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By popular demand, Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park has extended summer
hours of 6am-2pm through the end of September, allowing Pinal County
visitors to enjoy comparatively cooler mornings at the 300-acre botanical
garden, a scenic half-hour drive east of Apache Junction. Next weekend
brings great reasons to visit, too: a back-to-back weekend where the park’s
unique “Learn Your Lizards” guided reptile walk will be offered each day at
8am, and also a specialized photography class exploring ‘Macros’ with
Scottsdale artist Paul Landau Aug. 31 (Sunday) from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The
class allows rare and exclusive after-hours access, and has a fee of
$30-$40. With a credit card ready, call 520-689-2723 to enroll.
The human eye can only look so close; Scottsdale photographer Paul Landau
has learned to capture microscopic scenes with his camera, revealing
compound eyes, antennae and patterns almost invisible to the human eye.
He’ll share techniques during a late afternoon and evening spent in search
of tiny creatures and plants at Boyce Thompson Arboretum, and
photographing them along with 12 participants.
“You’ll be amazed to find out what your camera can do,” predicts Landau.
“Even the simplest ‘point-and-shoot’ digital cameras have close-up
capabilities that reveal inner worlds of detail, iridescent green beetle
wings, and the intensity of nature on a scale that’s overlooked until you
learn where to look – and how to see. One of the great things about macro
photography is that my quarry is tiny – and often fairly easy to photograph
once you know where to look for them. Boyce Thompson Arboretum is my
favorite place, no question, to photograph vivid insects and flower
blossoms, along with other natural phenomenon.” Landau’s photography was
the subject of a solo exhibition at BTA; see more of the artist’s work and
connect with him through Facebook links via http://ag.arizona.edu/bta
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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