Arizona Highways Magazine

Arizona Highways contest entries bring the "wow"

Arizona Highways contest entries bring the "wow"

Arizona Highways contest entries bring the "wow"

By David Rookhuyzen / ADOT Communications

May 28, 2020

Given a camera, what natural beauty can you find across the state of Arizona?

Every year, Arizona Highways magazine, published by ADOT, asks that question to thousands of professional and amateur photographers, and it's safe to say that we are never disappointed with the result.

That certainly holds true this year as the magazine has released the top three photos from its 2020 competition. As we told you about last week, the top prize goes to Joe Vermette of Tucson, who with a little preparation work and astronomical know-how, captured a truly stunning shot of the Milky Way over Monument Valley. That's his image here, at top, which will also grace the cover of Arizona Highways this September. Aside from that exposure, Vermette also received an in-state photo workshop worth $2,500. Not too shabby.

Judging is based on the fundamentals of photography – composition, lighting, framing, etc – but there's also a "wow" factor. We think you'll agree that this arch of stars and nebulae above the majestic buttes is the definition of "wow."

But "wow" is also where the second-place entry comes in. You won't be surprised to know that Vermette's photo fell into the landscape category of the contest. But the runner-up went a different way and entered a special shot in the macro, or up-close, category. Joe Neely from Phoenix managed to capture a candid moment of two pollen-covered bees snuggled up with each other inside of a flower along US 60 near Globe. It's a fantastic shot in an unexpected place.

Finally, we have something unexpected, but in a familiar place. The red rocks of Sedona are known around the world, but there's always a special thrill seeing them dusted in white. Michael Wilson from Prescott went a step further and found this small waterfall into a semi-frozen pond. That's his shot there to the lower left and manages to make Sedona look all the more inviting, even during the winter. Both Wilson and Neely have won prize packages from Tempe Camera.

This is Arizona Highways' 12th annual photo contest, but the magazine has been delivering fantastic shots of Arizona for years. It started as a trade newsletter in 1921 before being spun off into its magazine form a few years later. A few years ago, we even did a blog taking you behind the scenes to talk about its operation and, yes, those gorgeous photos.

Nearly 4,000 people submitted photos for this year's contest. You can check out some of the honorable mentions at ArizonaHighways.com. While you are there, feel free to also sign up for a year's subscription of the print edition – just in time to get a physical copy with Vermette's Milky Way photo splashed across the cover.

Back To ADOT Blog

A truly monumental photo wins Arizona Highways contest

A truly monumental photo wins Arizona Highways contest

A truly monumental photo wins Arizona Highways contest

May 22, 2020

PHOENIX – A day of location scouting, some astronomical knowledge and a compass were just what John Vermette needed for the perfect shot of Arizona’s scenic beauty: the Milky Way arching over Monument Valley.

Now that image will grace the pages of Arizona Highways magazine and ArizonaHighways.com as grand-prize winner of the magazine’s 2020 photography contest. Vermette’s photo was among 3,950 that amateur and professional photographers entered in the magazine’s 12th annual contest.

“A lot of thought and preparation went into the making of the photos you see,” said Jeff Kida, Arizona Highways’ photo editor. “Much like the photos we run in the magazine, I really enjoy seeing some new perspectives on familiar subjects and locations. Visual surprises can often be a good thing.”

The second place photo by Joe Neely features two bees sleeping in a flower along US 60 near Globe, and the third place image from Michael Wilson shows a small waterfall amid Sedona’s sandstone after a winter storm.

There were two categories: landscape and macro (close-up) photography, with a requirement all photos be made in Arizona. Entries were judged on composition, framing, light and an overall “wow” factor.

The winning images will be featured in the September 2020 issue of Arizona Highways. The grand prize photographer won an in-state photo workshop valued at $2,500. Second- and third-place winners received prize packages from Tempe Camera valued at $500 and $250, respectively.

Arizona Highways, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation, has readers in more than 120 countries and all 50 states.

A one-year subscription to the print version of Arizona Highways magazine (12 issues) is $24 in the United States. For more information on Arizona Highways magazine, or to sign up for a subscription, please visit ArizonaHighways.com.

