Thank you Jon for a great Blog. Jon from reflectedpixel.com is an extremely talented photographer. I have enjoyed working with Jon and his father for several years now. They do great work.

I’d like to thank Darrin for the opportunity to be a guest blogger here at Wasatch Reflections. This is truly a great place to enjoy beautiful imagery.

I thought I'd give you some quick tips for making better images. So here goes.

1. Get Closer
Get in close and crop in tight. A tight crop will almost always have more impact than an image with a bunch of extra space. So don't be afraid to get in close.



2. Rotate
Your camera can take pictures no matter what direction it is pointed or rotated. Give it a try! The best time to take a vertical image is right after you've taken a horizontal one.


3. You miss 100% of the shots you don't take.
Don't let that great shot get away, take your camera with you and have it ready. The best camera in the world is the one you have with you.



4. Hold it still.
The number one killer of otherwise great photos is camera shake. Practice holding still or use something to help such as a tripod or monopod even a nice rock on the side of the trail or a wall to lean on can help.


5. Eliminate Intruders.
Just before you press the shutter, take a look around the edges of the frame. Are there intruding objects that will detract from your subject? if there are get rid of them by moving or zooming.



Thanks for visiting Wasatch Reflections. If you'd like to know more about me or see more of my photography, please visit reflectedpixel.com.
Thanks
Jon Adams

Let me know what you think, and if you like what you see please share this site and reflectedpixel.com with your friends and family.

~wr~

This was a fun image to take. I had just received for my birthday a split level neutral density filter. This photo was my first try at using it. This image is a three image stitch.
After taking the three images I placed them in Bridge and did a photomerge. This was the image I got.

I like the rich intensity of the colors.
I like the reflection.
I like the waves as they show action.

Don’t miss tomorrow. I will have Jon from Reflected Pixel on as a guest blogger.

Let me know what you think, and please share this site with your friends families.

~wr~

Last year while in Yellowstone we came across this Elk. He didn’t have a care in the world. Except to keep his eye on his harem. He had at least a dozen cows under his care. I shot this at 340mm. This was still to close for my comfort. The only reason I got this close was that it was Yellowstone, and that meant that there were about 20 people closer to the animal then I was. It was getting dark when I shot this photo, so I used my monopod and a higher iso.

The Specs.
iso 640
340mm
f/5
1/60 second

I like the large rack on this animal.
I like how he is looking at me.
I like how he is isolated from anything.

Thank you for visiting my site. Let me know what you think, and please share this site with your friends.
On Saturday, December 5th I will have a guest blog. Jon from Reflectedpixel will share his talents.

~wr~

Back in October I decided to go up Santaquin Canyon in Utah County. The weather had been extremely cold as a storm was moving through the area. Also, there had been strong winds in recent days. I was not expecting to find much. As we drove up the canyon the majority of the trees had lost their leaves. Then we found this spot. A lone area with a few trees and leaves. The rocks had that cool moss all over them. I decided to set up the tripod and begin shooting a few photos. I processed this photo using Lightroom and Topaz Simplify. I have grown to love this plugin.

The Specs.
iso 200
70 mm
f/220
0.6 second shutter

I like how the water dances in and around the moss covered rocks.
I like the few leaves scattered on the dirt bank.
I like how the tree seams to frame the stream.
I wish the two long weeds were not part of this photo.

Thanks for visiting. Let me know what you think, and if you like what you see please share with your friends.

~wr~

Here is an example of where my love for depth of field got me into trouble. We were on the Nebo Loop early in the fall. After I had taken my panoramic shot I looked down the mountain just as the sun was starting to rise above the horizon. I saw this lone aspen and dead tree amongst the dark pine trees. The sun seemed to only catch these two trees. This scene was several hundred yards away. So I shot this picture at 340mm at f/40. I originally wanted to do a five shot HDR and have everything in crisp detail. At f/40 the shutter sped was anywhere from 1/6 of a second to over 3 seconds. There was a slight breeze blowing and as a result all the leaves were completely blurred.

I like the dead tree. It adds interest for me.
I like the dead tree and aspen against the dark pine trees.
I would like to have shot with the lens opened up for a crisp image.

To salvage a photo that I liked I decided to process it using Topaz adjust. I think this type of photo would look great on a canvas.

Let me know what you think, and please tell your friends.
This Saturday I will have a guest blogger on. My friend Jon has been a professional photographer for year. He has stunning work. I look forward to having him share his talents with you on Saturday.

~wr~

This was a fun photo to take. I had some time to kill one day in the spring. So I took a 30 gallon garbage can (dark blue) and filled it with water. I then hung the hose above the water and turned the faucet on every so slightly. This photo was taken in the full sun. with a high iso for a fast shutter speed. I also used my battery grip to increase the frames per second. I used a tripod and a shutter release. These were for stability.

The specs.
iso 2000
66 mm
f/13
1/640 second

I like the turbulence of the water.
I like the deep color it gives a sense of being in deep water.
I like how the water is frozen in time.
I would like to have this taken just as the water drop hits the water.

Let me know what you think, and please share this site with your friends.

~wr~

This is another photo from my hike up Rock Canyon. This photo was taken the day after I took the others. The main difference was I took my tripod. I decided for todays blog to post two different versions of the same photo. The top photo is processed to bring out the colors and decrease any noise. The second had the Photoshop plug in Topaz simplify. I have grown to love this plugin as it allows me to give the photo an almost oil painting quality. Photos using this plugin would look great if printed on canvas.

The specs
iso 200
52mm
f/22
2 second exposure

I like the orange color of the maple tree.
I like the black branches.
I like the rugged cliff as the back drop.
I like how the tree is the only one of its color.
I wonder if the dead tree should be more prominent or less.

Let me know what you think, and please share this site with your friends.

~wr~