Rory W Photography

17-40mm f/4L | 1 sec | f/18 | ISO 400

This was part of the same sunset as my last image, from about a week ago, only this time shot towards the north instead of the south. I tried to wait until the wind stopped blowing for the 1-second exposure, but there’s still a bit of movement.

AND A FINAL REQUEST:

Today is the last day of voting for the image of the month on ksl.com. If I win the voting today, I’ll get my image published in their annual calendar, which would be great! And I’ll owe a lot of it to you guys here on Flickr!

So if you would kindly take 2 seconds again and vote for the fourth image on the far right (under Rory Wallwork), that would be great!! Thanks again!

www.ksl.com/?sid=901157&nid=461

And have a great 4th of July weekend!!

17-40mm f/4L | 5 sec | f/18 | ISO 400

This sunset a few days ago was incredible. It just kept going and going. I ended up shooting in every single direction around me. And long after the sun had gone down the skies were still red as I was driving home. I was lucky I decided to go out that night after an extremely intense storm up here in Ogden Valley. But as any landscape photographer knows – often the best images come after a storm.

AND AN IMPORTANT REQUEST:

If you wouldn’t mind just taking about 10 seconds to click on the link below and then click vote for my image on the far right, I would really appreciate it!!

www.ksl.com/?sid=901157&nid=461

It’s been a close tie with the first image so far, so I need your help getting ahead. It only takes a few seconds!! Thank you!

24-105mm f/4L IS | 30 sec | f/16 | ISO 100

These trees reminded me of the forests along the West coast, even though this was taken across the world in China in the Huangshan mountains. I tried it in black and white, but the mist pretty much disappeared, and I didn’t like it as much.

17-40mm f/4L | 1/8 sec | f/14 | ISO 200 | 2-stop Hard GND

Taken near the old Snowbasin road. To the left just out of frame is Snowbasin and Mount Ogden.

24-105mm f/4L IS | 2 sec | f/16 | ISO 100

This is another one from China, from the Huangshan mountains. Not to much else to say about it though, other than the fact that the Huangshan Pine is native to these mountains, and they make for great photographs.

17-40mm f/4L | 1/30 sec | f/22 | ISO 100 | 2-stop Hard GND

I decided I’ve had enough of trying to come up with decent titles. I’ll keep them simple from now on…

Not too much to say about this shot. I took it just after a storm had passed, leaving some great cloud cover. I grabbed the shot at the last minute while the entire mountainside was illuminated by the sun.

24-105mm f/4L IS | 4 sec | f/14 | ISO 200 | Polarizer

I’ve still got a few more shots to share from our recent trip to China. This shot was taken in the mountains of Huangshan. The cloud cover was extremely thick, as you can kind of see in the background trees of this image. It made for a beautiful walk through the forests there. There weren’t very many flowers when we were there, so when I saw these, they really stood out and I had to capture it.

17-40mm f/4L | 1.6 sec | f/18 | ISO 100

I ran across this great little spot after an evening of highly-unsuccessful photography elsewhere. The aspens along the road were the thing that caught my eye, but when I went closer, I found this great patch of whatever this plant is. Granted, I’m no plant expert, but I thought it made a pretty cool composition and some great patterns.

Technorati Profile

24-105mm f/4L IS | 1/160 sec | f/8 | ISO 200 | Handheld

I have to say that the Longsheng Rice Terraces were one of the most unique places I’ve ever been. Unfortunately they hadn’t planted the rice yet, which meant the terraces weren’t full of water, other than a select few. But it was still an amazing place none-the-less.

24-105mm f/4L IS | 1/2500 sec | f/4 | ISO 200

I decided I’m going to try out making some posts of pretty random images that I’ve taken. These images have been taken anywhere at any time. They’ll just be ones that I find interesting. I guess I kind of want the look and feel of the popular [daily dose of imagery] site. I’ll try it out and see how it goes.

This shot was taken in Beijing, China – a shot of a taxi through the open window of our taxi. Getting the taxi in the frame was pure luck, but I really like it because it stands out very well against all the blues of the background.

17-40mm f/4L | 3.2 sec | f/22 | ISO 100 | 0.6 GND

I’ve read a lot about luminosity masks and how great they are. I figured it was about time I give them a try. This image was mainly processed using them. I can definitely see their potential. I will for sure be using them very often in the future. If you’ve never heard of luminosity masks, and you’re a landscape photographer, I definitely suggest you research them.

This shot was taken just as the last bit of color vanished from the clouds. That’s Snowbasin in the background.

24-105mm f/4L IS | 1/320 sec | f/11 | ISO 200

The landscapes throughout the countrysides around Yangshuo, China are some of the most amazing I’ve seen, especially when combined with rice fields and nice weather (rare) as seen in this image. This shot was taken just outside our small family-run hotel, set right in the middle of this beautiful area of China. This image was made from three hand-held shots.

17-40mm f/4L | 1/10 sec | f/22 | ISO 100 | 0.6 GND

This one’s a local one. It was a difficult one to shoot, because I don’t have the necessary GND filters to shoot a scene like this, with such intense light contrasts. But I made due with what I had, and then I had to push the exposure some in post.

After driving to Pineview Reservoir to the location I had in mind, I arrived only to find that the beach was completely under water. Luckily I was able to climb up the hill/cliff that overlooks the water.

24-105mm f/4L IS | 30 sec | f/16 | ISO 100

These two pagodas are in the dead middle of the city of Guilin, China in the middle of Shan Lake (more of a large pond actually). There’s a beautifully lit walkway all the way around the lake. It’s a great place to take a stroll at night; and of course a great location for some photographs.

24-105mm f/4L IS | 0.4 sec | f/18 | ISO 100

My wife and I just returned last Saturday from a two-week trip to China. We traveled all over the place, and I was able to visit some incredible places that most people probably won’t ever see in their lives. And as you can imagine, I also came away with a whole slew of photographs. And it’s taken this long to even begin processing my photos.

Yes, I did come back with a whole lot of images, but I really don’t have many that I’d consider top-quality work. The shooting conditions for landscape photography in China just aren’t that great. I was kind of disappointed. There’s a LOT of pollution in the air, making it very difficult to get nice clean images. However, up in the mountains of Huangshan (or Yellow Mountains), the air is clean and the conditions were great. It’s one of the most amazing places I’ve ever seen, and the photography opportunities were endless there (if the weather was good). This image was one of my favorite shots from there, so I thought I’d share it first.

When the weather’s rainy like this, the entire mountain is literally covered in a blanket of clouds. It’s like walking through a constant light mist. It provided some very interesting shooting conditions, forcing me to look for more detailed shots instead of the usually sought-after grand vista landscapes. I had a great time shooting there though. More to come!!

17-40mm f/4L | 0.3 sec | f/16 | ISO 100 | 0.6 GND

While I’m not disappointed with this image, I am disappointed that I didn’t run (literally) out my door sooner to catch the best light. It was even better than this while I was driving… That, and I was too out of shape to run all the way to this spot.

This is the last image I will be posting for a while. I’m going out of town for a couple weeks, and I’m sure I’ll have some shots to post when I get back.