Arizona Highways guidebook explores frontier-era ghost towns

Arizona Highways guidebook explores frontier-era ghost towns

Arizona Highways guidebook explores frontier-era ghost towns

April 13, 2020

PHOENIX – Arizona Highways celebrates the mining camps and military posts of the state’s frontier past with a new book that reveals the history of ghost towns for modern-day visitors.

Arizona Ghost Towns documents the fascinating past of 50 historic locales with stunning photographs from today and pioneer times.

The book is authored by Noah Austin, managing editor of Arizona Highways, who first explored these historic sites while researching 13 ghost towns for the magazine’s October 2018 issue. A 1994 Arizona Highways book on ghost towns guided the fact-finding while also showing the need for new information. Towns were no longer accessible, had been demolished or changed fundamentally over the decades.

Rather than update the previous book, Austin trekked 5,000 miles to take a fresh look at the state’s ghost towns. Austin shares behind-the-scenes stories, from getting startled by a giant cow while hiking to the Gold King Mansion near Kingman, to changing a flat tire on a dirt road in mid-July near Swansea in far western Arizona. Misadventures aside, he remained focused on identifying ghost towns that are worth seeing and also accessible to the general public.

Online research and old newspaper clippings helped paint a picture of the towns in their heyday so Austin was prepared before visiting every destination featured in Arizona Ghost Towns. To illustrate the state of the locations today, the book features new photographs, primarily by Eirini Pajak, of the mostly abandoned but occasionally occupied buildings.

“I hope this book will be useful not only for people looking to visit these sites, but also for the armchair travelers more interested in the history and culture of each place,” Austin said. “I also think the photography is just as important and will really pull readers into the book.”

For adventurous travelers, the guidebook offers detailed driving directions, GPS coordinates and more.

The ghost town book is the latest in Arizona Highways’ collection of guidebooks on subjects including camping, hiking, scenic drives and photography. Arizona Highways, produced by the Arizona Department of Transportation, has subscribers in all 50 states and more than 120 countries. It also publishes a variety of coffee-table books and popular calendars.

For more information on Arizona Highways magazine or to purchase a subscription or a book, please visit ArizonaHighways.com.

Arizona Highways magazine celebrates 95 years with special issue

Arizona Highways magazine celebrates 95 years with special issue

Arizona Highways magazine celebrates 95 years with special issue

March 27, 2020

PHOENIX – The photographers who captured the earliest images for Arizona Highways magazine were tasked only with documenting road conditions, yet their artistic flair meant the scenery overpowered many views of humble, unpaved byways.

A worldwide audience eventually marveled at the publication’s photos after it evolved from an engineering newsletter into a magazine featuring Arizona icons like the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley and saguaro-studded landscapes.

This April, the magazine celebrates its 95th anniversary with a special issue that looks back at this evolution of landscape photography. For this edition, photo editor Jeff Kida reviewed the magazine’s more than 1,100 issues and tens of thousands of images.

Kida says advances in photographic equipment explain only part of the evolution. As he assembled the portfolio, Kida found the most significant changes were sparked by the creativity of photographers who included Ansel Adams and Barry Goldwater.

“It became like piecing together a puzzle,” Kida says in the issue. “I tried to make sense out of a 95-year timeline, and to distinguish the technological and artistic changes we saw along the way.”

The anniversary edition features an essay by longtime editor Raymond Carlson that was originally published in December 1942. The essay is accompanied by photographs from the same issue.

Also, Editor Robert Stieve reveals stories behind some of the magazine’s best-known cover photos. Stieve tells how Goldwater, outside of his better-known political career, photographed two Navajo girls wrapped in blankets on a wintry day as they watched over their sheep. That image appeared in the landmark December 1946 issue, when Arizona Highways published the first all-color issue of a nationally circulated consumer magazine.

The magazine’s images and stories were so powerful, the anniversary edition notes, that the Soviet Union once banned the publication in the belief it propagandized American life.

Today, Arizona Highways has readers in more than 120 countries and all 50 states.

