April 30 and May 1, 2010 saw Professors David Rubi and yours truly, Jim Patterson, take a group of Paradise Valley Community College students from Phoenix to Southern Arizona.
We visited the Tucson Museum of Art, featuring the work of Mexican-American artists David Tineo. From the TMA, we ventured south of Tucson to the Tumacacori Mission, near the Mexican border. Jesuit Father Kino established the mission in 1691.
Then we visited San Xavier del Bac, known as the “White Dove of the Desert,” and still a Catholic Church. Pick up any travel brochure on the Tucson area, and chances are you will see a photo of the mission.
Finally, we visited Ted deGrazia’s “Gallery of the Sun” located on Swan Road on the north side of Tucson. I was privileged to interview Mr. deGrazia for National Public Radio in 1980 shortly before his death.
I took all the photos with my Canon 7D using natural light, ranging from an ISO of 100 outside to 800 to 1600 for some indoor shots. I used a Tamron 18-270mm lens.
This only scratches the surface of places to visit and photograph in and around Tucson. I would suggest Tombstone and Bisbee, Kartchner Caverns, and Fort Huachuca, home of the U.S. Army Military Intelligence School (and where I was an instructor for many years) to start in Southeastern Arizona, located an hour or so from Tucson. In Tucson, the Pima Air and Space Museum and the military “bone yard” of mothballed aircraft is located next to Davis Monthan Air Force Base. My alma mater, the University of Arizona (Bear Down!) is located in Tucson. To the west of Tucson, are Gates Pass, the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum and Old Tucson Studios.
Happy Shooting,
Jim Patterson
