Working in the Garden

After a small shower (rain not me) I snuck out to the garden:

Fun at Hogle Zoo

We took the kids to the zoo and even though it was very hot we had a lot of fun. One of the highlights for me was the bird show

JJ Garden Center

This weekend we took our kids to JJ GardenCenter it was a lot of fun. We go there every year and I'm still amazed at the size of the place. I have no idea what the names of the flowers are, but here are some pics:

New Lens Test Shots

So, I took the new lens out for a test drive at one of my favorite spots, Willard Bay. I like to stop there because 1. it's convenient and 2. It changes a lot so you never know what you're going to get to shoot.

Willard Bay Sunset 4

Sunset4, originally uploaded by Casey Cook Photography.

This is the last image from this series. For this one I decided to get a really low angle on an ice chunk with the sunset in the background. In order to do this I had to lay prone on the sand. I didn't want to get sand all over my clothes and camera gear so I took my coat off and laid it out on the sand. I didn't get dirty, but I almost froze!

Willard Bay Sunset 3

Sunset1, originally uploaded by Casey Cook Photography.

Another picture from the Bay. What a fun time it was sitting there through each phase of twilight deciding how best to capture it. At second glance I wish I had made the trees more predominant in the pictures. Perhaps I'll have to try and re-shoot it this week.

Willard Bay Sunset 2

Sunset2, originally uploaded by Casey Cook Photography.

This is the second image in the series I took at Willard Bay. I'm really glad that I showed up there ahead of time so I could get ready. I just wished I had remembered the tripod.

Willard Bay Sunset

Sunset3, originally uploaded by Casey Cook Photography.

I stopped by Willard Bay on the way home hoping that I'd see a nice sunset. I wasn't disappointed. I thought I'd try and make an HDR image out of some of the pics I took. Still new to the process. It was so cold that pretty soon my fingers weren't working properly and it was hard to hit the buttons on the camera.

Stream

Stream, originally uploaded by Casey Cook Photography.

During our family vacation to Park City we were walking along the trails at the McPolin farm. We came across this little stream and I really wanted to get a picture of it with the velvet smooth water. I didn't have a tripod with me so I just leaned up against a fence post that was close by.

McPolin Farm

Old Farm, originally uploaded by Casey Cook Photography.

On a recent family trip to Park City we visited the McPolin farm. They had scarecrows laid out around the trails, and a lot of fun other things to look at.

Cedar Breaks Panorama

Cedar Breaks Panorama, originally uploaded by Casey Cook Photography.

I created this pano "first one ever". It's from a family vacation, the location is Cedar Breaks National Monument. If anyone knows of a good way to display a panorama in blogger please let me know.

Sunset at the Bay

I recently took a photo trip out to Willard Bay at sunset. I was able to get there about 1/2 an hour before sunset, so I walked around took a few pictures while I waited for the sun to go down. First thing I saw was the actual docs themselves. I really liked how the light was playing with the pattern of the docs. This is one of my first B&W so I hope it turned out ok:



The next thing I saw was this individual ice fishing from the docs. I liked the big puffy coat and thought the composition had a nostalgic feel overall:



I also liked the way the light was falling on the mountains:



The sunset was very vibrant, and I felt really lucky to be there with my camera. I only wish I had remembered to bring my tripod:

Re-Posts

So, as my PP skills are improving I thought I would go through some older images and see if I could apply these new skills. I try not to alter an image too much, but sometimes with digital cameras you don't get exactly what you though you were shooting. So, here is an example of an image that I skipped over a while back because the subject was too dark. In this iteration I was able to lighten it up just a bit. Let me know if you think it's too much:

Racking the lens technique 1st attempt

So, I decided to experiment with the "racking the lens" technique on a whim. I just grabbed the camera, threw it on manual, and started shooting some flowers in my front yard. I think I'll revisit this technique with a little more setup (tripod, right light, better subject, etc) Here are some examples:

Path through the leaves

3rd Dam in the light

Bridge and leaves

Fall leaves and waterfall

Leaves in the sun

Fall Changes