Mel Torrie Photography

New Blog/Website!

2011-03-05T16:08:00.001-08:00

Hi Folks!

Sorry for the delay. I've been working on a new site where my blog and galleries will be posted. Would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!

This link will take you to the last two blog entries:
http://www.meltorrie.com/?page_id=107

Copy

2011-01-31T21:47:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the copy but Levi mentioned he liked the way the colors jumped on this version so I thought I'd post it. (Can't go wrong listening to Levi can you?) Remember to click for a large version!

Shots from the Gallery

2011-01-26T21:13:00.001-08:00

Mansion Gallery

2011-01-24T08:55:00.001-08:00

Here is some video during a slow time at the gallery Saturday night. We had about 300 total for the day come through which made for some great exposure and a good time. How do you like the new venture into multi-panel displays?

My son Shad, Levi, and myself had to do an 'all-nighter' to get everything up since I was out of town all week in Tucson for my other job. Shad is here pounding out the stretcher frames and I'm nailing the final touches...

Waiting

2011-01-20T00:02:00.001-08:00

On the way back from getting an x-ray at the hospital I saw this ride sitting along the road. I hobbled out of the truck and set up for some the shoot. The tripod came in handy for a crutch on the ice (got ran over in basketball by a young buck and injured my knee).
Remember, make sure you click for large or I might as well have taken it with my iPhone! :)

The Big One

2011-01-08T23:10:00.001-08:00

Here is my favorite shot of the Niagara Falls. Truly an amazing experience for me to feel, hear, and see this awe inspiring wonder. (be sure to click for full size image!) Thanks for taking the time to come by.

Contrast

2010-12-29T23:41:00.001-08:00

I have been in a "break the rules" mood in photography lately and I will continue the trend with this blog. Instead of a theme or common thread, I will continue to break the rules of good blog entry design by throwing out three different pictures from different seasons and locations.

This is a shot up Spring Hollow two weeks ago.This is along the beach in La Jolla California from earlier this month. I tried to capture a little of the action as waves lapped the beach. Click for higher resolution view.

I took this in late summer with my son at Oxbow Bend. The sun was just coming over my shoulder and lit up the flowers for some foreground interest.

Fall and Clouds

2010-12-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

This is the first picture I took the year I started photography (2006) that I really liked. The quality is poor looking back now, but it was a beautiful scene to behold!As you know I really like clouds. Especially the Mammatus ones. This is a shot from this summer that I caught just as the sun was setting just to the left of the Wellsvilles shown here.

Black and White

2010-12-04T23:30:00.001-08:00

This is a couple of shots that I thought might look good in B/W. The first is a combine on a farm down in Beaver Dam Area.
Ignored in San Diego
This is a Buddhist temple in Singapore.

True Love

2010-12-04T23:28:00.001-08:00

This is a picture of my wife and I 30 years ago when we first met.Well not really but almost as romantic!

Old HDR

2010-11-26T21:58:00.001-08:00

Just going through my catalog today and thought I'd post some HDR that is a little on the bold side. The combine is over in Beaver Dam area and the windmill is shot with the Wellsvilles in the background just beyond the intersection of highway 23 and 30.

Spring Hollow Black Friday

2010-11-26T21:40:00.000-08:00

I love playing at Spring Hollow. Always a challenge to try and get unique shots at a popular place in the valley.

Willow Flat with Friends

2010-10-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

Had a fun photoshoot with friends up at Willow Flat Campground. Nate, Diego, Ryan, Eric and I had a blast enjoying nature and trying to capture it. Here are my best attempts. Thanks for a great day men!

Barns

2010-10-24T20:25:00.001-07:00

Got in the mood for barns Last Saturday (Logan Photo Club inspired) and captured a couple of shots from the road near Logan.

Sunset Beach San Diego

2010-10-24T20:12:00.001-07:00

Spent the week in California. Rained most of the week and this was the only shot I got. Hard to beat the ocean!

Cub river

2010-10-11T17:05:00.001-07:00

Here are some shots from Cub River near the Willow Flats Campground. Neil Hamilton showed us the area and we took the Mendon Photo Club up there Saturday afternoon.

