Chicago

More to come from Chicago.

Indiana Fall

American Fork Canyon

American Fork Creek

Black and White

Last October Beth and I went to Yosemite and visited the Ansel Adams gallery while we were there. Adams was a pioneer in nature photography and shot most of his nature work in black and white despite color film having been around for years. The gallery had several of Adams' original prints hanging on the wall, all perfectly composed and tack sharp. It was pretty inspiring to see his work. Since then I have been taking more black and white photos and have even converted a few color images into black and white. My shots don't quite measure up to his, but I have enjoyed taking them. Shooting BW is a whole different ballgame. Lighting is still incredibly important, but since there is no color you can get away from shooting a little later in the morning or earlier in the afternoon. The lack of color also allows you to bring out textures much better. Many of Adams' photos use interesting textures. Exploring BW has been a lot of fun. My shots are below and you can check out Adams' work at www.anseladams.com.

Southwest Tour

Below are photos from a recent tour of the southwest. There may be more to follow in the next few weeks.

Sunset from Mather Point, Grand Canyon National Park


Sunrise from Grandview Point, Grand Canyon National Park


The Watchman and the Virgin River, Zion National Park


Cascades at the Temple of Sinawava, Zion National Park


Water Streaks, Grand Wash, Capitol Reef National Park

Ranch Photos

These three are from my last trip to our cabin in the Uinta Mountains of eastern Utah. I only had time to shoot in the morning and the lighting wasn't great, but I was able to get these photos of purple asters. Hopefully Indiana springs and summers have lots of wildflowers.

Goodbye Utah!

Desert Paintbrush below the Devil's Castle, Albion Basin

This past week my family and I relocated to Indiana for graduate school. I am really going to miss the scenery in Utah and the west. I hope to be back within a few years, but who knows? I hope to take as many pictures of Indiana as possible and will post them here when I do. I also have lots of Utah photos left to process and post. We'll see how things go.

More Recent Photos

Here are a few more photos that I have taken over the last month or so. I hope to get the southwest tour photos posted shortly as well. Thanks.


Silky Phacelia in Ashley National Forest


Serviceberry blossoms in Ashley National Forest


Mt. Timpanogos, taken from Tibble Fork Reservoir


Stewart Falls, Wasatch-Cache National Forest


Three sequoia trunks, Mariposa Grove, Yosemite National Park (this is a holdover from our trip last fall)

Recent Photos

Here are a couple of photos from my recent trips. I have taken quite a few shots over the last few weeks that will take me awhile to process and post, but keep checking and I'll have them up over the next few weeks.


Big East Lake on the Nebo Scenic Loop


Wild Iris in a cow pasture, south slope of the Uintas

New Edits

Corn Lily, Wasatch-Cache National Forest, UT. 2006

I have recently been editing some photos taken over the past few years. I feel pretty good about the one above. I will post more as I finish them.

Echo Canyon, Zion National Park, UT

The preceding image has given me many problems since I captured it two summers ago. It is a picture of the big bend of the Colorado River just before it reaches Moab, UT. I couldn't make a split ND filter work for me when I captured it and so was forced to do some pretty major adjustments in post production. I wasn't able to make a blended exposure--partly due to my ineptitude with Photoshop and partly because it never quite looked right. I'm not sure how I feel about blended exposures anyway, so that is probably good. Instead I had to use multiple layer masks to come up with what you see. It still does not quite capture the scene as I saw it that night. The contrast between the bluffs and the river is pretty big. I guess it is still a work in progress. However, I don't want this to become a hugely manipulated image that bears no resemblance to the original capture. I guess this is one of those situations where I have to decide how much originality I am willing to sacrifice for an excellent final product. I did convert the image to BW and included it below. Let me know if you think it comes out okay. The contrast is controlled a lot better when the colors are taken out of the equation.

Utah Sierran Photo

We just received the newest edition of the Sierra Club's Utah Newsletter, and one of my photos is published in it. I sent several photos to the newsletter a few months back and they told me they would publish some of them, which they finally did. The photo is shown above, but the copy that was printed was in black and white. I think that the photo loses something in black and white, but it still looks good.

Utah Lake

I recently came across this photo taken last year at Utah Lake. I took quite a few exposures, but only this one came out. This was a great spot to take photos. I hope to get back before we leave Utah.

Yosemite

Below are photos taken on my trip to Yosemite in October 2007. I didn't have a lot of time to shoot as we could only stay a couple of days in the Valley. As short as it was, it was a great trip. Especially fun was seeing the Ansel Adams gallery and some of his original prints.


Tenaya Lake


El Capitan


Half Dome and the Merced from Sentinel Bridge

Conway Summit


Valley View

Pleasant Grove Show

I just finished putting up eight matted and framed photos up on our living room wall. They had been hanging around the house ever since I brought them back from the Pleasant Grove Library, where they had been displayed for three months. I had seen where local artists were featured in the library, so I wrote the library board asking if I could hang my photos, and they said yes. So for three months library patrons got to look at my work. When we brought them home we didn't know what to do with them, so they have been gathering dust in our spare bedroom. Just last Saturday I finally got around to hanging them. Below are all eight photos.


Wall Street Section, Virgin River, Zion National Park


Hidden Falls, Big Cottonwood Canyon


Mt. Millicent, Wasatch National Forest


Mill B South Fork, Wasatch National Forest


Western Tiger Swallowtail and Yellow Pea, Ashley National Forest


Ashley National Forest Still Life


Red Cliffs Nature Preserve, St. George Utah


Twin Lakes, Wasatch National Forest