Utah Photographer Mark Johnston

Moab

2012-02-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

The most memorable thing from a quick weekend away to Moab?

The craziest dream I've had in a long time. Not sure why, but Saturday night I was dreaming that my boss wanted more controversial stories to report in the paper so he ordered us to kill Brandon Davies.

No idea where the hell it all came from. I have absolutely no ill intent towards the BYU basketball star and Sunday morning I woke up feeling a little bewildered.

I can't eat that much chocolate and Twizzlers before bed again.

Guess the lighting.

2012-02-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

After getting in touch with the subject of an old close up story for the Herald, I got permission to photograph at their old farm house in Pleasant Grove.

Since then I've been obsessing about improving my lighting, buying yards of white ripstop nylon for diffusion and experimenting with a smoke machine for atmosphere.

This morning James was kind enough to help with some lighting tests as I continue trying to light entire scenes artificially while trying to make it less obvious.

Still a long way to go before I can match the magic of Eric Ogden and others, but if we have a reasonable amount of time at this old farmhouse in the future, hopefully we can make some nice, dramatic images.

5D Sports

2012-01-31T13:25:00.000-08:00

The challenge of shooting sports is made all the more difficult when you're doing it on a 5D Mark II, a camera obviously designed for something else.

It can be frustrating when you're tracking a player driving to the basket or running the field and your auto focus can't keep up and photographers around you are snapping off twice the photos in half the time.

But if you can time it right, or just get plain lucky, and get a frame without a ball or arms in the way of the player's face, the photos look great considering the very low light they were shot in.

Here's hoping the Mark III will have a faster frame rate, or there will soon be a more affordable full-frame Canon camera that can be used to shoot a variety of subjects including sports.

J.G.L.

2012-01-27T00:31:00.000-08:00

hitRECord at Sundance so Britnee could get her Joseph Gordon-Levitt fix.

Heading back on Saturday to watch the grand jury prize drama winner.

Cedar Fort

2012-01-26T13:38:00.000-08:00

We rarely get out as far west as Cedar Fort and Fairfield, but every time I do I'm hoping to discover something different and story worthy.

This morning, after shooting a portrait at a gas station in Cedar Fort, I pushed onto Fairfield on a dwindling tank of gas to see if anything was happening at Camp Floyd. But as usual, the streets were quiet and the museum empty except for two park rangers.

Then I realized that might be the story right there. The rangers who man that state park, which seems like one of the least visited and boring posts in all of Utah.

Every time I've passed by, except for their annual civil war re-enactment and occasional school field-trip visits, I've found the park employees sitting in a tiny office in the small museum on an empty street in Fairfield.

Might have to spend some time with them during the quiet months of winter to see what exactly they get up to and how they maintain their sanity.

Jordan the Intern

2012-01-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

Introducing our new intern Jordan Stead! (formerly of ZUMA and eventually of LUCEO).

He's already been killing it on even the lamest of assignments and thankfully has a great sense of humor as he puts up with our shenanigans on the slow days, (see image above).

Take a look at some of his work on his blog HERE.

We pulled out the old smoke machine that was donated by our editor Amie to the photo department. In only a few minutes we managed to fill the whole studio and some of the warehouse with a thick haze.

Bad enough that I had to leave a note on the door reading "not a fire..." on the door.

I just hope there isn't a real fire tonight that is ignored because of my note, but hopefully they'll be smart enough to figure it out.

Tanning Salon

2012-01-18T16:51:00.001-08:00

Close Up

2012-01-18T16:50:00.000-08:00

A close up last week turned out to be harder to shoot than expected, being that my subject's work wasn't as glamorous as expected.

But despite the struggle and a rush to get the story finished in time after a late Friday interview, it was nice to hang out with devil dogs again.

Story HERE.

Not Welcome

2012-01-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

Sad to see Deron get booed this evening with all the good years he gave us here in Utah.

While I couldn't have cared less about the departure of Okur, (who received loud cheers and applause tonight), I sure do miss D-Will on our side.

Don't know if he was really affected by the constant jeers every time he touched the ball, but he only went 3 of 15.

That's even worse than Tebow.

Ugly time of year... for engagement photos.

2012-01-08T20:15:00.000-08:00

Britnee and I arrived at Saltair and my initial thought was, "What the hell was I thinking?"

James and Spenser arrived shortly thereafter, and I almost apologized for wasting their time while staring around at the white-and-brown wasteland that is the Great Salt Lake in winter.

Grabbing our gear, we began the cold walk from the road to the waters edge, only to quickly turn back after running into the soggy, smelly, so-called beach that was too wet to cross.

For a quick laugh we stopped by some dumpsters in the parking lot for some disappointed engagement photos, then pushed on to find a drier route to the across the beach.

I kept trying to reassure my two coworkers, (who had happily agreed to help with engagement photos), that things might improve once the sun dipped below the gray clouds filling the sky.

Most of all I was trying hard to reassure myself.

