A Little Bit Western At Wheeler Farm

My brother and his family have been trying to get together for the past several months for pictures. This was going to be the last opportunity to catch them all together as his two youngest are going to be going on their missions for the next couple of years. We arranged to meet at Wheeler Farm here in the greater Salt Lake area. I was a bit nervous as the forecast called for rain that evening. Lots of prayers and the storm seemed to move in the right direction. A few sprinkles, but other than that we were just fighting light or the lack thereof, due to the overcast skies and the sun going down.

 Wheeler Farm is a great place for rustic pictures.
There are lots of fun little places and a great variety of different backgrounds for family portraits, as well as individual portraits. Whether you like the formal portraits or the more whimsical you can find it there.

 To me photography is as much about capturing the personality of the individuals and or the family even more so than image. So, knowing those whose picture you are taking helps you to understand what kinds of pictures you are going to be taking.

Props bring out the best in personality. Nothing like playing with toys to bring a family together.

 You have to observe what is going on around you to capture some pictures. Sometimes when you are rushing you may miss the perfect opportunity for a nice shot like this one I got of my niece.

Nothing like putting a boy on a tractor no matter how old they are you can just feel his personality just ooze out all over this one.

Sometimes it is the most obvious pictures that get left out. Just relax and have fun. As I have said before I may not be the most technically correct photographer, but I have a lot of fun taking pictures and I don't have to delete a lot. And as you might be able to see my abilities are increasing along the way.

So Just have fun and enjoy! 

From Nature to Natures God...

 On our way up to Yellowstone we stopped in Rexburg for brief opportunity to capture their beautiful Temple.

 Even though the weather was threatening we decided to taken the loop to see Mesa Falls. This is the upper falls. Beautiful little hike even though we got pelted with hail it was worth the risk.

While at Yellowstone one of the high lights of our trip was seeing a grizzly bear right up close. This young grizzly came within 5 yards of our van. He did not seem to want to have much to do with us, but did not act aggressive either. I was certainly glad to be on the inside of the van when he got close. Beautiful creature, not as soft and cuddly looking as the black bears we saw.

May 2012 Portraits Just 4 Fun

 Well, it has been a while since I have posted and seeing that this is just an experiment in progress I thought would post a few of my more recent photos. Just having some fun....

 This is one of my favorite families. They are so fun. Emily is so funny. Sometimes she will let you take her picture and sometimes she wont, so, you have to act fast if she gives a moment. Hyrum and Sam, once you get them warmed up, will give you great poses. And Millie is just a natural.

Becky is my sister in law. She is really relaxed in front of a camera. It always makes taking pictures fun. This one happened to be taken at a cemetery while we were decorating graves for Memorial Day.

Recent Edits Just 4 Fun

A guided edit using out of bounds with a gradient
in the background.

Recently I purchased Photoshop Elements 10. Someday I hope to get the complete Photoshop suite, but for now I am having some fun with elements. So here are some of my first edits with my new toy. Hope you enjoy!

Black and White enhanced the eyes burned the eye brows and eye lashes.

Added a reflection with distortion and added Text. 

Out of bounds plus vignette

Out of bounds 

This one was a little more tricky, but it was way fun. I took the picture
Bob Wood, my model, positioned just so then used the quick selection tool
copying Bob and then I found this picture of my son, shrunk Bob and
pasted him in the new picture. The possibilities are fun to think about. 

Perspective Can Make A Picture Interesting

Often times we see something that we like and we want to remember it. This is an example of what I used to take and what I have learned to see.

Back in the days of film I would take a picture be excited to go get my roll of film developed only to find that the picture was not nearly as exciting as I remember when I took the picture.

However, now I can look at something and say to myself, "that looks cool, let's see how many different ways it can look cool." looking at things from different angels can make the object look that much more interesting. It is fun to practice this as well. 

A few pictures from Cali :D

I may not be nearly as eloquent as my father, but I think I can give him a run for his money with some of these pictures. Check them out and don't be afraid to comment. ;)



Maybe these one will strike your fancy...

So Many Possibilities...

There are so many things you can do for your pictures to enhance them or bring out different elements. A good picture may not need explanation, but sometimes exclamation can be fun. I still feel like a newby to photography, but I was once told by a professional photographer friend of mine that it is all about having fun. Learning how to create different emotions within the same picture, to me, is fun. These were just a few pictures I took on Coronado Beach on our trip to San Diego.

