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Originally the founder wanted to name the old settlement in honor of the Civil War general, but the early settlers would have none of it. Lord Dappa hit upon the suggestion that the town was rising from the ruins of the ancient Hohokam settlement and so Phoenix was baptized and the name stuck.

Phoenix is now the state capital of Arizona and the only state capital that boasts a population in excess of a million. Located in the Valley of the Sun (or simply “The Valley” to local residents) it is surrounded on all four sides by mountains and enjoys a warm, dry climate which many winter visitors enjoy especially amongst the retired community.

Agriculture is as important as it has always been with a series of dams augmenting the irrigation efforts men have been making in the Valley for hundreds of years and creating this green oasis in the middle of the arid, Arizona desert. Cotton, oranges, lemons and a range of tropical fruit are all grown here as are vegetables and specialist items which have thrived in the climate and rich soils of the basin region.

More recently, Phoenix has developed as a leading cutting edge center for state of the art technology and research companies particularly for those in the communications, aerospace and electronics sectors. The cultural diversity and fast growing population has also produced a wide range of tourist and cultural attractions and tourism has grown dramatically in this friendly climate.

Phoenix is a vibrant mix of old and young vying with each other for attention with the skyline dotted with high-rise office buildings and modern architecture competing with Indian and Spanish-Mexican colonial work and all of it underpinned by a Wild West cowboy feel. 

The great outdoors plays a very important part for all residents and sport in particular is vitally important with a large number of teams calling Phoenix home including the Phoenix Cardinals for football and the Phoenix Suns for baseball. There are also a very large number of golf courses for those who prefer a more sedate sporting activity while the surrounding mountains provide great opportunities for hiking, cycling and horse riding while the dams and rivers supply great water recreation opportunities too.

Residents and visitors alike are able to enjoy a large number of attractions and features of interest. There is a world famous zoo, the Phoenix Zoo, which is playing a key role in the preservation and reintroduction of endangered species through conservation and breeding programs. Housing over 200 endangered species, the Phoenix Zoo is particularly famous for its collection and work with orangutans and the Sumatran tiger.

There are also a number of historic areas which are happily preserved as a result of carefully and conscientious management by the city authorities as well as the Arizona Historical Society Museum and numerous endowments and foundations, notably from the Heard family.

Phoenix has something for everyone and provides an ideal climate to enjoy life all year round. Visitors and residents alike are able to enjoy a very wide range of amenities and attractions in a clean and relatively crime free city with the natural benefits of the surrounding countryside.

Larry Reaves
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/an-overview-of-phoenix-arizona-as-a-vacation-destination-754383.html

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Melbourne, Victoria, is a vibrant and attractive city with a unique selection of budget and exclusive accommodation with many things to do for the visitor such as attractions and tours.
Melbourne has always been a tourist destination in Australia due to its unique characteristics and gateway to outstanding natural scenery.
With many great accommodation specials and interesting tours, visitors get to enjoy the eclectic mix of modern and historical sites around the CBD whilst sampling the great selection of dining and bars. 

Melbourne has also become known as the Major Sporting Capital of Australia

Some Australian sporting events are bigger than others, they bring the nation to a standstill, bring family and friends together and give us a good excuse to fire up the barbeque and watch the drama unfold. 

Over the last century Melbourne has proven itself to be the sports capital of Australia due to its success of holding major internationally acclaimed sporting events.

We take a look at some of the key sporting events in Melbourne that captivate the nations hearts;

The Melbourne Cup Carnival – Flemington Racecourse
Billed as ‘The race that stops the nation’ the Melbourne Cup is Australia’s largest annual thoroughbred horse race.  The annual race is run at Flemington Racecourse Melbourne and was inaugurated in 1861.  The race is part of the Spring Racing Carnival in Victoria which last year attracted over 730,000 people.

AFL Grand Final Day – MCG Melbourne
The 2008 Grand Final proved that this is without out doubt the most cruel and exciting game of the year.  Over 4 quarters the game decides where football dreams are made and who’s dreams are to be shattered. 

Fans and players of the Australian Football League have spent the last year watching the teams play it out in the hope that their team, the one who has put them through emotional highs and lows, will run out onto the MCG on Grand Final Day and bring the flag home.

