Growing up in Canada, it's safe to say that I didn't have a lot of exposure to cactus. I only knew it through books and television - like palm trees, cactus just seemed like one of those things that they only had in faraway places that I hadn't seen yet.
Fortunately, I've had a chance to travel now, and I've been able to enjoy the prickly wonder of cactus first hand. These desert wonders were photographed in the American Southwest, primarily in Arizona near Sedona, Phoenix and the McDowell Mountain Park found northeast of Phoenix.
A pair of Sagauro cactus at sunset in McDowell Mountain Park, northwest of Phoenix, Arizona.
