Veggies and Fungus

Too cold to be outside so I am shooting in the dining room, lots of fun with a mushroom, onion, tomato, and a few chives. I started with an awful, garish clay pitcher that had a figure hand painted on it in red, yellow, and green. I also have  a silver tray so I painted both of them with brown, green, and black paint. They came out just the way I wanted. F/22 for 20 seconds under ambient light and they came out just right.

Flowering Shadow

Our Photo Club was shooting a small flower arrangement that was placed in a black box with a slab of a tree stump as a prop and fairy lights to produce a bokeh effect. The shadow was more interesting to me than was the flower itself.

Flowers and Fence

This was shot using a small wooden "fence" that I build as a photo backdrop, it was propped up against a concrete stoop with a potted flower on the sidewalk leading to our house. I exposed for the flower which I shaded with my own shadow and left the fence in full sunlight overexposing the fence, it is weathered cedar and quite dark.

Rose in Blue

These next three photos were part of an assignment for the Photo Club that I belong to. We were to shoot in broad daylight with the sun directly behind the subject (this photo), with the sun over our shoulder lighting part of the scene (next photo), or the sun behind the subject (third photo). These are the results that I ended up with. This one was shot with 2 two step CP filters over the lens.

Yellow on Black

I shot these yellow Lilies in deep shade with a gold reflector lighting them up from the sun. In post production I darkened the background and cleaned up a few distractions and items that caused tension in the photo. This was shot outside in a protected area where the wind was kept away and the bright sunlight could be controlled.

Last Rose of Summer

In this shot I was fighting against a breeze and had the sun directly behind the subject. I know that is not ideal photography conditions, however, I also believe one must learn to shoot under all conditions if you are to become a good photographer. As I looked at the results of this capture I really liked the surreal appearance of the whole scene. I makes me think of a paper collage with thin paper leaves and petals glued to the background. I also like the fact that nothing is really in focus due to the movement of the flowers. The rose was shedding most of its petals and other leaves were turning to fall colors, this was shot in late August.

Shoshone Falls HDR

I have tried repeatedly to get a shot of Shoshone Falls over the years. I was there again last week and went out to the falls at 9:30 PM on a moonless night. The city lights were reflecting off of a cloudless sky. It was very dark so I bumped up my ISO to 800 and took several 5 to 8 second shots. I then ran them in ON1 Photo RAW as an HDR. I think I finally got one I like.

Profiles in Sunset

Profiles of the trees and the distant horizon are displayed in this sunset photo of the Grand Canyon.

Sunrays

Sunset in the Grand Canyon shows some of the layers of canyon walls and trees as the suns rays project through them.

Natural Bridge at Shoshone Falls

As I was walking back to the parking lot here at Shoshone Falls I noticed this natural stone bridge with the falls in the background. It made a lovely scene so I shot a picture of it. I was not particularly impressed with the results so I walked on. When I was reviewing the files later I still did not really think much of it. I opened it in ON1 Photo RAW and could see how I might make this jump just a bit. It didn't take much and the photo is now one of the best I have taken at the falls.

Lit from Within

Along the return trail from The Narrows in Zion National Park this is the scene that greets you. In the fall with the sun low in the sky it is a rewarding view.

Gold and Green on Blue

After wading up into The Narrows along the Virgin River in Zion National Park I turned around and saw this beautiful and colorful scene. The water seeps out of a seam in the rock and flows across the wall. With that and the fall colors it was truly amazing.

Cinnamon Slot 7

I have been going back to this little slot canyon in Zion National Park for a long time now and find it new and exciting every time I return. This was taken in 2013 on the first time found this wonderful place.

View from Refregerator

This is a long hike up towards Angel's Landing in Zion National Park. For the young and young at heart it is a wonderful climb and yields breathtaking views of the valley below, but if your heart runs on a pacemaker it takes just a bit longer.

Rocks and Sky

This wonderful little slot canyon yields so many surprises, sometimes it is open wide and you can see the sky, other places it looks to be a dead end, while elsewhere it is dark and foreboding. Every time I see these I just yearn to be back there again.

Dark Slot Canyon

Here the light almost doesn't make it into the canyon, dark and moody, scary. As your imagination sees a cougar charging towards you from the shadows and nowhere to run.

Choclate and Vanilla

This view of the slot canyon almost looks like the end, but one can squeeze through and keep going. What a rush to be in a canyon where you know that you are not in control.

Blue and Gold Reflections

This was fun to wade into to get this shot. The water became too deep to continue but I was nearly at the end of the slot canyon anyway. I really loved the way the colors were reflected in the water and the walls were lit by reflection.

Seeds to Go

Sometimes the most unlikely objects are the subject of my photography. I have no idea what this is but I sure liked the way it came out. The stinging nettle next to it wasn't any fun though.

Millcreek Cyclist

While looking around for a spot to shoot the stream in Millcreek Canyon we were walking down the road when a cyclist passed us by. After a few tries I finally got the shot I was looking for.

