Snowy Samantha

It just wouldn't seem like a Monday without a blog post highlighting one of my photo shoots from the previous weekend.

Today's image is of a young Australian girl who is living in Utah for a couple of years. Since winter play is a new experience for her, the plan for the shoot was to capture some outdoor sledding images. Before heading out to the sledding hill we spent some time in studio. With her mom and little brother throwing synthetic snowflakes, our impromptu blizzard created a nice winter scene for the portrait.

And as an added bonus - the studio was MUCH warmer!

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/9, ISO 100

Climbing the Ice

I recently joined some local ice climbers for the opportunity to photograph them ascending a frozen waterfall. Photographing people against the bright snow/ice background can be challenging exposure-wise. To keep the subjects from becoming too dark in the image, I adjusted my camera's meter to overexpose by one-third f/stop and used a strobe set at minus one-third f/stop for filling in the shadows.

The exciting part of taking this shot was the small icy ledge that I was perched on while wearing ice climbing gear.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/80 second, f/9, ISO 50

Snowed In

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/200 second, f/8, ISO 100

Working Within a Color Family

It's a snowy Saturday morning here in Utah and my 9:00 am photo shoot just got postponed, so I thought I would spend a few minutes and break down a wintery image for today's post.

One thing that I have been working on improving in my photography is my use of color themes within a photo. When capturing this image (from a recent wintertime stock series), I concentrated on keeping the color tone similar in each element of the shot. With Michelle's strikingly dark eyes (yeah, I'm a bit biased) and wanting to create a warm result to go with the hot cup of chocolate, working with brown tones was a natural choice.

My first thought when putting together the composition was to use a dark brown cup for the cocoa. After a bit of thought I opted for white to have the cup provide a subtle similarity to the brown/white of her eyes. Secondly, Michelle's jacket was too dark in the original, so I had her wrap in a tan fleece that I happened to have in studio to give separation between her hair and jacket on the left.

One improvement that I wish I would have done is to move the cup a short distance to the right. I find the clipping of the cup's handle on the left a bit disconcerting.

As you can tell by the large catchlights in the eyes, the lighting setup was very simple. I used a 24x36" softbox positioned vertically to the left of camera. I purposely wanted to create the dark shadow area on the right, so the light was placed at a fairly sharp angle with no fill (light or reflector) on the opposite side. The 600ws light was turned to a minimum power setting to allow me to shoot at f/5 creating a narrow depth of field. To further narrow the depth of field, I shot with the lens at its most telephoto setting of 105mm (I stood on a stepladder to get enough distance).

Well, that's enough rambling for today. I'm now off to brave the Greatest Snow on Earth.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/5, ISO 100

Bridge in Winter

Bridge in Winter taken in Draper, Utah.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L - 1/100 second, f/14, ISO 100

Snowy Tracks

Snowy Tracks photographed on a winter day in Draper, Utah.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/80 second, f/14, ISO 100

Blue Sky and Ice

The gradient blue sky and the texture of the ice drew me to this capture.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/40 second, f/16, ISO 100

Alone

a - lone [uh-lohn]
-adjective (used predicatively)
1. separate, apart, or isolated from others: I want to be alone.
2. to the exclusion of all others or all else: One cannot live by bread alone.
3. unique; unequaled; unexcelled: He is alone among his peers in devotion to duty.

Canon 30D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens with 1.4 extender - 1/640 second, f/8, ISO 100

Reflections

Photographed on a cold winter day in Temple Square, Salt Lake City Utah.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens - 1/50 second, f/13, ISO 100

Wintertime Roses

The textures of the dried petals on this pair of dead roses were extremely inviting to photograph. I used the longest lens in my bag to throw the background completely out of focus and create the silky smooth bokeh.

Canon 30D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens with 1.4 extender - 1/200 second, f/5.6, ISO 400

Lakeside in Black & White

This capture was made on the western shore of Utah Lake in Saratoga Springs, Utah. The low afternoon sun really accentuated the mountain's features with the dramatic shadows it created. While the many shades of blue I saw while taking this shot stood out boldly against the white snow (click here for a color example), the black & white version of the scene creates a timeless presentation.

Your thoughts?

Frozen Lakeshore

Captured on the western shore of Utah Lake.

The Other Barn

Alongside the road into Park City (Utah) is the oft photographed McPolin Barn. This wonderful old structure sits quietly just begging to be captured by passing photographers. I rarely make a trip into Park City that I don't feel obliged to stop and attempt to better my previous images of the building.

I found myself in Park City yesterday (during a snowstorm) and opted to take yet another capture of the barn. This time though, I stopped a bit down the road and photographed a neighboring barn as well. Sure, this barn doesn't have the history and fame as the McPolin Barn, but it made for a peaceful winter capture of Americana.

Picking a Creative Angle

Today's posted capture is another example of my Hey, let's try this shots. Sometimes a creative angle can make for an interesting photo and this capture is no exception.

While at a nearby outdoor rink with the family I set my small point & shoot camera on the ice and pressed the shutter release. I have long since became immune to the strange looks from passers-by when taking these kind of shots, but with this photo my main concern was to avoid being skated into by an out of control skater (of which there were many).

As for the resulting image, I am actually quite surprised with the quality captured. The detail in the figure skate's toe pick is especially impressive. Reward outweighs risk, again.

Turquoise Ice

This was an interesting scene to come across. My guess is that the above freezing temperature combined with the rushing water beneath the melting ice created the brilliant color. Taken in Big Cottonwood Canyon.

Sledding Sarah

We awoke yesterday to find about 10 inches of The Greatest Snow on Earth.

