The Painted Desert

The Grand Canyon, aptly named, is a revelation of hundreds of millions of years' worth of history. It's incredible to see and consider. Besides the geologic grandeur, the sun's setting painted a continuously variegating pallet of colors right in front of me this evening. 100,000,000 years of change before my eyes, and 10,000 Maniacs in my mind.

Nikon D7100, 70-200mm f.2.8 VRII lens @ 70mm, f/8, 5 seconds, ISO 400. Photographed at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA.

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.

#800: "They Say That Love is Forever..."

Nikon D7100, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm, f/16, 3 exposure HDR, ISO 400, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2. I'm in Delta, Utah; doesn't Portland have graffiti somewhere?

This is my 800th blog post. Thanks for viewing. I love to show these pictures off, and I'm glad that you all have supported me for the last four years. I was privileged to have some time shooting with Jesse Walker this evening as we trekked to Delta, Utah, and we made this stop at the old TinTic reduction mill near Goshen. I think spray paint may be all that's holding this place together, and it's a wonderful notebook of poetry and pictures and tasteless tagging. Kinda makes me wanna put my hand to the can and see what I could turn out. I'll probably never do it, though. With my luck, the time I try it is the one time the sheriff would drive by; that and my Grandma Sim always says, "Fool's names, like fool's faces, always appear in public places," and that's pretty much turned me off from graffiti. Sigh.

Sunbursts

Photofocus.com recently posted an article I wrote about how to make sunbursts happen in your photographs. I think it's a lot of fun, and can really add some spice to your images. I made this one a couple of years ago during an outing with my class and just dug it up. It's a favorite scene from Cache Valley, UT. I'm exctied to be living in Lake Oswego, OR now. The Agricultural imagery around here is archetypal and I can't wait to explore it more.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 28mm, f/13, 7 frame HDR, ISO 400, Nik HDR Efex Pro2. Cache Valley, Utah.

I used HDR software (Nik HDR Efex Pro2) to combine 7 different pictures. The pictures are all the same, but different brightnesses, which allows us to see both the brightest sky by the sun and the dark side of the windmill, much like I could see with my eyes as I stood there watching the sun set. The clouds around the sun helped give the rays shooting out by making the visible portion of the sun smaller. Man, it's fun to combine all these things into a single image!

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.

Mono Lake

Mono Lake (pronounced Mona) is in California on the border with Nevada, and it's a special place. There are springs under the water that are rich in carbonates that built up these pillars while they were under water. Nowadays, the lake is receding and revealing the pillars underneath. It's pretty interesting. I made this image between snow flurries and salt flies as my buddy, Jared Burns, and I were driving to Las Vegas in March.

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 52mm, f/16, 5 frame HDR, ISO 100, HDR Efex Pro 2, Mono Lake, California.

Deserts

In the last two months I have been shooting in five different deserts around the American West. It's incredible how diverse and unique each place has been. It put me in mind of the first great desert I ever Photographed. In Dubai.

If you go to Dubai, you've got to go dune bashing. You get taxied out to the desert, and join in a herd of off road vehicles to cruise up and down the gigantic dunes. It's pretty fun! We pulled up to a highpoint right at sunset, and I jumped out of the car and ran to the top of the nearest dune to find a trackless section of desert to shoot. Running up those dunes is like one step forward, three steps back. At the time, I had never made any HDR images, but I was shooting lots bracketed exposures thinking I might use them sometime. I'm glad that I did.

Nikon D7000, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, f/10, three frame HDR, ISO 400.

Nikon D7000, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, f/10, three frame HDR, ISO 400.

Sauvie Island

Sauvie Island is this wonderful little place. From driving around on it for a morning, I know there are farms, vineyards, bird refuges, historic sites, house boats, and lots of fishermen. I got to spend some time with a couple of best friends making pictures the other morning, and this is one from that excursion.

Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4 D lens, f/11, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

Photoshop isn't the way to make the sun burst on the sun, nor is it a trick filter on the lens. It's simply done by using a small aperture (f/11, f/16, f/22). It's a cool feature of having blades inside the lens. The rays are accentuated by catching only the edge of the sun, obscuring most of the sun with an object like a tree limb, or the corner of a building. It should be pretty simple to do this even with your iPhone camera: looking at the screen (not the sun!) position the sun behind the edge of a building and snap away. I predict that you'll get pretty good rays.

Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4 D lens, f/11, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4 D lens, f/11, 9 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

 

Phoenix: Mythunderstood

A Phoenix is a bird which is supposed to have burst into flame and then rise again from its own ashes. Many people think this is a story about rebirth; but after my recent visit to Phoenix, AZ, I'm thinking the poor bird is just making the best with the hand it's dealt. Stick with me and I'll explain.

I spent all day with three other talented Photogs, Matt Suess, Nick Pappagallo, and Scott Wyden Kivowitz. We meant to start early, but we stayed out late with the PAC the night before and sunrise came and went before we knew it. Shooting at sunrise is great because the low sun casts sideways shadows on everything and it's much more interesting and reveals the true form of objects and landscapes.

Still, our first stop yielded some fun pictures. The Superstition Mountain Museum is the site of many classic western films and tv shows (including "Charro" with Elvis Presley), and I met a classic Westerner on site.  L. volunteers at the site, teaching people about the history of the region and the studios. He thinks it's a real kick that he's from Alberta and he's come down here to teach American history. He's got that look of a salty cowboy...

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 23mm, f/2.8, 1/500s, ISO 250.

...but he was actually quite friendly. He was a gem, letting me make several portraits with him.

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 23mm, f/2.8, 1/1000s, ISO 250.

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

After the Museum, we continued into the hills, searching for a great picture. We talked as we drove and enjoyed the morning. We reached Tortilla Flats (no, not that "Tortilla Flat") and were amazed to find a stream flowing after the recent snows (it is a bonafide desert, after all).

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 20mm, 5 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

By now it was lunch time, so we ate at the saloon, which, interestingly, is wallpapered entirely in dollar bills, and it's a big place (the food, however, was nothing to blog about).

Nikon D800, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 14mm, 5 frame HDR, ISO 100, Nik HDR Efex Pro 2.

As we talked I learned that +Matt Suess's full time endeavors in photography take him all over the region making pictures and peddling at the various arts faires. His work is really stunning and I think you'll enjoy viewing it--keep an eye out for him at the Logan Summerfest this year, as well.

Many of you know that I'm a snob about light in my pictures. I often won't even take pictures if I think the light isn't good enough, and in my portraiture I go to great lengths to make sure it is good enough. (for instance there was one time when my assistants and I climbed and scampered all over the canopy of a huge tree to hang a ginormous diffuser so that the light on my subjects' faces would be even and soft...took us an hour and a half).

So, I assumed that Matt spends a lot of time researching when the best time of day to make a picture at a place is, and plans to be in the right place places at the right time. His answer really gave me some things to think about, though, and made me a little wiser, too. 

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 28mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 100, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

See, Matt was a photojournalist on the East Coast for a lot of years. That means the everyday when he walked out the door his responsibility was to come back with a picture that was important no matter what. He had to make a useable, salable image every time for every assignment. He could never say, "Sorry, boss, but the light was poor." So, when goes out shooting for his artwork, he has the same idea in mind: he always makes a good picture. The really great ones are fewer, but he always makes a good one.

That got me thinking about my own work, and even life in general: always make the most of what you're given, and no excuses. Lemonade from lemons. Turn that frown upside down. Burst into flames and make the best of the situation; might as well rise up and go at it again. Thus, I'm made more pictures and concentrated on what I could control--light was out of my hands, but composition and fellowship were still mine to make the most of.

It was a good trip.

Fall Sunset

It's like Boxing Day for my hard drives. As I was cleaning stuff up, I happened upon this firey sunset I witnessed in Cedar City last year.

Nikon D90, 70-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 300mm, f/11, 1/13s, ISO 200.

Sunrise, Ryadh

Nikon D7000, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 112mm, f/11, 1/50s, ISO 400.

Ground Support

Nikon D700, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 24mm, f/4.0, 1/1600s, ISO 1600.