3 Mobile Boxing Day Test
The Boxing Day Test match has become a cultural tradition for Victorians.  The Boxing Day Test is the biggest day in the Australian cricketing calendar and has provided the games finest and most memorable moments at the home of Australian cricket, the MCG.  More:

Australian Open Tennis Championships
Steeped with over 100 years of tradition, the Australian Open is one of the world’s greatest sporting events. The history of the event has spanned over a 100 years, during which time inspiration players such as Pat Cash and Roger Federer have fought to victory on the courts of Melbourne since 1971 where the game has been ever since. 
The game is now held in and around the Vodaphone Arena, last year over 500,000 people came to watch the stars smash it out. More:

The Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park
The Australian leg of the annual Formula One championship season is held on the stunning Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.  Since moving from Adelaide the annual F1 race is enjoyed by many who squeeze around the Albert Park lake to watch the teams compete for the podium. 

Arguably one of the most stunning courses due its proximity to the lake, the CBD and Port Phillip Bay, this race attracts a lot of interest from the world motoring media.

For more information on Melbourne accommodation, attractions and tours visit the planbooktravel Melbourne page: http://www.planbooktravel.com.au/regions/australia/vic/melbourne

Background
Online Australian travel guide http://www.planbooktravel.com.au encourages user generated reviews on travel locations and provides in-depth information on locations with things to do, attractions, accommodation and photographs.

Guy Fitter
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/great-experiences-and-great-holiday-specials-in-melbourne-victoria-678122.html

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British photographer Gerry Cranham is best known for his Equestrian Rider Amazon.com’;return true;” onmouseout=”self.status=””>horse racing images. But his career in photography has covered a remarkable range of subject material. Perform a search on Cranham’s name, throw Winston Churchill’s into the mix as well, and you will soon discover a remarkable image that Cranham captured from the Whispering Gallery of St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1965, the year of Churchill’s death.

Based on his reputation for innovative fisheye lens coverage of sporting events in the five years before Churchill’s death, Cranham received the assignment of photographing the interior of St. Paul from above, as three thousand attendees to Winston Churchill’s funeral gathered below. The resulting image, shot with an 8mm Fisheye Nikkor to produce a haunting blue-cast panorama of the spectacle below, captures all the stateliness of the event.

Cranham departed from his regular routine that cold morning and clamped his cameras to ensure the safety of the mourners below him. Normally, to photograph an event back then, he would carry four Nikon F cameras on himself, each one fitted with a different lens. For horse racing these might be 24mm, 50mm, 85mm and 180mm lenses. His film of choice was Kodachrome 64, and later Kodachrome 25 (now discontinued).

Interestingly, Cranham was a torch-bearer for the 1948 Olympics. Before photography caught up with him and consumed his life, he ran middle-distance events and even secured a couple of half-mile championships before a foot injury put him out of competitive running in 1953. After taking up coaching, he picked up his first camera to show his runners where they were lacking in technique. Within two years photography had taken over his life and there was no looking back.

But it was not until 1960 that he had his first major break with the publication of one of his photos in the Observer newspaper. As he gained experience he learned to appreciate that selective focusing in sports photography releases the subject from its background and concentrates the action into the plane of focus to produce captivating images. Such images, caught with high-powered telephoto lenses are common today.

But Cranham’s techniques for capturing sporting images were innovative in the sixties. He was the first photographer to zoom his lens *during* slow shutter speed shots to produce images that seemed to explode the action toward the viewer. This effect worked especially well in his head-on shots of horses racing directly at the camera. As the eye scans out from the center of the image, the horses and riders seem to jump out from the photo itself.

By panning with the action as it passed sideways to him, and using slow shutter speeds, Cranham created impressionistic images that conveyed movement far more effectively than the frozen-moment images of high shutter speed photography. He was also the first British photographer to make effective use of remote-firing in horse jumping events, burying his fisheye lens-fitted cameras right beneath the jumps, and using long cables to record images that could be captured no other way.

Cranham said that he saw that amazing things were possible with sports photography, but he never forgot the human element as he strove for perfection in his pictures. He was always on the lookout for the defining moment in the sporting event, whether it be the split second of suspension as a high jumper reached the pinnacle of his arc, hanging over the bar before crashing back to the padding below, or the moment of impact as a long jumper plowed into the sand pit. Capturing the facial expression of the athlete at those defining moments is one of the surest ways to get your work published, and Cranham managed it time and again.

But none of it comes easy. Like every other professional that earns his way in the world, Cranham put in the hours of research before every event, and showed up prepared on every occasion. He practiced with his cameras to the point where conscious though begins to drop off and instinct takes over, so that when the times comes to capture the unexpected event, it happens as though the camera itself senses the fleeting moment and takes over.

And then the rest just becomes photographic history.

To help you begin your journey into sports photography, I have summarized for you my findings on the Best Digital SLR Cameras for any budget. You will also find great deals on digital cameras every day at http://www.bestdigitalcameradiscounts.com/

Stephen Carter
http://www.articlesbase.com/photography-articles/sports-photographer-spotlight-gerry-cranham-535509.html

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