B&W Tuesday - Trio

Cemetery - Key West Florida, 2012

Ballerina

I was asked to assist on a photo session with Nate Marx.  While he was photographing one girl I took the other aside and wanted to capture some images of her shoes.  I used the sun as a backlight and a reflector to add a little light to the shoes.  These were my favorite from the session.

Leading Lines

Self Portriat - Reflections

There is something about reflections that catch my eye.  I've included a few of my favorites that I've taken over the last month.







 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Street Photography

Something I always come across when reading photography books is a discussion about ways to grow as a photographer. A common theme I run into if you want to grow and become a better photographer is to get out of your comfort zone .  I've experienced this a few times lately and thought I'd share my most recent experience.

Shaun Nelson and I did a little street photography in downtown Salt Lake City one afternoon.  I have to say that this definitely took me out of my comfort zone.  I've seen quite a few street photographer who can get some amazing photographs but I felt like I wasn't able to get anything good.  After about an hour I packed up and headed home not feeling comfortable with what I had and quite frankly didn't care to do any more street photography again.  Shaun mentioned that the first time is a little uncomfortable and to try it again.  I took his advise and hit the streets again.  I have to say I didn't feel as uncomfortable but still a little awkward.  I included a few of my favorite shots.  I don't anticipate me becoming a street photographer anytime soon but when the occasion arises I will be able to apply the things I learned from this adventure to the next one.

Jefferson Memorial in Black and White

Taken on a recent trip to Washington DC.

Leading Lines and Shadows

 

I just noticed that It's been a little over two months since my last post.  I've taken that time to re-prioritize a few things and am happy to say that it's paid off.  I hope to share more images here as time allows.  This image was taken at one of the outdoor art sculptures in Washing DC.

Reflection

Project[52] - eight

My daughters 4th grade skit on the history of the state of Utah was last night.  It's been fun helping her with her project this past week and hearing all about their skit that they all performed last night.  I was able to get a few good pictures of her during the skit.  With a room full of mom's and dad's there were camera flashes going off for the full 45 minute presentation.  I'm pretty sure I was the only one shooting without a flash (forgot to bring it) and was glad my Canon 5DMII does a great job in low light situations.

 

Project[52] | one

In order to keep me more engaged with photography this year I've decided to take on a few projects.  The first project that I will be doing for the next year will be posting 1 photo a week for 52 weeks, it will be my Project[52].  To help me out with this project, I've created a list of ideas of different subject and techniques that will keep me focused each week.  I'm not going to restrict myself to only using one item from the list, it's just more of a way for me to focus on certain things rather than racking my brain for ideas to meet a deadline.

For this week I chose Winter and Black & White.  We spent a few days in Wyoming playing in the snow this past weekend and I was able to take some time to capture some images.

I'm hoping that this will give me a creative boost.  These images will not be anything spectacular, it's not my goal to come up with something unique.  This is a way for me to focus more on photography and creating images of the surrounds around me.  I read a quote recently that I really like: "Photography is an art of observation. It's about finding something interesting in an ordinary place. I've found it has little to do with things you see and everything to do with the way you see them".

I'm working on other projects that I may discuss later but the goal for all of them is to boost my creativity and hopefully improve my photography.

North Beach in Black and White

Canon XTi * EF-24-105mm f/4.0L * ISO 100 * 1/640 second * f/4.0

I recently purchased some photoshop actions ( will blog about them later) that have some great conversions to black and white.

I was loooking through my archive this weekend and ran it through an action and really like the shadow detail in the buildings.  I spent quite a bit of time in San Franciso on business so my archive is full of buildings like these.  Hopefully I will have time to process through them - enjoy!

Classic Fin

Canon 40D * Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens * ISO 400 * 1/800 second * f/4.0

Classic

Canon 40D * Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0L lens * ISO 400 * 1/1000 second * f/4.0

Weekend Getaway

Canon XTi * Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L Lens * ISO 100 * 1/800 second * f/4.0

My family and I stayed with some friends at East Canyon Resort this past weekend. The resort is nestled in the mountains between Park City and Morgan Utah.

The photo above was taken at the resort early one morning. While everyone was still sleeping I slipped out for a early morning walk and was able to get some great shots. This shot of the sign was one of them. I really like the direction the sun is hitting the snow, it really adds depth to the shadows.

We spent part of our Saturday morning at Soldier Hollow tubing hill. They claim their tubing hill has the longest tubing lanes in Utah. They had six lanes and two tow ropes that provided an easy way to get to the top of the hill. They also have cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. It’s a great place to take the family for a winter activity.

The photo below is of a guy kid who was brave enough to ski without a shirt. The semi-warm weather didn’t last long, within about 30 minutes the wind was blowing and was very cold; typical Utah winter.

Canon XTi * Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L Lens * ISO 100 * 1/400 second * f/11

Around the Bend

Canon XTi * Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0 lens * ISO 100 * 1/1000 second * f/4.0

This shot was taken in an empty field close to my home in Syracuse Utah. One of the things that drew me to the trail was what was behind the camera, a cemetery. I suspect this is a shortcut for kids on their way to or home from school. I'm not sure as a kid I would have taken this shortcut through the cemetery.

Happy New Year!

Looking back at '07

Canon XTi * Canon EF-24-105mm f/4.0 lens * ISO 100 * 1/500 second * f/4.0

2007 was a first of many things for me. It's been a great year, here are a few highlights.

• Converted from Windows to a Mac.


• January - Created a Pro Flickr account.


• July - Registered www.scottosmith.com


• October - Scott [o] Smith's Digital World was born.
  
  
  
  • 66 Blog Posts.
  
  
  • 2500 Views.
  
  
  • 20 comments.
  
  
  
  


• 12,423 - Photos taken.


• 28 - Gigabytes of photos.


• 5 - Photowalks


• Made many new friends that are amazing photographers.

I'm looking forward to '08 and sharing it with all of you.