Evolution and Religion

I've always loved the Christmas lights at Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. It really sets the mood for Christmastime for me. It's been a while since I've gone to photograph the temple in downtown Salt Lake City, but I've been excited to ever since I got my tilt shift lens. I've had some of these photos in mind for a while. It's always good to see them actually come to life. Even if I feel like I've shot this location a thousand times, I still had ideas to change it up and create something new. Conditions are always changing. Our style is always changing. Or better yet, evolving. I look back at some of the photos I've taken, some only months apart, and realize how much I've grown as a photographer. It makes me excited about my future and where I will be able to go with my vision. I just hope I can relay the ideas in my head to actuality and continue to progress. 

Time Lapse

I've been experimenting with time-lapse videos lately and wanted to share a combination of them in which I took in and around Salt Lake City.

I've really enjoyed making these time-lapse videos.  The possibilities seem endless.  So bear with me and enjoy!

Lightning Over Salt Lake

I have wanted to get a shot like this for some time.  It seemed every time I tried I was too late, or in the wrong spot.  A few Sunday's ago the west sky was full of lightning and I knew it was the perfect time for some shots.  I wanted to add more elements to the scene instead of just taking a picture of lightning so I went to a viewpoint I had scoped out some time before and composed as best I could for the unpredictable lightning.  It may seem daunting at first, but capturing lightning is actually pretty easy once you know how.  So I put together some tips below.

Capturing Lightning:

1. Use a Tripod.  This is a must for the length of time the shutter will be open.  To reduce any movement during the long shutter speed here are some other tips you should keep in mind*:
1. Turn off IS (Image Stabilization).  If you have your camera on a tripod it is still going to try to compensate for hand holding and make your image a little blurry.
2. Enable Mirror Lock on your camera.  Read the manual or search in your menu to find this.  One shutter click flips the mirror up inside the camera before taking the shot and a second shutter click will take the shot. 
3. Use a Shutter Release Cable.  Touching the camera will produce camera shake.
4. Use a low ISO.
2. Use a longer shutter speed.  Lightning comes and goes quickly, so make it easy on yourself, use a slow shutter speed and any time lightning strikes while your shutter is open (say during a 15 second stretch like the photo above) will show up on the sensor, and on your photo.
3. Find an interesting foreground/subject and work with the lightning around it.  It’s just a shot of lightning if there is nothing else interesting in the photo.
4. Take lots and lots of shots.  You’re not going to get it the first time.  Keep at it.  Find the best (safest) place and shoot away!

*These tips should be practiced any time you use a tripod.  

Experimental Photography

I have always been interested in what a camera can do.  How it can capture light and how it shapes it with different exposure techniques.  My interest grew when I started playing with light and long exposures at night, and ever since then I've been finding new ways to capture a photograph. 

On the road awhile back I did some photographing out of a moving car.  Realistically and photographically this is usually a bad idea.  Nothing ever really comes of it except perhaps a reminder to come back to a certain area and stop for a real picture.  So, I took on a challenge.  I wanted to see what I could get from a moving car and how unique I could be in my approach.  In this case it was more of an accident than purposeful experimentation.  We drove through a wooded canyon with snow dusted trees with the morning sun coming though the clouds.  I rolled down the window to see if I could get some of the beauty when I shot this picture.  I had accidentally used a slow shutter speed making the photo come out nearly completely blown out.  In Adobe Lightroom I brought back the detail and turned it black and white and this is how it ended up.  Not sure what I think about it, but it's kind of cool looking.

Another experimental shot taken with a Holga toy camera using double exposure.  When composing this shot I knew I wanted to do a double exposure to really get the corners dark to focus on the subject and to put two simple images together to make a more complex one.  It makes an ordinary shot of empty beer bottles on asphalt a little more interesting. 

I like experimenting with film, because sometimes you don't know how the picture is going to turn out until it's developed.  With this picture I was getting adjusted to my dad's old Minolta camera.  A few of the photos had a white stripe going through them.  I'm not sure what happened to the film, but on some of them the effect was kind of cool looking.  

I love trying new things with a camera.  If you want to get better at photography get out and experiment with different effects.