Portage, Utah, #3

I have received letters from some asking how to find a good place to photograph. This has been covered by me in earlier articles and by others in every photographic publication ever done. No one can tell you how or where to find good places to photograph if you aren't able to recognize them.

Most of my photography takes place within approximately two hours from where I live.

The wildlife work has the benefit of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, twelve miles due West of our house. The Wellsville Wilderness Area even closer just to the North. Bald Eagles roost near Willard Peak, just to the South and fish & sit in the trees in a dozen locations within a 20-30 minute drive. Ducks, grebes, herons, and many other migratory birds congregate at locations nearby. Elk are a daily occurance at Hardware Ranch, if you need a location where they gather in number during the winter. A wagon ride with the managers who provide winter feed gets one close enough to smell their breath if you want. Birds of Prey, from hawks to owls to Golden Eagles are a daily occurance, especially if one hikes to the ridges of the Wellsvilles and sits on a ridge. Desert species abound, after all, I live in a desert.

We even have the 'sea monkeys' advertised in comic books if you want to photograph them.

Extend the time a bit to a half days drive and I get Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, the major rivers in Idaho, Dinosaur Monument, some of Canyonlands and red rock country, the Ruby Mountains in Nevada, Great Basin National Park, and the list goes on.

For wildlife and scenic areas I live in a good area and I do so by choice.

For people photography we have working cattle, sheep and horse ranches. We have a guy who raises pack goats and others with hogs, turkeys and all kinds of farm animals. We have all the normal people found everywhere else, with our regional differences. No diamond district and little need for kids to turn on fire hydrants in the summer as the irrigation ditches, ponds, streams, rivers and lakes take care of that. No sky scrapers until one hits Salt Lake City to the South, and then pickings are pretty sparse. But, all the nearby locations have people in abundance. Folks that for the most part aren't too worried about photographers, though just like other places there is the occasional hard headed one. It is just that here that hard headed guy may drive an oversized 4x4 with a 30/06 in the rear window. But generally folks in our area are pretty nice and easy to get along with, even if you have a camera.

If you like farming & agriculture, I live in the fruit farming capitol of Utah. Brigham City even has the second largest parade in the state during the Peach Days celebration each fall the weekend after labor day. Peaches, cherries, apricots, plums, blackberries and on and on. Fresh fruit and vegetables are sold in small and large fruit stands along "the fruit way" in Willard and Perry, immediately to the south. Fresh fruit, you pick or they pick, grown by people who love what they do and know good fruit. Corn fields, onion fields, grain fields and others, from small to thousands of acres, fill the county. Cattle, from the normal herefords to longhorns are easily found. Views of open country with grazing cattle, mountain peaks in the background are a common sight. Buffalo are easy to find, both wild and being raised for the meat. Gamebird farms and hunting areas are just as common.

Want lifestyle images? Especially outdoor lifestyle? With our mountains, rivers and desert and the people who use them, these are everywhere. No permits, no hassles and no problems. There is no where in the Salt Lake area that one can't be in a designated wilderness area within 45 minutes. Camping images along mirrored lakes, sheer granite cliffs and hiking trails are easy to get to. Remote, wild and seldom seen areas are within two hours in any direction. Get your friends and models and the gear and take a walk. It is easy to find the locations, summer or winter. You can rent snowmobiles or climbing gear and go for a few hours or a few weeks.

With a major airport in Salt Lake one can go anywhere, just like any other metropolitan area. With the smaller airports such as our local one I can get flight time for $30-45 per hour with a pilot that will go where I want over Great Salt Lake or the mountains. One that will hop to a remote desert location, land and let me off and then come back in a few days to pick me up. A lot less tiring than driving 150 miles on bone jarring dirt & rock roads to get to the same location.

So now some are asking if I have so much so close, why not be out shooting every day? I try, but still have darkroom time and need to spend time trying to build up the image sales. But I am looking out the window as I write this at the snow topped Wellsville Mountains and can go out in the yard & do some needed work, or disappear into the darkroom & relax. But, if want to take a quick trip to shoot I have a half dozen nearby areas I am familiar with, just waiting for the right weather conditions. Then I will toss the gear into the car & go. Other times I will drive and walk & hope inspirations strikes.

