John Pavlakis Photography

03/03/2026

The clear air here really brings out the moon during the lunar eclipse

10/17/2023

Mari Kaneta & Suzuyuki-Kai Traditional Japanese Dance at the Tucson Meet Yourself festival this past weekend.

08/07/2023

Name's Riley. This female Western Diamondback Rattlesnake hung out on our back patio for 2 days after eating a large meal. She wasn't going to leave on her own as this was a perfect spot to hang out. We called a snake wrangler to relocate it. She'll be feasting on a pack rat nest.

08/07/2023

Crested saguaros are a result of a mutation that happens only one out of 200,000 saguaros, so I was happy to find one on my walk this morning. I've seen about 5 of them and this may be the best one I've seen.

05/13/2023

This place is an example of why car washes are a big thing. Dozens of miles of unpaved roads. It's also a reason why satellite phones are popular too: no signal.

05/13/2023

05/13/2023

Over 80 movies were shot at the Mescal Movie Set since the 1950s. You can see it in movies like The Quick and The Dead, Tombstone (which funnily enough is actually a half hour drive away), Tom Horn, The Outlaw Josey Wales, and many others. Interesting old stuff strewn about makes for great photographic opportunities.

05/09/2023

Saguaro National Park has two parts, West and East. We are about 20 mins from the West park and 45 from the East. They are definitely different. This was taken from the West Park. The desert can be colorful or monochromatic, depending on the time of year, angle of the sun, and what you want to see.

05/07/2023

When saguaros get hit by lightning, the water inside gets superheated and the cactus explodes. There are charred bits of cactus all over the desert.

05/06/2023

Cholla cactuses really glow in the late afternoon light. Keep your distance. They have parts that break off easily and stick to you. The spines are sharp and often barbed.