A one-year subscription to the print version of Arizona Highways magazine (12 issues) is $24 in the United States. For more information on Arizona Highways magazine or to sign up for a subscription, please visit ArizonaHighways.com.

Arizona Highways magazine recognized for excellence

Arizona Highways magazine recognized for excellence

Arizona Highways magazine recognized for excellence

November 1, 2019

PHOENIX – Arizona Highways magazine, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation, won 17 awards at the International Regional Magazine Association’s recent annual conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Among those, the magazine won two first-place Gold awards for a feature story on agaves by longtime contributor Annette McGivney and for a feature story on a baseball tournament by Managing Editor Noah Austin.

"It is a true honor to be recognized for the outstanding work our team does each and every day,” said Kelly Mero, publisher of Arizona Highways. “To be recognized among peer publications speaks volumes to the high standards of breathtaking photography and editorial excellence we continue to strive and deliver on.”

This is the fifth straight year that the association has honored Arizona Highways with at least 16 awards.

Gold award winners:

Historic Feature: Noah Austin, A Totally Different Ballgame
Nature & Environment Feature: Annette McGivney, In Search of Ancient Agaves

Silver award winners:

Travel Feature: Matt Jaffe, The Ultimate Arizona Road Trip
General Feature: Tyler Williams, A Walk in the Park
Profile: Matt Jaffe, Barry Goldwater
Head and Deck: Robert Stieve, He Can Take Care of Himself Just Fine
Photo Series: Jacques Barbey, A Totally Different Ballgame
Portrait Photo: Bev Pettit, Keeping It Real
Art Direction, Single Story: Barbara Glynn Denney, Arizona Ghost Towns

Bronze award winners:

Column: Robert Stieve, Editor's Letter
Magazine Writer of the Year: Kelly Vaughn
Single Photo: John Blaustein, A River So Long
Portrait Series: David Zickl, First Chair
Photographer of the Year: Joel Hazelton
Cover: February 2018

Award of Merit

Art & Culture Feature: Annette McGivney, Indigenous Arizona
Special Focus: Remembering Photographer Jerry D. Jacka

Founded in 1925, Arizona Highways is dedicated to promoting travel to and through the state of Arizona. In addition to the world-renowned magazine known for spectacular landscape photography, Arizona Highways publishes travel guide books, calendars and other products to promote travel in Arizona. The magazine has subscribers in all 50 states and more than 100 countries.

Learn more at ArizonaHighways.com.

Here’s a chance to get your photography in Arizona Highways

Here’s a chance to get your photography in Arizona Highways

Here’s a chance to get your photography in Arizona Highways

September 18, 2019

PHOENIX – Since the 1920s, top professional photographers have provided breathtaking images to Arizona Highways magazine, produced by the Arizona Department of Transportation. Their photos of landscapes, wildlife and more have helped the magazine win international acclaim.

Now, it’s your turn to share Arizona’s beauty with the magazine’s worldwide audience.

For the 12th year, Arizona Highways is inviting amateur and professional photographers to participate in its photography contest, with submissions due Dec. 15.

Photos will be judged in two categories: landscape and macro (close-up) photography. All photos must be made in Arizona.

Entries will be judged on composition, framing, light and an overall “wow” factor.

Those submitting the three best photos will win prizes. First prize is an in-state photo workshop valued at $2,500. Second- and third-place winners will receive prize packages from Tempe Camera valued at $500 and $250, respectively. Additionally, winners’ images will be featured in the September 2020 issue of Arizona Highways.

The most recent grand prize winner, Sara Wittenberger, offered a spectacular and snowy view of a Christmas Day sunset at Mount Ord, northeast of the Phoenix area. Tam Ryan won second place for a photo of mist cloaking a group of great egrets at a Gilbert preserve.

For more information and to see last year’s winners, please visit ArizonaHighways.com and select Photo Contest below the Photography dropdown in the top navigation options.