 Often it is the subtle changes of saturation, hues, the light, the darkness, clarity, a little blur, etc that can make a good picture a little better.

 I like the subtle boarder that Lomo effect gives. It seems to pop the picture just a little more the original shot.











 Playing with color is also fun and effective in creating a different perspective.

 

San Diego Vacation

 Who new vacations were suppose to be so fun? I have always struggled taking time off for vacation mostly because it meant that I would face a bunch of problems at work when I got back home. The constant worry about finances and so on...
This time I decided that I was just not going to worry about work and once we set the goal to have it taken care of financially before we went I relaxed and enjoyed my vacation. It didn't hurt that we enjoyed the time with our friends the Recksiek family. Despite the joy of a stomach bug going through our group. These a  few pictures of our fun in San Diego.

 Coronado Beach was our final night so I had to get my group sunset pictures in. It was really a beautiful evening a few light clouds gave just the right texture to scenery. We actually got to see that green light just as the sun dipped bellow the horizon.

 Doing the crane pose was not as easy as they make it look. as the sand is shifting under your feet it is very hard to keep your balance. While the Crane was difficult the kiss was not ;)

 Lego Land was an incredible surprise for me. I was NOT expecting these city-scapes. They were incredible, extremely detailed, and made you feel like you could had visited the real cities without the crowds. It was fantastic. They had several themes throughout the park, including a medieval, a Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as Star Wars, including a life size R2D2, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader. You could buy small figures and trade them like olympic pins. And a tent where the whole family could join in building your own cars and racing them. Lego land was tons more fun than I expected.

When you go to Legoland plan on it being a day long trip, it could easily last longer when the water features are all running.

 The USS Midway was another place we visited. It gave me a new appreciation for our military and the sacrifices they make for us, the intelligence that they need to do the things they do, and the sheer guts to live under those conditions and tight quarters. Simply amazing! I have never seen an aircraft carrier in person so the sheer size of this beast was impressive. She is a beautiful ship. Lots to see and many tours to help you know how everything was run. Very impressive indeed.

Pictures more often than not just happen the real trick is being ready for them. The picture above and to the left were both taken in La Jolla California. Part of being lucky is being aware of your surroundings and looking for the opportunities you want to happen.  Still sometimes they work out perfectly other times something is a little off, but it still works.

 New Port Beach was the first beach we went to Sunday evening with the Lee family. The clouds were thick and didn't provide us with the opportunity of getting any sunset pictures, but these sea gulls were pretty impressive as you can see the different stages of maturity.

Point Loma was a lot of fun we especially loved the lighthouse museum. It was fascinating to see how a little light bulb could be magnified to generate enough light to attract the attention of the ships in the area. The living quarters was fun to see as well. It was fun to look out over the point and see all the ships as well.
The tidal pools bellow the cliffs at Point Loma were a lot of fun as well. We got there a little late as the tide was coming in just after noon, but we still had plenty of fun looking for hermit crabs, fish, and other signs of life in the tidal pools. I am looking forward to coming back when the tide is lower and the water warmer. :)

 This picture was taken from the overlook at the Birch aquarium. If you look closely you might see the whale spouts that we saw. They had the pay per view glasses for watching, but  you could see them pretty good with the naked eye. It would have been fun to go whale watching but with younger kids it might not have been, so when the kids get older we may just give it a go.

 Again this picture was taken from La Jolla bay area.

 It is no wonder the San Diego Zoo is world famous. There are so many things to see that it took all day and we didn't get to everything. Thank goodness we started with the bus tour and the sky ride. Those two features gave us a good idea of the over all zoo as well as the opportunity to see somethings that we did not get to see from the ground.

 Some people are naturally creative, but for me in writing and in photography it is the A.D.D method. It comes in split seconds and I have to take advantage of it when it hits or it is gone. The Ape sat with her back to the glass and each time we tried to get her attention she ignored us. I saw her foot it caught my attention for what ever reason. It is one of my favorite pictures I took at the zoo.

Just a friendly hello from Primates at the San Diego Zoo

There is so much to do in San Diego that it is easy to see how one could live there just for the many features it provides. If it was not so I my addiction to the mountains and family I might have been persuaded to stay. No, for me California is I think I would enjoy much more as a vacation destination than a place to live.