Skunk Cabbage

Skunk cabbage is almost never the subject of nice artwork, in fact my friend that was with me questioned my judgement as to why I would even be interested in it. After he saw what I did he took a shot also.

Lavender in the Grass

This little lavender flower was so pretty sitting among the grasses in Albion Basin that I just couldn't pass it by.

Thistle Bee

While shooting the blossoms on this Thistle a large bumble bee landed on it. I caught it in flight as it left, I had to use focus tracking to keep it in focus as it was moving away.

Fun Light Show

I used a light rope that has a USB connector as a plug and a portable power source to light it up. A 10 second exposure while swinging the light rope around gives wild, unpredictable, but fun results.

Selfie

I titled this "Selfie" because I accidently got myself in the image. But I liked the result.

Circles of Light

The fun with light painting is that you never know what you are going to get, it is always different, can never be duplicated, or predicted.

Grandpa-try this

Playing with a light wand that I bought from the local discount tool dealer and two of my granddaughters was so much fun. They had a ball squealing, laughing, and "Grandpa, try this...".

Light Painting

Two of our Granddaughters spent the last couple of nights with us so we went out at night and played with a LED light bar that has 112 LED's in it. We would swing the bar around while running in front of the camera. Then we would squeal and laugh as the picture would come up on the back of the camera. We had so much fun, times that will not be forgotten.

Rocky Coast

With the cloudy sky everything in the photo was about the same color making the whole scene flat. It took a bunch of processing to get it to where it was nice enough to even show anyone. But after all of that it came out quite nice. Much of the North Shore of Maui is rocky but very beautiful.

Grazing with a View

While driving along the smaller end of Maui we drove through a cattle ranch. The fences were just amazing along with the peacefully grazing cattle and the Pacific Ocean as a backdrop. Just had to capture it.

Smooth Waters

This is a 10 second shot through a neutral density filter to cause the water to smooth out. Mostly I don't care for these types of photos, I think because they are generally done for way too long and the water looses its character. As I started processing this photo I thought it would look good if it were made to look more like a painting that a photo, so that is what I tried for.

Shades of Blue

We were standing on the black lava cliffs of Maui with the waves crashing in on the base of the cliffs. The sky was mostly cloudy but the sun broke through for just a few minutes and gave us this beautiful show of blue and white foam as the wave broke.

Roots at Twin Falls

This is Twin Falls on the island of Maui. I set my camera on a tripod, dialed in all of the settings and then waited, and waited, and waited....until all the people moved out of my way so I could get a clear shot of the tree roots and waterfalls. Finally I had just a few seconds before somebody stepped in front of me to take a selfie. But I had time to get three shots. This is one of them.

Blue Parrot

While traveling along the road to Hana on Maui we came across a person who was trying to get people to hold his parrots so he could take pictures of them and then sell them the photo. We gave him a small donation and he allowed me to take a few pictures of his bird.

Young and Old Alike

From 4 to 102 nobody was safe when I was on the hunt for photos of persons hands to show my Seniors Class at Taylorsville Senior Center. It was an assignment I titled, "I'll Hand It To You".

Carianne

Karianne is very good on the bag pipe, she just won some awards at a competition she entered. She has been playing the bag pipe for about 3 years.

Guns and Lettuce

We all have varied hobbies, for Eldon it is shooting sports, both shooting and collecting, and Lynda his wife it is gardening.

Kaleb on Guitar

Kaleb was a bit self conscious about being in front of my camera, but as he saw that I was only shooting his hands he relaxed and just played a few notes so I could get what I was after. all of these shots were captured for an assignment for a photo class I teach. They were shot without the benefit of flash with only ambient light coming from available sources.

Native American Flute and Gituar

Clive is a very accomplished and professional musician. He is able to play almost 30 different instruments and has a very beautiful sound studio. The Native American Flute that he was playing for me produces such a beautiful and haunting sort of melancholy sound that I was mesmerized by it.

Cello

This person is a contractor and developer, but has such a soft, gentle touch with the cello.

Grace and Beauty

I was so amazed as Breanna was playing her violin by the grace of her hands and the ease and confidence she has developed over the several years that she has been playing.

Breanna

Breanna is playing the violin. She is 17 and so very accomplished as a musician. I have known her since she was just a little girl and have watched her play since about 3 years old.

Maui Aquarium

We visited the aquarium while on Maui. Luckily we did not see the black tipped reef shark while snorkeling at Molokini Crater, but we sure saw a lot of the others.

Lahaina Sunset

The trees along the way to Lahaina were the perfect foreground for the beautiful sunsets that were seen every evening on Maui. This is a 5 shot HDR processed in ON1 Photo RAW.

Maui View

This is looking north east on the island of Maui. We took a car trip around the northern end of the island. Judi really liked this view so I grabbed my camera and brought back a memory for her. (I enjoyed it also). LYLE