What A Mess

Apparently, God dropped his palette and the colors got smeared all over Sardine Canyon. Sheesh.

The Cache Valley Photographers and I boogied up there this morning to take advantage of the incredible weather and the clear, smoke-free skies. It was well worth the early call. I hope you get out and take a drive to enjoy one of the best Autumns we've ever had. It's happening right now in the canyons, and I'm predicting next week will be great here in the valley. Try not to trip over my tripod legs when you're out there...

Nikon D800, 300mm f/4 lens, f/8, 1/6s, ISO 100, Nik Color Efex Pro 4.

Family

I really enjoy this work. Reading my blog, I talk a load about what I like, and why I like it, and what food I eat when I travel. It gets to sounding like a lot of 'me'. I write that stuff because I want you to know me a bit, I want you know who I am and I want you to like me so that you'll hire me to make pictures for you, which means I'll have earned money to take care of my own little family. That's pretty much my goal: make pictures and provide for my family.

The thing is, these pictures are not about me, and they are not for me. 

Take the S. family, for instance. This wonderful bunch doesn't care who I am--they just care about each other--a lot. Big J. just left to serve a mission and I made these pictures for his family before he left. He has them with him, and they have them at home. They all get to remember their love while they're apart. And that's what the pictures are for. I'm just lucky enough to be a part and share some fun times making the pictures. I'm just lucky enough to have clients, and I thank you all for that.

Nikon D800, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR IIlens @ 130mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 400, Nik Color Efex Pro.

The Big Dipper

My pal, Justin, suggested we go up to White Pine lake last night during the New Moon to photograph star trails. Well, we got to Tony Grove and didn't make it any farther. The new moon means there's no moon light to detract from the star light and as the night deepened we were surrounded by a wonderful nightscape, blanketed in stars, and drowned in the Milky Way.

I made a few mistakes which turned into happy surprises. I'll be heading up there again, soon, too try some purposeful mistakes again.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @24mm, f/4, 1s to 30s HDR, ISO 800, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 15mm, f/2.8, 792s & 291s HDR, ISO 6400 and 800, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm, f/2.8, 290s, ISO 400.

Punch Bowl

My pal Megan suggested we all hike to Punch Bowl Falls in the Columbia River Gorge last week. Obviously, Jenn and I thought this was a great idea, and we had a lovely time hiking and making pictures. I made a bunch of panoramas of the falls and the surrounds, and I'll share them here...when I get them put together! There's a lot of work to be done after that shutter button is activated, and it's fun; it just takes time. You know that saying, "Tempus fugit (time flies)"? Well, there should be one about time going by like water over a falls...

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @28mm, f/16, 1/100s, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro.

The Road Already Travelled

In Frost's famous poem, the speaker chooses which fork to take as a road diverges in the forest. He/she weighs the advantages of both, and ends up choosing one and finds that the choosing is the most important thing, not which road was taken. I notice that there's no mention of turning around to look back down the road from which he/she came--no thought of going back. That's significant, too.

If one did look back, it might look like this.

I made this image at Perpetua Point on the Oregon Coast yesterday. The fog was fickle, playing in and out and teasing my light meter mercilessly. Nonetheless, I like the feel of this image, and I think it looks like everything I like about the Coast: small roads winding through the hills, fog dodging in and out, and the ever intense greenyness filling my vision. I was fortunate enough to walk both branches of this fork without the choosing: it's a turn around atop the hill.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm, f/5.6, 1/80s, ISO 100.

Monsoon

One of the things I really miss about living in Colorado Springs is the incredible thunderstorms in the summer afternoons. The power and the colors and the movement are so intriguing. I was so happy to have just such a storm happen last night while visiting my parents. There will be more to come, including some images made at Garden of the Gods with the lightning striking.

I love that I can share photographs of this stuff with you!

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, f/7.1, 15s, ISO 320, frame capture from time lapse movie mode.