Willow Flat Campground

2010-10-06T07:09:00.001-07:00

Sorry I'm late on my post this week! Here are two shots from Cub River near the Willow Flat Campground. My Friend Neil took me up there last week and it was beautiful. I can't wait to see his great shots.

Kokanee Salmon Run

2010-09-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

I took my boys up to the Porcupine reservoir to check out the end of the Salmon run for the year. They (illegally I believe) tried to catch some in a bucket but despite being on death's doorstop, they were still pretty fast. Here is the best shot from the day.

More Motocross

2010-09-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

Here are some more shots from the race.

My Friend Mark (who took me to the race) almost became collateral damage when a rider was forced off the track and came at us.

Enjoying Nature

2010-09-19T20:58:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed watching a group of monks see the hot springs in Yellowstone for the first time. This is on the north end of the park and is fascinating to see how much it changes every time we visit.

Crazy

2010-09-19T20:55:00.000-07:00

My Friend Mark Kidman took me to the Utah State Championship Motocross race Saturday. I threw this together quick and will take some more time later to get a decent blog entry up. Boy are those guys crazy. Man do I miss jumping motorbikes on the farm!

Ducks and the plains

2010-09-13T07:58:00.000-07:00

I like baby ducks for some reason. These fellas had the neatest little water droplets on them that I just had to share. Do I really sound like a girl?

After my sister's weeding in Canada I ran my parents down to the Great Falls Airport. We were in a bit of a hurry to assure no surprises at the border caused a missed plane, so I wasn't able to stop as desired. These are a couple I took out the car window. There is quite a few windmills along that drive which made for some interesting subjects.

Benson Marina with Mendon Guild

2010-09-04T22:40:00.000-07:00

I set up a photo shoot for the Mendon Photo Guild at my favorite Pelican watching spot. We had a great turnout and I hope they enjoyed it...

On the way home from ball

2010-08-23T22:22:00.001-07:00

There was a nice soft fog settled over the valley as I drove through Mendon this morning.

Niagara

2010-08-23T07:29:00.000-07:00

It's a little tricky trying to find new ways to shoot the classics. Here is my attempt at Niagara falls...

Shad Won!

2010-08-16T09:17:00.001-07:00

Happy day for dad. Shad won grand Champion for the wildlife category of the valley's photo contest. Here is the article and picture:

The finalists for the wildlife category this year all involved more than one animal. To be precise, they all involved one animal eating another animal, or eating more than one animal.

“We must be morbid,” said one of the judges.

Maybe so, but just as the canoes complemented the sunset in our scenic champion photo, the element of a hunting moment adds to a wildlife photo. Bear snagging fish usually trumps bear walking through trees. So our wildlife winner, naturally, is a picture of a fox that managed to grab not one but two ground squirrels.

Thirteen-year-old Shad Torrie of Petersboro captured the moment with his Canon XT Rebel. He and his father, Mel, were in Yellowstone National Park in July when they noticed the fox not far from the road. During the trip they saw eight bears and hundreds of buffalo, but it was the fox that provided the most interesting moment.

After Shad took his winning picture, he said, the fox “sat down and played around with them (the ground squirrels) for a little bit.”

Eventually the fox wandered off with its meal, leaving Shad with an image that HJ photo editor Alan Murray called “one of the most unusual moments captured of all our contest entries.”

“I especially liked how the photographer used a bit of blur motion to create some movement in the photo while keeping the fox’s face in focus,” Murray said of “Mouthful.” “And it’s pretty cool that he got that close to it.”

Although he was surprised to win the contest, Shad said, “I did think it was a good picture.”

Shad, who enjoys snowboarding, basketball and playing the cello and bass guitar, said he goes out “about once a week to take pictures,” often with his dad. Mel, a photographer himself, often gives Shad tips on the trade.

“He tells me about the rule of thirds and reminds me to get things in focus,” Shad said.

Shad, who said he also likes shooting landscapes, entered this year’s Summerfest photo contest, and also entered a scenic photo in the HJ contest.

In the future, he plans to enter more contests. At this rate, that could well mean more prizes.

Kaera

2010-08-16T08:19:00.001-07:00

My son Shad and I took Kaera my youngest daughter out to the field and got about a minute of shooting. (Her patience went about as fast as the light!)

