About the Photographer

About nine years ago, Cassell Archinuk started taking photos on her new smartphone while visiting Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. She was mesmerized by the remarkable rock formations and found herself exploring a variety of different angles through the lens of the camera on her smartphone.

Archinuk had always been an avid hiker and loved spending time outdoors but never really considered herself a photography enthusiast. But as she began experimenting, her interest in the art form intensified.

One year later, Archinuk purchased a Nikon camera and continued experimenting. A few online tutorials and a lot of trial and error later, she founded Cassy Arch Photography.

“I am a passionate photographer who loves to capture landscapes, nature and people with gorgeous scenic backgrounds,” Archinuk says. “I love nature and the outdoors as it provides a sense of peace, balance and beauty. I also love to capture the feeling and emotion of the love between two people, family joy and many other portrait scenarios.”

Archinuk believes that her former career in cosmetology gifted her with an ability to visualize end results — a very advantageous tool when it comes to photography.

“I specialize in natural light photography and use that to bring the ‘wow’ factor into a photo,” she adds. “I feel like that is one thing that sets me apart because I understand the surrounding landscapes and how to best use this natural light to accentuate the photos In the best possible way.

“Arizona and the Southwest are a favorite to photograph with so much diversity it has to offer, but I have loved capturing the mountains and beaches as well. From weddings, elopements and engagements, you cannot go wrong with such a variety of backgrounds to choose from.” cassyarchphotography.com thepaintedlens.com instagram.com/cassyarchphotography

SSeventy-nine years ago, Esther Williams appeared in a first-of-itskind water ballet sequence in the major motion picture “Bathing Beauty.” Having been made an instant celebrity as a result, Williams went on to star in a number of other films — including the iconic “Million Dollar Mermaid” — and is universally credited as having single-handedly popularized the art form of synchronized swimming.

“It is a lot harder than people think,” says Ilse Kremer, founder of Arizona Synergy — a local organization that aims to teach, practice and honor the sport of artistic swimming.

“Everybody thinks that they can float in the water, right? That they can egg beater and all that? But [artistic swimming] is an incredibly taxing and endurance-based sport. It requires just about every aspect of athleticism in [tandem.] Imagine doing gymnastics, upside down, while holding your breath. That is pretty much what it is like.”

Diving Right In

Having swam competitively on the “National Stream” for the Neptunus Club in Belgium until she was 14, Kremer passed down her love for the sport to her daughter Nadia, who placed first at the state competition with another local team in 2018. The Scottsdale resident founded Arizona Synergy in June 2021.

“After a couple of years in this environment, we observed some things that we thought we could do better,” Kremer explains. “So we decided to start our own team and provide a different approach to the sport in general.”

A health-science professor who focuses on integration of scientific sports principles for optimal training with wholeperson development of athletes, Kremer believes that sports build character in both children and adults. She also believes that no sport does this better than artistic swimming.

“It really does develop kids in ways that few other things do,” Kremer explains. “There is no intra-club competition. They are all each other’s best friends. And we actively foster that because it is about character building. They work like few adults work. They take all of these setbacks and overcome everything you throw their way.”

It also builds confidence.

“We had swimmers at the beginning of last year who would not take an overshirt off because they did not want to be seen in a bathing suit,” Kremer adds. “Six months later, they were at a national competition, walking out there like they owned the joint. It is amazing.”

Anthem resident Melissa Loresto has seen this phenomenon first-hand.

“My daughter, Ada, started in November of last year,” says Loresto, noting that Ada was initially interested in joining AZ Heat, a competitive springboard diving team, but decided to give artistic swimming a try. “I was really excited to see artistic swimming offered as a recreation class [at Anthem Community Center] because I had friends growing up who were synchronized swimmers.

“Ada fell in love with it the very first day. It blended her dance, gymnastics and diving skills with her love of being in the water. She loves the intensity of the practices and would swim every day if she could. She never wants to leave the pool. She is having so much fun and has really taken off with it.”