A good place to photograph? Often it is as close as your front yard or neighborhood. Or local park or nearby wildlife area. Not everyone has wilderness areas literally out the door but everyone has interesting locations if they are interested in life. I am lucky in having an excellent abandoned woolen mill five blocks from the house. I can walk to it if I want. I can ride a bike to the bird refuge if I want. But, I don't have a diamond district, skyscrapers, a major zoo, a major auto speedway or NASCAR or Indy racing, NFL football or a lot of other stuff other areas have. But then, I don't choose to live in New York City or New Orleans or the places with those attractions either. If I did, I would be shooting more of the local attractions as well. Just as many who live there do.

A good place to photograph? Try documenting buildings over 100-150 years old in your area. Try finding the local birding spots, even in the big city. Arthur Morris, noted bird photographer, taught elementary school in New York City, but found time to photograph wild birds in the Jamaica Quees wildlife refuge. At times doing it both before and after school during the week to avoid crowds. I have photographed wildlife in Los Angeles in Griffith Park, the Whittier Narrows nature preserve and along small creeks & in hillside areas near the coast. You can find them if you look and you can find them almost anywhere.

It isn't always possible to find 'good images' as one doesn't have the time to shoot. But nothing stops you from noting where and when you saw that golden light and the perfect scene... and coming back again when conditions may be right or you might want to explore further. Having a personal catalogue of locations is part of every successful location photographers working practice. Whether it a retirement home where one photographs people with life experience or an alpine meadows you can only shoot for two weeks during mid July, the locations are there just waiting for those who plan ahead. Yes, you can get lucky, but we make our own luck with observation and planning.

The image accompanying this article is one of those I waited for. This winter has been terrible, if you like snow. We haven't have enough. I have shoveled the walk and driveway twice. In mid February I had flowers blooming in the front yard. A week and a half ago we had one day of snow & I got up early and zipped up to Portage, Utah. Right at the Utah/Idaho border, and shot the trees in the snow. Within three hours of the shot the snow turned to rain & the image is gone, most likely until next year as the ground is too warm to hold snow now. I knew where the image was waiting from previous trips to the area. Not this specific one, but generally. The tree and cabin image with last monghs article is in this area, about 3/4 mile to the South. If you can't shoot at the time for whatever reason, there is always tomorrow. There is also the possibility that when you come back tomorrow the trees, field, building or whatever, might not be there. It is a balancing act in deciding to shoot now no matter what or come back when it is 'right', and maybe gone. But then something else may be even better.

No matter what we do the main limitation to finding good images is our own vision. What I pass by others travel thousands of miles to see and photograph. What I can't quite put together in a way that I like, others plunk down the tripod and can create a masterpiece. What I shoot & get excited over, the next guy walks by and doesn't even see it. We are all different in our taste, likes and prejudices. A lot of images I really love from others are things I most likely wouldn't have seen even if I had been there. In trying to look beyond the postcard images and "scenic view ahead" that stops so many, our photographic vision grows and matures. The postcards are fine but seldom produce images that last and cause one to look again and again. Our personal vision may not be equal to the task, especially in all areas. Yet we can train ourselves to recognize at least some of the opportunities that lie in front of the camera. We can increase our take of 'good images' if we work at it.

Yes, I photograph most of my work close to home and I try to live in areas where that is a viable option. We choose the locations based, at least in part, on what we like to photograph and how close it will be to where we can afford to live. After all, as long as you have the basics you might as well live where you will enjoy what is there. If you love Yellowstone and can make a living, why not live near Yellowstone? A quick car trip & you are where you want to be to photograph. Love big buildings and crowded streets? Then pick you city. Whatever you enjoy photographing, the odds are good that you can live close enough to get year round access if you work at it. The best way to get good images is, for me, to photograph what I like, with the occasional challenge to create and image from a subject I don't normally photograph. But living near what I like sure does help.

The Attached Image

Photographed with an Anba Ikeda 5x7 view camera, 300 Nikkor M lens, TMax 100, printed on Forte Polygrade V, selenium toned. I waited most of the Winter to photograph this in snow. Due to a warm winter I shot this the last week of February and the snow disappeared in the rain within three hours of the photograph. I believe it is important to build an internal file of images you would like to take, near where you live or work, so you can get to them often and quickly when conditions may be right.