Photo by Sam Scholes

The Utah State Fair fair starts next week and entries for the photography contest are due this week starting Thursday. For more information visit the Utah State Fair web site. If you haven’t entered the photo contest before, it is a great way to get your work out there for other people to see. Every year the fair has an impressive show of photographs, from children and adults alike. Categories include: scenic, portrait, architecture, botanical, still life, wildlife and more.

For help printing, mounting and preparing your entries there is no better place than Pixels. We know all the Utah State Fair guidelines and can help prepare your winning photos. Give us a call for more information (801) 233-9090. Ask for our print specialists Lisa or Ben.

Photo by Sam Scholes

The Utah Renaissance Festival and Fantasy Faire continues this weekend! The event is located at Millcreek Hollow, 3109 West Pioneer Road in the beautiful village of Marriott-Slaterville. Only 25 minutes north west of Salt Lake City, the Utah Renaissance Festival is a lot of fun. This year the Festival features full contact jousting, music by Lady of the Lake, the legendary Royal Magick, the incredible talents of the Rovin’ Boozers, the amazing Yom al Had Band, home town favorites Gypsy Magik, the delightful Puppet Mania, the inimitable Cranachan and the comedic exploits of the Outlaws. Dozens of other outstanding performers and musicians will be on hand to revel and entertain patrons! The gates open at 10 AM daily and close at 6:30 PM. This is a great opportunity for photographers as there are many interesting people dressed up and usually more than willing to have their photos taken. Check out my photos from last year’s Festival on Flickr.

Keyboard shortcuts are one of the fastest ways to get things done in any program but especially in Photoshop. If you aren’t using keyboard shortcuts you need to start. Download some cheat sheets and then watch my video demonstrating how to setup custom keyboard shortcuts to speed up image editing.

Looking for something to do this Saturday? Go to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point Gardens! The gardens are open Monday through Saturday, 10am until 8pm. Visit the Thanksgiving Point web site for more information.

Photo by Sam Scholes

The expression “the Devil is in the details” refers to a catch or mysterious element hidden in the details.

I think this is an important expression for every photography to consider. To me the difference between a snapshot and a photograph is all in the details.Learning to see and to capture the mysterious elements that are hidden in the details of every subject can make the difference between an okay snapshot and a great photograph.

Whenever you are photographing a subject, be it a person, a landscape, or an old truck (like I’ve shown here), learn to work the subject, to explore it, and then capture the details that you see. You might be surprised by what you’ll find.

Join Photowalking Utah for a special photowalk this Saturday to support the Utah Chapter of the National MS Society.  The Photowalking Utah group has been asked to capture images of the WALK 2010 event and its 4,000+ participants.  This is a great way for photographers to help ‘give back’ to a great cause through photography. Visit Photowalking Utah from more information.

The SLC Photo Club meeting is meeting tonight Wednesday, April 21st @ 7pm. They will be taking a short photo trip/hike up to Ensign Peak where there is a beautiful view overlooking Salt Lake City. Visit the SLC Photo Club for further information.

Photo by Sam Scholes

The Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point has started last week and continues through May. This is a great opportunity to explore their beautiful gardens and see thousands of colorful tulips, daffodils, and many other flowers. I love the Tulip Festival because it is a great place to take flower photos. If you’ve never been to the Thanksgiving Point Gardens this is a great time of year for your first visit.

“Come see over a quarter million bulbs bloom in our 55-acre garden paradise. There are over four miles of winding paths that will rejuvenate and inspire you. In addition to the spectacular display of tulips, the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival includes music, demonstrations, vendors, tours, food, and even storytelling for children.”

The gardens are open Monday through Saturday, 10am until 8pm. Visit the Thanksgiving Point web site for more information.

Recently I went on a road trip through parts of Utah, Arizona, California, and Nevada. We traveled about 1800 miles in 4 days. During part of the trip we traveled through Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve, California. These areas are both known for their Joshua Trees, and I really wanted to get some photos of the trees silhouetted against an amazing sunset. Driving down a two lane highway in the Mojave National Preserve the sun began setting and the light was just beautiful. It was the beginning of the golden hour and I was hoping for a great sunset. We pulled off the road and crossed the road, over some railroad tracks, and hopped a barbed wire fence.

Photo #1 - 6:56 PM

Photo #1 – 6:56 PM

Light is getting interesting but is pretty dull right here. Couldn’t isolate the tree from the foreground as much as I wanted. Background is cluttered with electrical poles and railroad signs.

Photo #2 - 7:00 PM

Photo #2 – 7:00 PM

Moving positions and looking for a better tree I found this one. Taken only minutes after Photo #1, the light here is getting a lot more interesting and the sky is starting to show some more color. But this still isn’t what I wanted…

Photo #3 - 7:09 PM

Photo #3 – 7:09 PM

I hiked up a small hill and then shot slightly upward, positioning the camera back towards the sunset and captured this amazing sunset. FINALLY I got the photograph I’d set out to capture. I was able to get a strong silhouetted Joshua Tree against an amazing sunset, minimize the foreground, and keep eliminate the signs and electrical poles that were distracting before. In 13 minutes I went from a really boring photo to something considerably better.


FINAL WORD: Being in the right place at the right time only got me part of the way there. By knowing what I wanted and pre-visualizing the photo I wanted to create I was able to make it happen. I did this by working the subject (the Joshua Trees and sunset), trying different compositions, and finally, using the terrain (the hills) to my advantage.

“Our next meeting will be on Saturday Feb 6th @ 3pm at the Main Library in Conf room C. We will have a camera with studio lighting tethered to a laptop and projector so you can immediately see what each light is doing.

Dave’s Photoshop Classes will be held on Thursday the 4th of Feb. at his office (Chapman-Richards 1414 E Murray Holladay rd. 4700S) @ 6:30pm. If any of you would like to come a half hour early he will go over some photoshop basics.

Our current photo challenge “Before and After” will be due at this meeting. Please bring two prints, one of your image before editing (straight out of the camera) and one after editing.

Hope to see you there! –Rene

Photo Club Links:
SLC Photo Club Website
SLC Photo on Facebook
SLC Photo on Flickr“