Shooting with Levi

2010-08-16T07:16:00.001-07:00

Levi came over to the house and we got some fun shots in the yard. Looking at the results, it was more of the thrill of the chase than the results that I'm happy with!

More Photowalk from Logan

2010-08-08T22:36:00.001-07:00

2010-07-29T18:14:00.000-07:00

Wow. I have thousands of pictures to go through from the last month and I will not have the time to get them up for a while but I wanted to get my weekly post out at least. Shad and I participated in the Worldwide Kelby Photowalk. This involves wandering around town as a loose group of up to 50 people capturing a bit of your world to share with the rest of it. We gad a blast. Here are some of my favorites. I'll post more later.

I liked the repeating patterns on this historic building and the park bench.
We have some great lamps lining main street giving it an old time feel.
This was the best capture I could find on the theme of nature rising through the asphalt world we've created.
This is my favorite image from the day. I've never seen a hat better leveraged for a tool box!

What is to come

2010-07-15T06:57:00.003-07:00

Hi Friends,

Unfortunately I have not had the time to do much on photography lately. I'm going to try and post once a week from here on out. I've thrown in a couple of pictures from my last two weeks with the caveat that I've not had the time to carefully edit them but wanted to get up some shots so you know what I've been up to.

These bees were drinking out front of a bakery in Nauvoo IL.I had a business trip to Buffalo NY yesterday and was surprised to learn that I was 19 minutes from Niagara Falls (I'm Canadian remember, but you wouldn't know it by how the RCMP chased me when I entered a restricted area at the border with my big tripod... Crazy). I snuck up there before I had to fly home.
This shot was of the sunset in Wyoming on the way to Nauvoo. A lot of Semis pass through them parts!
I had the exhilarating experience of shooting at an Amish farm. I look forward to posting more from that awesome time.
This needs work, but this was the temple in Nauvoo the first morning there.
Thanks for looking! Would love to hear your comments. I apologize for not being able to post more often!

Tacoma and Seattle

2010-07-01T21:41:00.000-07:00

Here is another shot from the wharf in Tacoma. It is an Hdr of 3 exposures at low tide in overcast conditions. Should look better if you click for large version.

This is a neat water park next to the needle in Seattle. This dog played for an hour catching water in its mouth. The kids had a blast too. For fun I did this as an HDR with a single exposure +/- 1.5 stops.

Washington St.

2010-06-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

I joined my family out in Washington St. and enjoyed some time down at the Tacoma wharf (thanks to guide Monica!). The first shot is a combination of long exposures (30 seconds) to get the smooth water. I used a faster shutter speed shot of the boys and combined the two images in Photoshop. Be sure to click on it for the large version.I squawked and Monica kindly pulled over to let me take a picture of this bridge with fast moving clouds flying past. This is an HDR combination of 6 exposures.

Trip home

2010-06-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

I was headed home tonight from delivering a canvas print to a Summerfest customer out in Providence and saw this forming up and went and grabbed some shots. This is a quick sampling with some experimentation. Thanks for looking!

Hang time

2010-06-23T08:19:00.001-07:00

I was dropping a father's day present off to a friend and saw this bird building a nest. My friend wasn't home but I took out my camera and spent some time in his yard following the action.

Summerfest contest

2010-06-20T08:29:00.001-07:00

Well my son and I had quite an adventure participating in the first annual Summerfest photo contest. We did miserable in the contest but had a blast. I'll share stories and pictures that didn't make the cut. Basically we had 60 hours to find the best pictures we could and submit framed prints. This first image is the sunrise on the first morning. Shad and I went flying out of the house at 5:40 am (I skipped my 5:30 basketball all week!) and headed for the marsh. We didn't get far as the sun was rising quickly so I pulled off on the side of valley view highway and threw on my gumboots and stumbled over a barbwire fence into the mud. I found the best composition I could in the minute I had, slammed my tripod as deep into the mud as I could and started firing away. I had charged all my batteries EXCEPT the one in the camera. Back I ran through the mud and caught my inner thigh on a sharp barb. After freeing myself I ran to meet Shad who'd retrieved it from the other side of the road. Hurtled the fence again (a little more careful this time!) and started firing away again.The other shot I entered was of this red barn off the road in Benson at sunrise the next day.
Shad and I were up til 4:00 am Tuesday morning trying to get star trails at Tony Grove lake. Here is what Shad came home with. (more on these two later)
Here is Shad's second shot just outside of Logan. The lady at the framing store liked it way better than mine and wanted his autograph!