Britnee and I were running out of time to get some pictures taken before sending off wedding invitations. As we walked through snow and muck down to the salt water I was kicking myself for not getting them done sooner in a more scenic and warmer location.

Thankfully, as soon as we arrived and started snapping a few warm up frames things began to look up. And eventually all my worries were washed away as Utah once again reminded me why I love this place so much.

My patience tested, I struggled to stand camera-less next to Britnee, while watching James and Spenser happily snap away as a stunning sunset illuminated the water, distant mist and islands around us.

In the space of a half hour we enjoyed a variety of stunning color while shivering away as daylight faded.

Eventually I managed to sneak in a few frames of my own before Britnee ordered me to stop so the others could continue their work.

The walk back to the car wasn't quite so miserable, all happy for witnessing such an impressive sunset, and even managing to knock out some engagement photos too.

Pink

2012-01-05T15:51:00.000-08:00

Saw a flash of pink while driving back to the office yesterday and stopped to make some pictures.

From the archive.

2012-01-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

Katie.

A few old photos freshly toned.

Haven't had much time to shoot any personal work lately, but did dig out and dust off the old Mamiya so look out!

Best of 2011: Sports Port

2012-01-01T18:43:00.000-08:00

My new years eve celebration wasn't too exciting.

Just lounging at home with the lady watching too much Breaking Bad after a nice hike up a trail called Cherry Canyon in the nearby foothills.

We honestly weren't ready to say goodbye to 2011 quite yet. It had been such a good year for the both of us, at work and at play, that celebrating its passing just didn't seem right... (plus the fact that we were too lazy to get off the couch to go out into the cold to celebrate).

2011 was a good year for me and the camera. Continuing at the Daily Herald kept me shooting and improving daily, and a number of fun vacations, including a trip to Vietnam, provided some wonderful eye candy.

But sports photography was especially fun for me this year.

Back in January we were down a photographer when my fellow shooter Patrick was laid off after a prolonged absence due to injury.

It was sad to say goodbye to a good friend and things got very busy as we awaited a replacement. But in all that I was provided the opportunity to shoot a good deal of exciting sport events.

This included all of Jimmer-mania as BYU basketball had me happily hopping from Vegas to Denver to New Orleans during the tournament. On top of that was the usual high school championships, a number of quality rodeos, Orem Owlz, and an okay BYU football season.

After all the hype of BYU basketball I had a good start to the year to say the least, and I had early hopes of producing a good sports portfolio for the year. Nothing really topped the excitement of the Marriott Center at the peak of Jimmer-mania, but there were still lots of nice moments to be captured all the way through December.

And while I may not have produced all I'd hoped for now that January competition deadlines are just around the corner, it was still my best shooting year yet and it was nice to go back and pull together a few favorite shots to show off.

As usual it's exciting to look forward to the new year. Even though I took a promotion to editor, one that will come with much more time behind a desk, I hope to shoot what I can and continue improving.

Enjoy.

A Mayor and a Mall.

2011-12-29T10:37:00.000-08:00

Dreaming of a brown Christmas.

2011-12-27T10:18:00.000-08:00

My brother Peter bought Britnee and I some nice trekking poles for Christmas, (something I've been in great need of as my knees start to suffer on steep descents), and the three of us took them out for a test run on Christmas Day.

Taking a steep trail up the foothills behind my parents neighborhood, we quickly climbed almost 2,000 feet above the valley to look down on brown hills and brown smog below.

And while we may have a scary-low snowpack for December this year, I'm not complaining as this mild, winter weather has me dreaming of spring already.

By the way, the trekking poles were wonderful and highly recommended if you're considering. Knee-savers, and that was just hiking without a heavy load on my back.

Brigham Larson

2011-12-27T10:11:00.000-08:00

A close up that turned out much nicer than expected.

Once again I was searching for a close up days before a holiday weekend, (last time I was rushing at Thanksgiving and again the week before Christmas).

Luckily I got in touch with Brigham Larson, of Brigham Larson Pianos in Pleasant Grove, and he shared a nice story with me and the photos didn't turn out too bad either.

To top it off I noticed that the story was still up front on the Herald's website today, a rarity for close ups the day after they run, and that it had 22 reader comments! That beat my previous record of two comments, (one of which was negative).

Full story HERE.

Jerry

2011-12-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

Crazy Beard Light

2011-12-20T19:07:00.001-08:00

A good face found while looking for an inversion photo this gross evening in Provo.

Project Teddy Bear

2011-12-19T13:42:00.000-08:00

When the press release read "mountains of teddy bears" I was skeptical, thinking of the PR writer trying to lure as much press to an event as possible.

But the Bank of American Fork really did have mountains of donated stuffed animals piled up around their lobby last week, a pretty impressive sight.

And while it was more of a pat-on-the-back, reading-at-a-microphone event, it was fun to photograph a few of the employees' kids climbing over, swimming through, and occasionally sinking head first into the piles of softness.

Full story HERE.

I think not.

