Rory W Photography Blog

17-40mm f/4L | 1/60 sec | f/16 | ISO 100 | Polarizer

This is the first of a few images from a recent trip to Southern Utah. This shot was actually taken just inside the border of Arizona (the hike begins in Utah and you eventually cross the border into Arizona), in the Coyotte Buttes area. It’s a three-mile hike one way, which would have been much easier if I was actually in shape. But it was well worth it. In order to protect this area they only give permits to 20 people (or dogs) each day, and ten of those have to be reserved months in advance. I was EXTREMELY lucky to get a permit that day for me and my wife because there were 55 other people trying to get one of the ten remaining for that day. They have a lottery every morning. It was a close call – my number was the last to be drawn.

This is my favorite shot of the formation often called the Second Wave. It’s a bit south of the first Wave. While we were there I was quite unhappy with the weather for not being more cooperative, but surprisingly it turned out to my advantage for this scene. If there had just been plain blue skies, I don’t think this image would have been near as effective. The dark stormy clouds in the background created the perfect contrast with the light, yellow sandstone in the foreground. And the timing was perfect – the sun only shined through a break in the clouds for about a half hour, creating the shadows on the sandstone.

Now for some technical things. I like it when other photographers explain themselves – I think you can learn a lot from their thoughts. Here are mine: This location has been photographed thousands of times, which makes it difficult to come up with a new take on it. So I was very careful to set up the composition to take advantage of the natural leading lines in this scene. All the shapes and patterns in the foreground lead your eye back to the strange formation and dark clouds and then back to the foreground again. Leading lines are an extremely effective way to create an interesting composition. And always be on the lookout for contrast. In this scene it’s all about the contrast created by the late afternoon setting sun and the dark clouds in the background. I think contrasts of light/dark and warm/cool are very effective.

One of my favorite images, Patterns of Nature, has one another competition (it’s first win was the sweepstakes prize at the 2009 Weber County Fair). It was chosen as the 1st place winner of Doug Chinnery’s “Best Photo of 2009″ Competition. I was honored to be chosen from among a great group of competitors. Here’s what Doug said about the image:

“This image really moved us. It stood out as very different from most images entered by its focus on an intimate landscape. We loved the beautiful colours and strong use of the vertical white trunks of the Silver Birches contrasted against the fresh green of the foliage in the undergrowth, made perfect by the Dandelion heads breaking up the spread of green. This image was made with a keen eye for detail, great exposure control and compositional skills – an image to be proud of. I would love to see a large version of the image.“

17-40mm f/4L | 1/50 sec | f/16 | ISO 100 | 2-stop Hard GND

This was taken not too long after sunrise in Eden, Utah.

AND A REQUEST: Once again one of my images was chosen as KSL’s photo of the week. Now it’s the end of the month and I could really use your votes!! I’d very much appreciate it! Just click on the following link, and mines the one on the far left:

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

Anyone can vote and you don’t need to sign up for anything!

17-40mm f/4L | 1/5 sec | f/22 | ISO 100 | 2-stop Hard GND

I’m still alive! And I’ve decided I’m going to be more diligent in posting images to Flickr and my blog.

I was very lucky that the sun peaked through the clouds this morning. It literally only lasted about one minute, which was just enough time for me to setup this composition. The warm light, even for a few seconds, was great to have on such a cold morning…

70-200mm f/4L | 1/20 sec | f/16 | ISO 100

Yep, it’s been quite a while since I posted anything, and I’ve still got plenty of things to post, but I figured today I should at least say Happy Thanksgiving!

I just took this shot early this morning. The warm/cool contrast really caught my eye, as well as the backlit trees in front of the hills in shadow.

17-40mm f/4L | 1/15 sec | f/14 | ISO 125 | 2-stop hard GND

It’s often difficult to find a new angle or take on well-known photographic icons like Thor’s Hammer in Bryce Canyon. As the warm morning sun lit the entire canyon, I saw this small pine and found what I thought was a new angle to shoot from to capture the ever-popular Thor’s Hammer.

70-200mm f/4L | 1/100 sec | f/14 | ISO 200

I took a very short trip (one night) to Bryce Canyon last week. Got some great images. This is definitely one of my favorites. I love the contrast of the warm sunlit sandstone compared to the cool parts that are in shadow. Plus that nifty little tree also stood right out. This was taken from the Bryce Point viewpoint.

70-200mm f/4L | 1/200 sec | f/11 | ISO 100

I was very lucky to be in the right place at the right time for this shot, because it wasn’t what I set out to get. But now it’s one of my favorites. I took it a few weeks ago when there was still some fall color left around here…

And yes, it’s been quite a while since I posted anything. For the last several weeks I’ve been spending my free time either out shooting or working on my photography website, and it’s finally finished (other than a few details)! I essentially replaced what was just a blog before with a full catalog of my images, which are now available for purchase.

70-200mm f/4L | 1 sec | f/16 | ISO 50

My take on Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon. During the past few weeks I’ve pretty much traversed the entire Wasatch Front, with the exception of Logan, hoping to capture some of the great fall colors to which Utah is host. It’s been rough. This is one of the photos I took a couple weeks weeks ago.

And could anyone tell me how to actually drive down to the base of the waterfall where you can get out and hike up to it? Is the road farther east or west of the higher viewpoint? I couldn’t figure out how to get there and didn’t want to drive up and down the busy highway looking for it.

70-200mm f/4L | 1/40 sec | f/11 | ISO 100

These were some very well backlit aspens. I have had an eye out for a scene like this for a long time, and finally found one.