Flower Friday

2010-06-11T09:04:00.001-07:00

In honor of Levi's Friday tradition:

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-07T07:25:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned Memorial Day weekend was nice. Shot some neat scenes near Cutler Marsh and also spent some time with my son Wayne at the graveyard.

With wings

2010-06-04T07:48:00.001-07:00

Felt like it would be a good day for posting things with wings. The first two shots were from a fun canoe trip planned by Levi as part of the Logan Photography Club. Levi did a great job and we had a blast. The butterfly is from a Vancouver Island garden.

Brandywine Falls

2010-05-31T20:33:00.000-07:00

Here are three different shots from the Brandywine Falls that are a short hike off the highway that leads from Vancouver to the Whistler Resort. Which one do you like the best?

Variety

2010-05-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Just throwing out a couple of shots from two recent trips. I didn't quite get the DOF I like on this butterfly but loved the dripping 'intake straw" (I never did well in biology memorizing all those parts!) See the large view to see straw better.
This is my daughter Kaera reaching out to touch a piece of heaven... Well actually she was trying to strangle it and rip it from the earth where from it receives its nourishment but that doesn't sound as good (She proved this motive in other encounters).
These two shots are from the marina in LA. They aren't good enough to get their own posts but I worked so hard to get something there that I had to post them anyway! (unprofessional, I know) I've given these an HDR feel but they are only single shots.

Strange winds over the Wellsvilles tonight

2010-05-27T21:47:00.000-07:00

Standing out in the yard talking to my good friend Levi I couldn't help but grab my camera and capture this mid-conversation. I'm sure he heard the beeping timer...

Windmill in San Fransisco

2010-05-26T21:34:00.000-07:00

This was a neat spot along the beach in San Fransisco. The birds and mood reminded me of Hitchcock and so I tried to give it that mood...

Love is in the air...

2010-05-18T21:12:00.000-07:00

I really enjoy chasing butterflies. Not real manly but I must be honest... Love was definitely in the air and I tried to capture it in motion. Be sure to view some full size.

Vancouver Nature

2010-05-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

I spent the last week in Vancouver Canada to speak at a mining conference and got one day to go out and shoot some of the area. The mossy forests were great and I found some waterfalls I'll post later.

Waiting

2010-05-12T23:57:00.000-07:00

I thought the one with the heads peeking over the horizon implied the anticipation of the rising sun. Which one do you like better? I'm assuming you like at least one of them! :) Make sure you view at full size (click on them).

Rising over the Marsh

2010-05-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

This is from my favorite sunrise last fall. A little chilly in my basketball shorts but worth it!

More Golden

2010-05-09T22:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some additional sights down on the beach in San Francisco. I'm in Vancouver this week and hope to get some great shots on the weekend...

Heading home

2010-05-06T07:28:00.001-07:00

Ran down to the beach last night to get one last shoot in of the bridge. Make sure you view large! Hope you enjoy.

Rays

2010-05-03T07:22:00.000-07:00

This is a cropped version of a picture from last fall in the Yonk field next to my home.

Windsurfing

2010-05-01T17:03:00.001-07:00

The windsurfer's sail just lit up in the evening sun and I tried to balance the exposure between him and the sun...

Golden

2010-04-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

I had a quick trip out to the Bay area for a business meeting and rushed over to the Golden Gate bridge for the waning moments of the day.