Within her first year as an artistic swimmer, Ada was awarded 10 medals — nine of which were gold and one of which was silver. Kremer acknowledges that the 11-year-old Gavilan Peak School student is quite extraordinary.

“The water is her happy place,” Kremer says. “The more she swims, the happier she is.”

Making A Splash

Arizona Synergy, which has practice locations at both ASU West Sun Devil Fitness Complex in Glendale and Anthem Community Center Diving Well, is one of only five artistic swimming teams in our state. About half of its competitive team members live in Anthem and Norterra while the rest travel from areas as far away as Phoenix, Scottsdale, Avondale, Goodyear and Surprise for a chance to take part.

“When this sport bites, it bites hard,” Kremer says. “It is just one of those things that ropes you in and does not let go.

“We get a lot of kids who are swimmers and have sort of gotten bored with laps. They do not want to just swim for speed. But we also get kids who are not swimmers. We even had one or two girls who could not even swim a 25-yard lap in the pool. It is a very multi-dimensional sport that lends itself to a lot of different athletes from a lot of different backgrounds — or from no background at all.”

After having mastered all levels of recreational practice, swimmers who want to move up through the ranks in preparation for competition may join Arizona Synergy’s team. There, they can expect to practice a minimum of 11 hours each week. Advanced team members practice 16 hours per week.

Loresto admits that training is intense.

“The first hour of each practice is land work, involving stretching, working out and even ankle weights,” she explains. “Then they do intense lap swimming. They learn how to swim butterfly within time. Then they do figures, for which they get individual scores at meets.”

Figures are progressions between positions performed individually without music.

“I do not know if anyone really knows how intense this sport is,” Loresto adds. “All they see is the end result — the routines. But there is so much training that goes into that.”

Kremer concurs.

“The routines are literally just the tip of the iceberg,” she says. “You don't just jump in the water and perform this amazing routine overnight. The amount of hard work one must go through to get to the point where they can swim that routine is staggering.

“Artistic swimming is considered one of the most difficult sports. It requires the endurance of a marathon runner, the lung capacity of a deep sea diver, the strength of a weightlifter, the acrobatic skill of a gymnast and the flexibility and grace of a dancer — all at the same time.”

But anyone who has seen an artistic swimming routine knows that the resulting beauty, elegance and artistry are well worth the athletic effort. Last year, Arizona Synergy performed a football-themed routine. This year’s routines included James Bond and “Aladdin” as inspirations. Kremer has the flexibility and freedom to select themes that suit and showcase each individual swimmer’s skills and strengths.

Just Keep Swimming

Kremer notes that although Arizona Synergy is youth-based, many artistic swimmers continue to compete well into their adult years.

“Our sport has a very robust adult presence,” she says. “We have a lot of master swimmers that have been involved in the sport in one way or another well into their 30s and 40s. In fact, one of our guest coaches recently competed in the 70–79 age group. She can do splits that I could only dream of.”

It certainly seems that the sport will continue to be a part of Kremer’s 16-year-old daughter’s life, at least for the foreseeable future. An ASU Preparatory Academy High School student, Nadia has taken on the role of junior coach for Arizona Synergy and

Kremer anticipates that she will one day take over the team from her.

Meanwhile, Kremer’s son Aidan is also an artistic swimmer — one of only three males in Arizona who compete in the sport.

“Artistic swimming has recently made a big effort to be more gender inclusive,” Kremer says. “The next Olympic games coming up will be the first set where men are allowed to compete in all of the events.”

At 13 years old, Aidan has not yet decided how long he will continue in the sport. But, for now, he is building character, strength, endurance and acrobatic skill through Arizona Synergy — and having an absolute blast in the process.

“He is one boy with 15 girls paying attention to him,” Kremer says. “What's not to love?”

Loresto adds that, of all the skills fostered through artistic swimming, teamwork may be the strongest.

