Photo: Clouds in the north sky catching the rays of the sunset

Often the views in the opposite direction of a sunset are as attractive as the sunset.  The sun never sets in the northern sky, of course, but these clouds captured the glow of the sunset and added texture.

In recognition of the upcoming holiday season, there are photos of a special Christmas Eve in Vienna that my husband and I enjoyed several years ago at a unique restaurant posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Sunset over Camelback Mountain

I never tire of sunsets over Camelback Mountain.  This is the view from our kitchen window, looking west towards the east side of Camelback Mountain.

Cloudy days produce better sunsets, as the feathery texture of the clouds captures more light than they typical clear Arizona skies.

In recognition of the upcoming holiday season, there are photos of a special Christmas Eve dinner in Vienna that my husband and I enjoyed several years ago at a unique restaurant posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: An Airplane Lost in the Sunset

If you look closely, there is an airplane about to descend into the sunset saturated cloud layer.

The trouble with Stuart viewing the sunset from a remote Jeep trail, as he did when he took this photo, is that he must then return late in the day, but he is an expert off road driver.

This week we have photos of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Jeep in the Sunset

When Stuart took his recent Jeep trail trip up Four Peaks, he naturally had an irresistible urge to photograph his Jeep and the beginning of the sunset.  Tomorrow I will show a photo of how the sunset evolved.

This week we have photos of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia. posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Sunset over Praying Monk on Camelback Mountain

This is a cell phone photo of yesterday's sunset, showing "Praying Monk" on the north side of Camelback Mountain.  The neck of the camel is on the right.  The sun has now moved south at sunset.

This we have posted photos of some of the mountain temples of Bhutan on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: A Classic Desert Sunset

I never tire of cactus and sunset photos.  At this time of year, with the monsoon season approaching and more clouds and occasional thunderstorms, it is can be like a movie in the sky.

Check out our Viva la Voyage travel photo site to see photos of the Great Synagogue of Budapest, Hungary.

Deep Color Sunset

Here is a photo of a deep color sunset with silhouetted mountains.

This is another Arizona classic.

This week we have photos from Papua New Guinea posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Cacti, Sky, and Mountains

Here is a photo from my hike on Camelback Mountain at Sunset.

I love the colors and textures of an Arizona sunset.  This is why we leave here.

This week we have photos from Papua New Guinea posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Super Sunset

Gorgeous sunset as I was driving back to Phoenix.

There is nothing like an Arizona sunset!

Today is Sunday so we have travel photos from Papua New Guinea on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Sunset over the Valley

This is a full sky shot of the same scene as yesterday's photo of the clouds catching the last rays of the setting sun.

Today is Sunday, so we have new photos posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.  This week we are showing scenes from a cruise that we took in the Sea of Cortez, just off the east coast of  Baja California, Mexico.

Photo: Clouds catching the rays of the setting sun

Sunset photos are usually full sky shots, but occasionally the delicate splash of color on a portion of the sky attracts my camera.

This week we have photos of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Sunset over Camelback Mountain

Sunsets in Arizona splash color on nearly a daily basis.  This is the back side of Camelback Mountain, viewed from downtown Scottsdale.

This week we have photos of the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Fan palm obscuring the setting sun

We have a few Mediterranean fan palms in our backyard, which faces West.  That at times provides opportunities for views such as the filtering of the setting sun shown in this photo.

This week we are showing photos from our recent trip to the Galapagos Islands on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Deepening Sunset

Continuing the sunset series of the past few days, here is a closer photo of the horizon, taking advantage of the telephoto zoom to capture the deepening colors and the soft layering of the clouds.

Thia week we have photos of the giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Eastern clouds catching the sun over the Scottsdale Waterfront.

When taking photos of the vibrant Arizona sunsets, or any sunsets for that matter, it is often rewarding to turn around and look away from the direction of the sunset.  Clouds in the opposite direction often catch the color from the sunset.

That is what is occurring in this photo from the top of the downtown Scottsdale parking garage looking north to the Scottsdale Waterfront condos.

This week we have photos of the giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Clouds catching the sunset.

This time of year can bring dramatic clouds moving across the Arizona sky during our "monsoon" season.  At sunset, the clouds can catch the color in striking ways.   I took this photo facing south while the sun was setting in the west.

This week we have photos of the wildlife and people of Tanzania posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Phoenix Skyline

This is a photo of the downtown Phoenix skyline at sunset.

I don't think it is recognizable to people out of town the way some major cities are, as it does not have an signature features such as the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, or the distinctive skyscrapers of New York.

Nevertheless, the Phoenix downtown has experienced a growth in recent years and is enjoying a resurgence due to the addition of more than 10,000 Arizona State University students who now attend classes downtown.  They add life that is having a rippling effect.

This week we have photos of Galway, Ireland and the Cliffs of Moher posted  on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Backyard sunset

This is a slightly earlier view of the sunset Monday evening than the photo that I showed yesterday, also taken from my backyard.

Normally a west facing backyard is not considered desirable in Phoenix/Scottsdale because of the afternoon sun, but I like the sunset views.

This week we have photos of Tanzania posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Last Night's Sunset

During the past two days I showed the ugly side of our monsoon season -- dust storms.  A benefit of the monsoon season is the additional texture that it adds to our vibrant desert sunsets.  This is a photo of last night's sunset taken from our back yard.

Most of the year our sunsets offer stunning colors saturating a clear, cloudless sky.  After all, we have sunshine 90% of the daylight hours -- more than any other metropolitan area in the USA.

During the monsoon season, billowing clouds form during the afternoon and often the either catch the colors of the sunset or are silhouetted against the sunset.

I did not saturate or enhance the colors of this photo.  This is how the camera captured the scene.  This is a late sunset shot, when the colors are deeper.

This week we have photos of Tanzania posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

Photo: Theme Day "Facade;" A reflection of 119 degrees

Today's Theme Day for July 1 for Daily Photo bloggers around the world is "facade."  This is a reflection looking into a window of our house, showing the facade of the chimney of the house behind ours and the oleander hedge that separates our yards.

The reflection has a double image because our windows are double paned to save cooling costs.

This photo is from two days ago, on Saturday, a day when the high temperature in Phoenix was 119 degrees (48.3 C).  The sunset that evening was characteristically colorful as we often have in the desert, and we certainly welcomed the sun  retiring for the day.

Our thoughts and prayers today are with the families of the 19 fire fighters who perished fighting a forest fire yesterday at Yarnell, just outside Prescott, Arizona, about an hour northwest of the Phoenix/Scottsdale area.  The newspaper just yesterday carried an article saying that with global warming, we have had so many forest fires in Arizona that 25% of our forests have burned just in the last 10 years.

This week we have photos of a night at the opera in Paris posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.

To see how other Daily Photo bloggers have interpreted the "facade" theme, click on this link.