A common sight in the desert this time of year is hot air balloons dotting the sky above the saguaro cactus. The last week or so I have been spending time in the Sonoran Desert and photographing the landscape. Something different from my usual macro photography and flowers.  Later today it will be in the Monochrome Madness gallery on Leanne Cole PHOTOGRAPHY, curated by Leanne Cole and Laura Macky

On this particular day it was late afternoon during the golden hour.  This scene caught my attention as the saguaro has so many arms and all are pointing up along with two hot air balloons dotting the sky.  The beautiful side light gives separation and dimension of the many arms on this saguaro.  While processing this image I thought it would be more dramatic in black and white.  With the conversion, the sidelight, which is almost backlight, became even more pronounced on the saguaro and gives it a velvety look.