Shots from the Opening Social

2010-03-23T07:34:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my good friend Levi, we have some shots from the gallery social. It had slowed down a bit and he was able to get some great atmosphere shots. Well done Levi!

http://sdesignsphotography.blogspot.com/2010/03/man-behind-magic-ii.html

Here is a shot that did not make the cut for the show:

Cafe Ibis

2010-03-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

We had a fun evening Friday night at the Gallery opening at the Cafe Ibis. Free coffee and snacks and lots of friends. Thanks to all of you for your support. The Cache Magazine also did a cover story on me which was OK too. I pasted a link below. Here is a shot of the establishment during a live bands performance late one Friday evening. It is a fusion of 6 pictures at different exposures in an effort to get the cool flowers and the band.

http://news.hjnews.com/cache_magazine/center_feature/article_665da3f4-32ea-11df-847c-001cc4c002e0.html

Northern Alberta

2010-03-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

I had a nice trip to northern Canada for business and caught some shots along the way. This old thrasher on the side of the road caught my attention for a while. This is an HDR converted to Sepia in Lightroom. I found a great Catholic church with cemetery and this little shrine where they light candles. It was another drive by discovery in the little town of Beaumont. I can't explain my enjoyment of catching sunrises in cemeteries but I do. Perhaps one day I'll have enough for a gallery of photos that no one would ever put on their wall eh?

More from the library

2010-03-02T07:28:00.000-08:00

Here are some shots from my library from last fall. Good memories on this cold day. Man I love clouds!

San Diego

2010-02-25T10:28:00.000-08:00

Busy getting my gallery ready for the 19th of March (Opening Social at Cafe Ibis from 6-7 if you want to come!). Saw this shot as I've been looking through past work and thought you might like it. This was from across the bay looking towards downtown San Diego. I decided to put the apocalyptic one in to. Which one do you like better? Make sure to click on each photo to see the detail.

Last drip installment for a while anyway (it was fun)

2010-02-16T15:46:00.000-08:00

More Splashing

2010-02-06T11:10:00.001-08:00

More playing in the water and milk for the texture, pattern, abstract theme.

Out of my comfort zone

2010-02-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

I've been challenged to stretch and do some patterns/textures type photography. not really something I've tried before... The first one is a drop in water, the next in milk, and the third on an apple. I have some others i'll post later.

One day of winter

2010-01-23T21:50:00.001-08:00

Vancouver

2010-01-23T21:40:00.000-08:00

I had a last minute "leave tomorrow" meeting called with a potential client in Vancouver. I had to fly back early the next morning so I only had a two hours to get some pictures. Levi, these are all taken in Stanley Park and I recommend you drive around it one evening while you are there. I know the HDR is funky, but it was so dark that I couldn't get the grass and railing to light up naturally. People's headlights were a problem but since I didn't have time to wait, I'll have to fix it later.

Busy

2010-01-16T23:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been getting ready for my gallery in March at Cafe Ibis and a class I taught for the Cache Valley Photographers group (swell bunch of folks!). I did get out and shoot today and had fun. Can't post much yet, but here is one overlooking the island in Logan. I'll still be a little sparse in posting but keep checking in. Thanks for looking! Comments on what you'd do different or what you like are very welcome!

Spring Hollow Shoot behind the scenes

2009-12-31T21:25:00.001-08:00

My brother Ryan caught this shot of me standing in the creek setting up a shot. Glad for the double socks!

Spring Hollow Shoot

2009-12-30T11:50:00.000-08:00

Stopped at this tree on the way up to Spring Hollow. This shetland pony was also along the way. Looked pretty cold. My brother Ryan came along and we had fun playing in the creek.
Over the top HDR version. Hard to find color up there so I pushed the extreme on this one for fun.

I have never seen the ice build up at this spot like it is this year. Great shapes.

Before and after

2009-12-28T10:50:00.001-08:00

Here are two shots from Pioneer Park in Mendon Utah this fall. I've never seen the plant before and really liked it.

Catching up and "Dang I like clouds!"

2009-12-22T22:21:00.000-08:00

I spent a little time tonight catching up on some photos I took down in Cedar City at Cedar Breaks. The clouds were awesome and it was well worth getting up early and hitting the trail.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-21T08:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a shot from a church party. I am blessed to have such a family. I hope that this season finds you healthy and happy.

Henrie Farm House

2009-12-17T05:51:00.000-08:00

The Henries asked if I could give them some options on a shot I took at Thanksgiving of their farm house down by Cedar City.

2009-12-09T07:43:00.000-08:00

On the way to a meeting in Logan I had to stop and catch this sun rise. I got my dress shoes all muddy but it twas worth it!

Prickly and White

2009-12-07T08:08:00.000-08:00

Here is another shot from the west side of San Diego. I really liked the little cactus and tried to capture their glow with this tree as the frame.