“I do not know if there is any other sport where team members become so tight-knit,” she says. “When they are swimming together 11–16 hours each week, they tend to form really tight bonds with one another. I think that it is these friendships that will last forever.” arizonasynergyas.com

TThere is no doubt that Arizona is one of the most photogenic areas on the entire planet. Between our sensational sunsets over our majestic mountain vistas and our statuesque saguaros, it is exceptionally easy to make our out-ofstate friends, family and followers ridiculously jealous on social media.

However, if you really want to go viral, here are ten Arizona landmarks that best showcase our state’s impressive pageantry.

Old Fossil Creek Dam

Though it may be the site nearest to the Valley on our list of Instagrammable places around Arizona, access to Old Fossil Creek Dam requires a physically demanding 5-mile desert hike one way into a 1,500-foot-deep canyon via Fossil Springs Trail in Strawberry.

One of only two National Wild and Scenic rivers in Arizona, Fossil Creek is fed by springs coming from the cliffs of the Mogollon Rim. More than 30 million gallons of water are discharged each day at a constant 70 degrees while high mineral content leaves travertine dams and deposits, giving rise to fossillike features.

Affectionately dubbed “The Toilet Bowl” due to a round slide on the side of the river that will spin a diver around and out into the main pool from the base of the falls, Old Fossil Creek Dam offers much more than just a pretty backdrop for photos. There is even a shallow cave from which swimmers can hide from the sun before embarking on the even more strenuous hike back out of the canyon.

DEVIL'S BRIDGE

The largest natural sandstone arch in Sedona, Devil’s Bridge is surrounded by the stunning red rocks for which the area is famous and accessed via a relatively short 1.8-mile roundtrip hike.

However, with ease comes crowds, so the actual distance you have to hike from your parking spot may vary and you will likely have to wait in line for a chance to take that iconic picture of your travel companion walking across the 54-foot-tall and 45-footlong bridge.

Though you may feel pressure to pose and move on, remember to pause momentarily to look around at the radiant landscape. As with any of the locations on this list, an impressive post on social media is merely an added benefit. The true reward comes with being present in the moment and appreciating all that Mother Nature has to offer.

Birthing Cave

While in Sedona, you may as well double down on your quest to capture picture perfection with the area’s other highly Instagrammable landmark. To reach the Birthing Cave, park and begin your roughly 2-mile roundtrip hike at either the Long Canyon or Mescal trailheads.

At the fork in the trail where a wooden fence sits, turn left onto an unmarked narrower trail. You will soon see a heart-shaped depression in the cliffs and be ready to snap your second Sedona stunner. Carefully climb the smooth slickrock walls of the cave to get one of the most breathtaking views in all of Arizona.

Have your travel companion capture the moment on camera and impress your followers with what could easily be mistaken for a production still from “Jurassic Park.”

Yaki Point

No list of Arizona’s most Instagrammable places would be complete without our state’s most famous landmark — the Grand Canyon. On the South Rim, Yaki Point is the ideal overlook to enjoy a sunrise or sunset, providing jawdropping views of the dramatic and vivid color changes.

Public parking access is prohibited so, to get there, you will need to board a free Grand Canyon South Rim Shuttle Bus. Adventurers may alternatively opt to rent a mountain bike and ride it along a spectacularly scenic 12-mile roundtrip trail.

When caught in sidelighting, a photo taken from Yaki Point provides a fine perspective of the massive formations within the canyon and the distant North Rim — which is, coincidentally, the next stop on our journey.

Cape Royal

On the North Rim, Cape Royal provides the widest panorama of any Grand Canyon overlook, revealing stunning colors, deep gorges and towering buttes. Dominating the landscape to the southwest is Wotans Throne — a 7,721-foot summit that is sure to impress your Instagram followers.

Among the other notable sights visible from Cape Royal is Vishnu Temple to the southeast as well as Horseshoe Mesa and the Grandview area of the South Rim in the distance. Nearby Angel’s Window — a picturesque arch high on the limestone wall that beautifully frames the Colorado River — is another notable landmark that makes the photographic possibilities of this spot seemingly endless.

