A blog post about a Blog...

I am moving on, I am graduating to the next level of blogging. I have moved this blog to a self-hosted Wordpress blog. Please visit Blog.NathanTGross.com for future updates. I've also posted some recent photos for a great couple.
Thanks for reading!
Nathan T. Gross

Utah Sky Trials 2010

I attended the Utah Sky Trials on February 20th. The object of the event was to have a trained bird, falcon or hawk, hunt a pigeon (In retrospect I don't recall seeing a hawk). The top ten birds had qualified the day before to participate in the final runs. In the 30-something years since the Utah Sky Trials began there have been only a handful of pigeons caught. The pigeons are specially trained to evade the birds of prey and the falconers have trained their birds to hunt the pigeons. You might call it a Bird Olympics where the best of the hunted attempt to outmaneuver the best hunters. Here's a list of this year's winners.

The officiators of the trials needed a volunteer to record the position of the birds as they circled to their desired hunting height, naturally I jumped at the chance to get closer. Since I was away from the crowd and very close to where the birds were released I was able to take some shots in between recording the bird's position. I hope you enjoy the Utah Sky Trials Gallery.

Provo City Photo Set

I've been contemplating taking up a new project. I have a list of buildings and sites of Provo that I think show Provo's history and uniqueness, and here is the list in no particular order:

Lavell Edwards Stadium
Provo Tabernacle
Provo City Power
BYU Girls Gymnasium
Center Street
Utah Lake State Park
Provo Hospital
Creamery on 9th
Original BYU Creamery
The 'Y'
View from Squaw Peak
Missionary Training Center
Provo Temple
J Dawgs (J Dogs)
Provo Library
Covey Center
Provo Wetlands
Malt shop
Seven Peaks

Update: This is going to be a year long project at least so I'll get all seasons and here are some of the suggested additions.


Bell Tower
Airport
Cemetery
Train yard
Farmers market
Pioneer village


If you have more ideas for photo worthy place in Provo, please leave a comment.

Thanks!

Nathan T. Gross

Long January

Without going into detail, its been a long January and I've been trying to come up with an apposite theme for the month. So here it is:

Clouds After Meteor

I took this photo the morning after a meteor lit up northern Utah on November 18th, 2009. Here is a link to the news article on KSL 

Posted via web from Nathan's Posterous

Concerts and Theater

Here are some of my favorites from my new Events Gallery showcasing concerts, dancing, plays, parties and parades.

This was taken at a concert featuring the bands Silent Envy and Scarlet Grey. I used a flash and 3 second exposure to get the two expressions.

I took this photo at a swing dance club in Ogden, Utah called "The Cowboy."

The comedy improv group known as the Thrillionaires asked me to take some photos of a production featuring Kirby Heyborne.

This photo was taken at Alexander's Print Advantage 30th Anniversary Celebration.

This photo was taken during the Provo City 4th of July Parade, 2009.

Simple Photograph Enhancements

A friend of mine wanted to know how I made this photo go from this ordinary Snow Leopard Cub photo:

 To this enhanced version in under 5 minutes:

So here's my process for basic photo enhancement.

In hindsight, I took quite a few photos of this cat. I try to take several photos of the same subject, that way I have lots of options when it comes time to edit. Sometimes the best photo comes from the most unusual angle, I move around and try different camera settings. Digital media is reusable, and slight variations can make the difference between an OK snapshot and a great photo.


Once I decide on a photo, I open it in Adobe Photoshop. There are many other excellent graphic programs you can use like Picasa, GIMP or Paintshop Pro.


The very first settings I adjust are Brightness and Contrast; its amazing how a little bit of contrast can make details stand out and enrich color. In this photo I increased the contrast and lowered the brightness, notice how the fence in the background almost completely disappears. I like the effect of the brightness and contrast settings, so I might just call it done, but I like to experiment.

In this photo I pushed Saturation nearly to the limit and every tiny bit of color jumps out. I try to keep my photos in a little more realistic hue so I toned it down for my final rendition of the shot. Also, I find the branches in the background suddenly are distracting because of the increased saturation.






Removing all saturation results in a black and white photo, this can have a dramatic impact and is always fun to try. In this particular instance I feel the cub gets a little lost and the impact of the photo is lessened, but still its crucial to experiment and see what works.





The most important thing I keep in mind is the focus of the photo. That is, what do I want people to notice or feel when they look at the photo? Will the change I made help people find the subject of my photo or is it distracting from that focus?

In short, remember these three basic settings: Brightness, Contrast and Saturation. Of course there are thousands of other variables that constitute a good photo, but I like to start with those.

