Anticipation

 

Anticipation!! This is a backyard garden memory from a few years ago. I always look forward to Spring but I think this year comes the added anticipation and hope that soon we will be able to live a more normal lifestyle. And this Spring I think the flowers will seem more beautiful, more colorful, and bring me extra joy!

Spring is Coming

 

How often do we take the time to find and enjoy the beauty that we see all around us? This work of art is a common Zinnia in the process of blooming. One of my favorite photographers, Karen Hutton, said, "I maintain that there is always EXTRA ordinary to be found in the ordinary. Sometimes it just takes the eyes to see it." I agree!!

Pine Valley Mountain, Utah

 

Pine Valley Mountain at sunset. For those of you not familiar with the St. George area, this mountain range is not naturally orange like the cliffs in my last post. If anyone wonders why landscape photographers (and other landscape artists), always talk about the importance of the quality of light, the time of day and the weather conditions necessary to make a good photo/image, look at the difference in the 2nd photo taken near the same location as the first one, but at midday in the bright sun.

Snow in Snow Canyon, Utah

 

                      

          

Snow in Snow Canyon

Not a usual winter occurrence, but every once in a while, and uncommon enough to entice me out of my warm bed this morning! Pre-sunrise light is cool and pink.

Just after sunrise the lighting on these cliffs was warm and vibrant. Both equally beautiful to me.

Fire Lake - Ivins, Utah

 

                                                                        Fire Lake at Sunset

I think photos like this show how Fire Lake got it's name! It's about five minutes away from home, and I often go here to walk on the path around sunset. More often than not, the red cliffs reflected in the lake put on a beautiful show. Yesterday was no exception. It was a lovely, warm day here in the St. George area. After my walk, I set up my camera and tripod, and I was the only one there to enjoy the view.

Fire Lake - Ivins, Utah

                                                                         Fire Lake - Ivins, Utah

 

Merry Christmas 2020

 

                                        Red berries and snowflakes? I had to check to make sure I was still in St. George!

                                                                                              Red Hills Desert Garden

I've been so spoiled to be able to photograph the Christmas lights on Temple Square every year!! Nothing quite compares to that experience! Since I couldn't go this year, my heart hasn't been in shooting the lights, but I talked myself into going to the Red Hills Desert Gardens tonight anyway. I always try to look for new compositions or different perspectives than common scenes one usually sees or that I've photographed numerous times. Here's the best I came up with. P.S. Here's a hint for shooting Christmas lights. Shoot during twilight or the blue hour. Many times lights are photographed looking up and when it is dark you end up with a boring black sky. (Unless you do something fancy like combine photos and replace the sky with a Milky Way photo.) But if you go just after the Christmas lights come on while there is still color in the sky, you will have a more colorful and interesting composition.

Halloween in Emery, Utah

 

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A little Photoshop work to put a monster, (photo taken at the Weta Lab in New Zealand), in a photo of an old church and full moon taken in Emery, Utah.

Fall 2020

 

Taken on the back road from Kolob Reservoir to Cedar City.  This was not a great year for brilliant color in the southern Utah mountains, but there were a few glimpses.

Late Bloomer

 

                                                                                                            Late Bloomer

I hate to say goodbye to the flower season!

Bridal Veil Falls, Utah

 

                                                                      Bridal Veil Falls, Utah

As much as I love living in Southern Utah, I do miss the beautiful landscapes up north, especially the abundance of colorful autumn leaves. This is Bridal Veil Falls, just a short distance from my former home.

Snow Canyon Sunset

 

Snow Canyon Sunset

This is my favorite place to photograph in Snow Canyon.  It was a beautiful way to end the day!

Autumn Aspens

 

                                                                                                   Kolob Reservoir, Utah

There was not much color left in this area but I managed to find one composition that  showed some leaves still on the trees.

Since I couldn't shoot many leaves on the trees then my only other option was to photograph them on the ground.  This scene was directly behind me from the top view.

