Christmas Pictures

I figured that in the Spirit of Christmas, I would give you all a gift, a new post! You would think it would take something less important than Christmas for me to post some pictures, but that's Winter for you. I just don't get out to shoot as much in the Winter. A true gift to you though, is me introducing you to homemade Bokeh shots! Read on readers!

Here's a little taste of the Christmas Season!

These above two are my first experiments with my homemade Bokeh lens. It's really easy, and you get some fun results. These two shots are pictures of Christmas lights in my neighborhood. I rigged my lens so that the lights showed up as stars. You can manipulate it to any shape you want! It's abstract, but with a little creativity, can produce some awesome results. These ones don't count as awesome in my book, but hey, they were my first ones. This weekend I'll spend more time with it and post my results. Check out how to do it yourself HERE and have some fun this Christmas!

Portraits are my Favorite

I've had a lot of fun lately. I've had a couple opportunities to do some portraits. I think my favorite type of pictures to take are portraits. Landscapes are cool, but portraits mean so much more because of the emotional attachment we can have with the people in the picture. They're much more challenging to get right though, because your subject doesn't stay still, and changes each time the shutter opens. The challenge is part of what makes it so fun for me though. Hope you enjoy!

Babies....who doesn't love a cute picture of a baby?

I don't know what it is about feet that makes this picture so fun....feet are weird that way.

I had a blast taking this couple's engagement pictures. We thought we were in for some Fall foliage, but instead, got some Winter wetness. In my opinion, they turned out better with the snow than how they probably would have turned out with an Autumn backdrop.

Big Cottonwood Canyon

God must have known that I would get into photography one day. I think that's why I ended up in Utah. What better place to be a landscape photographer?! Utah Falls are one of my favorite times of year to get out there and shoot. These pictures were taken up Big Cottonwood Canyon one evening after work. It's only a five minute drive from where I work. It really can't get any better than that.

I almost walked right by these leaves until I saw the water droplets that were resting so perfectly. I've always wanted to take a picture like this, but have always wanted it to be a scene that happened naturally. I've tried manipulating things myself to set it up, but it never looks....natural. I was pretty excited that I finally stumbled upon such a scene!

Hidden Falls

This one is definitely my favorite of the bunch, and has become one of my favorite pictures I've taken yet. I love the contrast of the yellow leaves and the bright green moss.

Fall 2008

Leaf in Water at Lake Martha, Big Cottonwood Canyon

Aspens on Guardsman's Pass, Big Cottonwood Canyon

Fall Reflection on Lake Martha, Big Cottonwood Canyon

Lake Mary

On the Trail to Lake Mary

Aspens on Guardsman's Pass, Big Cottonwood Canyon

More Aspens on Guardsman's Pass, Big Cottonwood Canyon

It's been a while since I went out shooting just for fun, which is partly why I haven't posted for a while. I know at least once a year I'll get out and shoot though, a photographer can never pass up shooting in the Fall, especially when Nikon offers free reign to shoot with any camera and any lens for a day. I took out the new Nikon D700 and went up Big Cottonwood Canyon and Guardsman's Pass to get my annual Fall foliage shots. Hope you enjoy!

Ummm.....sorry

Sorry, I know it's been too long. Thanks to my Sister who so kindly reminds me that I need to post new stuff. So, here we go. For those who I've kept in terrible suspense concerning my last posts challenge to guess what that one crazy picture is, it's a picture I took while driving in the car (not the safest, I know) at night as I drove down the street. The various light sources (car headlights, street lamps, stop lights, business signs, etc) created all sorts of light drawings that I thought were kind of cool.
Today I thought I'd post a few pictures of Texas I took while living there last Summer. Also, I've posted my new favorite picture. It's my favorite because not only is it my beautiful daughter, but it's also a really great picture, if I do say so myself. Hope you enjoy.

At my apartment complex in Texas

Fort Worth, TX Cityscape

Texas Thunder Storm

Cutest baby this side of the Mississippi....and probably the other side too!

Sorry, it's Been Awhile

I didn't have many visitors before, but since I haven't posted for quite some time, I'm sure those few who were visiting this blog have long since lost faith in me. Sorry. If there's anybody out there still, I hope you enjoy these random few.

Taken at a local hiking trail called Adams Canyon. I like the timelessness of this particular picture. It looks like it could have been taken 20 years ago. You just don't know.

Utah really is the best place to be an outdoor photographer. Great landscapes, and tons of wildlife. This bald eagle was taken at Farmington Bay, which is only 15 minutes from my house. The bald eagles come down from the mountains in the early spring because the bays in the valley thaw earlier than the lakes in the mountains and there's plenty of fish. There are times you can see as many as 25 bald eagles at once.


I call this one, fun with paint. I was babysitting my nieces when I took this one.

The above two photos were part of a long exposure assignment I had to do for my photo class. If anyone can guess what the top picture is a picture of, you get.....a lot of respect.

Thanksgiving Point Tulips

These are the tulips down at Thanksgiving Point during their annual Tulip Festival.  I was hoping to get some more shots, but the "bloom-o-meter" said only 28% of the bulbs had blossomed when I was there.  I like the second one a lot.  The wind was blowing, and I loved how these three tulips were bending together.  I think it's so visually interesting.

Antelope Island Sunsets

Antelope Island is such a great place for sunset pictures. It's like a mock beach here in Utah since I can't be in San Diego all the time, where I'd really like to be! Thanks again for all of your kind comments. I'm happy to know other people are enjoying my photos besides myself!

Seaport Village

My company sent me to a conference in Sunny San Diego back in February, a week before my wife's due date mind you, where I was able to capture these shots.  They put us up in the Marriott, which is right next to a really neat place called Seaport Village.  It's right on the harbor, and there's a bunch of what looks like old beach houses that are now shops.  I didn't have a lot of free time, but what free time I had I spent in Seaport Village taking pictures. 

Antelope Island Hot Air Balloon Festival

I went to the Hot Air Balloon Festival out at Antelope Island back in the early Fall and these are a few of my favorites from that event.  This Hot Air Balloon Festival was like Sundance for Photographers.  It was hard to get a shot without another camera in it.  It was great though.  Great light, good weather, and willing subjects, including the buffalo!

Salt Lake Temple

Here are two non-traditional pictures of the Salt Lake Temple.  The first abstract one is the reflection of the temple in the reflection pool (imagine that).