DeGrazia Foundation and Arizona Highways magazine commemorate painter Ted DeGrazia

DeGrazia Foundation and Arizona Highways magazine commemorate painter Ted DeGrazia

DeGrazia Foundation and Arizona Highways magazine commemorate painter Ted DeGrazia

By Dani Weber / ADOT Communications

September 10, 2019

This summer, the DeGrazia Foundation celebrated its namesake’s 110th birthday at the artist’s Gallery in the Sun in Tucson. Collaborating with Arizona Highways magazine, published by ADOT, the gallery has put together a collection of the dozens of works featured in one of Arizona’s most treasured publications.

“It was clear even from early issues that (Arizona Highways editor) Raymond Carlson made friends with DeGrazia and tried to promote him,” Curator Jim Jenkins said. “Just being aware of his relationship with the magazine, I always wanted to do an exhibit. So when we got the request from Arizona Highways magazine, it was perfect synchronicity, and I just thought, ‘We’ve got to do this.’”

Working with Arizona Highways, Jenkins collected back issues of the magazine and combed the archive for stories involving DeGrazia – and there was plenty to choose from. In addition to the online resources Arizona Highways made available, a board member to the foundation had collected thousands of issues of the magazine over the years and donated them to the gallery. Jenkins was able to find every single issue that featured DeGrazia’s – 70 in total.

“There was so much,” Jenkins said. “So much information, so many stories didn’t make it into the final exhibit. I could’ve filled two rooms, but I just didn’t have the space.”

DeGrazia’s relationship with Arizona Highways was a mutually beneficial one. The magazine exposed his paintings to an international audience, and DeGrazia’s growing popularity grew the magazine’s readership. Now with this exhibit, interest in the artist’s work has been refreshed.

“People who grew up with DeGrazia have gotten older and possibly passed away,” Jenkins said. “That legacy has started fade, but this exhibit has revitalized it.”

With such a wide diversity of fans, Arizona Highways magazine has long served as a common ground, according to Jenkins. Whether it’s DeGrazia’s social realism from the 1940s or his much-loved works for the magazine’s Christmas issues starting in the 1950s, the exhibit of the artist’s work for Arizona Highways has found a modern-day audience.

“The exhibit has had a very warm reception,” said Lance Laber, executive director of the DeGrazia Foundation. “The opening of the exhibit coincided with the issue featuring DeGrazia’s work, and it was a big event. About four or five hundred people showed up to the opening, and people are still enjoying it.”

Laber has extended a warm invitation for anyone and everyone to see the exhibit for themselves. “Come in and see some of these beautiful, original oil paintings and water colors DeGrazia painted over the years. You won’t be disappointed.”

The exhibit at the Gallery in the Sun in Tucson will run until Jan. 29, 2020.

Back To ADOT Blog

Throwback Thursday: Nearly a century ago, Arizona Highways was a little different

Throwback Thursday: Nearly a century ago, Arizona Highways was a little different

Throwback Thursday: Nearly a century ago, Arizona Highways was a little different

By David Rookhuyzen / ADOT Communications

July 25, 2019

On this date in 1921, nine years and some months after statehood, the Arizona Highway Department published the first incarnation of Arizona Highways.

Looks a little different from the glossy magazine featuring stunning landscape photography and rich storytelling about Arizona, doesn't it?

This first printing, shown above, was a pamphlet describing various highway projects across Arizona's counties.

And that's it. Page after page about construction projects, federal legislation and a couple of industry articles. No photos, no travel tips, no must-see destinations.

The pamphlet's forward, charmingly called "The Whyfore," sums up the reason for the publication's existence:

"For the purpose of keeping all interested persons informed concerning highway development in this state it has been decided by this department to issue a news letter from time to time under the title Arizona Highways."

Some highlights include the completion of 1.1 miles of paving along the National Old Trails Highway through Flagstaff, the delay of the Benson-Vail road due to not having the necessary right of way, "satisfactory progress" on a 1-mile contract on the Superior-Miami Highway near the head of Pinto Creek and the opening of bids for paving 3 miles of highway from the eastern city limits of Phoenix to Tempe.

Fortunately for lovers of Arizona's scenery everywhere, the pamphlet would be spun off into magazine form starting in 1925.

If you want to know about current projects across Arizona, you can find those on our website. But if you want to see how beautiful a scene drive through the state can be, we suggest subscribing to the current version of Arizona Highways.

