And so, it is winter, my most difficult season. It’s as though I’m out of practice using my camera with little motivation to leave my warm home and venture into below freezing temperatures. The best images are at the beginning of day or the end, never when the air is slightly warmed by the low hanging sun. This weekend I pushed against the comfort zone and forced my lazy butt out the door. I drove up Provo Canyon to Deer Creek Reservoir to photograph the backside of Mt. Timpanogos at sunset. I dressed moderately warm and parked by the meadows on the northeast side of the lake. When I stepped out of the car, I faced a cold brisk wind coming off the water. Despite the chill in my bones, I trudged through the snow to the shoreline and set up my tripod. It wouldn’t have felt bad had there been no wind.

It was a lovely evening and I rather enjoyed watching the sun set for over an hour. I made many images, but my favorites came towards the end of my time when the mountain was rimmed in warm glowing clouds. Because of the wind, the surface of the water was choppy and contrasty. The later I waited, the lower the light level, which allowed me to slow my shutter speed considerably. I added a three-stop graduated neutral density filter to hold back the sky and a six-stop neutral density filter to slow the overall exposure. Holding back that much light, allowed me to use shutter speeds of 15 and 30 seconds. That trick smoothed the surface of the water and gave a silky quality to the clouds. I’m pleased with the images I made.

Saturday morning, I awoke early and left my home at 6:30. I drove to the north shore of Utah Lake in the hopes of capturing a brilliant sunrise. Unfortunately, a storm front moved in overnight and obscured any chance of a sunrise. I waited an hour for the clouds to part, but it never happened. With flat and dull lighting, I worked on several compositions of reeds in the water and ice in the distant background. I like the simple Zen-like quality of these images. I’m glad I made the effort to leave my warm bed and walk in the brisk air and enjoy the beauty of my natural world in Utah Valley.