Just for fun, this version has a "spot focus" on the cub to draw even more attention the cub.

Risenmay Family Photos

This was a fun photo shoot. We didn't have a lot time before the sun went down but I think the photos turned out great. As an added bonus it ended in a tremendous leaf fight. Here are the four Risenmay children from youngest to oldest.

Wedding Gallery

New photo gallery showcasing Weddings From Nathan T. Gross Photography

Here's one of my favorites:

Click to view the complete Wedding Gallery.

Posted via web from Nathan's Posterous

Wipe-out

via nathantgross.com

This is a photo from my new Sports Gallery. Enjoy!

Posted via web from Nathan's Posterous

California Canyon

via nathantgross.com

Just testing out Posterous.com and showcasing this photo. Enjoy!
Nathan T. Gross

Posted via web from Nathan's Posterous

Swainson's Hawks

This pair of Swainson's Hawks were perched and screeching for about 20 minutes; according to a colleague of mine, that indicates they had an eyas or fledging on the ground. Swainson's Hawks are also known as Grasshopper Hawks or Locust Hawks because their diet is not limited to small rodents but includes grasshoppers and dragonflies; this could would explain why they stayed for about a week, there is a large dragonfly population across the road from where they roosted.
The dark coloring of the male is unusual when compared with the majority of Swainson's Hawks.

Lightning!

I was lucky with my first roll of film of lightning, I took four shots that I have yet to duplicate, Check out my gallery for all the photos.

Fortunately, I never have been struck even though I tempt fate standing on open ground with a five foot metal tripod.
Contrary to popular speculation, lightning is extremely simple to capture on camera. You do not need a fast finger, all you need is a tripod and a camera that has a "bulb" setting or can be adjusted to keep shutter open for at least 10 seconds.
I like to leave the shutter open for about 30 seconds and adjust the aperture down if there is a lot of ambient light. I take a few test shots and point the camera towards wherever I think there will be lightning, release the shutter and then wait for lightning to strike.

Tiny Snake

I found this snake slithering into a hole on the riverbank, I caught it and told it that I needed a picture then set it down and I got one shot. The Western Terrestrial Garter Snake went into the nearby river then it warily watched me as I finished with the photos. In these photos the snake is about life size, if it was stretched out it might be six inches long.

A friend of mine suggested the snake looked like a pirate with the spot of green covering its eye.

Rainbow over Provo, Utah

A friend of mine requested this photo, I was happy to oblige and I think it turned into a rather nice scene.

Dragonflies, Damselflies and Spiders

I have taken a few pictures of spiders, so if you do not like spiders, I don't recommend my Bugs Gallery.

I recently found out the difference between a dragonfly and a damselfly. For a long time I thought damselflies were young dragonflies.
Dragonflies are typically larger than damselflies and when resting keep their wings out to the side or pointed forward. Damselflies keep their wings back along their bodies and their eyes are clearly separated.

Old Photos

I was rummaging in my old film collection and came across some of my forgotten favorites. I hope you like them, if you want to see more check out this gallery.

This photo was taken on the north end of Mount Timpanogos. I really like this photo for the simplicity; its uncomplicated letting you wonder what's out there.

I was on vacation with my family near San Diego around Christmas 2005. This photo reminds me of an aerial photograph, perhaps of a Martian landscape.

This is one of my first "artistic" photos. No analysis, I just like it.

If you look closely this photo is actually upside down. I had to be patient with kids and coins making ripples but it was worth the wait.

Family Photos

I finally took some Family Photos!

I'm currently running a Family Portraits Special
Let me know what you think. Thanks!

Hiking

My wife and I went hiking yesterday, we started at the Kiwanis Park in Pleasant Grove.
The trail was more challenging than I remembered but worth the exertion. There were a few close calls involving a child and the river but we arrived at the waterfall intact.

I enjoy hiking because you see places where I would not normally go. Hiking reminds me why I take photographs, to show people how something as common as a leaf can be unique. For instance rain, everyone sees the rain and the mud but a closer inspection reveals an entirely different experience. While hiking I see new landscapes or views I've see before but have changed. Every moment is unique, I just try to capture the best ones.

Click here view my galleries

Enjoy!

Lacrosse

The Orem High School Lacrosse team recently won the State Championship. If was an awesome game, Orem played Skyview and the final score was 15 to 9. Here is the link to the complete photo gallery for the game: Lacrosse Photos

Update: I removed the lacrosse gallery and replaced it with various ports photos.