utah | SteveWa Photos

7 Stages of a Photographer

Posted on October 5, 2016 by stevewa88

Its pretty aggravating when life gets in the way of what I really want to do – shoot photos and write about them. Then again, so much of what I shoot and write is driven by life experiences. I’ll spare you the mundane details of the past year+ of divorce, moving, dating and losing a good job. Let’s just talk about photography. The Nikon has not been idle during this time, I assure you. In fact, its been some of my best therapy. There’s nothing like a road trip, hike or adventure with camera in hand to soothe stressed nerves and give needed peace and perspective.

I read an article recently read a blog post titled The 7 Stages of a Photographers Development. I have been taking photos since I was 10 years old (that’s 30+ years for those who are keeping score). I have loved the technical and creative aspects of photography from day one. I’ve had some great teachers and mentors along the way. My dad, who put that first camera in my hands during family road trips to keep me entertained and to save himself from unending “are we there yet?” pestering. My high school photography teacher who taught me very little about actual photography, but showed me that I didn’t want to be a pretentious, photography snob.My point is, in over 30 years I have progressed through most of these stages. I now hover somewhere on the border of Stage 6 and Stage 7. It is Stage 7, The Photographer Expressing Things that intrigues me.

Stage 6: The Photographer Who Sees the World as if Through a Camera is very familiar to me. I was at an amusement park last weekend; standing in line for a ride and found myself wishing I had my DSLR. DSLRs aren’t very compatible with roller coasters so I had to settle for my camera phone.

Not bad for a camera phone shot while standing in line at an amusement park. Lagoon, Farmington, Utah

It turned out pretty well, but the point is, spending 3/4 of my life behind a camera has trained me to always be looking for the right composition, great contrasts and just the right light.

The Photographer Expressing Things – what exactly does that mean to me? My first thoughts were of sad, tragic photos of malnourished children in war-torn places. While I appreciate the skill and emotion those photos convey, its not my style. So, does my style express things? Does it evoke emotions?

After some thought I have come to the conclusion that the answer to those questions is very individual. Do my photos convey a feeling to you? They certainly bring emotions to me, but I was there. I experienced that moment. For me, they are looking glass back to a memorable moment. I hope they are more than just nice to look at. If not, that’s okay. What’s most important to me is that my viewers enjoy my work.

Antelope are Not Antelope…and Buffalo are Bison

Posted on February 14, 2015 by stevewa88

For the first time in memorable history I had an entire Saturday to myself. What does a mildly-obsessed amateur photog do with a free weekend? Yeah. He grabs the Nikon and hits the road. I opted for a day trip to Antelope Island.

Antelope Island is a 42 square mile island in the Great Salt Lake. It is the largest of the 10 islands in the Great Salt Lake. The first non-native visitors to the island were John C. Fremont and Kit Carson. The native peoples had told them that the island had plenty of fresh water and lots of Pronghorn Antelope. It is said that Fremont and Carson hunted Pronghorn on the island and named it Antelope Island in honor of the abundance of game.

A bit of the serengeti in Utah

Getting to the island takes you across a seven-mile causeway cutting through Farmington Bay. Due to the salinity of the water and the alkalinity of the soil its safe to say that this stump is not native to the island. Nonetheless, spotting it in the mud flats alongside the causeway demanded a stop. It even warranted slogging through ankle-deep mud to get a few shots. What it didn’t justify was trudging through the slippery mud, lining up a nice shot and discovering that my camera’s SD card was in my laptop, at home; 40 miles away. And that I loaned my spare card to someone who never returned it. After a 10-mile drive back to Syracuse, a stop at Walmart, and returning to line up the shot again I was able to capture the photo above.

Looking Southwest, across White Rock Beach, from Buffalo Point

White Rock Beach sits near the Northwest corner of the island. Above the beach, Buffalo Point climbs to great views of the beach and lake to the West and the Wasatch Mountains to the East. Its a short, steep hike that is well worth the views.

Winding my way around the East side of the Island to Fiedling Garr Ranch

Winding my way around the East side of the Island to Fielding Garr Ranch

Fielding Garr was a Mormon pioneer and a widower with nine children. In 1948, one year after the Mormon pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, Garr was asked to go to the island and establish a ranch for raising sheep and cattle. The first building on the island, a small, adobe house was built that year and still stands on its original foundations. It is the oldest structure built by europeans still standing on its own foundations in the state of Utah. For photography buffs the ranch offers an abundance of farm life shots, rusty machinery and shoreline opportunities.

From inside the barn, looking eastward across Farmington Bay

The hood ornament of a rusted-out, flatbed Dodge truck

On weekends, especially in warmer months, the ranch can get fairly busy. Early morning or evening are the best times to beat the crowds and get the best light. Going in January, like I did, also thins the crowds.

I highly recommend wandering some of the paths and trails that meander along the shoreline east of the ranch. The views of the Wasatch Range are spectacular. There’s a good chance of seeing wildlife such as waterfowl, birds of prey, bison, pronghorn (antelope) coyotes and even badgers. Some years ago a brush fire must have gone through the area. It left a scattering of dead and burnt trees among the reeds and grass. They make excellent photographic elements as horizon breaks and for framing a shot

Boardwalk across the mud and reeds

Marsh grasses frozen in a fresh water pond

I need to go back to Antelope Island and explore more of the dirt roads and hiking trails. Most of the human traffic on the island stays to the north end where the ranch and the visitors center are located. I would also like to be on the island for sunset over the Great Salt Lake.

