Cottonwoods along the Rio Verde

There are some subjects I feel deserve return visits, and this is one of them. Although it widens as it descends to the Salt River, the Rio Verde River in the town of Cottonwood is barely wider than an eastern drainage ditch. However, even in the dry conditions of October it moved along at a very fast clip. It is an otherworldly jade color, but that wasn’t what compelled me on this day. It was the utter dustiness of the grass at the end of a desert summer. I’ll never tire of trying to capture that color.

As I traveled north later in the month, the cottonwoods became more russet. On this day they shimmered green and gold against a limpid blue sky, and the shadows were warm violet against cool blue.