Mike Herdering

Description: I caught this image of a Scrub Jay enjoying the view of the Grand Canyon, between storms, on a morning late in January in 2017. The storms were severe, dumping as much snow in a week as the Canyon gets in a normal year. The view was spectacular, with the sun shining through the clouds, lighting up the red and orange rock of the canyon below.

Description: If you've spent any time looking at my website, you know one of my passions is photographing hummingbirds. My wife and I enjoy the variety of hummingbirds in Arizona so much we've decided to move here. This is one of the first birds I've photographed since moving to Tucson.

Description: Here we have a Broad-billed Hummingbird, shot in Saddlebrooke, north of Tucson, AZ. Saddlebrooke is my new home, and it appears I share it with this guy.

Description: In the right light, and at the correct angle, you can capture a lot of detail in the gorget of a hummingbird. This male Allen's Hummingbird looks pretty nice in this light. It even looks as though he's smiling. It was shot in natural sunlight, no flash.

Description: As seen from the North Rim, this is a view of the Milky Way over the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The lights below are from the Grand Canyon Village, and on the left center of the image is a meteor, probably a Perseid. Given this was taken in August, we can also see monsoon clouds scattered throughout.

Description: A female Allen's Hummingbird checks out a zinnia flower in the heat of an early Fall day. This shot was taken at 9:36AM on September 25, 2015. The camera registered an internal temperature of 37C (98.6F). Fortunately, this Pentax K50 shuts itself down when it gets too hot. Good camera. 2015 was a pretty toasty year.

Description: In Borrego Springs, California, there are over 130 metal sculptures, created by artist Ricardo Breceda, scattered throughout the desert landscape. Among the dinosaurs there, is this 'Spinosaurus'. I took this before dawn on a chilly March morning. The glow on the horizon, I believe, is lights from Brawley, CA, or a nearby airport. The large star in front of, and about eye level with, the dinosaur, is Jupiter. The exposure was 20 seconds to get the Milky Way, with a little light painting to illuminate the dinosaur.

Description: Here's an early morning shot of an Anna's Hummingbird, captured in Fountain Hills, AZ.

Description: This is a view of Kitt Peak, center, from the Tucson Mountain District of the Saguaro National Monument. It was late afternoon as the monsoon clouds began to rise in the south over Altar Valley in Southern Arizona.

Description: Another shot of Al, in Arcadia, CA.

Description: After driving through heavy rain and snow, in early December, 2013, I made a sharp right on a dirt road in the middle-of-nowhere, Utah. What drew my eye, beyond all the shrub brush, was Comb Ridge off in the distance, in an area known as Bluff Bench.

Description: This is a second view of a lightning strike on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, in Arizona. The previous view can be seen elsewhere on this site, in color. This was taken with a second camera, with a longer focal length, and converted to black and white, just to be a little different. Shot with a Pentax K-3.

Description: The Broad-Billed Hummingbird is mostly found in Mexico, but is also commonly found in south eastern Arizona and south western New Mexico. I was lucky to capture this shot in Patagonia, AZ. I was not aware of this species until my trip to Patagonia. The iridescent green and blue coloration in this bird reminds me of the coloration of peafowl.

Description: This was shot 25 minutes before astronomical twilight in early October. It had rained for two days before, and the result was a fog bank forming in the valley. The sun would not rise for another hour and fifty one minutes, so the stars were still visible.

Description: At just the right time, on just the right day, under just the right conditions, one can catch a dramatic Glow in Monument Valley, Arizona.

Description: We get male hummingbirds only on occasion. The feeders are always full, but it's the girls that stick around the most. I guess the guys just stop by to visit their friends and have a sip or two. :) This guy, an Anna's Hummingbird, stopped by in late May, 2016, for one of those visits.

Description: Once in a while you get a shot that you really like. I like this one so much I put it on the back of my business card.

Description: This was shot just before sunset, just outside the Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ. I'd always wanted to capture lightning like this, but as they say, you have to be in the right place at the right time. So may times in the past I was in the wrong place, or there at the wrong time. Of the nine days we were in Tucson, only one provided lightning like this. This brief storm that passed over us yielded around nine shots like this.

Description: It seemed there were wild fires all over the West in August, 2017, as exhibited by the crimson sun in this smokey sunrise photo of the Palouse, in eastern Washington State, taken from Steptoe Butte.

Description: I will frequently catch a hummingbird in a pose like this, as if it has somewhere to be, NOW. Usually, they're blurry because they move so fast. This guy, a male Anna's Hummingbird, I was able to get clearly.

