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Camping – Central Utah
Camping – Central Utah
Central Utah Camping
Camping Central Utah
Hot Springs – Central Utah
CENTRAL UTAH – CAMPING
This was a great weekend in central Utah with good company. Awesome trip, good exploring, good campfires, and good hot springs. Nothing better.
“Evening Fog and Pier” Golden Gate State Park, California
Alta’s Albion Basin in Summer
Naturalist Basin, High Uintas and A Little Photography
The Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque is the kingpin mosque of the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi by Joel Addams
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
While on a layover in Abu Dhabi, my friend Josh was kind enough to drive over from Dubai, pick me up, take me to see this great mosque and crash at his pad before my next flight into Nepal. We photographed the night side of this fantastically large mosque honoring the father of the nation (if my memory serves me correctly). Immediately, I noticed the mix of warm and cool colors that were intentionally in place by the designers. The lights gave a very fascinating hue to the building, with a very pure white light mixed somewhere in the middle. Exposure can be a little tricky on these night shots, so it is important to check your LCD/histogram and see what’s happening. Depending on how much light is in the frame (as opposed to dark sky), the camera will want to do a lot of different things. I usually try to get the midtones right, and let the extremely highlights blow out a little bit, giving a bit more of a dramatic effect. In post, I usually have to add back some of the color, as it is lost trying to get the correct exposure. In this case, I fixed the blues back to where they were in the scene.
Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon 17-40 mm @ 17 mm
Settings: ISO400, f/4, 1/25th of a second
Filters: None
Other: Cable Release
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Kids on Oahu's North Shore jump off the "30-foot Rock" by Joel Addams
NORTH SHORE, OAHU, HAWAII
We used to make runs up to the North Shore whenever we used to have time. Sometimes we would arrive late or the swells from earlier in the day would have died down. On this occasion, nothing was happening, so we wandered down to the 30-foot Rock, so-called by the locals because of its height. When timed correctly, the water is plenty deep for a safe landing. (Watch out for the low tide!) I thought these kids would make a good silhouette as the sunlight was fading, and their body language described pretty well what was going on. My friend with me described this bottom photo later on as a “tweaked out melon grab.” Admittedly, the jumper may not have been the most graceful or picturesque subject, but perhaps that is what gives it a lot of local flavor. The exposure on this image (and most silhouettes) is terribly simple. Point and shoot. Don’t worry about overexposing. If you shoot in an evaluative metering system, with no exposure compensation, your meter in the camera will read the light in the sunset and automatically darken the foreground subjects. No problem. Now if you wanted to lighten up the kids, you would need to overexposure the frame, either by increasing the exposure compensation (+/- button) or manually increasing the size of the aperture or lengthening the shutter speed.
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"Three Gossips and Courthouse Towers" Arches National Park, Utah by Joel Addams
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH
Ahh. It’s always good to be back home. Home is where the deserts meet the mountains in Utah, and a mere four hours by car from Salt Lake City will land you squarely in Moab, Utah. Only a stone’s throw from this mountain biking mecca are two National Parks, Canyonlands and Arches, both with accessible shooting opportunities. This shot was from late winter with the receding snow in the park somewhat of an anomaly at times. I’ve often been frustrated by the haze that settles in over Arches, but this sunrise was pretty reasonable. A good old Singh-Ray external graduated neutral density filter does the trick of deepening the blue in the sky. On to spring…
Camera: Canon 5DMarkII,
Lens: 17-40 mm lens at 17 mm
Settings: ISO100, f/13, 1/6 of a second
Filters: Singh-Ray 2-stop Graduated Neutral Density filter, LB warming polarizer
Other: Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod, Cable Release
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"Snake Charmer" Marrekesh, Morocco by Joel Addams
MARRAKESH, MOROCCO
This was one of those situations where you know you had to make the picture happen or it just wasn’t. Gentlemen who play with snakes in the popular marketplace of Marrakesh have one thing on their minds: making a little cash. You have to decide as a photographer if that is worth it for you. If you’re shooting for an editorial publication, then no money or services or goods can be exchanged for taking these pictures. I wasn’t. I thought at best this would be a decent stock image, so I gave the guy a small amount of cash so I could position myself on my stomach for a few minutes and use a long lens to capture the cobra. My plan was to keep the face of the gentleman out of the picture completely so I could freely use the image how I wanted. In addition, I was trying to keep the snake in the dark parts of his clothing, so as to contrast the snake with the background.
