WINTER

“Photography is an art, an important art which our own decades have done so much to perfect, an art which has added so much to the broad field of culture. The photographer cannot replace the painter, but he can supplement his work. If we will stop and think for a moment, we will realize and appreciate what photography means to us. It brings the world into our homes. Through photography we know our world better; and better we know ourselves and our neighbors.”

Those words were written seven decades ago by Raymond Carlson, our editor at the time. In the decades since, not much about the art of photography has changed. Structure, composition, lighting, storytelling … that’s all the same. What’s different is technology. And that’s had a big effect on what we do.

In the 1950s, film and processing were expensive, which kept the volume down. With digital photography, there’s no end. And so, when we plan a portfolio — “Winter in Arizona,” for example — we start with thousands of images. But only a small fraction of them make the final cut. Those that don’t aren’t necessarily “less than.” Most times, they just don’t fit into the overall puzzle. A beautiful photograph of fog from Cathedral Rock might be sacrificed for fog in the Grand Canyon. A lot of impressive work ends up in a folder on Lisa Altomare’s iMac — she designs this special issue every year.

In the publishing world, what you’re holding in your hands is called a “13th issue.” It’s a bonus issue to express our gratitude for your subscription to the other 12. The images you’ll see inside are some of our best outtakes from 2025.

When you flip through most of the magazines that land in your mailbox, you’ll see that the bulk
of them are buoyed by advertising — usually, about 50 percent of the pages are ads. We’re not an ad-based publication. Instead, we’re dependent on you. When you fill out your subscription card — or order our license plate, or visit our online store to buy a book or a puzzle or a calendar or anything else — you’re helping us keep the lights on for another year. That’s not something we take for granted. And that’s what this issue is all about. It’s our way of saying thank you. And happy new year.

— Robert Stieve, Editor

Winter

The cold winter wind blew in from the north. The wind came from beyond the Bering Sea, from across the harsh lands of Siberia, from any of a thousand places in the Arctic where winter winds begin. The wind had strong and icy fingers, which put the atmosphere in motion and which churned the no longer pacific waters of the Pacific into a mass of white, angry, dancing foam. An air mass was formed and began moving toward the mainland of the United States. Here a snowflake, eventually to fall later in the high country of Arizona, was born.

One man with an inquisitive mind and a microphotographic camera photographed thousands of snowflakes and published the results in a book (William A. Bentley, Snow Crystals). He found no two snowflakes alike. Snowflakes come in hexagonal columns and plates, simple or with a variety of extensions at corners, smaller hexagonal plates with long rays or plume-like extensions, and also three- and 12-sided forms. An artist would have to be very talented, indeed, to create a form as delicately beautiful as that of a snowflake!

— Raymond Carlson, December 1962
 

Gerry Groeber
Relatively heavy snowfall adorns saguaro cactuses, ocotillos and other flora on a mountainside near Theodore Roosevelt Lake, east of the Phoenix area. In the Sonoran Desert, this amount of snow is rare — and fleeting, as it typically melts within a day or two.
NIKON D750, 1/200 SEC, F/16, ISO 250, 210 MM LENS

 

Paul Gill
Spider Rock reaches skyward from the wintry landscape of Canyon de Chelly National Monument, on the Navajo Nation. According to Navajo lore, Spider Rock is the home of Spider Woman, the deity who taught the Navajo people how to weave.
CANON EOS 5D MARK II, 1/80 SEC, F/11, ISO 100, 47 MM LENS

 

Suzanne Mathia
Heavy snow on the Grand Canyon’s South Rim anchors a view of the gorge shrouded by low clouds. While snowstorms are common on the Canyon’s rims, snow rarely reaches the lower elevations; Phantom Ranch, for example, averages less than a half-inch per year.
CANON EOS-1DS MARK III, 1/40 SEC, F/16, ISO 100, 55 MM LENS

 

Claire Curran
The textured “brain rock” of White Pocket, in Northern Arizona’s Vermilion Cliffs, emerges from a layer of snow at sunrise. Complex geological processes, the specifics of which are still debated by scientists, caused these textures to form.
CANON EOS-1DS MARK III, 0.3 SEC, F/22, ISO 100, 45 MM LENS

 

Gerry Groeber
Snow and ice dominate an intimate view of Watson Lake, a reservoir in the Prescott area. Cradled by the ancient Granite Dells, Watson Lake is most popular in the warmer months but draws visitors year-round.
NIKON D750, 1/500 SEC, F/5.6, ISO 200, 170 MM LENS

 

Claire Curran
The reddish cliffs of Oak Creek Canyon add a dash of color to a frozen landscape along the West Fork of Oak Creek, near Sedona. On average, Oak Creek Canyon receives more than a foot and a half of snow per year.
CANON EOS-1DS MARK III, 1/6 SEC, F/18, ISO 100, 59 MM LENS

 

Claire Curran
Aspens, their limbs covered in snow, appear to huddle for warmth near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. A quintessential high-elevation tree species, aspens are exceptionally well adapted to low winter temperatures.
CANON EOS-1DS MARK III, 0.3 SEC, F/32, ISO 100, 144 MM LENS

 

Derek Von Briesen
The frigid water of Oak Creek rushes over sandstone shelves and past vegetation blanketed by snow. This view is near Manzanita Campground, which is just off State Route 89A in Oak Creek Canyon.
CANON EOS 5DS, 0.3 SEC, F/16, ISO 100, 24 MM LENS

 

Gerry Groeber
Frozen vegetation and sticky snow define a view of Watson Lake and the Granite Dells. The Dells are an estimated 1.4 billion years old.
NIKON D750, 1/200 SEC, F/20, ISO 250, 210 MM LENS

 

Claire Curran
Evergreens and aspens guard a winter wonderland on the west side of the San Francisco Peaks, near Flagstaff. As Arizona’s highest mountain range, the Peaks often harbor snow on their upper reaches until early summer.
FUJIFILM GFX100S, 1/50 SEC, F/16, ISO 100, 200 MM LENS

 

Amy Horn
Frost and ice surround a fallen leaf at Watson Lake in morning light. While snowfall is common at Watson Lake, the reservoir itself typically does not freeze during the winter.
NIKON D600, 1/500 SEC, F/8, ISO 400, 105 MM LENS

 

Rusty Childress
At daybreak, a winter storm clears from the Four Peaks, a well-known landmark northeast of Phoenix. The peaks, topped by 7,659-foot Brown’s Peak, are part of the Mazatzal Mountains, which form the boundary between Maricopa and Gila counties.
SONY DSC-RX10 IV, 1/400 SEC, F/7.1, ISO 1600, 97.5 MM LENS