2011-12-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

I had all but written the game off as a dominating victory for Baylor as I watched their tall, athletic team warm up on the opposite end of the court.

They were running through a series of dunking drills that looked impressive and effortless. And while the BYU athletes slammed a few to entertain their home crowd, they seemed pale in comparison to the strength and length of Baylor.

Yet when things finally got started Brandon Davies made an early statement that all the photographers were surprised with, (and thrilled to capture).

Pulling down a rebound on our side of the basket, he whisked around a defender, passed through the paint in a couple of steps and threw it down as hard as ever over two defenders.

The crowd sounded like Jimmer had just returned to the court.

And that excitement lasted all game, right up until the last possession where a blocked three-point shot ended the game with a Baylor victory.

Despite the loss it was an amazing game against an extremely strong and highly touted team. There were some terrible calls by the officials, but the players kept at it, showed great sportsmanship, (the other nice highlight of the night), and thoroughly entertained the crowd.

Nice job Cougars.

See the full gallery HERE.

Guess Who.

2011-12-14T18:15:00.000-08:00

Guess who.

First correct answer wins.

All Valley Football

2011-12-13T17:04:00.001-08:00

A rush job on our all valley portraits that turned up one understaffed evening unannounced.

For a quick set up with James' help we used three hot lights and shot at a f/1.4 on a 50mm for nice light in the eyes.

Nothing too special, but 10 last-minute portraits turned out okay for how rushed it was.

Player of the Year Animation

2011-12-12T21:25:00.000-08:00

So as usual, ideas of grandeur end up being not so much.

Months ago I decided I wanted to create animated gif portraits for our players of the year and started practicing back in July.

Then over the months of distractions with work and vacation, I never really got back to planning until about a month ago when the sports editor arranged the first shoot.

The plan was to put less effort into the still portraits for print and focus on the "cool" animations for our website. Fool the readers into thinking they were seeing a plain portrait until it comes to life after several seconds.

Hoping to get a generator, some hot lights and shoot on location on soccer fields, in gymnasiums and at the football stadium, I got none of it.

No generator, limited equipment, last minute notices on when the shoots would happen. And once again I found myself in our cramped studio pretty much experimenting at the shoot when the process should have been perfected much sooner.

Here's the best of the three, Chase Hansen of Lone Peak. The dude was a stud and his confidence was obvious as soon as he stood in front of the camera. His motions were pretty much flawless and his clip was the easiest to record.

I tried to create infinitely looping motions but they ended up being too difficult or boring. So we asked them to do more for us and just loop it at the end after a pause and skip.

There was potential for so much more. Cool backdrops, the subject frozen in crazy motion before coming alive, so many visions I had that never made it out of the notebook.

Maybe I can just write this one off as a practice run and demand more equipment and time earlier on next time.

Next time...

Chase Hansen

2011-12-12T10:03:00.000-08:00

Daily Herald football player of the year, Chase Hansen.

Lexie Henrie

2011-12-08T12:54:00.000-08:00

First of three player-of-the-year portraits.

Timpanogos' soccer star Lexie Henrie.

Damian Lillard

2011-12-08T10:23:00.001-08:00

Weber State's Damian Lillard attempts to get a shot off between BYU's Noah Hartsock, right, and Nate Austin during their game at the Marriott Center in Provo Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011. MARK JOHNSTON/Daily Herald

I was excited to shoot the BYU-Weber State game last night to see what all the fuss was about with Damian Lillard.

For the second year in a row we have a Utah-based college player as leading scorer which, like last year's Jimmer-mania, makes games a little more exciting to watch and shoot.

But the Cougars did a pretty good job of corralling the Weber State star and time will tell if he can keep putting up the points for the rest of the season.

How to Bucket Train an Octopus

2011-12-07T16:14:00.000-08:00

I tried to play it cool when the octopus she was training to climb into a bucket sneezed up a half liter of water across my crotch.

"First time for me." I joked.

It was an awesome, behind-the-scenes tour of the Living Planet Aquarium and the funnest assignment I'd had in some time.

In some ways I felt a little guilty, being the newly promoted editor and still shooting the best assignment of the day. But it was just a short drive from my home in Draper.

After photographing visitors admiring the different exhibits, (my favorite being an even larger octopus on display and a massive, 107-year-old lobster), I was welcomed behind closed doors to watch the auqarists feed the sharks, bucket train an octopus and have a private visit with the penguins.

"Just sit on the bench and don't stand up or you'll freak them out," she told me as we entered the small visiting room.

Upon opening the door to their habitat, the small crowd of penguins came waddling in and curiously explored the small visitors room. Eventually one came in for a much closer look at me and things got a little less comfortable.

Not only was I wondering how I could move fast enough to avoid their projectile pooing without standing and "freaking them out," but was also hoping he wouldn't start inspecting me with his beak, which supposedly they're known to do.

So after a minute-long stare down with the little guy only inches from my leg, I casually asked,

"How do you usher them back out of the room then?"

