Sorry for the lack of posting over the last month. I had a work assignment that took me to China, and I was unable to maintain the photography blog. While I took a camera with me to China, the situation didn’t allow me to pursue the photography craft. At the times when I was at local sights, I had midday harsh light, or I was with a mob of other Americans. Perhaps at a later time I’ll post a few images that I converted to black and white. I enjoyed my time at the Terracotta Warriors and captured a few images that I like.
Last week, I had an itch to see a local waterfall. We had a lot of precipitation this past winter and I played a hunch that the waterfalls pouring off Mount Timpanogos in our “backyard” would be running heavy. Normally the Alpine Loop Road is open by Memorial Day, but it opened late this year because of all the snow. I arrived at the trailhead at about 7:30am, well before the sun had risen high enough to flood the Timpooneke Basin in morning light. The wildflowers were growing lush along the trail and I had a feeling this would be a great hike. Scout Falls is only about 1½ miles from the trailhead on this normally popular route up the mountain. I don’t think the upper mountain will be clear of snow until much later and thus the crowds of hikers was greatly reduced. This year there was far more snow than I have seen in the past. I crossed several avalanche runout shoots before I got to the falls. At the falls proper, I hiked onto the snowfield, which was caused by avalanches during the winter that came over the falls edge. The water flowed under my feet and I didn’t know the thickness of ice I was on. It was a bit unnerving to inch closer the edge of ice where the water plunged under the ice shelf. It was difficult standing on the steep slope. I should have brought my micro-spikes for safety. These images were made with an exposure of about 1/5 second to give me the silky-smooth water flow while maintaining texture in the water. It was cloudy so I had even lighting, the desirable type of light for waterfall photography. The new spring leaves are just beginning to burst forth from the willows in the river channel.
After leaving the waterfall, I continued up the Alpine Loop to the summit turnout. There is a small grove of aspens in a marshy area where the False Hellebore were just beginning to grow. These plants, also known as Corn Lilies and sometimes Skunk Cabbage, make interesting compositions, especially when converted to black and white. The undulating leaves create pleasing lines and textures. I hope you enjoy these images of springtime along the Wasatch Front of Utah.
