~John Fitzgerald Kennedy~

While standing precariously balanced, almost mid-stream, on two protruding boulders, I managed to capture this image. I had a large, black umbrella clamped to my tripod and my camera nestled atop the ball-head in a plastic, camera raincoat. I must have really been a site!

Passers’ by on the road embankment (above and to the left of this scene) would slow or even stop to watch me working this pristine little creek. I don’t expect they could understand, unless (of course) they too had experienced the exhilaration of beautifully saturated images captured during the rain.

This family envisioned a portrait shot in a pristine outdoor setting against brilliant fall colors. As I listened to them describe their thoughts, I knew this location would please them.

We met on sight and took a few moments getting comfortable with one and other. I fired off a few “warm up” shots to better gauge how to work with them as we walked to the first setup.

At the first setup site, we did a few standing shots and several walking shots, all of which turned out really well; however, the image attached here is my favorite from that day. It’s from our second stop along the lakeside trail.

In my mind’s eye, I had seen a shot from this vantage, across the water with the deep colors of fall flaming behind them. We assembled the family in a little clearing on the water’s edge, being careful to place them behind the foreground rock to preserve a sense of depth. I used a telephoto lens to compress the background and a wide aperture to render the brilliant color out of focus.

It was a mostly overcast afternoon, and the sky was acting as a giant softbox — nice, even light across the whole scene. I knew it couldn’t get much better!

This young family was very pleased with the images I made for them. As a photographer, it’s always gratifying to find a client’s appreciation expressed as word-of-mouth referrals. To me, that’s the real pay day in shooting. To know that my work is valued and artistic vision validated.

If you live along the Wasatch Front in the Metro-Salt Lake area and would like me to make such images for your family, please contact me. I’m currently available by appointment. Please click on My Contact Information link.

Cheers,
-Mike.

Instead, I opted for a series of roads that wound through the less visited sections of Utah that are West of I-15.

When at a remote intersection (if I can call it an intersection) somewhere in uninhabited Southwestern Utah, I was faced with a decision. I could turn right, back towards I-15 on an old asphalt road or I could continue on Northward – along a well-graded dirt road.

Okay, so I exaggerated about the uninhabited part. Peering into the blowing dust, I could make out a ranch house in the far distance down that well-graded dirt road. That’s all the encouragement I needed. I left pavement behind for what turned out to be several hours and nearly seventy miles of dirt.

Along the way, I came upon this railroad crossing. The dirt road I’d chosen crisscrossed many other dirt roads in the area, some crossing over this remote rail line. As I sat pondering my great adventure, my remaining fuel, and a commitment I had for latter that evening, I saw the headlight of this approaching train far down the track.

I walked my gear around, scouting the area for the best compositional elements (or context) for this shot and determined how to best present them. Having chosen, I set up my tripod, fired off a few test shots, adjusted exposure and composition – and waited for the train to enter the frame.

Using my wireless remote, and my camera set to rapid frame, I simply pressed the trigger and didn’t let off until the train engine had exited the frame. Although I captured several great images, this is my favorite of the series, due to the position of the engine in relationship to the distant power tower.

Interesting side-bar: locomotive conductors really do blow their air-horns at ALL railway crossings. Even at one as remote as this crossing.

Perspective is key to the interpretation of this scene.  I’ve taken other photographers to this spot, but they didn’t see the wedgie until I positioned them at just the right vantage point to have all the elements line up. 

Once spotted, they said they’d now be forever warped — fearing on each subsequent drive through this region they’d be pointing out nature’s wedgie to whomever may accompany them.

I feel content, knowing my contribution in life is now so fully realized.

)

Shot from the Ablion Basin at the top of the Wasatch Front’s Little Cottonwood Canyon, above the Alta ski resort.

Of all the images I captured in this set, I like this one the best. I like how the shawdow from the clouds behind me were playing accross the middle ground of this scene.

This lake is popular with families and fishermen, alike. The surrounding area is laced with trails of varying difficulty that wander the mountainside to other lakes. There’s a family of moose living in the area who frequently visit this lake.