While in my head it sounded more like,

"Get this little #*@$+! away from me before he skewers my thigh meat."

Terrifying. ;)

Hopscotch

2011-12-03T17:14:00.001-08:00

Some bikers entertaining themselves while delivering donated toys to UVRMC this afternoon.

Santa Run

2011-12-03T17:13:00.002-08:00

Haha, the Grinch could only crawl to the finish line.

Loser.

7 years and 20"

2011-12-03T17:13:00.001-08:00

Lydia Maeser seemed quite bewildered when she was handed 20 inches of her own hair in a neat ponytail that moments earlier was hanging from the back of her head. For a good minute the 7-year-old stood and stared at seven years of growth that no one, not even her own parents, had convinced her to cut.

That was until she joined another 24 women and girls, including fellow students at Arete Gymnastics in Lindon, who all chopped their hair at the gym on Saturday morning to donate to Locks of Love.

Nasty

2011-12-02T20:24:00.000-08:00

You all know what happened next, you just don't want to talk about it.

Disgusting.

What's your favorite hobby?

2011-11-30T11:46:00.000-08:00

Me- "What's your favorite hobby?"

Abby, (center in pink)- "Mmmmmmm... Christmas."

Craziness.

2011-11-23T23:02:00.000-08:00

It's been an interesting couple of weeks as my former photo editor Ashley Franscell prepared to leave us at the Daily Herald.

We were all unsure of what would happen next, or who would fill the leadership role in our small department.

Ashley's last day was yesterday, then suddenly today I was happily accepting a promotion and making my first official action as the new photo editor by hiring our current intern, the talented Spenser Heap s.

It'll be a huge change of pace and a greatly increased workload. While I am happy to once again take on a leadership role, I still hope to continue shooting and growing as a photographer.

I'm lucky to have had such a great mentor who pretty much raised me in these first few years in my career, and lucky to continue working with an extremely talented staff of hard working, passionate photojournalists.

Here's to good things in future for photography at the Daily Herald, and most of all for Ashley Franscell as she takes her next step in life.

BYU v. NMS

2011-11-20T01:01:00.000-08:00

Another blowout of a never-heard-of team. Isn't independence wonderful!

Here's hoping for a better home schedule next year.

More action shots from the game HERE.

Lone Peak State Champs

2011-11-19T14:00:00.000-08:00

Nice to see Lone Peak High School win it last night.

Jimmy D.

2011-11-16T15:52:00.000-08:00

When I saw our crime reporter Jim Dalrymple wearing that sweater I realized we had an old roll of backdrop of the same color in the studio.

I went and found it and began unrolling, realizing that a good portion of it was torn to shreds and began trimming it down with my trusty Letherman Skeletool.

As I attempted to hang it for the shoot I managed to rip the paper some more, then some more, and some more... etc.

Eventually my temper got the better of me and all I ended up with was a 3x5 foot piece that I finally managed to tape to the wall. But it did the trick.

A few lights and 5 minutes later and done.

Close Up Time

2011-11-15T12:13:00.000-08:00

A little late posting my last close up, but here it is.

After having my first idea fall through the week of, I was lucky to have this story fall into my lap and turn out not bad.

Read the article HERE.

Blowout Boredom

2011-11-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

Blowout at BYU last night made me miss shooting high school playoffs. Hoping to get the chance next week when Lone Peak High School appears in the 5A state finals.

Stuck!

2011-11-12T10:56:00.000-08:00

Great state 5A semi-final game between Lone Peak and Jordan High Schools.

Here's Lone Peak's Zac Saunders putting a nasty stiff arm on the opposition while running a kickoff back for a touchdown.

Story and plenty more photos HERE.

Sapa

2011-11-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

Chorkie!

2011-11-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

A Chorkie sighting in Springville during voting.

Meet the Team

2011-11-02T18:19:00.000-07:00

View 2.

2011-10-30T00:20:00.000-07:00

Panoramic.

Sapa, Vietnam.

View.

2011-10-30T00:18:00.000-07:00

Panoramic.

Marble Mountain, Vietnam.

Beast Mode 8

2011-10-29T09:25:00.001-07:00

At first frustrating when editing and realizing that most of the stuff you selected was of a single player.

Usually there's good reason for it, like last night when Spanish Fork's Christian Taele seemed to have his way with things, running for 129 yards and two touchdowns. (His teammate Hayden Nielsen had a huge night too- story HERE).

Then sometimes it's a poor defender on the opposing team that seems to show up in every photo, but for all the wrong reasons.

Oh Lone Peak.

2011-10-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

Lone Peak volleyball, you're the best.

Always the best jube shots from them... as long as they're winning.

Who are you people and what have you done with Jimmer Fredette?

2011-10-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Miss that guy.

Late Introduction/ Great First Impression

2011-10-24T18:00:00.001-07:00

Hey all, this is an extremely late introduction of our current intern, a man you’ve probably already met by now- Spenser Heaps.

