SPRING!!!!!!!!!

Ah... nothing like Temple Square in spring. NOTHING!!!!! These shots are a combination of two different days both fantastic!!!!

This is kind of a classic/cliche shot, often done with the bride and groom in the foreground.

The blue skies we get in Utah just thrill me sometimes, it is indescribably beautiful.

This is also a cliche shot, that I have not tried before, I think the second one is better executed.

This one I like better!

This one is pretty good too!

 

The photo opportunities for flowers are limited only by your imagination and how much memory you are carrying with you... or your batteries die. My standard Flower lens is my DFA 100mm f2.8 WR Macro. Arguably my best lens. All but the last one in this series was taken with that lens.

Self Portraits and Black Glass

I make it a rule to only follow the rules when I feel like it. Take portraits for example, usually you are supposed to choose a medium focal length lens and give the subject some distance so as not to distort their features. I decided to try one with my 8mm fisheye lens. Lets say it didn't make me any prettier. Which is a tall order by any stretch of the imagination. But I kind of like the perspective. I'm just waiting for a continuing education class to begin and playing on my Kindle Fire. (I do that a lot.)

Now... you may be wondering what I mean by the words "Black Glass" in the title of this post. What I mean is a very dark neutral density filter. It allows for long exposures even during daylight. Allowing for smoothing of water and cloud and people movement during the exposure. I got one a while back and finally got to play with it. Once I learn to use it, I hope it will be a powerful tool.

These next three shots were all taken with my new filter mounted to my Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 lens. My favorite for adding drama to shots. I am learning that I need to set my white balance prior to taking the shot rather than the Auto WB doing it's thing. It simply cannot get enough light to determine what to choose due to how dark the filter is. I also learned I need to cover the viewfinder when shooting to prevent light from coming around the mirror during the shot.

 I think they are interesting but not quite there yet...

Ran Away for a Wet Friday Night Campout... and well a wet hike too.

I was extended a last minute invite to be an adult leader for a scout camp, due to the number of boys going, as always when camping is involved I said yes. Mainly because I knew I would be sleeping in my Honda Pilot that has proven to be a comfortable camping vehicle.

The predicted rains appeared and I stayed dry... until I started hiking! Here are a few of my favorites, some are less sharp than I usually am willing to place up for public inspection, but I figured "why not?" I liked the mood of the shots!

Handheld HDR just to bring the foreground up a smidge. 

Somewhat unusually for Utah there is lichen growing on the trees, I think due to the hot springs in the area producing a warmer and moister microclimate.

It did snow a bit at the higher elevations, nothing heavy but enough to provide some atmosphere!

The water is a slightly milky hue, that made me wish for no rain and my tripod to combine with my ND filter for a really LONG exposure.

The hot springs is quite lovely, and has an interesting waterfall that appears to have built up rock rather than washed it away, I wonder if there are bacteria and minerals that are combining to cause this....

Wild and crazy HDR's seemed to fit the mood of the place, I want to go back in the fall and at night, I bet some interesting shots can be had with the right mindset!

Yeah, I need to visit again!

Two Panoramas

Two recent panoramas from a week ago monday, I forgot my L-Bracket so I struggled to get things to stitch OK, the third was crud and I will have to re-do it... sigh... Like these though!

Food Photography and a new technique!!

I friend from our old neighborhood makes the most FANTASTIC cupcakes, she offered to drop off a couple of cupcakes in exchange for some photos before we ate them. unhesitatingly I said YES!!!! Did a dance of joy and began planning how I wanted to shoot them. Seeing as it was a work week and I would not be able to use the natural light in my dining room, I knew it would be using my lights and umbrellas and I decided to go with a dark background. Next time I will likely go white, I think that will look better. The black has it's positives though.

The lighting was just  by the seat of the pants, move them around and see what it looks like. The new technique that I have never tried was focus stacking. With getting close enough to fill the frame  with the cupcake I struggled to get enough depth of field due to the physics of how lenses work and inadequate power of lighting. Even at f16 I could not quite get the whole thing in focus. What focus stacking does is take shots where you change nothing but the focus between individual shots, and pick the areas with the best focus and blend them together to increase how much of the image is in focus. I stacked only two images one focused about 1/4 of the way into the cupcake, and another where the frosted heart is in focus. Best part was that the software did it all for me. I didn't know until I recently found an article on it that Photoshop could do that. I was way excited. Here is the article if you care.

Had a lot of fun, hope to get better at it!

A Two Day Trip in Two Parts (Part 1)

Every so often I get the itch to go to Southern Utah, if I don't get to scratch it, I get cranky and not a lot of fun to be around. My wife (Bless her soul) accepts this and even encourages it at times. This was one of those times. The kids were on spring break and we just wanted out of the house and the Salt Lake Valley. Not believing that I could get an actual campsite during spring break, I checked anyway and found a spot booked it and off we went. We laid on a last minute camping trip with 4 women and one man, had a great time and everybody got along... a bit of a first there!

So... early morning start bagged, we left whenever we were darn well ready, I can't even remember when we actually did leave, and we headed out, portable DVD strapped to the back of the headrests for the kids in the back, Honda Pilot loaded to the gills and off we went. First stop: Bryce Canyon National Park. I had been there a few times in the last few years, but my wife not since our Honeymoon almost 15 years ago, and the kids never. The weather was perfect, 50-60's and partly cloudy, just to give the sky some texture. Sometime after noon and before supper we pulled through the gates and headed to the far end of the park, Rainbow Point to work our way back. All the pull outs are on the east side of the road and it is easier to be coming back north to access them. 

This first shot is actually on the way to the front gate on UT 12, I dearly love the ponderosa pine forest and red rock entry to the area, it provides interesting images when converted to B&W. Not a devote of Ansel or anything, just enjoy breaking the photo down to light and dark, texture and composition.

Several years ago the park had some large fires, the damage was evident but that didn't deter these antelope from inhabiting the area, they were just off the road and seemed fairly willing to let us stop and take their picture.

Out at Rainbow Point the view looking along the edge of the escarpment is spectacular, the edge of the plateau falling off into the distance, miles of colorful hoodoo's dropping into lightly forested hills. Whenever I see it I am seized by a nearly inescapable urge to hike down into it and go from one end to the other. Being naturally lazy I was easily able to evade the trap and continue on my way. Need to do it one day before I get too old though....

The colors at BCNP are different from most other areas in Utah, there is more orange/pink/salmon than anywhere else, and it is a nice treat and change of pace from the darker hues.

A light dusting of snow still remains this time of year adding a splash of contrast that is not usually associated with Southern Utah.

 Looking back from the North towards Rainbow Point provided one of my favorite shots of the day, demonstrating the textures and shapes of the land.

There are few natural arches in this area, fortunately this one is easy to reach. It even lured the kids out of the car to look. They were a bit intimidated by the height of the edge and frequently needed to have someone right with them and to stay away from the edge.

This was my favorite Panorama of the day, it caught the sky perfectly and showed the sweep of the land well. I would have liked to be closer to the edge, but I wanted to stay married.

After dinner at Ruby's Inn, we headed to our camping site, Kodachrome Basin State Park. Where we spend a perfect night.

More in my next post!