This is an old picture from Alaska along the road. It was a long shot with a 400 mm lens that had to be cropped down to fill the frame. This was the first picture I sold at Summerfest which was a surprise to me.

Wake up!

2009-11-25T07:35:00.001-08:00

Wake up!, originally uploaded by Mel Torrie.

Here is another shot from Monday Morning in the Mendon Graveyard. It was a glowing morning but I ended up giving it more of an eerie feeling since I couldn't quite nail the warm glow. I'm getting quite a bit of glare from my wide angle lens, but in this case with the full ring, it kind of added a natural vignette so I've decided I like it in this instance.

Lunch

2009-11-23T21:12:00.001-08:00

In San Diego I came across this huge spider wrapping and drinking lunch. I used a 400 mm lens to catch the action and tried flash on a couple. Need to be viewed large for the detail.

Sunrise with Friends

2009-11-20T20:30:00.001-08:00

Sunrise with Friends, originally uploaded by Mel Torrie.

Cloud Ladders

2009-11-20T20:24:00.001-08:00

Cloud Ladders, originally uploaded by Mel Torrie.

Incredible clouds on this morning at Cutler Marsh near my home. My favorite time of the day. And taking pictures beats milking cows in the morning like I did on the farm growing up.

Getting a cat

2009-11-17T21:49:00.001-08:00

A fellow basketball player offered to give my family two cats for eating the mice and asked me to follow him home after our morning basketball game. As I approached his house the sky lit up and I drove past his house and onto a back road looking desperately for some foreground interest. I found this patch of weeds next to a barn and setup my tripod.

Mendon Contest

2009-11-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

The Mendon Photo Club had a theme of night shots and fall so I submitted these. They get judged by a professional photographer which is always a good learning experience.

Surprise

2009-11-09T21:05:00.000-08:00

I was shooting a sunrise on the east side of San Diego and this humming bird appeared out of nowhere.

2009-11-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

A shot this along 1600 west in Logan. The sky was great and drove all over the valley looking for different angles. Its going to take all winter to process this fall seasons photos. My favorite time of year to shoot starts the last two weeks of September and finishes the second week of Novemenber. The skies are incredible and the sunrises and fall colors just can't be beat. I love living in Cache Valley! Make sure to view this at full size.

Portraits and the Coloured Canyon

2009-11-03T20:51:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of shots with the Daugs family (They were very patient!) and some shots up the canyon...

Behind

2009-11-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

Hello faithful followers! Sorry for the lack of posts. The baby, learning a new camera, and a large number of people wanting family photos with the leaves has put my post-processing efforts way behind. So I'll start back up slowly and hopefully gain some momentum although I have a bunch of additional family photo shoots coming up.

On Fire

2009-09-23T15:43:00.000-07:00

The Mendon Photo Guild monthly theme was fireworks and I didn't get any good ones from the 4th so my son Shad and I made our own using ignited steel wool. We had a blast despite the molten souvenirs on our head and neck. We were pleased with out first attempt at light painting. We look forward to more of this recklessness in the future.

Mission San Xavier del Bac, Arizona

2009-09-09T19:11:00.001-07:00

Had an overnight trip to Tucson for a meeting and ran out to this famous mission that Ansel Adams liked to take pictures of. It was quite dark and I had to use 30 second exposures to get any detail. As I was waiting for these long exposures I figured I'd multi-task and have my "goodnight talk"with Raeghn my wife. While we were talking some stray dogs started barking and cornered me. I softly told Raeghn I had a dog issue, hung up, and started walking slowly backwards towards my rental car about 50 yards away. My heart was going and my mind ran through a large assortemend of endgames. Most of which involved many stitches and a male nurse named Ortega. I made it and headed for home. Not as many shots as I'd hoped for but alive to download the images. Thank heavens for Raeghn's praying me back to the car!

DC Trip in August

2009-09-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

So, this is my incomplete collection of photos from my trip to DC. I was very fortunate with the clouds and was giggling with excitement as I ran around the mall snapping away.

Cutler Marsh This Morning

2009-09-07T19:15:00.001-07:00

I have been delaying a post, in the name of getting a complete collection of photos from a recent shoot and it is taking too long, so here is a shot from this morning at Cutler Marsh. Very tricky to pull off with the direct sunlight. Used a couple of pictures and some HDR.