Camera: Canon 5D
Lens: Canon 70-200 mm IS lens
Settings: ISO100, f/3.2, 1/250th of a second
Filters: Circular Polarizer
Other: Handheld
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"Turret Arch" Arches National Park, Utah
ARCHES NATIONAL PARK, UTAH
Arches National Park is somewhat of a “drive, drop, and shoot” lover’s dream. My hope was to hit up the North and South Windows (two rock formations) on this particular evening, but the clouds hung low, and I didn’t find the angle I wanted. It was on the short trail back to the cars that the sun peeked out of a sliver of clouds on the horizon. This shot was taken of Turret Arch, and I was lucky to have some nice clouds help out the interest in the shot. I chose f/22 because I wanted to get as much of a sunstar as possible on this shot. This slowed down the shutter, of course. The slow shutter speed didn’t bother me though at 1/8th of a second since I was on a sturdy tripod. Overall, I opted to leave the image dark where it was supposed to be dark. I prefer the contrast rather than a more brash HDR image.
Camera: Canon 5D
Lens: Canon 17 – 40 mm f/4 lens
Settings: ISO100, f/22, 1/8th of a second
Filters: Warming Filter
Other: Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod, Cable Release
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Hiking the Narrows, Zion National Park, Utah by Joel Addams
“THE GREATEST HITS OF SOUTHERN UTAH” PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
Join for a photographic tour of the some of the most dramatic and inspiring sights of the Colorado Plateau, including Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon, Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon. You’re guaranteed to arrive home with some of the most dramatic images you’ve ever created. I will be a guest instructor for the well-known Italy Workshop guide and photographer, Drake Busath. This 8-day trip includes friendly photo instruction, ground travel, guides, entrance fees, and first class lodging. We will start and end in Las Vegas or St. George, Utah, with all the details taken care of. The photographic workshop along the way includes personal review and critique of the images you’re creating, lectures to inspire, and hands-on instruction in the field.
The workshop consists of:
All levels of experience are welcome. We’ll have break-out groups for beginners, to study camera fundamentals, while the advanced photographers get extra time to hike and/or shoot. Technical topics include proper exposure, lens control, HDR, and image stitching. Artistic topics cover principles of composition, lens perspectives, and lighting for impact. Most importantly, you’ll actually create great images during this weeklong adventure, inspired and encouraged by instructors and fellow workshop members.
Single $2250
Couple $3950 (staying in the same room)
Includes:
If you’re flying into Las Vegas, we’ll arrange for a comfortable round trip ride to our St George meeting point. Just $95/person for this service.
For the full itinerary, more information, contact, and payment, visit: http://utahphotoworkshops.com/workshops
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"Between Here and There, Antelope Canyon" Arizona by Joel Addams
ANTELOPE CANYON, ARIZONA
Just outside of Page, Arizona is the Navajo Nation that owns and operates several extraordinary canyons in the area. Possibly one of the most visited slot canyons in the world, these two canyons (Lower and Upper) are separated by several miles and can only be accessed by permission, a fee, and a guide from the area. I was shooting with a fabulous group of participants in a workshop last year, and we were blown away by the fantastic light show of beams that stuck walls, the floor of the canyons, and certain objects that become stuck when the water rushes into the canyon during storms. The combination of this log and the light streaming in around called my attention, and we stuck around for a moment looking almost straight up to photograph it. One key here is overexposure. If you are shooting in manual, then manually increase the meter to 1-stop and then 2-stop and then 3-stops overexposed. Review your histogram knowing that some of the highlights will likely be blown out. I didn’t mind much as it gave the appearance of a serious flood of light.
Camera: Canon 5DMarkII
Lens: Canon 24 mm Mark II Tilt-Shift Lens
Settings: ISO100, f/11, 1.6 seconds
Filters: None
Other: Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod, Cable Release
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