Icy Creek

As a youngster, I have memories of my father sitting down after work in his chair and reading our daily newspaper, The Anchorage Times. With only 3 television channels, aside from the "nightly news", this was the only way to find out what was going on in the world. Here it is 30+ years later and I find that when I want to read the news I sit down with my MacBook and an RSS reader. Many of my news sources are traditional in nature (newspapers, networks, etc.) but I have quite a few blogs in my subscription list as well. I like the independent nature of the blogs versus what the mainstream media reports.

What does this have to do with a photograph of a frozen stream? Many of the blogs I read serve as a conduit to pass along news from outside sources mixed in with a bit of commentary (digg.com for example). I am increasingly bothered by some of this blogging that purposefully attempts to be controversial or sensationalizing as a way of generating traffic and comments to their site. My goal with LeggNet's Digital Capture is to give my readers a break from this type of blogging. I want this blog to be a safe place in hope that the few hundred people a day who visit will leave feeling enriched.

Creekside in Black & White

There's a little too much "busy-ness" in this photo for my taste, but a nice crisp winter scene nonetheless.

Cottonwood Creek Redux

Last August I photographed Cottonwood Creek with a long exposure that created a smooth flowing blur of water over the rocks. The shot turned out with a result very close to what I desired (click here to see the original shot). Now that winter weather has descended upon Utah, I thought it would be neat to shoot the scene again.

On December 2nd, I hiked back to the creek. This shot was taken very near to the spot where I took the first one (actually, it was a short distance to the right since the first photo was taken while I was standing in the middle of the creek). What really struck me about returning to the creek was how peaceful it was this time. In the summer the rushing water was extremely noisy, but this time it was deathly quiet.

Bridal Veil Falls in Black & White

Bridal Veil Falls in Black & White, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Cold and snowing on Thursday, warm and sunny on Friday. That pretty much sums up the past two days in Northern Utah.

Featured here is a capture of Bridal Veil Falls located East of Orem in Provo Canyon (Utah). The falls are currently running very strong with the snow melt contributing to the nice water flow.

Trees of Solitude

Trees of Solitude, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

After a few hints of warmer temperatures in Northern Utah during the past few weeks, winter came back to visit recently. We have had a couple fairly substantial storms during the past seven days.

In honor of this new snow, here is a capture made earlier this season in Big Cottonwood Canyon. This canyon, East of Salt Lake City, is the home of Brighton and Solitude , two of Utah's many ski resorts.

The Stare

The Stare, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Antelope Island, in Utah's Great Salt Lake, is home to a free-roaming herd of over 500 North American Bison. This fellow became increasingly wary of my presence as I photographed him while he was grazing on the snow covered plane.

A capture like this can be a challenge to get the exposure acceptable. If I had followed my light meter's suggested settings, the darkness of the bison face would be too much and the detail would be lost. I adjusted my lens opening to allow more light in to capture these details. The background snow loses most of its details, but the face is nicely represented.

To learn more about Antelope Island, visit their website at: http://www.utah.com/stateparks/antelope_island.htm.

Winter Field

Winter Field, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This capture intrigues me. At first it seems out of focus. However, upon further examination you will see that much of it is sharply in focus. The lighting just plays a bit of a trick on the eye.

Midnight Clouds

Midnight Clouds, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Last night, just before midnight, I went to the kitchen for a drink of water. While getting the drink, I looked out the window and noticed how remarkably well lit the nighttime clouds were from the city lights below. In my gym shorts, slippers and winter coat I ventured into the backyard with my camera and tripod. Featured here is one of the captures made during this late night excursion.

This shot was taken with a 30 second exposure at a fairly wide lens aperture of f/5.6. Due to a strong wind, the clouds were moving during the long exposure giving them the slightly blurred look. I’m amazed to see the detail in the mountain considering it was fairly dark at the time of taking the photograph.

Marshmallow Snow

Marshmallow Snow, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Salt Lake City sits at the base of several canyons. I recently had the opportunity to travel up one of these canyons. This capture was made on that trip up Big Cottonwood Canyon. Upon seeing the field of snow captured here, I couldn't help but think of melted marshmallows.

Spontaneous Portrait

Snow Day (Revised), originally uploaded by LeggNet.

This past Monday was a holiday in the U.S. and locally Salt Lake City had been hit with recent snowfall. The kids and I took advantage of these two combined events to take in a bit of sledding on a nearby golf course.

Featured here is a spontaneous capture of Sarah as she looked up from her sled. The natural lighting made for a rather pleasing portrait, especially when presented in black & white.

To further accentuate her face and draw the viewers focus to her eye, I darkened her jacket and added subtle blurring to her cap in post-production.

Winter Has Arrived!

Winter Has Arrived!, originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Beautifully Cold

Gallivan Skating
Originally uploaded by LeggNet.

Even with yesterday being the coldest day so far this winter, many folks got out to enjoy the crisp winter sunshine. The high in Salt Lake City was in the teens, and the overnight low near zero.

I had the opportunity to be in downtown Salt Lake City Wednesday afternoon. Captured here are some Utahns braving the cold while ice skating at Gallivan Center.

Let It Snow...

Highway Storm
Originally uploaded by LeggNet.

A major snowstorm hit Salt Lake City today dumping several inches of the white stuff. It made driving a bit of a challenge, especially with a camera in your right hand.

How to Photograph Snow

(Here's an article I recently found. It's fitting, since it is currently snowing here)

Using your camera's exposure compensation adjustment can make sure snow comes out as white as possible in your pictures this holiday season.

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