactus desert to pine forested mountains under the Mogollon Rim.  The range in altitude varies from 1300 to nearly 8000 feet and offers recreational activities throughout the year.

The town of Payson lies in the heart of this "rim country" and is where we decided to take a day hike this past weekend.  Here are a few rim country photos:

Payson, AZ

Swimming hole in Payson

Hiking!

It was a very overcast day which was great for hiking but not so great for photo lighting.

For the next two photos I added a neutral density filter to my lens (kinda like sunglasses) to slow the shutter speed so I'd achieve the cool flowing water effect.  W/o the filter I wouldn't have been able to shoot that slow and the photo would have been way over exposed.

One of several small waterfalls along the trail

About to feel 55 degree water

Water Wheel (slow shutter)

Splash! (super fast shutter speed)

Ranger Station overlooking Mogollon Rim

 The ranger told us that someone had just spotted a bear and it's cub the day before while hiking in the area.  The ranger himself had

View from the Mogollon Rim

Freezing cold 59 degrees!

We decided that we need to visit this area more.  I think we'll go up for a few days next time.

Phoenix Comicon 2013

Up until now the craziest convention that I have attended was the Action Sports (surfing/skateboarding industry) annual convention in San Diego.  That changed yesterday when I was given all access passes to attend this year's 2013 Phoenix Comicon convention.  I grabbed my son and his buddy and my camera and headed downtown to the Hyatt Regency Phoenix and the convention center where this all goes down to check out what all the hoopla is about.

Phoenix Comicon 2013

For those of you who know what Comicon is, just skip this and enjoy the photos.  For those of you who don't, I'll try to explain.

Basically Comicon is a comic book convention which started as a one day event in 2002 in Ahwatukee, Arizona with 400 attendees.  It has morphed over the years into a week long freak show (I use the word freak with humor and respect) attracting comic book lovers, sci fi crowds, zombies, gamers, video gamers, geeks, nerds, film makers, scantly clothed women (some of which I couldn't upload to this blog), Japanimation fans, and most interesting, cosplay enthusiasts.  The cosplay people are the ones who dress up (it's short for costume play).  In 2012, over 32,000 showed up.

There's a main area at the convention center where vendors set up booths.  Comic book stores, toy stores, collectables, costume creators, artists, etc. all showing off their stuff.  This is also the are that huge lines are formed for autographs.

In other areas of the convention center there are literally hundreds of classes that you can attend.  Anything from film making to writing to video game tournaments to discussing your favorite characters.  I'm being very general with that description.

A vendor sets up a table w/ figurines

 

We had good time people watching and taking photos.  I had to ask my son several times who certain characters were,  but by no means was I the oldest dude there.  People of all ages, sizes, & ethnic backgrounds seem to be attracted to this event.

a vendors art - alien from the movie

Everywhere you go people are taking photos with people in costumes.

Star Wars is big at the convention

This kind of explains Comicon in one photo.

...and so does this.

The horror genre is big too

some serious cosumes

Aside from the convention center, the Hyatt Regency Phoenix across the street also hosts part of this convention.  Huge Spider Man and Wonder Woman images adorn the lobby while guests play board games at one of the many tables set up. 

All in all we had a good time checking out Phoenix Comicon 2013 and I had fun taking these photos.  Would I go to the San Diego version?  No, I'm not that into it.  But you never know, we may go back to this one next year!