Exploring Ballarat -"Me lonely? Hell no! I'm half coyote and half wild burro." - Seldom Seen Slim - epitaph on his grave marker.

It could be c a l l e d a tale of two cities, one of which is seeing the best of times and one that has sunk into what could be considered the worst of times. Ballarat, Australia, steeped in gold mining history, is a popular tourist destination and is prosperous and healthy. Ballarat, California is slowly melting into the landscape.

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December Storms Bring Snow to Desert - Readers have written in and sent pictures about the recent storms in Southern California, and the snow they have brought to the deserts. This could mean a great 2009 wildflower season!

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Lost gold of Tumacacori - From the time Europeans first arrived in what is now Arizona, the region's lore has been full of tales of lost gold mines and forgotten treasures, of "Apache gold and Yaqui silver," in folklorist J. Frank Dobie's words. Occasionally, a find will lend credence to such stories, such as the suit of Spanish conquistador armor that now rests in the main exhibit hall at the Arizona Historical Society in Tucson. But more often than not, the stories are the real treasure to be found and cherished as gems of local imagination. More...

Canyon de Chelly on Horseback - Driving east through the Navajo and Hopi Reservations of Arizona, with a past so rich in native culture and history, one gets the feeling that little has changed out here over the centuries. Range cattle, herds of sheep, seemingly stray dogs and burros, and the occasional horse dot the magnificent landscape. It is a breathtakingly picturesque, ever-changing panorama, and one only has to look away from the open highway to gain a perspective of what it was like in the days before the Europeans arrived..  More...

Desert Photography & Digital Cameras -
In principal, a digital camera is similar to a traditional film-based camera. There's a viewfinder to aim it, a lens to focus the image onto a light-sensitive device, some means by which several images can be stored and removed for later use, and everything is fitted into a camera body. In a conventional camera, light-sensitive film captures images and is used to store them after chemical development. Digital photography uses a combination of advanced image sensor technology and memory storage chip, which allows images to be captured in a digital format that is available instantly. More...