Spenser was photographed sporting a U-BOAT Lefthook Automatic watch retailing at $2,350, (or $25 in Hanoi, Vietnam), and a Gucci black triple button front nylon jacket retailing at $859.99, (or a random no-brand jacket found in the back of my car).

Please give him a warm welcome, and lots of awkwardly-long, bordering-on-sexual-harassment hugs when you see him on the sideline.

Back to work.

2011-10-24T13:56:00.000-07:00

Never easy getting back to work after an excellent vacation, but I guess things could be worse.

BYU v. Pepperdine.

Mmmmm, Pepperdine. Every time they're here to play it gets me dreaming of Malibu and fish and chips.

Vietnam: Sapa- homeward bound.

2011-10-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

The Halong Bay tour was exhausting and I was somewhat dreading a similar, drunken experience in Sapa since we'd booked that tour through the same hostel in Hanoi.

Thankfully it was much more laid back, just Britnee, myself, and two other backpackers following our 17-year-old local guide, but even more exhausting.

We hiked for a good 10k down steeply out of the town of Sapa to the villages in a valley below. Following us the entire time were local women who helped us along the way and then tried to sell us everything under the sun once we arrived at our destination.

Whether from the exhaustion of the vacation catching up to me, or the foreignness and beauty of our surroundings, climbing through and working in the rice patties that surrounded our host's home felt like a dream.

As I already said, each day of the trip seemed to top the one before and Sapa was the crown jewel. Stunning views, beautiful local people, refreshing tiger beer and good company with fellow travelers around the dinner table.

While things were wrapping up for us in Vietnam I was far from ready to head home. So many travelers we met were out for months, even years on end, working and traveling from country to country, figuring things out as they went.

We were embarrassed to admit we were only out for two weeks and are both now full of wanderlust, already waiting for next October when we can head out on our precious two weeks once again.

Or maybe we'll just leave sooner...

Vietnam: Danang-Hanoi-Halong Bay

2011-10-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

Taking a train from Hue to Danang, we arrived at a lonely hotel on a quiet but beautiful beach feeling a bit lost. We were far from the tourist scene that was about an hour's cab ride from the city in the smaller town of Hoi An, but thankfully had a helpful host at our hotel to point us in the right direction.

My fear that Danang would turn out to be a real momentum killer was washed away upon our arrival at Marble Mountain. The pagodas and shrines that are tucked away below the cliffs, on top of the hill and in a number of caves were some of the most beautiful sights I've seen. I could have spent days exploring and photographing there.

After some time in Hoi An, on top of Ba Na Hill, at the beach in Danang, (and after the terrifying experience of trying to navigate the massive, crowded grocery store downtown by myself), we were on our way back to the tourist-friendly hostels and tours in Hanoi.

Arriving in the massive city in pouring rain and checking into our dull hostel room was a bit depressing, but the next day we were on our way to Halong Bay with a crowd of Irish, Canadians, Dutch and a very flamboyant Englishman as our guide, (body suit #39 and #40).

I'm not sure that Britnee realized just how much a party tour of Halong Bay it would be after booking it through the hostel, but we had a blast and were thoroughly entertained by our fellow tourists for days.

The guide started things off right the fist night with some drinking games Game 1:

Team 1 stands and drinks on "Soulja Boy," Team 2 stands and drinks on "crank that." Give it a listen HERE and you'll get the idea.

So on and so forth for three days... and there was still plenty of time to enjoy the stunning beauty of Halong Bay, sleep on a perfect island... and get a little high speed tubing whiplash.

P.S. If you're ever looking to visit Halong Bay I highly recommend the tour booked through the Vietnam Backpackers' Hostel in Hanoi... and ask for Gareth.

Vietnam: Saigon-Mekong Delta-Hue.

2011-10-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

First and foremost I have to thank my fiance Britnee for working so hard to plan this trip. For as long as I can remember I've always wanted to visit south east Asia, and luckily I somehow managed to team up with a lovely young lady who wanted to do the same.

I was a bit nervous in the weeks before our departure, getting more than enough immunizations, trying to insure my camera gear, (which I never managed to), and probably asking far too many ignorant questions of acquaintances who had been there or still are in Vietnam.

But finally we touched down in Ho Chi Minh and every following day the trip got better and better. With a combination of Britnee's great planning and a lot of luck we traveled north, enjoying great weather, (during the rainy season), feeling more confident and having more fun day after day.

Time seemed to pass slowly as our days, which started extremely early and ended late, were almost overwhelmingly busy. Looking back we're both blown away by how much we accomplished in such a short time, (I'll complain more later about our pathetic two weeks of vacation a year).

While our short time in Ho Chi Minh, with a quick tour to the Mekong Delta, was enjoyable, the trip would improve greatly as soon as we hopped a quick and cheap Jetstar flight to Hue.

Both of us fell in love with the hostel there, the food we ate and the impressive imperial citadel at the center of the city. The pace was much more relaxed than the chaos of Ho Chi Minh and we were more comfortable exploring the city on our own.

