The Shiva Saguaro
p.1 #1The Shiva Saguaro
This Saguaro is special- 80+ arms !, A muddy light day, not so good for color but works with black and white. This photograph converted to cool gray that I think works with the muddy light. In Marina Arizona. Captured with a Leica M11 EV1 and Leica 50 mm apo summicron.
Apr 13, 2026 at 11:27 AM
p.1 #2The Shiva Saguaro
Fascinating! I think a proper crop would help this presentation.
Apr 13, 2026 at 12:03 PM
p.1 #3The Shiva Saguaro
Jeffrey wrote:
Fascinating! I think a proper crop would help this presentation.
I tried it portrait (sepia for instance for that vintage AZ look), in a few different formats (other captures not the one above) and from other angles) my own thinking was isolated and alone it was an interesting special cactus and there are lots of web images like that..... but a more expansive view showed its uniqueness in a large setting- mountain in background , so I went with that. This is a rather famous example in the tucson area, off the road it bit so one has to find it, although not difficult to do so. It is special compared to every other cactus, has its own writeup on the web.
Fascinating! I think a proper crop would help this presentation.
I tried it portrait (sepia for instance for that vintage AZ look), in a few different formats (other captures not the one above) and from other angles) my own thinking was isolated and alone it was an interesting special cactus and there are lots of web images like that..... but a more expansive view showed its uniqueness in a large setting- mountain in background , so I went with that. This is a rather famous example in the tucson area, off the road it bit so one has to find it, although not difficult to do so. It is special compared to every other cactus, has its own writeup on the web.
Apr 13, 2026 at 01:01 PM
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p.1 #5The Shiva Saguaro
Thanks ! it is thought the cactus has an intrinsic hormone imbalance leading the proliferation of arms, so basically a mutant, but this remains unproven. It is very old > 100 years, so obviously quite healthy. Close up views show many other little arm buds still appearing so it is not finished with producing arms.
Apr 13, 2026 at 06:57 PM
p.1 #6The Shiva Saguaro
Great find! Perhaps doing a drop focus without the additional depth of field would have helped you make it pop more cleanly.
Apr 14, 2026 at 10:43 AM
p.1 #7The Shiva Saguaro
guidostow wrote:
Great find! Perhaps doing a drop focus without the additional depth of field would have helped you make it pop more cleanly.
When I go back I'll try the shallow DOF - maybe take a noct / ND or something, perhaps a character lens like LLL Z21/SP2
it was muddy light so I want to do a redo maybe next week It would pop nicely with a noct think.
Eliot
Great find! Perhaps doing a drop focus without the additional depth of field would have helped you make it pop more cleanly.
When I go back I'll try the shallow DOF - maybe take a noct / ND or something, perhaps a character lens like LLL Z21/SP2
it was muddy light so I want to do a redo maybe next week It would pop nicely with a noct think.
Eliot
Apr 14, 2026 at 10:46 AM