Wednesday, September 30, 2015

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.)       

8 comments:

Nancy J said...

Where we live, we do get golden colours, but in the South Island where the winter temperatures are so much colder, there the colours are more vivid as they change . Superb photo, with a wee patch of stones going along the grasses, maybe a small stream when it rains. This leaves so much in my mind, and truly beautiful. One photo, I agree with all you wrote.

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

They are utterly STUNNING

Linda W. said...

Absolutely gorgeous!

Ruth Hiebert said...

Wow! God used the brightest colors on His palette to paint this scene.AWESOME!

Laura~Pretty Pix said...

Stunningly gorgeous image, Karen.
And I love your advice.. it's right on!

Stephanie said...

Absolutely stunning! I try my best to post just one image. I do like your advice though.

Unknown said...

Karen, absolutely stunning image! It can definitely stand alone!
We get lots of colour this time of year but nothing in comparison to this shot!
Also, great advice! I agree with you wholeheartedly. I seldom post more than one shot. I have two blogs but each is different in it's topic. One for Birds and one for general shots, or a daily shot! I usually post two shots a day but in the different blogs. For the most part I post mostly for myself, but definitely enjoy the contact I have with people who take an interest in what I do!
I am very interested in your images. They definitely give me something to aim for! Thank you! Robin

diane b said...

I have always thought of desert and red rocks when I think of Utah. So it is good to learn about the mountains. The Aspens are beautiful.
Your advice on a photographic blog is good. I prefer the Journal type blog with stories through pictures. After all my photos are not good enough for one to hold the viewers attention for long. Also I find it difficult to find time to blog every day so I often miss posts of the daily bloggers but then I scroll through the last few posts, which in turn is the same as looking at more than on photo at a time but having to make more than one comment to let the friend know I've been there,
"Six of one and half a dozen of the other."