Big Cottonwood Canyon's fall colors
I have often joked that Utah is my studio. It is cheaper than having an actual studio with fake backgrounds and you get real backgrounds. I could have a fake background of autumn leaves but if you can have real autumn leaves even better.
Autumn photography
However, sometimes mother nature laughs at you – and the day we photographed with Jay was the day after snow had decorated the Big Cottonwood Canyon. It had knocked a lot of the leaves off of the trees. It also meant that snow was all over the place. And it was freezing! But these photographs have turned out very nicely.
Snow decorates the autumn colors
And what better way to illustrate autumn leaves than with a black and white photograph. I am kidding – so some degree. However, it is cool to mix things up and have some black and white photographs. And with the control I have with Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro I can take advantage of color filters to produce unique black and white photographs.
Black and white photograph of autumn leaves
While we were photographing in the canyon I was using my new tri-grip reflector. At times we used it to reflect sunlight on the subject (Jay) and a few times I would bounch my flash off of the reflector. This worked pretty well, although, I think I am still a fan of a dedicated lightstand off to the side of me holding a light.
Bounce light into a reflector
And I love photographing in the middle of the road. I get paranoid that a car will come buy but keeping eyes alert solves that problem. Train tracks are also cool but they were located in a different part of Utah’s studio.
A photo studio in the middle of the road
Same photography studio in the middle of the road - but in black and white
People ask how I edit my photos. And I, like a lot of portrait photographers, use Photoshop actions. There are some popular action sets out there – including Totally Rad Actions. I use them a lot lately. I should start making my own actions – try and make myself different. I will put that on my long to do list. That list just keeps getting longer and longer.
Special effects applied to photograph to make it look old and classic
Black and white photograph
It is always nice when you can just rotate the light have the subject turn 90 degrees and you have a new backdrop. Another benefit of having Utah as a photo studio.
Antelope Island acts as the background for this photograph
Utah is my studio
Sun sets on the Great Salt Lake
For the most part I now create all my black and white photographs using Nik Software’s Silver Efex Pro. If I am lazy I will run a Photoshop action. However, I am trying to slow down and put more time into each photograph. In a day and age where everyone is focusing on quantity I am starting to go to less quantity and more quality.
Granted if I could do both – and have both quality and quantity that would be super mega awesome. Slow down and put more power into one image.
Black and white photographed created in Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro
And sunset really is the best time to photograph. Finding a good location about an hour before the sun is down is the best time. We can of course spend a few hours before hand getting awesome photos – but be ready as the sun goes down and the light turns golden to move like an Olympian.
We move fast as the sun goes down so we don’t waste time hunting for a shot.
I love photographing at sunset
Sunflare really makes some photographs pop
This photograph is rather cool. Granted I wish the moon was lower to the ground – it would be really cool to get the moon and Jay closer together. I also shot this with a long lens so the moon would appear larger than if I had used a wide angle lens. You even see the man in the moon (the detail) of the moon.
Capturing the moon in this shot - with a really long lens
