Testing out My new ND filter, some unintentional sledding

So I have wanted to experiment with long exposures in the snow for quite a while. There is two waterfalls up the battle creek trail (The trailhead is located in Kiwanis Park At the very top of 200S in Pleasant Grove, Utah) that I have had decent results with in the past. It has warmed up here and I figured I would probably be able to get up the mile or so trail to get to the big waterfall, so I suggested it to a couple of friends and they expressed interest in coming along. That is how Me, Robin, and Andrea found ourselves hiking up a Very steep, and snow covered trail with absolutely no winter hiking equipment. It was...interesting

The first part was not that hard.. we slipped a little bit but we got up to the lower falls with no major issues. I snapped a couple of pictures there and we took a break for a minute to catch our breath. I mounted my 18-55 kit lens and the ND8 filter I had just bought. I got it off of ebay for around $5 and wasn't expecting miracles, but figured it would give me an idea whether or not it was worth it to look into getting a More expensive, higher quality Set of Hoya ND's. I personally Don't really like the look of the lower falls... So I didn't even bother editing any of them, because they simply were not up to my standards. We then Hiked up the much narrower and steeper trail to the Higher falls. I stopped at the bridge and got some decent pictures of the river, and then continued on. This part was by far the most difficult, as most of it was slushy. We all ended up falling down at some point.. and Robin decided it would be more efficient to just crawl up part of the way. I got up the the higher falls and me and Andrea climbed down to the bottom of them, soon to be followed by Robin. The river had a coating of Ice about a foot thick over most of it, which allowed me to stand on top of the river and set up my tripod. Unfortunately.. For the most part, the snow (even with the ND8) made getting a decent photo of the falls nearly impossible. I somewhat managed.. but did not get anything near the picture I wanted. Anyways.. So I finished up.. and we left. We got a few feet down the trail and realized that we were going to end up falling at some point. Falling with several hundred dollars of camera equipment is never a good thing.. so I did the only rational thing.

I slid down the trail on my butt.

It worked quite well actually. We did this where the trail was really steep and walked where we could. This has prompted us to decided to take a sled, as well as possibly more people (maybe Andy won't be sick next time!) up with us. Anyways.. Here are the Decent Pictures I got. All of them were taken with My Nikon D40 and the Kit Lens, using a tripod and a Shutter Remote. Enjoy!











Lastly for the day, a quick shot of Robin (left) and Andrea (Right)

Now, just for fun.. I figured I would post some of the other Long Exposures I have gotten up battle creek Trail. These are from last summer. The Girl in some of the Pictures is my Lovely Friend Tia.

















Anyways. I hope you guys Enjoyed those pictures, and the story behind them.
I have a couple of portrait shoot Ideas coming up soon.. So Keep watching for them to pop up :) By for now!

A note to all: Art Theft Is Not funny. I work hard to get the photographs that I post on this blog, and they belong to me. If You would like to use the photos, please ask my permission first, or you will come to regret it in the future. Thank you :)

The Ice Village in Midway, Utah.

So I had heard of this place from my sister and on the news, and decided it would be something that was pretty cool to photograph. The creator of this masterpiece, Brent Christensen, made a miniature ice castle in his sideyard last year, across the street from Pleasant Grove Junior High School. Everyone thought that was amazing, but I don't think any of us were ready for this years creation, which sits as if it is perfectly at home on what looks to be a golf course at the Zermatt Resort In Midway, Utah. I spent roughly 3 1/2 hours photographing this massive ice village. I do have to say that if you are going to go up, especially to photograph, you should definitely see what the village looks like after it is dark, because while it is beautiful in the daylight, it is absolutely stunning at night. There is plenty of room for a tripod, and it is set up very well for taking pictures. All of the photos below were taken with my Nikon D40 and either my Nikon-H 50mm F/2 @ F/2.8, or the 18-55mm Kit lens @ the minimum possible aperture. Special thanks to Robin, Austin, Corbin and Tia for keeping me entertained on the drive, and to Brent Christensen for spending so many hours creating such a beautiful piece of art.