Accessing Cape Royal requires a 23-mile drive along a road whose speed limit is mostly 35 mph; so bring a dose of patience, enjoy the scenery and stop at Point Imperial, Vista Encantada, Roosevelt Point and Walhalla Overlook on the way to capture some supplemental shots.

Mooney Falls

Deep inside the towering cliffs of the Grand Canyon, Mooney Falls is the highest and perhaps most spectacular of the five waterfalls that have made passes to visit the Havasupai Indian Reservation one of the most highly coveted items among adventure-seekers.

Havasu Creek’s waters plunge nearly 200 feet off Mooney Falls, providing quite possibly the most magnificent backdrop on this list. However, as if the sight alone were not impressive enough, the story of how you got there — which involves a semi-technical downclimb using bolts, ladders and chains — adds to the exclusivity and awe of this particular shot.

Hike, wade and bushwack 3.5 miles downstream to the extremely secluded Beaver Falls or climb back up to explore the more easily accessible Havasu Falls, Lil’ Navajo Falls and Fifty Foot Falls — the turquoise waters of which will make your followers green with envy.

Antelope Canyon

Located on private land within the Navajo Nation in Page, guided tours are required to visit Antelope Canyon — which, named for the herds of pronghorn antelope that once roamed the area, immerses visitors in the swirling embrace of sandstone walls that have been shaped by millions of years of water and wind erosion.

Plan ahead to arrive midday March through October, when the position of the sun creates light shafts that reach the canyon floor and illuminates the pink, red, orange and gold patterns on the canyon walls.

Because it is shaped like an upsidedown “V,” narrow at the top and wide at the base, Upper Antelope Canyon is easier to walk through and more photogenic therefore more popular than Lower Antelope Canyon. However, many visitors claim that the latter is more fun, with narrow passageways to squeeze through and ladders to climb.

Horseshoe Bend

While Antelope Canyon is best experienced and photographed midday, its neighboring landmark Horseshoe Bend looks most impressive at sunrise and sunset. Below the rim, the Colorado River makes a wide sweep around a sandstone escarpment, creating a roughly 1,000-foot-deep, 270-degree, horseshoe-shaped bend in Glen Canyon.

There is an easy 1.5-mile round-trip hike to the overlook over a hardened path. This — combined with recent exposure on social media — has made Horseshoe Bend one of the most popular tourist destinations in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, drawing more than 2 million visitors each year.

However, between the tranquil turquoise waters gently flowing below and the remarkably vibrant colors of the canyon and distant horizon, you will have no trouble tuning out the crowd, finding your zen and capturing the perfect shot of an iconic Arizona landmark.

The Wave

The most exclusive landmark on our list, The Wave is located in the Coyote Buttes North area of the Utah-Arizona border. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management issues just 64 permits — selected via a lottery — to visit the stunning sandstone rock formation per day.

Needless to say, demand to experience what has been dubbed the premier photographic destination in the U.S. Southwest far exceeds the supply. And as if the difficulty obtaining a permit did not make visiting The Wave challenging enough, you will need to hike three miles through the unmarked desert — guided only by a vague map of visible landmarks — in order to get there.

However, once there, you will be mesmerized by the trippy rock formation’s smooth, flowing shape and striking red and yellow stripes that prove that Mother Nature is the greatest artist of all. With its swirling layers and undulating forms, The Wave is not only an Instagrammable site but also a geological wonder 190 million years in the making.

Forrest Gump Point

It is only appropriate that we conclude our road trip in the place where Forrest Gump ended his ultra-ultra marathon of more than 15,000 miles in the eponymous movie starring Tom Hanks.

With the majestic Monument Valley as a backdrop, this spot on Route 163 at mile marker 13 near the Arizona-Utah border is extremely well-known among fans of that 1994 film. Though one could argue that there are many remarkable vantage points of Monument Valley, this one has become one of the most iconic and frequently photographed — and for good reason.

In addition to being an instantly recognizable piece of cinematic history, it also offers one of the most spectacular and archetypal views of the entire American Southwest, accentuated by Monument Valley’s gorgeous crimson mesas and towering sandstone buttes in the distance.