5 Day Black & White Photo Challenge: Saguaro Cactus – Sonoran Desert Exclusive

Thank you to my blogging friends at, Our Rumbling Ocean, who suggested I try the 5 Day Black & White Photo Challenge. Over the course of five days, it has been interesting to decide which photos will lend themselves to the drama of black and white.

I took another dive into my archives for this photo. It occurred to me that black and white is also great choice for accentuating texture. This photo of a Saguaro Cactus turned out to be a perfect choice. In my color version, the cactus needles all around the perimeter of the plant were difficult to see. Look how that changed when the composition was rendered in black and white… Ouch!!!  That is one prickly plant.

Saguaros grow exclusively in the Sonoran Desert where the perfect levels of water, temperature, and elevation are found. You would think those cactus needles  provide protection for this plant from predators… but this is not always true. In recent years, hundreds of Saguaros have been radio-chipped as a deterrent to poaching.  Rangers at the Saguaro National Park chip plants that grow in at-risk areas. The number of poachings has declined.

However, rangers are now being faced with problems of Saguaro Cactus vandalism.

How should plant spray-paint taggers, and those who use cacti for target practice be dealt with?

There are only two rules for this challenge:

1. On 5 consecutive days, create a post using either a past or recent photo in B&W.
2. Each day invite another blog friend to join in the fun.

On this,  my fifth and final post, I invite anyone who would like to play around with black and white. This has been an enlightening and fun challenge. Go forth blogging friends… take on the 5 Day Black and White Photo challenge. Please invite others to see the drama and texture that b&w enhances.