Paradise

You know what Paradise is?

Well, for starters, it's a little town in the south end of Cache Valley where the mountains converge, and the hills roll on forever. It's very small, with barns and horses and stables and mountains and rivers and fowls and fine people. There's a picture to be made everywhere you look, and that's paradise, too.

But really, paradise is friends. It's Neil dropping you a line when he hears you're in town and inviting you to go shooting. It's driving and talking and debating where to shoot and wishing for better light and hoping the sun will come through the gap above the hills and razzing Mel for not making it and being happy just to get out and expose too many frames of trees in poor light. 

You should go; I highly recommend it.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @19mm, f/8, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 & Silver Efex Pro 2.

Oregon Trail

Isn't it amazing? You can start your day in the desert and finish it off in the rain forest. A twelve hour drive will take you from Logan Utah to Portland Oregon. That's what I call the Oregon Trail.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm, f.8, five frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 20mm, f/8, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100.

Camp Peak, ID

I like it. I'd live there and make pictures everyday. It's the kind of region where everywhere you go there's an interesting bit of light falling across a hill side. Seems like every time I drive by, whatever season, it's in the afternoon and I always want to stop and make a picture. You gotta drive Idaho State Road 34 to Jackson Hole some afternoon.

Well, a couple of weeks ago I was driving by with Scot Weaver and we did stop and make a picture. Think they'd support me as an artist in residence? There's that magazine, Arizona Highways; I reckon we need one for images made up here. Click on the image to view it full screen.

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @28mm, f/8, 1/320-1/20s 5 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 and Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

What struck me about this picture was the light in the foreground coming from a different direction than the light in the background. In the front you can see the the light is from camera right, whereas the clouds and mountain in the back have the sun shining on them from camera left. The light in front is actually the sun reflecting off an enormous cloud on the right and shining on the ground in front of me. It's big and soft and it was really wonderful to see. The scene was gentle and serene. 

You may need to see the print to appreciate the light changes.

That's why I chose to use an HDR process. I made 5 pictures at different shutter speeds to ensure that I recorded the full range of light in the scene. That means that everything from the brightest part of the clouds to the dark side of the out buildings has detail visible. I think that's cool, and it let's me capture the gentle gradients of light in the scene. I really think Nik software's HDR Efex Pro 2 is the top tool to do this with.

There's an excellent new book on these techniques by my friends and mentors, Scott Bourne and Rich Harrington, and I'd recommend studying from it so that you're able to maximize your wonderful digital camera. Click here to get it on iTunes.

Here's the color version, too...

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @28mm, f/8, 1/320-1/20s 5 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

Last note. The day before we took this trip to Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park...I sold my tripod. Bad move! How was I supposed to steady my camera? Pictures like this one are not possible to make super sharp on my D800 (36 mega pixels) without a tripod. Fortunately, I have a Joby GorillaPod. I've owned for a couple of years and never used it. Well, I really put it through its paces this trip. The picture below of the nightscape was also made using it. I was impressed that it was able to hold steady my heavy camera and even my 14-24mm f/2.8 lens steady--that's 4 1/4 pounds of camera! Not too shabby. I did have a small Manfrotto ball head, not the one made by Joby, so I can't speak to it's quality, but the legs were surprisingly good. Both pictures were made with the Gorillapod wrapped on a fence post...and me up to my thighs in a snow drift.

Mama, Don't Take My Kodachrome Away

Yeah, it's that song. I made this picture with my pal Darryl Dobson in September in Park City. It's quite a popular spot to make pictures...but it was the first time I'd photographed it myself. And the colors were coming so nicely. 

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 VR lens @50mm, f/11, 1/15s, ISO 320.

In fact, that whole week was pretty incredible. As I was driving to and from Vernal to work on those portraits below, I stopped several times to make pictures. That's a huge advantage of riding a scooter across the country--no windshield to shoot through, and it's easy to turn around and make a picture.

Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro lens, f/4, 1/1250s, ISO 100.

Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro lens, f/9, 1/400s, ISO 100.

See, my family was having a little reunion in Park City. That's when my nephews and I made one of my favorite portraits of 2012:

Nikon D800, 105mm f.2,8 VR Micro lens, f/3, 1/200s, ISO 2000.

Return to Punch Bowl

Something wonderful about being a photographer is that I get to visit wonderful places over and over again. Fortunately (or not), I don't have to drive to Oregon to do it. I get to revisit a place each time I finish pictures I made there. The whole time I'm working I remember the hike in with friends, and the freezing water rushing around my feet, and the couple from China I got to speak with. What a great time I had...then and now.

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @62mm, f/16, 9 exposure HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 and Color Efex Pro 4.

I Heart Bridges

Also from Seattle in March. Thanks to Teri Lou for showing Brook and me around...

Nikon D7000, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm, f/10, seven exposure HDR, ISO 200.

Flower Friday

It's been awhile since the last Flower Friday. Since it's snowing, today, it's seems like a good time to share this I made in Seattle recently.

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 112mm, f/7.1, 3 exposure HDR, ISO 800.

Flower Friday on Monday

It's been a while since I did a Flower Friday post. The biggest reason is probably that I haven't been posting  frequently enough anyway. I miss it, posting, and I miss Flower Friday a little bit, too. The thing is, my flowers lately are more abstract looking that sometimes in the past, and I'm enjoying photographing them this way. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Nikon D7000, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @200mm, f/9.0, 1/5s, ISO 400.

The Cache Valley Photographers and I headed up to the USU greenhouse affixed to the geology building on Saturday. A few years ago, Gary Bird and I were walking by and struck up a conversation with one of the staff members there, which lead to me bringing the club back to make pictures. This happened again last year, and now we're on our third year. It's been a blast. If you're into this sort of thing yourself, I hope you'll join the club and come along next time. 

Nikon D7000, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @125mm with 36mm extension tube, f/11, 1/1.6s, ISO 200.

Nikon D7000, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @112mm with 12mm extension tube, f/9, 1/12s, ISO 400.

Nikon D7000, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @140mm, f/4, HDR, ISO 200.

Nikon D7000, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @200mm, f/4, 1/1250s, ISO 200.