It takes a lot of work to get a hot air balloon off the ground--a lot of hands.

The Thanksgiving Day parade in New York got me thinking about these balloon images we made in Colorado on Labor Day. These people travel around and race balloons and do various other activities. The balloon being inflated here was a  prize for winning another race. This fellow attends the same pilot at many event each year.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens @ 125mm, f/2.8, 1/8000s, ISO 1600.

It's just fun to make these pictures! And easy, too.

See, it's not really hot air that makes them fly; it's air that's less dense on the inside than the air outside the ballon. So, the air inside may be, I dunno, 90 degrees, which is no big deal on a summer afternoon in Colorado. So, in order to get a greater difference between the inside and the outside, they always launch early in the morning, but they never leave the ground before the sun is up. Perfect Portrait lighting!

And of course, there're the colors to consider.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens @ 70mm, f/10, 1/500s, ISO 1000.

Highland Sunset

The hills north of Highland, Utah, are always so amazing looking with a little snow and a sunset. The trouble is finding a spot without power lines to shoot through. Tonight, I found one. I'm going to have to spend some more time at that spot in the future, try and perfect this exposure. This one is about twelve exposures stitched together in Photoshop; it's over ten feet long at full resolution. Kinda cool to make.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR II lens @ 230mm, f/10, 1/400s, ISO 400. This is my newest lens, and it covers a huge range of focal lengths. We'll see if ends up being as sharp as my 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR lens.

Don't Move Here

Once again, another reason not to move to Cache Valley. I mean, look at that mountain: it's already covered in snow! Who would want to live here? Plus, there have been multiple car crashes the last two nights as drivers have been distracted from their texting by the remarkable sunsets. Unbelievable. You definitely should not move here.

Nikon D700, 50mm f/1.4 lens, f/4.0, 1/200s, ISO 200.

Starry Starry Night

More like the Don McLean, perhaps, and less like the Van Gogh...perhaps not.

Nikon D700, 28-70mm f/2.8 AF-S lens @ 40mm, f/4.0, 30s, ISO 4000. This image was made over Palisades Reservoir, in Southeast Idaho. I know a guy with a great view.

A Trip South

Nephew is starting first grade. My first grade teacher was Mrs. McCabe, and our team name for field day was McCabe's Monkey's. It was a real field day, with genuine gunny sacks to race in, three legged races, hundred yard dashes, and jump roping contests. And you only got a ribbon if you won, not just for participating. It was a good thing, I think. It was a whole different world at Mary Esther Elementary. That was in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Famous (sort of) for white sandy beaches. I mean, white, like snow, literally.

Not like the beaches in Ft. Lauderdale, where I was last week. The beach there was made all of diatoms and shell fragments, and the grains were very soft and comfortable to walk in. Kind of nice. Not a bad view to wake up to in the morning, either.

I stayed at the Sheraton on the beach, and they have a restaurant in the hotel, called The Wreck (kind of a sunken ship theme) that has windows that look into the pool from below. Pretty creepy. Billy Crystal did some movie with a scene in there. Fish and Chips were okay.

My work was in Miami, however, and i did get a little time there in the afternoon one day to walk the beach front and see the beach. Very colorful place, Miami; very caribbean. 

Unfortunately, that visit was cut short when these storm clouds rolled in. It can really come down down there! So, I was left to my usual routine of shooting at night.

Tried this one on the beach. That couple was gracious enough to hold still for me, and the sea was calm under that oil tanker, too. It was a fifteen second exposure, and then some additional work in LightRoom to finish it off.

Similarly, shooting was restricted to nighttime earlier last week in Atlanta. It's a pretty nice city for night work, though, and this one turned out okay. Hot nights in the south. It was a good visit, with some good results and good people to work with. Still, I wasn't dry for nearly a week, and it's good to be home.