Run-until-you-pass-out state championships

2011-10-20T16:32:00.000-07:00

Vietnam photos are taking forever to edit, so here's a few from the run-until-you-pass-out state championships in Salt Lake yesterday.

Enjoy.

I'll get the good stuff up asap.

Vietnam

2011-10-17T17:05:00.000-07:00

I really don't know what to say.

My mind is still melted from an amazing trip through Vietnam and I'll probably need some time to decompress before I can even begin going through some 4,956 photographs.

Slide shows will be up as soon as possible, and here's one for now to hold you over.

A beautiful face from one of the villages outside Sapa in northern Vietnam. Got permission to snap some photographs after she talked me into buying a little bracelet for Britnee.

More to come.

Away

2011-10-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

Currently in Vietnam on the best vacation of my life. Photos to come all too soon as we poor Americans only have two weeks vacation a year, unlike those lucky British.

Stay tuned.

Bus, (not van).

2011-09-28T09:53:00.000-07:00

Utah Transporter Association.

Raptor

2011-09-27T12:53:00.000-07:00

Pfeifferhorn

2011-09-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

After our miserable climb up Mt. Olympus a few weeks back we decided to try another today and found our way to the top of the Pfeifferhorn.

What an amazing hike. A good steep climb for most of it, but nothing as miserable as Olympus. A little confusing at times as we had to make our own trail through boulder fields, but thankfully other descending hikers gave good pointers.

After a steep scramble up the talus slope above the Red Pine Lakes we were rewarded with a stunning view of Utah Valley and more of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Along with it came an intimidating view of the spine to the summit climb which was a brutal few hundred feet straight up, (follow the green line to the left on the summit photo).

Well worth it though, and more stunning views from the top including a look at the back side of Lone Peak, (far summit on the left of the first photo), which we still hope to climb in October or next summer.

Anyway, I highly recommend this great hike and that's that.

Springville

2011-09-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

Like a Boss.

2011-09-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

The boss.

MmmmmmmmmmmmAMIYA!!!!

2011-09-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

Ouch (part 2)

2011-09-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

Not so happy with my shots from the game so here's a few. Hopefully will do better next time.

For some better football action take a look HERE.

Ouch!

2011-09-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

What an embarrassment on the home field.

May or may not post more on the blog here, so a link to our gallery on the paper's website for now.

HERE.

From the archive.

2011-09-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

Circa 2009... January, cold as he(ck).

Felicia

2011-09-13T20:53:00.000-07:00

Community Caring

2011-09-09T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sixty years ago Dean and Doyne Clark built their home in Provo then applied its first and only coat of white paint. That was until Thursday when an army of volunteers descended on the Clark's home during United Way's Day of Caring.

"I'll tell you it was an army," said Dean Clark, surprised at the 70 volunteers who showed up to paint his home and clear out an overgrown yard, nearly doubling it in size.

The Clark home was just one of 31 service projects performed by United Way in Utah County, with approximately 1,250 volunteers form 35 locally-based companies doing the work. And with that number of volunteers a lot can get done.

"It's just a couple of hours, but in such a short amount of time a huge impact can be made," Brenna Cox, of the United Way, said.

Lehi v. AF

2011-09-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

I think the final score was 3-1, or 2-1, but it really was all Lehi, all game long.

Maybe for 10 or 15 minutes I sat at the AF side of the field pulling up grass and re-applying sunscreen before finally making the effort to get up, walk the length of the field and finally get to work where the action was happening.

Short Shorts

2011-09-08T22:00:00.000-07:00

We lay in the sand, relaxing in the evening light enjoying the beauty of Lake Powell and the entertainment of three young boys having a sand fight.

Then one of them stopped and stared at two young French boys, sporting speedos, crawled around and built sand castles close by. A full minute or two must have passed as the boy stood, handful of sand, unmoving, a questioning look on his face.

Then Britnee laughed and whispered to me, "He's wondering 'why are those boys' shorts so short?'"

I think that was the funniest thing I've ever heard her say, and the moment was made even funnier when the watching boy's friend crept up with a handful of sand and pelted him in the back.

Timpanogos Story Telling

2011-09-07T13:33:00.000-07:00

You may not think much of these photos of famous storytellers entertaining the crowds at the Timpanogos Story Telling Festival, but realize that photography is made that much harder by repeat fits of laughter.

It was a treat to photograph the talent performing at the festival for a couple of hours on Friday, and a good reminder to make more of an effort to get out to see it in future. Must have been years since I was last there.

Soldier Hollow Classic

2011-09-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

Feature hunting up at the Soldier Hollow Classic last week, made that much harder considering I forgot to pack a longer lens and all the action happens at a pretty good distance.

As a dog lover, though, it always makes for a really fun day at work being surrounded by that many dogs.

Labor Day.

2011-09-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

A Labor Day weekend trip down to Kanab and Page, with a little side trip to the Grand Canyon's North Rim.