Who told them?

2009-09-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

My neighbors, the Robbins discovered I had a camera and asked if I could do some Senior's Pictures. They had some great sites picked out and I just pushed the button.

She was a good sport, even smelling the thistle!

Sheep Grazing

2009-08-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

Heading into town I saw this in my rear view mirror heading into Nibley Utah. Did a U-turn and caught this just in time. 15 more seconds and it was gone.

2009-08-03T06:18:00.000-07:00

I organized a photo shoot at "Garth's Tractors" for the Mendon Photo Guild. We had a lot of fun shooting a bunch of his 100 tractor collection. A gold mine! I will try to convince Levi that we should get the Logan group out there as well. I would love to hear feedback on which ones work and don't work... Thanks for looking!

A couple more from Southern Yellowstone Park

2009-07-24T01:41:00.000-07:00

The sun was dropping fast so I tried to get as many foregrounds to go with that big cloud as I could find.

WorldWide Photo Walk

2009-07-23T23:48:00.000-07:00

Shad and I went out on the http://worldwidephotowalk.com/ which was a international event with 900 groups around the world taking pictures in their communities. We had a blast. Shad has a great eye for photography as you see below.

Shads:

Here are some of mine. I went a little overboard on punch to try and stick out a little. It was a competition and you know how I am with that weakness...:

Blackbirds in Yellowstone

2009-07-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

Just looking through some old images tonight and saw these two black birds that were begging for food at a popular waterfall overlook. Snow was starting to come pretty fast.

Colorful date

2009-07-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

Raeghn and I were headed out on a date and the sky lit up. Major dilemma. I commented on how amazing the sky looked. She agreed and then asked where we were eating. I said maybe we could look and see if there were any restaurants over "there". She agreed. I thought she knew I was joking and that I was really in pursuit of a picture. I drove around like crazy trying to find an angle that would catch the incredible light. She finally caught on and was far more understandable than she should have been! I'm sure blessed!

Storm just for you

2009-07-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

On the way to my son's scout camp just below Yellowstone, I saw this little farm as the sun was setting. It seemed to have it's own little storm happening. I've posted two "treatments" of the scene. As always, comments are welcome and help me get a feel for what looks and what is not that appealing. Sometimes it is hard to separate your emotions you had when taking the picture and keeping a objective opinion. In the end it all comes down to personal taste and I'm interested in yours! Don't forget to click on these to see the high resolution versions to see the detail or lack thereof. Thanks for looking.

Car Show

2009-07-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to the Summerfest Car Show. They got tired of the picture taking after 20 minutes and jumped in the creek for the rest of the day. We all had a great time. I found the hardest thing about shooting this show was isolating the cars from the backgrounds, people, other cars, bad reflections, etc. I've posted here some of the ones I took extreme measures to isolate.

Before Andrew gave up on shooting in favor of swimming, he was swinging his point and shoot camera around his wrist beside this car. Of course it came off and flew into the door! YIKES. Some of these paint jobs cost over $10K. Thankfully he chose to accost the only shiny car without a paint job. There wasn't a mark on it and we quickly moved on. CLOSE CALL.Got a little silly on this one and photoshopped in some cat eyes....

This little fellow seemed to be smiling at me so I captured his cheesy grin from front on.
This was probably the coolest paint job at the show as it reflected the colors around it.

Hogle Zoo

2009-07-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

For the 4th we took our kids to the Hogle Zoo. I'd say it was the busiest day of the year. Brilliant but we had fun. I've thrown a couple of pictures that jumped out first. I'll probably post more later.

Liked this fellow hanging out in a tree above me. Guessing from his stare that he is a good judge of character.The rhinos seem to "wear their emotions on their sleeve" regarding their lives of captivity. I'd rather be shot...?
This baby giraffe's mouth seemed to look like a creature in and of itself (nostrils are the eyes).
Again sticking out it's tongue playing hide and seek.
Another animal that seems unable to hide its enthusiasm for hanging out in the jungles of Salt Lake...

