Apache Junction’s Sonoran Desert hosts a plethora of elements that pre-planning can provide. The rolling rocky foothills of the Superstition mountains are fertile ground for the Arizona’s iconic Saguaro Cactus, its dusty skies capture the colors of sunrise and sunset that compliments the often-tawny colors of the desert. With advanced planning or luck, you can find the full moon setting in the Western sky. There were so many Saguaros here it was tough to isolate just a few for a composition that worked with the moon between them. Some wrongfully believe giant moons are Photoshopped in; however, when a ridge it 400 years away and shot it with a 500mm lens, moons grow as everything does at 500mm.
The Saguaro is the giant iconic cactus that symbolizes the US Southwest with more cameo appearances in Western movies and Cowboys & Indians flicks than all other symbols combined! It is the tallest and therefore the most prominent plant in its environment. These cool cacti have also been an important food source for the indigenous peoples of the Sonoran Desert. native peoples, the Saguaro is a protected plant in Arizona.