Things didn't go as well as we'd hoped when over 40 tourists showed up each morning to try for the 10 daily back country permits we also wanted.

Turns out 1 and 10 are not good lottery numbers.

Thankfully the Grand Canyon, Buckskin Gulch, Lake Powell and Antelope Canyon aren't bad as runners up.

And as always a stop (or two) at our favorite coffee shop/bookshop/outdoor gear shop on the planet.

Prisoner of Zion

2011-08-31T12:29:00.000-07:00

Scott's latest book "Prisoner of Zion" is now available as an e-book on Amazon.com.

Haven't got my copy yet, but I'm such a fan of his last book, "Running after Antelope" and radio work with Hearing Voices that I'm throwing in this plug right here, right now.

You can listen to a repeat of Scott's interview on Radio West this evening at 7pm on KUER 90.1 or on their website if you can get it to work, unlike me.

Sidelined

2011-08-30T19:01:00.002-07:00

DONS

2011-08-30T19:01:00.001-07:00

MAX Zipline

2011-08-30T19:00:00.000-07:00

A last minute close up turned out to be a whole lot of fun.

Story HERE.

Brutal

2011-08-28T15:58:00.000-07:00

I joked with Britnee as we limped back to the car that I was now determined to climb all the mountains in the world just so I can write a guide book to give Mount Olympus two thumbs down.

What a brutal trail. Never seen steep like that before for so long. But made it to the top, snapped a panorama, and started our descent wishing we had some trekking poles.

Now in great shape for Lone Peak, which will hopefully be more enjoyable.

And yes, click the picture a couple of times so you can actually see it.

Football.

2011-08-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

Another tough night shooting football.

I guess I shouldn't complain since it's only the second game of the season, but I didn't expect to be struggling this bad right away.

Guess I need to start looking for more artistic shots seeing as I can't keep up with all the action anymore in my old age.

Massacre.

2011-08-25T18:06:00.001-07:00

That Maple Mountain girls soccer team is pretty good. Pretty, pretty good.

Mike and Djamila

2011-08-21T21:11:00.000-07:00

A wonderful day full of so much happiness and laughter.

Beerhive

2011-08-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday night bachelor party in Salt Lake with some good friends.

And so it begins.

2011-08-19T20:56:00.000-07:00

Exciting to get back to some Friday night football!

But no the start to the Timpview season I expected to see last night in Sandy.

Story HERE.

"Worth the Weight."

2011-08-18T12:30:00.000-07:00

Our 2011 football season special section ran today, and once again I worked on the illustrations for the covers.

A theme of the great weight of expectations was decided on by the sports desk and they wanted BYU quarterback Jake Heaps on the cover in the traditional Atlas pose. Our prep star Caleb McCray's image was a simpler idea, pulling a great weight, but even harder to create.

I purchased a 5' cloud-buster balloon for Heaps to hold and we ran though a number of different poses, camera angles and lighting setups. Then a stock image of our planet was brought into the photograph.

For McCray, I took a drive up to Rock Canyon, found rock I liked and started rolling it to my car. Soon I gave up and settled on a smaller rock which was much easier to carry.

I photographed that in our studio, along with the same rope tied to a large metal ring that the MATC's welding shop let me borrow, then enlarged the rock in Photoshop and pieced the image together.

Not sure how I feel about the final results. It feels like far too much black space than I had hoped but the sports desk did a great job of working in the headlines and text to fill the void.

We're finally realizing that it's getting harder and harder to top the previous year's theme. I don't mind the challenge these illustrations present, but for the time and resources we have it's become a bit of a stretch and the ideas may soon become too much to handle.

Maybe in 2012 we should take a huge step back and worry more about creating great photographs and give the illustrations a break.

But at the same time I'm already excited about an idea that our editor came up with that might once again lead to hours of Photoshop work next year.

A video of this year's production was put together by our videographer Rich which can be seen HERE.

Oh yeah.

2011-08-15T11:09:00.000-07:00

Counting down and getting excited for some football season.

While shooting practice after practice can get a little tedious, it still helps build the excitement of the upcoming season after a slow summer.

Greased Pig?

2011-08-15T10:52:00.000-07:00

Seemed like Lindon could do with a lesson on mutton bustin' from Santaquin.

By this point I consider myself a resident expert on the confusing sport after shooting a good deal of it, and I'm pretty sure there's no rope involved.

Getting from event to event took a little longer than expected as they had trouble herding the sheep and steers back into their pens.

So while I went hoping to see the "greased pig" event, I ended up searching for other features in the crowd and avoided shooting the same kid-on-sheep action again.

Felicia

2011-08-14T12:51:00.000-07:00

It was trial and error with three SB26's and our large octabox at work while photographing with Felicia on Friday, and while the final results turned out nice, I'd made one stupid mistake.

Turns out the 5D mrkII I'd just been upgraded to synchs at 1/200 and not 1/250 like each of the last cameras I've been issued at work.

So, oops.