Description: We had stopped in Lone Pine for the night, on our way to Tahoe, so we could get up early to shoot the Alabama Hills arches in the best light. Unfortunately, that morning, the sky was blue and boring. On our return, we were headed to Death Valley for a couple days, but hit stormy weather. When we got back to Lone Pine, I decided to take a detour to see if we could get good shots with dramatic skies. I was able to get this shot of Lathe Arch as one storm passed and another was headed our way. Lathe Arch is relatively small and easily missed. From this perspective it looks HUGE! I think it was worth the side trip! I hope you agree.

Description: This is an image of Barr Creek Falls, near Prospect, Oregon. On this early September morning, 2017, the winds had shifted, and blew the smoke from the Cascades Complex fire in our direction. My attempt to adjust the contrast to bring out the waterfall yielded an interesting effect on the tree to the upper left. I like it, I hope you do too. Apologies to the band Deep Purple.

Description: This is my third interpretation of 'Hills Of The Tonto', this time with a red hue.

Description: This is a shot of a Rufous Hummingbird, taken in April, 2014. Until I got this shot, I didn't realize their gorget flapped about like that.

Description: This is a shot of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, shortly after the separation of the first and second stages, as the rocket appears to pass by Altair. The first stage, lit up like a sun dog, falls back to earth, through the cloud of kerosene and liquid oxygen in this view.

Description: This was quite a view to behold as we crested the rise on Highway 163 approaching Monument Valley in southern Utah. Once we passed between Saddleback and Eagle Mesa it started to snow. Good times.

Description: This is a composite image of the Los Angeles Metro Gold Line station in Monrovia as a train pulls up. Five 5 second exposures, with a variable neutral density filter, were used to create this image of a translucent train arriving. The Monrovia station, and 5 other stations opened in March, 2016.

Description: It had rained all day. At times, the rain was so dense, you couldn't tell that the Grand Canyon was right in front of you. Such is monsoon season in Arizona. In the late afternoon, the clouds broke up and eventually rose above the rim. The sunset was brilliant, with this thunderhead forming, probably over Williams. Shot from the Grand Canyon Lodge - North Rim, with a Pentax 645Z.

Description: I'll frequently get images of hummingbirds squawking at another bird in the garden, but I've never seen one with its mouth this wide open. At first glance, this female Allen's Hummingbird looks to be laughing out loud. This will put a smile on anyone's face.

Description: This is the first photo I took on the Isle Of Skye. I'm lucky to have taken this, since there was a mix-up over keys at the house we rented, and I had crawl through the bathroom window to get in. While in the process of unloading the car, I turned around to notice the crepuscular rays, aka god rays, or sun rays, forming over Loch Eishort. Moments later, they were gone. Since this was taken from the house we rented on the Sleat Peninsula, near Tokavaig, many variations on this view will be forthcoming. The hills in the background are the Cuillins.

Description: One of the more famous sites on the Isle Of Skye, in Scotland, is the Old Man Of Storr. The Storr is a rocky hill on the east side of the Trotternish peninsula. The Old Man, the tallest of the rock pinnacles on the Storr, is easily recognizable from many miles away on the eastern side of Skye. The area is another remnant of ancient landslides (locally called landslips) on the island.

Description: This was shot on the first day of baseball at Dodger Stadium, March 28, 2019. Part of the opening ceremony was the flyover by this Air Force Reserve Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. It flew over low and slow, creating quite a sight.

Description: This view of Portree Harbour was taken on a cold and rainy April day in 2016, between storms. Portree is the largest town on the Isle Of Skye in Scotland, known as an art center and for this harbor. If traveling by road from the mainland, you'll pass through Portree on the way to the Storr and Quiraing.

Description: It had rained most of the morning. This was the first time the clouds rose high enough to see Elephant Butte, off to the right. Fifteen minutes later the rain came through again and obscured the view to the point where you couldn't even see the mittens. Dramatic weather only serves to enhance the view of Monument Valley in northern Arizona.

Description: This was taken on a stormy May evening, just before sunset, on Lake Tahoe. I had gone to this location to try to get photos of Bonsai Rock. I wasn't able to see it from the road above, and hiked down the steep mountain side in search of it. Turns out I was a bit further south than I thought. It was very dark out due to the stormy low clouds and rain. All of a sudden a hole opened in the clouds and the sun appeared. Then I heard thunder in the not-too-far distance, so I took this shot and climbed up the near vertical hillside as fast as I could. I got up to the car as it started to pour. To my amazement, Bonsai Rock was in the image, to the right of center.

Description: This was shot on a trail in the Cascade Mountains near Prospect, Oregon, in September, 2017. At the time, the Cascade Fire was raging about 20 miles away. Smoke from the fire lent a warm glow to the image, as well as the hazy rays of light. That's my trusty wife and spokesmodel, Sharrel, waiting patiently for me to take the photo.