Aspens near Cedar Breaks, Utah

Aspens near Cedar Breaks, Utah

Most people think of the northern Rocky Mountains when they think of aspens and fall colors in Utah.  But even though southern Utah is known more for red rock vistas and desert scenery, we have high elevation mountains down south with beautiful scenery as well.

This fall, I made several trips into the mountains near our northern Utah home looking for color, and have been disappointed.  At least so far, the colors have not been vibrant, and many of the aspen leaves have gone from green to dead, maybe because of lack of water, or weather conditions or whatever.

At any rate, we took a quick trip to our Santa Clara home this past weekend so that Jeff could enter a car into a car show, and I decided to take my one day and drive up into the mountains.  And was I ever rewarded! The aspens were at their peak with every vibrant fall color imaginable.   I had a wonderful day being inspired by this beauty, and felt very rewarded with the images I was able to capture.  I'll be posting some of my favorites each day for about a week.  If you don't have fall color where you live, I hope you can enjoy seeing what I saw on a perfect fall day in southern Utah!

As a side note, I have a few thoughts for you photographers out there who are specifically hoping to attract followers to your blog because they admire your photographic skills.  (Keep in mind I'm not talking about those of you who are writers and your blog posts contain wonderful stories that are more important or as important as the photos you post to embellish your words.)

I've said many times that for me, the measure of how much viewers like one of my images is determined by how long they are engaged in looking at it.  Are there enough attractive elements to sustain their interest and keep them looking and admiring.  In order to give them the chance to do this, it is important to avoid distractions.  And the biggest distractions are multiple photos in one post, because it is natural to only look briefly at the first photo, then move on to see what is next and what is next, etc.  This does not give each of your photos the attention they deserve!

My suggestion is to only post one or maybe two photos at a time, or three at the VERY max.  If you have a series of photos you want to post, let your viewers spent time enjoying the first photo and then say you will be posting additional photos each day.  If they have time to really enjoy the first image, this will give your viewers incentive to return to your blog regularly.

Another caution, and this is a hard one to do, and that is to be brutally selective about the photos you put online for everyone to see, because your skill as a photographer will be judged by your last few posts.  Be VERY selective.  We photographers are often not good at criticizing our own work and so we tend to post lots of photos.  Try not to post photos of the exact same scene shot at different angles.  This becomes boring.  Pick the best angle and post only that one.  When in doubt, ask a friend or fellow photographer you trust to choose between your best photos. 

Bottom line...... only post your very best images, one or two at a time, and keep your viewers anxious to see more of your brilliant work!!

(Remember, this advise does not apply if you are posting your images for your personal enjoyment only, or to document a vacation, or to support a story that is the main reason for the post.)