July 4th

2009-07-04T05:48:00.000-07:00

What a great country we live in! I've posted some pics from the industry that feeds us.
For those of you who can stomach over the top HDR, here is a shot of some sheep two days ago between Logan and Nibley.
Here is one of my hero's my brother Dave out fixing his pivot irrigation system. I'm sure glad we have men like him that will work like they do to keep the food coming!
This is sort of a Red-White-Blue themed tractor shot near Mendon Ut.
As a farm kid, I always preferred the horses that you put fuel in but the real things are sure beautiful.These two shots were "very early" attempts in my photography to catch how great a good crop looks. I wouldn't normally show such quality pics but I needed some crop representation...

I went overboard trying to emphasize the glow on this abandoned harvesting operation.

Water Falling

2009-07-04T04:13:00.000-07:00

I thought it might be a good idea to post some waterfall pictures, showing more beauty from this great country.

These are the Undine falls in Yellowstone.Here are two shots from my favorite spot up Logan canyon. It was early winter after a major freeze. I recommend viewing them expanded to see the ice formations.
In Yellowstone this Spring there was quite a large runoff and a lot of energy in the streams. I love the tree at the top of this picture that is laying across the stream.

A fall shot up Spring Hollow in Logan Canyon.After what shouldn't have been a grueling hike with my 12 yr old son Wayne at Camp Lowell (sp?) at the bottom of Yellowstone, I collapsed in front of the Union Falls and got this shot.

The clouds were ominous this day at Yellowstone's Grand Canyon Upper Falls. I was just starting photography and I didn't get the exposure right but you get the idea...?
Another more typical shot of Undine falls.
This is one of those spots that is just neat to be at but you can't really capture it on your camera. My boys and I call it "Funky Rock" and as a result I've forgotten the real name for the area. The erosion of Funky Rock is quite amazing. There are little cascading waterfalls all around it and it's a great place for kids to play.

After another hike which shouldn't have been physically debilitating, I collapsed in front of these falls in the Uintas. My good buddy Delon Olsen accompanied me and we had a great day trying to capture this beautiful site.
Here is a closeup of that stream up Spring Hollow last year after the deep freeze .
Thanks for coming to the site. I sure appreciate the support!

Barn

2009-07-03T07:58:00.000-07:00

On the way home from Basketball I saw this barn off the road as the sun was coming up...
HDR version
One day I will learn to master B/W.

Canada Day Clouds

2009-07-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

After dropping the boys off for scouts tonight I started driving around the valley looking for cloud reflections at my favorite watering holes...
Better get to bed. I'll post more later.

Reflections

2009-06-29T21:00:00.000-07:00

Looking through my pictures today, I discovered that I have quite a fascination with water reflections. I've posted some of my favorites below:

This was a sunrise near my home at the marina.
This is another shot down by Anglesea in Southern Australia. There was a break a ways out and it formed the greatest waves when they hit.This is probably my favorite of all time, but no one seems to want to buy it at the art shows?... These swans were off the road in Alaska near Anchorage. I had to use a long lens and they are not the clearest but some people have liked the picture anyway.
This is the most and probably only ironic picture I've really taken. I was left in the dust (as usual) by my wife training for a triathalon and I had to stop my bike and take this picture in the ditch. It also helped give an excuse for being an hour behind her...
I saw this sunrise in my rear view mirror on the way to work one morning just west of Logan and I had to stop and jump in the ditch to catch it.
This reflection was found along the same road in Anchorage Alaska.
This was a sunrise in Yellowstone park near the West entrance.

I took my son Andrew out to take pictures of baby geese in the morning and loaned him my jacket. He waited quite patiently as you can see.

San Diego is probably Raeghn and I's favorite city in the US. Here is the sky line from the little island just off the coast.
Having a little fun with long exposures.
As you read before, I got stranded on the Rottsnest Island in Australia. Having nothing to do, I spent most of the night playing on the beach.
I was glad to find the water quite still as this fluffy cloud floated past.
On the way home from Logan I saw this sight but had no tripod so I braced my camera with a stick to a road sign for this 10 second exposure.
I was again fortunate by the Tetons to catch a 10 minute calm of the waters to get this reflection with my 10mm lens

The two shots below are from the marina by our house. I used a technique called HDR which is a combination of three different photos shot at different exposured and then blended together.