Tempe Butte

       

Tap on a picture to enlarge the image. There are petroglyphs in each image on this page. Some are as small as your hand, others are quite large. In half of the images, I did not notice the petroglyphs but I knew I might find them, zooming in with my iPad. That’s exactly what happened. There are hundreds of petroglyphs at this site. I am about thirty percent through the process of documenting. Tempe Butte is quickly becoming my favorite home petroglyph site as there is so little online about this area.

           

The above pictures are from my Nikon D780 with the AF Nikon 300mm f4 ED. I chose this lens due to the restrictions of staying on trails. I am able to search through the lens saving the hassle of bringing binoculars. The first group was from a bright sunny day. The second and above group was overcast. Although the flat light of an overcast day reduces shadow, it lengthens shutter time for 300mm f4 at 1/125 sec. I hand hold the camera and am tired rendering images not as sharp as 1,000th sec in sunny conditions, hand held images are super sharp.

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This group of images are 35mm film, Portra 160 shot at 100 asa developed as normal. I used my Nikon F6 with a AF Nikkor 80-200mm f2.8 ED shot hand held. This was from the same day as the first group (I carried two cameras.)

Resources

Tempe Butte -Topographical Map

Tempe Butte Stories

Hayden Butte Preserve

Tempe.gov - Hayden Butte

Kayplaza.com Hayden Butte

azwonders.com Hayden Butte

Hayden Butte - Rock Art in the United States (in the Southwest)

Tempe History Museum - Petroglyphs