When wind transforms your photos for the better

Sometimes Mother Nature is the subject of a photographer's lens — lightning, floods, dust storms — and other times, on fewer occasions, Mother Nature works with the photographer, like a silent partner. Such was the case yesterday.

I was out on the Sun Valley Parkway in Buckeye snapping some pictures of veterans and veteran supporters as they cheered on the arrival of 350 motorcycle riders during the Run for the Wall, a cross-country bike ride to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C. Nearly all the people on the overpass over Interstate 10 had flags. And a flag without wind looks mighty sad. Luckily the wind was in my favor, blowing quite fast almost directly east, which made the flags flutter directly behind the people watching the riders. The way the wind blew the flags really strengthened the photos, and I'm really happy with the way they turned out. Here is a small preview of some of the shots that will run in tomorrow's West Valley View.