My only regret from this trip was that my pictures of bison didn’t turn out blog-worthy. Oh well. Just another good reason to go back soon.

Charred tree along the shoreline of the Great Salt Lake

Fun Fact: Even though they are commonly called Antelope, they are not actually Antelope. Their true name is Pronghorn. Early settlers to the western U.S. confused them with African Antelope. The same is true of Buffalo. Their real name is American Bison.

Headed home across the causeway

Fresh Snow and an Itchy Shutter Finger

Posted on December 30, 2014 by stevewa88

Fresh powder on American Fork Creek.

Here in Utah winter was a little late arriving this year. The only people complaining were the hardcore skiers…and me. For the first couple of months I actually enjoy winter. The snow and bare trees completely change the landscape and make seemingly ordinary scenes beautiful.

The day after Christmas my son and I joined my parents for a little photographic expedition into the Wasatch. Santa brought 6-12 inches of new snow on Christmas Day. It was the perfect time to get in some great winter shooting. Plus, it had been almost a week since the Nikon and I spent some quality time together in the mountains. So, I was more than eager to exercise my shutter finger.

Snow photography can be more challenging than it appears. First, the vivid, white snow against dark water, trees or ground make for extreme contrasts. The snow also reflects a lot of light making scenes brighter than our eyes perceive them; lots of risk of over-exposure. Finally, there’s white balance. Our cameras aren’t calibrated to see true white. More on that in a minute.

The drastic contrasts of snow photography can actually work in our favor. For one, snow photos often make good black and white shots. Black and white relies on the contrasts of light vs. dark. Whereas color photography relies of the contrasting of colors. Second, the sharp contrast can really make some subjects stand out beautifully. Blue sky against white snow and dark water can be a really eye-catcher. The gnarled trunk of a tree or twisted, leafless branches stand out nicely against pale snow. It also helps to work a little post processing magic, but that’s for another post.

The splashing of the stream makes for fascinating shapes in ice

Its important to be aware that the snow is bouncing light all over the place. Its easy to get caught up in catching details in a dark stream while letting the surrounding snow “wash out” in a blaze of barren white. Snow has texture and shape. It can be very appealing and interesting to capture the contours of a blanket of snow or to capture the glistening snow crystals.

His name is Olaf and he likes warm hugs.

White Balance; there are a couple of ways to confront this issue. The first is to make adjustments on the camera. On Nikon D-series cameras you can go into Scene mode and select “Beach/Snow”. Yes, beach photography is very similar to snow photography. I’m sure Canon, Sony and other manufacturers have similar settings. These settings tell the camera that you are shooting bright white images and to treat whites as true white; instead of the pale gray they are calibrated for. The other option is to deal with white balance during post processing. Photoshop has an automated White Balance setting. I prefer to manually adjust it as I edit my photos.

It was an excellent day as three generations of photography nuts each recorded the glistening winter wonderland in our own way. I hope y’all had a great Christmas. Happy shooting!

Blurring the Lines

Posted on December 23, 2014 by stevewa88

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have been playing with long exposure shots. Basically, the idea is to hold the shutter open for a longer period of time while focused on a moving object. The movement of the object appears as a blur on the photograph. This conveys a sense of motion in an otherwise still photo. Most hand-held photographs are shot at a shutter speed between 1/60 of a second and 1/1000 of a second. In the case of long exposure they can be 1/8 to longer than a second, depending on the light conditions.

The motion of the swift-moving creek takes a ghostly appearance in this 1/2 second capture.

Of course, shutter speeds this long can’t be done free-hand. They require a decent tripod; or at the very least a very stable rock, table, stump, etc. This is one of the primary reasons that I haven’t done a lot with long exposure until now. The tripod can be an unwieldy and heavy piece of equipment; not very convenient for hiking. Add in the fact that unless I am looking for long-exposure opportunities, the tripod doesn’t get used much and you see why my tripod spends most of its time in the closet or the trunk of the car. Nonetheless, its a tool worth having.

The next long-exposure shots I want to experiment with are night shots of moving cars. Then I’d love to work on really long exposure shots of the stars. I’ve seen some incredible captures of blurred stars that I would love to attempt.

I have also seen some impressive long-exposure shots of small waves on a beach. The water takes on a fog-like appearance resulting in an other-worldly feel to the photo.

One of the lessons I learned is to strike the right balance between blurred objects and stationary objects. Too much blur and the photo becomes an unintelligible mess. Not enough motion and the blur blends into the scene and has minimal, if any effect on the shot.

A smaller amount of water falling from a greater height gives this wispy, bridal veil effect.

Finally, my youngest son and took the short hike to this great, hidden waterfall in Big Cottonwood Canyon. While he climbed everything within reach and marveled at a dead mouse I got immersed in photography.

My little man and the hidden falls.

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