70-200mm f/4L | 1/30 sec | f/16 | ISO 100

The first of the autumn pictures! When I went up toward Monte Cristo this year, I had an unpleasant surprise – it’s been so cold lately at the higher altitudes that instead of changing to yellows and other colors, most of the aspens just froze and died. There was very little color. But I did find a few patches here and there. This is one of them.And then of course the snow kept falling and falling today. That may be it for the fall colors this year!

17-40mm f/4L | 1.3 sec | f/16 | ISO 100 | 2-stop hard GND

Wow, the autumn colors are incredible right now! But before I start posting those images, I thought I should post this one first before it gets lost in the archives. It was taken about a week ago. And yes, these absolutely were the real colors.Coming soon – fall colors in abundance around Utah…

17-40mm f/4L | 5 sec | f/16 | ISO 100 | 2-stop hard GND

Last night I felt like I was able to redeem myself from what happened two nights ago. I headed out early. I saw there was a clearing in the storm, so I knew there was a very good chance of some great light. So I sat there in the rain, under my big red umbrella, and captured this scene. You’ve gotta love shooting in the rain!These colors are 100% natural. The only thing I adjusted in post was to bring out the dark river banks just a little bit.

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

Now for a story, which I rarely do…I think we’ve all had one of those “could have-should” have moments. For me, tonight was one of them. I left my home about 40 minutes before the official sunset time, not planning to drive far, and assuming I would have plenty of time to scout and setup before any action started. I was wrong…I drove about five minutes and came to a great spot. My plan was to walk a little ways down the bank of a small river, hoping for a great reflection shot. However, as I was unpacking my camera, tripod, and other gear, I just happened to glance behind me, only to see an incredible double rainbow. I started rushing myself as quickly as possible, barely securing my camera to the tripod head. I knew I had to hurry – there were an awful lot of clouds in the sky, so I knew the rainbow wouldn’t last long. I began frantically searching for a decent foreground I could use, and was very lucky to spot what were probably the only wild flowers (perhaps weeds in this case) still in bloom in the whole valley. I had to run down the fence line where there was an opening and rush back to the flowers. At that point the rainbow was still there, but I was nowhere near prepared. I had to extend the tripod legs, find a decently level spot to place the tripod, pull the lens cap off, turn the camera on, hook up the remote release cable, adjust the polarizer (which does wonders for the intensity of a rainbow, by the way), adjust the focus, adjust the exposure, pull out the GND filter, and then despite the time saved by being able to simply handhold the filter, at that point most of the rainbow had disappeared. Man was I disappointed! But I still got off a few shots of remnants of the rainbow. This image is probably the best I came back with. What do we learn? I really should be prepared for anything at any moment. And had I left earlier today, I could have captured an incredible image. I definitely should have…By the way, anyone else excited for the upcoming autumn colors?!

17-40mm f/4L | 1.3 sec | f/18 | ISO 50 | 2-stop hard GND

This was taken at Cecret Lake at above Albion Basin and Alta a month ago. Since it’s a two-hour drive for me to get there, I had to take advantage of the opportunity, so immediately after I captured this image I ran down the mountain to get this shot.I used a higher aperture value and lower ISO to smooth out the water a little more.

17-40mm f/4L | 0.3 sec | f/18 | ISO 200

I found these corn lily plants at Albion Basin. I was drawn right in by the patterns they create.

24-105mm f/4L IS | 1/640 sec | f/4 | ISO 400

One more shot from my trip to China a few months ago. Once again, this isn’t my usual type of photography, but I really liked this one. I’ll admit that I was extremely lucky when I took this, because I actually took it while holding the camera at my waste as I was walking by, and I just happened to aim the camera perfectly.

17-40mm f/4L | 2.5 sec | f/16 | ISO 100 | 2-stop hard GND

Well, I figured since everyone else from Photowalking Utah is posting their shots from the recent sunrise photowalk at Albion Basin, I should post a recent shot from there too!This was taken about a week ago. The clouds were looking great before sunset, but then they all disappeared. The half moon saved it though.

17-40mm f/4L | 1.6 sec | f/16 | ISO 200 | 2-stop hard GND

Last week I went to Albion Basin up at Alta in Little Cottonwood Canyon for the first time, at what seemed to be a prime time for wildflowers. I thought I had seen a lot of wildflowers in the past, but I was wrong! The amount and variety up there right now is incredible!! I was totally blown away. And they made for some great shots.