Had to crop in tighter than I'd originally composed each image, but the lesson is now learned and thankfully it was just for a personal shoot.

Much thanks to Felica for being a patient model on our first shoot.

More to come.

Nic.

2011-08-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

Tour of Utah

2011-08-11T18:14:00.000-07:00

Bike races are hard.

Not for the riders! ;) I'm talking about for we poor photographers!

I drive all the way to Benjamin with a great idea to set up a light kit on the side of the road along today's 100-mile stage and shoot some different style shots than I've done in the past.

All that way, a good 45 minutes or and hour standing out in the blazing sun and when the time finally comes and the peloton whizzes by... I get one shot with the strobes. One.

Even in that photo the lead rider is deciding to take a drink from his bottle, but it looks more like he's flipping me off as I kneel by the road.

Thankfully I managed to beat the crazy traffic back to the finish line for an exciting sprint at the end. But even then, at the peak of the winner's celebration I'm shooting with too long a lens and crop his fingers and arm out.

After all that where were my flowers and kisses?

Cool in the Pool.

2011-08-08T15:43:00.001-07:00

Seems like every time I'm at a pool these days it's to photograph for a weather feature and I'm always baking in a black T shirt.

One of these days I'll get myself back to Seven Peaks for some real fun in the sun... without the camera.

Monday Close Up

2011-08-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

Stopping for coffee at a gas station in Springville, I was worried sick while looking west to see dark thunder clouds and sheets of rain move closer and closer.

The subject of my Monday close up lived at the top of West Mountain, working as the resident astronomer at BYU's observatory, and this Thursday night shift was my one shot at getting up there and getting a story.

Driving through heavy rain on my way out and around Utah Lake, I cursed the weather thinking I'd never make it up the rough 5-mile dirt road in such poor conditions. Even good sized tires, high clearance and the four-wheel drive of the truck I'd traded the Mini for that night did little to help.

Passing the fields and farms west of the freeway my mind raced to think of other last-minute options I might have for another story.

Thankfully, a few miles later as I approached Lake Shore, I left the dark clouds behind me and the golden evening sun shone through. Sipping the last of my coffee I finally managed to relax as the dirt road climbing up to the observatory seemed dry and passable.

It was an interesting night. The couple appeared a little lonely all the way up there on the mountain, and at least one of them was obviously unhappy with their current living conditions.

The actual astronomy work being done wasn't quite as exciting as I'd envisioned it to be. The days of scientists looking through viewfinders on large telescopes long gone, this one instead sat at a desk looking at computer monitors all night.

Finally at around midnight I decided to pack it in and make my way home for the night, dreading the drive back down the dirt road. Thankfully the darkness concealed the steep drop offs on both sides of me as I steadily crawled back down to civilization at five miles per hour.

Link to the story HERE.

Walkabout.

2011-08-07T20:18:00.000-07:00

Big plans to hike Mount Olympus turned into a much more relaxing and enjoyable day with Britnee and my parents.

A short hike to Donut-Hole Falls was followed by a scenic drive up to Guardsman Pass, then a long and filling meal and tasty drink at Eva in Salt Lake.

Good summer Sundays.

Baseballs.

2011-08-07T20:16:00.001-07:00

Baseballs.

View

2011-08-05T20:53:00.000-07:00

Trading the Mini for a truck, dodging a thunderstorm, navigating a treacherous dirt road, avoiding spiders and snakes and spending a very long evening with a very lonely couple.

Close up out on Monday, keep an eye out for it at heraldextra.com.

And yes, the image is best viewed large so give it a click.

Nicole

2011-08-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

A quick photo shoot today with Britnee's cousin Nic from Salt Lake.

Struggled with a reflector and a couple of lights before the sun dipped out of sight behind the west mountains, but did much better without them as the light evened out at dusk.

Still really enjoying the image quality of the new 5D Mrk II. Not surprised at all, just happy to finally be working with one on a regular basis.

A few more to come on the blog and looking forward to some of Nic's awesome art in exchange for the photos!

Best Friends!

2011-07-30T23:54:00.000-07:00

Not really.

But Jake Heaps was a good sport and even had some good input as we photographed him for an upcoming special section.

Photographed with a brand-new 5D Mark II issued to me at work which I'm completely in love with. While it may be too sluggish for sports, everything else looks so good coming from that camera.

Misery

2011-07-30T23:42:00.000-07:00

"Stop crying right now."

Utah's Own.

2011-07-30T23:38:00.000-07:00

Utah's own Tony Finau drawing a crowd at the Utah Championship in Sandy.

Flow Tour

2011-07-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's always annoying when the mc tries to make an event sound so much more exciting than it really is.

Not that these kids weren't talented, just that the mc was a little over the top for what it was.

Another.

2011-07-23T20:38:00.000-07:00

No, this one won't move if you stare at it long enough. But stare away if you want.

Stuff your face.

2011-07-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Taste of the Valley!

Life

2011-07-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

A life sentence at only 23 years of age.

Story HERE.