Landscapes

Blinded by the Light

An abandoned BLM horse corral out in the West Desert of Utah makes for a perfect frame of the Milky Way.

LDS Oquirrh Mountain Temple, South Jordan, Utah

Purple and Blue

I had been hiking with a friend, up Lamb's Canyon and The Great Western Trail, looking for a firey winter sunset. We'd gone about a mile up the trail, from where we'd parked our cars, but hadn't seen anything worth shooting. As the sun was finally falling, I hurried up around the bend, thinking something would materialize. Nothing did, but I kept at it until well after the sun had gone down. After packing up all of my gear, and taking apart my camera, lens and tripod, I turned around to head back down the trail, looked up, and saw this playing out before me. Cursing my luck, I hurried and ran back down the trail in near darkness, to this spot on the trail, hoping that I wasn't going to slip on the cross-country ski slicked ice trail, and make it to something worth having. I hurriedly assembled my gear, slapped it on the tripod, found a composition I was ok with, and took a few frames. I'm glad I did, and that I didn't die in the process.

LDS Salt Lake City Temple during Christmas Time, Salt Lake City, UT

Assembly Hall, Temple Square, SLC, UT during Christmas time.

LDS Salt Lake City Temple during Christmas Time, Salt Lake City, UT

Gateway to the West

While driving out in the west desert to shoot the Perseids, we came across this abandoned horse corral tucked behind a sagebrush covered hill. It looks like it was well used in it's day, but has since fallen in disrepair. I love the feel of this image; to me, it evokes the feel of the Old West. It's well weathered, beaten and scarred, but it's still standing, probably ready to be used in another 50 years.

Aspen Obelisks

Black and white treatment of a stand of aspens up Big Cottonwood Canyon, just north of Brighton Ski Resort, up Guardsman Pass.

Sweet Sun Shower

Sunset in Albion Basin, over some Black-Eyed Susans and other wildflowers

Take What She Gives

Some co-workers and I went up to Silver Lake, by Brighton Ski Resort, during our company trip, hoping for a killer summer sunset. Mother Nature, however, had other ideas, and didn't really give us anything. When I took this image, I knew that I was going to have to work on it quite a bit in post to get it to look like how I envisioned; I wish this was straight out of camera, but in reality this was about an hour's work with several different programs. In the end, though, this image turned out pretty close to what I wanted it to, and how I imagined the sunset going. This image ended up taking 2nd place in the 2015 Utah State Fair - Fair Theme category. I'm ok with that.

Winter Fire

Winter sunset over the Oquirrh Mountains, taken from Bacchus Highway

Sunset Spray

Sunset at the Sutro Baths, Northern California. To get this shot, you walk through the tunnel under the cliff, but then the path ends at a chain, with signs saying it's dangerous to go beyond this point. So, of course I went beyond that point! Clambering over salt sprayed rocks, camera on a tripod, hoping that my shoes keep some traction, I found a precarious vantage point for this shot. I really wanted to get the waves crashing, as well as a hint of sun flare and for one brief, glorious instant, I found what I wanted.

Burning Cold

'Nothing burns like the cold' - George R. R. Martin Lambs Canyon Trail is a 6.5 mile heavily trafficked out and back trail located near Park City, Utah that features a great forest setting and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, running, and snowshoeing and is accessible year-round.

Perspective on Pier 14

This is a 3 panel, 3 shots per panel, panoramic image of downtown San Francisco from Pier 14, right on The Embarcadero. I love the leading lines of the pier, drawing you back into The City by The Bay.

Bathed in twilight

Sutro Baths, Golden Gate Park, looking towards the Cliff House. The wind was incredibly strong up on this point. I don't know if it is always that bad, but I had to hide behind some rocks and shield the camera for a few seconds to get this without a lot of camera shake. I came here, hoping for a brilliant coastal sunset, but the blue hour / twilight shot didn't disappoint. I hear the Cliff House has killer garlic fries, if you go to the bar in the lower levels. Maybe I'll try them next time...

Do Not Look Into The Eye of the Idol!

Every time I shoot a star trail towards the North Star, I'm reminded of Sallah's warning at the beginning of the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland. It seems that, if I stare at this long enough, I begin to fall down some sort of galactic rabbit hole. The careful observer will notice the solitary meteor that streaked across the composition of frames that it took to make this image. We were in the west desert of Utah, trying to shoot the Perseid Meteor Shower, and we were rewarded instead with horse sized mosquitoes, and a single meteor that streaked across my camera's field of view during the 45 minutes that it was taking images. Maybe next year will be better...

Nobody Runs These Streets Like Me

Hanging over the edge of Pier 7, in downtown San Francisco, shooting back towards the Port of San Francisco sign and Pier 1. The sodium halogen lights on this pier can throw wicked lens flare, but shooting off to the side really helped minimize that.