I arrived early that morning, intent on photographing the surrounding mountains reflected from this lake’s water. I had several specific locations in mind, but found my first choice was already occupied by another photographer and a fisherman. I opted for my second site and managed to capture the attached picture.

Of the several images I captured from this vantage, I especially like this one. I made this image just before leaving for another spot, further around the lake. Fortunately, I stayed at this site long enough – watching the light play across the scene in front of me – that the sun surprised me. It broke through the trees behind me and fell across the rock beneath my camera at the base of this scene.

I had to step aside from my camera to keep my shadow from falling on the rock, too. But that little, unexpected splash of light on the foreground rock made all the difference. This scene rocks! (Sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun).

Enjoy!
-Mike.

Many of us enjoy working the outdoor world as our subject. So, given we don’t have God’s influence on the natural elements, we have difficulty controlling the light. So we learn to compensate for our lack of God-like abilities by learning our subject and its setting as best we can. When we learn to know the environment we’re shooting, we improve the odds of being on sight when great light happens. This often requires great planning, sacrifice, and patience.

Such is the case with this image.

I’ve photographed this general location dozens of times over the years; however, I’ve never been truly satisfied with my results. I always felt there was something more, something magical about this location than what I was pulling out of it.

I determined to promote the making of this image to prime-time. I studied out the visual elements and decided which items to capture in my image and which to exclude. Next, I played with perspective. I moved around the area, framing various compositions — capturing each framing for later review and critique. I determined which time of year would be best to get the maximum benefit of late evening sunlight sloping through the scene. I marked my calendar.

Upon my return to this location, I already knew what hour I wanted to arrive on scene, approximately where to set up my tripod, and how I wanted to frame the visual elements. I arrived early and confirmed my preconceptions. As the golden rays of late-evening light begin to reach through the scene, I altered my vision only slightly to better accommodate the long reach of shadows across the foreground.

That was it. I had my image!

Since introducing this image, it has quickly become popular. To my mind, this is testament to the study and care put into its making. I had become involved enough with my subject to best portray its magical qualities. I knew: 1) what visual elements I wanted to use, 2) the mood I wanted to portray, and 3) when the environment could best be leveraged to accommodate that mood. There was one final step: once on scene, study it one final time with all the elements in place and manage an artful composition to best complement the elements.

Although, arguably, the truck still remains the subject, I decided to move slightly to the right and lower my framing to include more foreground. I found the truck’s angle closely matched the angle of light and shadow. By moving my tripod somewhat right of where I had envisioned, I effectively set up the truck, light, and shadow at forty-five degree angles to lead the viewer’s eyes deeper into the image, creating a greater sense of depth. In lowering my framing, I placed the truck in the upper left third and leveraged the golden light, shadows, and sparse grass of this rural setting as valuable context to really punch-up this image’s sense of place.

Although some people contend the long shadows and golden light are the real subject of this photograph, I maintain it’s the truck. They counter by saying, with so much space given to light and shadow, they dominate, thus becoming more visually important than the truck. As I composed this image, I felt to give any less space to light and shadow would short-change the entire scene and rob it of emotional impact.

The really cool thing is that these people are even having this discussion with me! I will not argue to change their minds. I respect their interpretation. Art is defined in the eye of the beholder. I simply push them a little bit to facilitate crystallization of their reasoning.

Funny thing about such exchange of ideas, I find in doing so I often crystallize my own reasoning. What a nice gift!

So, thank you!
-Mike.

I often wonder what other passers-by may think as they watch me sizing up shots like this: I wonder how long that guy is going to stand out there in the cold photographing that pond?  It’s a pond, dude!  Walk away . . .

To me, much of the appeal of nature photography is to craft a visually appealing image from what others may quickly pass by without a second thought.  I imagine the thrill I find in successfully aligning all the compositional elements to create a pleasing image that someone may linger over is akin to the thrill a trophy hunter may feel when that prize animal first steps into view.

What do you think?

I’m looking to artfully stylize several of my pieces for a new line of wall decor products.  The panoramic image is set atop a opaqued cropping of itself, which can then be matted and cotained inside a large, 16×24 frame.