Magenta Sunrise at Snow Canyon

 

Sunrise at Snow Canyon

Sunrise at Snow Canyon. On this morning, the 'blue hour' turned magenta just before sunrise. These magical cliffs change to different hues of oranges and reds depending on the weather, the position of the sun, the time of day and the season. They say, if you want to take beautiful landscape photos, take your camera to beautiful places! Lucky for me, this vantage point is a 10 minute drive. My home is just on the other side of these beautiful cliffs.

BRAXTON JEFFREY LARSEN

 

                                                  BRAXTON JEFFREY LARSEN

Despite all the challenges and problems of this year, we have one beautiful highlight to remember.  Tyler and Ashley had their first child and gave us our 15th grandchild, (13th grandson), on September 29, 2020.  We are so thrilled for them!  He is adorable and perfect in every way!!

Cedar Breaks, Utah Sunset

                                   Cedar Breaks, Utah

Wait for it....wait for it....wait for it....and Ta Da, there it is!!! Last evening I drove up to Cedar Breaks, scouted out a location, set my camera on a tripod, and waited in anticipation to see if I would get a good sunset shot. Time goes by and the sky looks promising with a few clouds, and haze from all the many forest fires. But when sunset came, there was only a brief hint of pinkish glow and then it was gone, leaving the landscape a dull, uninteresting brown. And then starts the debate in my head about whether to stay longer or leave quickly while it is still light enough to make it back to my car without tripping and falling. (I forgot to bring a flashlight or my phone.) I can't count how many times I've made the decision to stay longer, and how many times I've been rewarded long after sunset with a dazzling sky that lights up the landscape just long enough for me to get a shot like this.

 

Technical Commentary:

I am amazed at how sophisticated camera technology and photo software editing programs have become!  (Especially great for technically challenged photogs like myself!)  Just a few years ago, landscape photographers would have to make a significant effort to produce an image like this, one that would not blow out the bright sky, or lose all the detail in the dark foreground.  He would have to compensate for the camera's INability to record the range of light to dark that the human eye can naturally see.  Many years ago I would have used a split level neutral density filter to darken the sky and balance the light.  In more recent years I would bracket several different exposures in my camera, (one shot exposed for the sky, one for the midground, one for the foreground, etc.), then combine them on the computer.  Then came HDR programs which automatically combined numerous exposures, (often with questionable or unnatural results).  Once in a while, but rarely today do I need to use these methods to get results I am pleased with.  

 

For this shot I used a tripod and set my camera to shot RAW and JPG and bracket three different exposures with every click.  I used a wide angle lens and my settings were 800 iso, f/20, 1 sec.  In LR I chose the middle RAW exposure, then decreased exposure in the sky with the 'Highlights' slider and increased exposure on the landscape with the 'Shadows' slider until I was happy with the results.  This was enough to balance the light in the bright sky and the dark landscape.  That's it!  I did make a few other adjustments, but did not change the color, or increase the saturation or decrease noise.  (P.S.  I also attribute a lot of the results with shots like this to the amazing capabilities of my Fuji X-T2.)       

 

Lake Powell 2020

 

 

 LAKE POWELL 2020

Just returned from one of our best Lake Powell houseboat trips ever! This year we had a new location, (Page AZ area), new and improved boat (Just Because), and new time of year, (July instead of October).  Everyone was able to come except Tyler and Ashley, as Ashley was too close to her due date to be that far away from home.  With 26 people ranging from ages 1 to 75, there was a lot of craziness, fun, laughter and action...skiing, wake boarding, tube riding, jet skiing, water sliding, fishing, swimming, kayaking, cliff jumping, paddle boarding, canyon exploring, game playing. And the only 'fighting' was with water balloons and squirt guns. So thankful that everyone stayed healthy and safe! And so blessed to have a family who enjoys being together. Even 'Mother Nature' smiled on us with this incredible view. One day at sunset, a brief storm front quickly passed over us but stalled over the cliffs at the end of the bay leaving this glorious rainbow that seemed to last forever. It was a perfect ending to a perfect vacation!

Dancing in the Rain!

Dancing in the Rain!

Snow Canyon, Utah

A Geologist's Dream!

I love my little corner of the world. Snow Canyon is a geologist's dream, with exposed layers of red and white sedimentary Navajo Sandstone layered with black volcanic basalt lava flows, dating back as far as 190 million years.