Shot all of these with my Canon 7D, and a 35mm f/1.4 USM L series lens. I like this lens for it's sharp renditions and super fast aperture. However, the camera is a little disappointing. I'm still working with it, but my first impression is that the Nikon D90 makes better quality images, especially at higher ISO's and/or longer exposures. I'm not giving up on it, yet, but I'm also not selling my Nikon gear (nor do I foresee that happening!). I don't mind if you love your Canon, but I've worked with both. I'm still giving it a chance, though, so don't hate me, yet.

An Evening with Mel

I was visiting and working with my friend, Mel Torrie, at his house when these views played out before us.  We grabbed our cameras and went to work. Trouble was, one side of the house had the rainbow, while the other had the sunset--we were running back and forth, tripods over our heads, trying not to trip on the ground. Needless to say, we didn't get much done.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens @ 110, f/5.6, 1/8000s, ISO 1600.

Nikon D700, 70-200mm f/2.8 VR lens @ 70mm, f/5.6, 1/8000s,  ISO 400.

I Love Teaching

I have a few good opportunities to teach each week. On Mondays I have my Bridgerland Applied Technology College classes from 5-7, then again from 7-9. This week I also taught a portrait lighting class at the Studio on Tuesday (mostly for club members, but all are welcome) and I think that went pretty well. Wednesday I was helping a Student with a shoot--helping her set things up to make the images she wants for her client, and that was very fun, too. Thursdays are always Open Lab Night at the Studio when anyone can come and use the lights and backdrops to learn, or just hang out and find some community answers to questions related to anything photographic, and it's also a good time to use our large format printer to make prints. Some weeks we'll have a workshop on a Friday or Saturday, too. I love it! I love teaching myself, but I love most the shared answers from other photogs talking and working together. It's really a great group of people who surround me.

So, this Monday we had E. along as our model. She's an engaging and proactive young woman, earning her own way for many things, including her pictures, so we were happy to aim a jillion cameras at her during class.

We did the outdoors thing, and I had planned a terrific sunset with sweeping landscapes and wheat fields. I had researched my area and my timing so that when we arrived during class it would be perfect. I had even ordered up some clouds to add drama to the sky. However, someone else must have had a similar order in because we got double clouds and rain to boot. Some times you win, and sometimes you just get by. Still, we fun in the fields and came away with some good images of E., and also one of the students, B.

While in the city, the clouds were treating us pretty good. The light was even, if a bit boring, but that doesn't matter with someone with as much color as E. She brought a guitar along, and that was a good idea because often just holding something can make a client more comfortable in front of the camera.

Then while we were shooting this set up with E., I saw this picture coming down the street and I simply had to go make it happen.

With the cloudy sky, the red of the Coke bottle and the green of the vines was really screaming to be recorded. Juxtaposed with S.'s white shirt, I rather liked the composition. 

Now, you've already met S., and you will probably be seeing more of him, too. I introduced myself, showed him my license, and he agreed to let me fire off a couple of frames. Come to find out, he's a violinist and an actor--a model subject! (hem hem). Anyway, he agreed to make time for us during next Monday's class, and I hope we're able to make the schedule work out so that he can join us for a few more frames. I'm looking forward to it.

'Til then, I hope you enjoy and go make some good pictures fo your own.

The 24th

The rest of the country must be jealous. I don't know of anywhere else that gets two fantastic fireworks holidays each year. I'll probably get emails pointing to several others, and then next year I won't be able to say I don't know of any others...but this year, I'm pretty sure we're the envy of the nation.

And within Utah, Mendon must be the most sought after display: no where else do they allow you to sit right under the display and a stone's throw from the launchers. It was really an incredible show. I work hard at practicing the grip of my camera and my stance so that I can make steady pictures in low light situations, but no amount of practice readies one for the continuous concussion from explosions twenty feet overhead! What fun.

Nikon D700, 12-24mm f/4 DX lens @ 13mm, f/5.6, 5.0s, ISO 400.

Mendon and Logan

After attending the Mendon Photo Guild's meeting the other evening, I found an access to a beautiful overlook and made this picture before heading back to the Metropolis of Logan.

Nikon D700, 85mm f/1.8 lens, f/4.0, 1/80s, ISO 400, and 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 VR lens @70mm, f/17, 1/400s, ISO 800.