TRAVEL4 - iPhoneography in Prescott

Pat and I visited Prescott, Arizona early in October to attend an Arizona Highways workshop on taking photographs with an iPhone.  (Note:  I wrote about the history of Prescott in my September 12^th blog post.)  We drove up from Tucson on a Thursday, toured on our own on Friday, participated in the one-day class on Saturday, and returned to Tucson on Sunday.  We stayed at the historic and popular Hassayampa Inn, a favorite of Pat’s, and observed at least two weddings while we were there.  The predicted rainy weather held off until Saturday, affecting our photo workshop, but cleared by Sunday.  We left our regular cameras at home to concentrate on the iPhone weekend.  All photos shared below are from Pat’s iPhone X or my iPhone 7.

We stayed at the historic Hassayampa Inn built in 1927.

First Evening and Day on our Own

After an early dinner on Friday, we walked around the downtown historic district of Prescott and were pleasantly surprised to find brightly-lit colorful Christmas lights adorning most of the trunks of the many large trees surrounding the Court House on the four-acre town square. (We supposed that city officials were performing maintenance and testing on the lights that typically are lit during Prescott’s annual Christmas celebration along with a town-square Christmas tree and parade.)

An early test of Christmas lighting around the Prescott Courthouse.

On Friday morning, we went back to the town square to get photos of the historic Courthouse built in 1916 and do a little Christmas shopping.  From there we walked to the Smoki (pronounced smoke-eye) Museum, constructed in 1935, which has an impressive collection of Native American artifacts.  After that we viewed several well-preserved Victorian houses constructed in the early 1900s on Mount Vernon Avenue. 

Arizona state flags lined up in front of the Prescott Courthouse.

This Victorian-style house is at the northwest corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and Willis Street.

Next, we drove out to Watson Lake Park for a preview of the scenery we were scheduled to photograph during our workshop on Saturday.  We took a short hike along the shore of Watson Lake, a man-made reservoir developed in the early 1900s, to an area called Granite Dells, a geological feature of exposed bedrock and large boulders of granite that have eroded into unusual lumpy, rippled appearance.  Today the reservoir is a popular recreation area.  We got some great photos of the lake and rocks, along with a spectacular background of clouds. 

Watson Lake and the Granite Dells - just north of Prescott.

On the way back to Prescott, we stopped at Fort Whipple, constructed in 1864 to protect early gold miners and settlers from Yavapai Indians, becoming a key center for military presence in the Arizona territory, and today is on the grounds of the Veterans Administration Hospital.  The museum, though extremely difficult to find (inadequate signage), is very well done and a treasure of interesting history.

The Fort Whipple Museum is located on the grounds of Prescott's Veterans Administration Hospital.

iPhoneography Workshop

We met our photo group of about a dozen people in front of the Courthouse under a Saturday morning heavy cloud cover.  Our leader was Arizona Highways photographer Amy Horn, supported by two volunteer assistants.  Because rain was expected later that day, we reversed the order of events, and carpooled to Watson Lake Park in the morning, rather than in the afternoon.  We ended up hiking essentially the same trail that Pat and I had traversed the day before, but ended up at a different viewpoint, closer to the rock formations.  With good instruction on photo operations and image processing, we got some good photos, but with the sky darkening rapidly.  We barely made it back to our cars before it started raining.

Watson Lake is a popular recreation area.

Our photography leader thought that this was a example of good composition.

Heading back to town, we had an hour on our own around the town square before having lunch at the old Palace Restaurant and Saloon, one of the original “Whiskey Row” establishments, rebuilt after the disastrous fire in 1900, and today the oldest continuous business in Arizona.  Inside the building, we found a photographer’s paradise of historic western artifacts, decorations, and artwork.

Western-costumed characters in front of the Palace Restaurant and Saloon.

Colorful flags decorate the ceiling of the Palace Restaurant and Saloon.

After lunch, we walked down the street in a steady rain to the famous Sharlott Hall Museum, established in 1928 by Sharlott Hall, a long-time Prescott resident, very successful writer, and Territorial historian.  This multi-building Prescott/Arizona history museum is anchored by the Governor’s Mansion, constructed in 1864 as the residence of Arizona’s Territorial governor.  Though somewhat constrained by rain, we scurried from building to building, absorbing the fascinating history and trying out newly-learned photo taking and image processing techniques.

This fall-colored tree stands out among many trees dotting the Sharlott Hall Museum campus.

A Sharlott Hall Museum display of a Prescott Fire Department hose cart used in the late 1800s.

Our Arizona Highways photo group with photographer Amy Horn up front taking the "selfie."

All-in-all, we had a great weekend.  We learned a lot!  Pat and I will look forward to our next visit to Prescott.