Pella

Tulip Time is coming up later this week, so I went to Pella today to shoot tulips. I tried this last year when I went after Tulip Time. By the time I got there, most of the flowers were gone, and what was left wasn't worth shooting. This year, I thought I'd go early to avoid the same problem.

I saw a lot of this...


So, I shot windows instead...



It wasn't quite as bad as that. There were a few flowers to shoot. Stay tuned...

Pioneer Day

One of the nicest things about working in Utah is getting a second July holiday. Utahns celebrate July 24 as a state holiday, Pioneer Day, to commemorate the day the Mormons first set foot in the Salt Lake Valley. One July, we went to Great Basin National Park in Nevada during our three-day weekend. It's just across the border from west-central Utah, and it is an undiscovered treasure.

It's completely off the beaten path, but I hope to get back there some day. The scenery was incredible. The deer walked right through our campsite. The hiking is spectacular. And camping above 10,000 feet in mid-July provides a welcome relief to the oppressive summer heat.










I hope this is my last post for a while where I have to rely on old pictures. I'm finally starting to get some flowers popping up in my yard. I hope to find a couple minutes to shoot something new starting tomorrow.

Woolen Mill

I shot the Baron Woolen Mill in Brigham City a couple times when I lived in Utah. It's a neat old woolen mill with all kinds of neat old machinery and great light. This old wheel has been shot by a lot of really good photographers. This picture is from my first shoot there. I'll likely post more pictures from subsequent visits before too long. I think I only shot black and white after the first visit, and I like those pictures better. You just can't go wrong with old machines and black and white photos. I've printed a couple of them, but most are still sitting in my negative folder. Maybe if I promise more of them soon, I'll feel obligated to scan and post some of them. So there you have it, more black and white woolen mill photos soon. I promise.

Barn

I saw this while out scouting locations for a portrait the other day. I never did find the right spot for the portrait, but I do like this photo. And now I'm back to putting borders around photos. I think the black and whites look good with the white border. I wish I knew how to make the picture bigger. I know there's a way. I've seen it done. Thoughts anyone?

Pleasant surprise

I'm trying to get all my photo CDs and DVDs organized. It's taking a long time, just like cleaning my basement, but tonight I stumbled across a photo I had completely forgotten about. It was taken on the same trip as the previous Grand Canyon photos, but I love the way the shadows of the clouds give this photo so much more depth than the others. I wonder what I'd find if I'd actually look at the slides from that trip? Maybe I'll tackle that after I get the basement cleaned up...

Lightning

I am by no means a storm chaser. But when you need a feature photo for the next day's paper, and there is a thunderstorm rolling through town, what else are you supposed to do? Both times I made a real attempt at shooting lightning I came away with pictures I was happy with. The first was in St. Joseph, Missouri. The other is in Ogden, Utah.

The lightning in the church picture, to my eye, looked like a really thick bolt of lightning that lingered on the ground for a second or so. I was surprised to see that the film showed that what looked like one solid bolt of lightning was made up of several smaller strands, or maybe the lightning was moving from side to side. Either way, I was, and am, happy with the photo.

Arches National Park

Balanced Rock, March 2001. What a place...

Barn quilts

I drove through Washington County, Iowa the other day. One of their new tourist attractions is barn quilts. People paint a big quilt block, and then put it on their barn. As far as rural county tourism ideas go, I'd have to say this one is better than most. It's not the covered bridges of Madison County, but maybe if somebody writes a book and Clint Eastwood does a movie...

Here are three of them.






My dad claims that quilting is a disease. Barn quilts might just give him more evidence that this is true.

Which one?

I shot this one-room schoolhouse while driving around on Monday. When I shot it, I couldn't decide whether to include the window on the opposite wall in the center window or not. I think I've decided which one I like now, but let me know which one you think works best...

Utopia?

Somebody's idea of Utopia is quite a bit different from mine...