Ephraim Canyon

Nikon D800, 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII lens @78mm, f/9, 1/320s, ISO 400, Nik Silver Efex Pro2.

I'm here in Ephraim, Utah shooting for Utah State University. I do love to make a couple of 'extra' pictures when I get finished making portraits of students, grads, and deans. I think...yes, I'm pretty certain: I love my job.

Garland

The only trouble with Cache Valley (seriously--it doesn't have much wrong with it) is that the hills in the West are too high! The sun sets sooner in this valley, so sometimes you've got to go over the hill to make a picture, and when you do Gunsight Peak is waiting for you.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @14mm, f/11, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2. Gunsight Peak as seen when leaving Cache Valley.  We'll see how things look in Portland when I get home.

That's what we did during my class the other night. I'm teaching landscape and portraiture classes (two different classes) and have another week of classes coming up. I'll keep hoping that the sunsets are incredible within this valley, but I've got a trip to Garland in my back pocket when necessary.

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.

Always Carry Your Camera

I'm a big fan of having a camera with you all the time. You know how it is, all those times you're driving along and see a gorgeous sunset happening, or a funny scene on a street, or bank robbery and you say to yourself, "I wish I had a camera!" Fortunately, now most of us do have a camera with us all the time. My cellphone, a mere iPhone 3Gs, does a fair job. See that picture down below under "Raining, Frosting, Fogging?" I made that picture with my phone, and most newer phones are even more capable of making a decent picture. The fact is, just being able to make a picture is the important thing.

Having said that about phones, I made this picture with my D7000 while walking home from work on Friday evening. There were seven or eight turkey vultures circling high around the neighborhoods at the mouth of Logan Canyon. I supposed they had just returned from their wintering in the southern states, and were making their routes looking for places to take up residence for the season. I kept walking; they were too far away to photograph well. A moment later I noticed the moon in the sky with wispy clouds hanging about...then I looked for the vultures. I willed them to come closer and circle nearby the moon, and they did! I tried my hardest to use my brain to move a few more into the frame at the same time, but they withstood my ESP efforts. Oh, well; I'm happy with what I was given here. I used my 28-300mm lens racked out to 300mm to bring the moon and the vulture together. Unfortunately, an iPhone can't quite make this image. Good thing I had something more substantial with me!

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 300mm, f/10, 1/400s, ISO 400.