You can learn more at ArizonaHighways.com.

Back To ADOT Blog

Covering the Holidays: A collection of Arizona Highways December covers

Covering the Holidays: A collection of Arizona Highways December covers

Covering the Holidays: A collection of Arizona Highways December covers

December 3, 2018

PHOENIX ‒ For the past 80 years, Arizona Highways magazine has celebrated the holidays with a special cover for its December edition. In a new book, the world-renowned magazine is celebrating its history of memorable December covers.

“Covering the Holidays: The December Cover Collection from Arizona Highways: 1938-2017” is available at all Arizona Costco locations; Barnes and Noble stores in Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and Flagstaff; and Changing Hands Bookstore locations in Phoenix and Tempe.

“Over the past eight decades, some of the West’s best photographers and artists have collaborated to create Arizona Highways’ many December covers,” Arizona Highways Editor Robert Stieve said. “From illustrated cowboys to a Christmas tree in Antelope Canyon, each holiday cover is memorable and collectible. Now, they’re together in a beautifully designed coffee table book.”

The first holiday compilation produced by Arizona Highways, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation, the book also is available at ShopArizonaHighways.com.

Stieve, who edited the compilation, will speak at these book-signing events:

7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, at Changing Hands Bookstore, 6428 S. McClintock Drive in Tempe
1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, Barnes and Noble, 10500 N. 90th St. in Scottsdale
7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, Barnes and Noble-Arrowhead, 7685 W. Bell Road in Peoria

Founded in 1925, Arizona Highways is dedicated to promoting travel to and through the state of Arizona. In addition to the magazine known for spectacular landscape photography, Arizona Highways publishes travel guides, calendars and other products. The magazine has subscribers in all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Learn more at ArizonaHighways.com.

ADOT’s Arizona Highways magazine recognized for excellence

ADOT’s Arizona Highways magazine recognized for excellence

ADOT’s Arizona Highways magazine recognized for excellence

September 28, 2018

PHOENIX – Arizona Highways magazine, published by the Arizona Department of Transportation, won 17 awards at the International Regional Magazine Association’s recent annual conference in Denver.

Among those, the magazine won three first-place Gold awards for a feature story by frequent contributor Matt Jaffe, a headline by Editor Robert Stieve and a portrait photograph by Scott Baxter.

“I’m tremendously proud of the incredible work being done every day by our team, especially the editorial and design team,” said Kelly Mero, publisher of Arizona Highways. “Every person at Arizona Highways contributed to these awards by making sure we bring the best products to market.”

This is the fourth straight year that the association has honored Arizona Highways with at least 16 awards.

Gold award winners:

Nature & Environment: A Little Cat Goes a Long Way, by Matt Jaffe.
Headline: Growing, Growing, Gone, by Robert Stieve.
Portrait Photo: Dear Jim ..., by Scott Baxter.

Silver award winners:

Profile: The Maverick, by Kelly Vaughn.
Single Photo: In the Frame, by Derek Von Briesen.
Photo Series: The Big Pictures: Monument Valley.
Portrait Series: The Maverick, by Scott Baxter.
Magazine Photographer of the Year: David Muench.
Overall Art Direction: Barb Denney & Keith Whitney.
Department: The Journal.
Cover: February 2017.

Bronze award winners:

Travel Feature: Fringe Benefits, by Matt Jaffe.
General Feature: Identifying Flying Objects, by Matt Jaffe.
Column: Editor’s Letter, by Robert Stieve.
Art Direction Single Story: The Big Pictures: Red Rock Country, by Barb Denney.

Chris Gall received an award of merit for an illustration of Canyon de Chelly, and the magazine received a second award of merit for a Special Focus edition published in December 2017.

Founded in 1925, Arizona Highways is dedicated to promoting travel to and through the state of Arizona. In addition to the world-renowned magazine known for spectacular landscape photography, Arizona Highways publishes travel guide books, calendars and other products to promote travel in Arizona. The magazine has subscribers in all 50 states and more than 100 countries.

Learn more at ArizonaHighways.com.

Subscribe to Arizona Highways Magazine