On the road in Wyoming

April 25, 2014March 18, 2018 / Andrew McAllister / 14 Comments

Working on the last post I remembered that I had another shot of a group of horses that I wanted to share on LATW. Taking the scenic route home from Jackson to Cache Valley via Diamondville last fall ended up taking many more hours than expected. With a lot ground to cover, dramatic sky, fall color and a photographer driving it was anything but quick. After a few stops you just have to stop stopping or it will be midnight before you are home.

Fall color near Bondurant, Wyoming.

Horses south of Bondurant, Wyoming

The Flat Top, north of La Barge, Wyoming.

Cache Valley Utah

April 8, 2014 / Andrew McAllister / 6 Comments

After the past few posts it’s time for a break from red rocks, blue skys and Toyota Landcruisers. I’ll start with this image from the homestead in Cache Valley looking to Gunsight Peak some 23 miles away.

Storm Clearing in Cache Valley Utah 5/29/2013

2013 in 10 photos

January 4, 2014January 3, 2017 / Andrew McAllister / 26 Comments

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This was a year of looking, learning and contemplating. If I had to choose just one image to represent 2013 it would be this image of a mountain goat on Willard Peak in Northern Utah. I took the photo on a drive to Inspiration Point with a photographer friend who shoots pictures of wildlife. Unlike earlier trips when I looked at animals through binoculars, this time we hiked to the mountain goats and saw them at close range. I look forward to doing more of this in 2014. Technical info: Willard Peak via National Forest Road (starts in Mantua) to Inspiration Point. Accessible in warm months by automobiles with high clearance. The last few turns are at over 9000 feet elevation and exposed. Not for the faint of heart.

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Lone teenager at Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. Any year when you get to visit Moab six times is a good year. The area offers so much to explore and so many photographic possibilities that it boggles the mind. Now that I can go there frequently, I have the luxury of not feeling rushed or compelled to fill the day with a million must-see things.

Hunter Power Plant from Ghost Rock

Ghost Rocks viewpoint looking toward the Hunter Power Plant. This photo was taken on a solo winter trip to photograph the area. It was nice to experience Southern Utah at a slower pace and find new locations like this. The quickest way from Moab to SLC is through Price, but a winter storm made travel over Soldier Summit questionable so I took I-70 across the San Rafael Swell and saw a new part of the state.

Top of the World Trail Phone Home on the Range. Last spring I had the opportunity to travel the Kokopelli Trail on a Cruise Moab pre-run. A friend was writing a review of an off-road trailer so I came along to document the run. This great trip gave me access to some amazing country that is not accessible with my stock 4-wd vehicle and I got to meet a group of off-road travel enthusiasts. The view from here to the East Tavaputs Plateau–the ridge line in the distance–is more than 40 miles.

In 2012 I wrote about a grain elevator in Preston, Idaho that burned down and how it seemed to have changed the identity of the town. This year I explored this idea and created a series of images documenting grain silos in small towns within a few hours of Cache Valley, Utah. The image above is from Soda Springs, Idaho. More images from the series can be found on my website.

The series on grain elevators led me to industrial areas of towns and other sites like this at American Nutrition in Ogden, Utah. The dramatic light and shadow from the late afternoon sun bring out the structural beauty in this otherwise mundane industrial facility.

My search for silos took me north to Pocatello, Idaho, where I came across Walts Scrap Metal. It may not speak to everyone, but it interests me because of the play of the flat surfaces depicting western scenes against the actual western landscape. Additionally, the compression of space and the illusions it creates is a kind of puzzle and you have to really look at the photo to pull the different elements apart and try to make sense of the image. Scenes like this make the hours of driving worth it to me.

On a return trip to Utah from Denver I crossed the continental divide via Rocky Mountain National Park’s Trail Ridge Road. I had just completed a Phase One Capture One training event and was delighted to come upon this dramatic scene.

As I mentioned, 2013 involved a lot of learning and looking. When not photographing I spend a lot of time looking at the world via Google Earth. Last year I took advantage the opportunity to look down from an airplane window in Iceland: the location is somewhere between Reykjavik and Akureyri.Shelf road leading out of Spring Canyon. From my sixth and final Moab trip of 2013. I hope you enjoyed this short review of my 2013 photographs and if you have a similar post about your past year’s adventures please share a link in the comments section.

Happy travels and pleasant photography for the coming year!

Millville Fire 2013

August 19, 2013April 5, 2014 / Andrew McAllister / 1 Comment

Wildfire in Cache Valley August 2013. Millville fire burn line looking North toward Logan. Updated info Here: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3631/

Above: Wildfire scars near Blacksmith Fork Canyon.

A detail cropped from the above photo shows a tree starting to burn on Millville face.

Friends in high places: Willard Peak mountain goat

June 30, 2013April 5, 2014 / Andrew McAllister / 4 Comments

Friends in high places

On my first hike to the top of Willard Peak this past Friday came across many mountain goats. This one looks particularly awesome.

Springtime in Northern Utah

April 8, 2013April 5, 2014 / Andrew McAllister / 12 Comments

As I write this we have had a few weeks of warm weather and much of the snow in the lower half of the images here has melted and the grass has started to grow. Also as I write this a storm is blowing through bringing new snow to higher elevations. It can try but it wont last! Spring and fall are great times if you love weather. I was really tired of the clear and cold weather of January and February. The seasonal weather patterns mixed with the geography of Northern Utah make for visually spectacular scenery. The images above and below from the same morning a few weeks back (March 2013).

Below: Storm clearing in Cache Vally April 2013. Described by my friend Woody as looking like a “title wave from hell”. I have seen many cool weather systems move across the valley and by the time you get the camera set up it’s usually not as cool as when I first saw it. This one was different and I rushed to capture it. As I took a dozen images over a few minutes it lost it’s shape and became a less than spectacular blob. This was the second or third frame. This weather was the beginning of what we are going through now in Northern Utah. This storm system has been good to me both with this image and with some images I made the next day when I revisited Downey Idaho.

Top two images captured with the Zeiss 100mm Makro-Planar and the image above with the Nikon 45mm PC-E.

Northern Utah: Willard Peak Light and Shadow

February 19, 2013April 5, 2014 / Andrew McAllister / 4 Comments

Above: Dramatic Light and shadow on the base of Willard Peak in Northern Utah. Recently I have expanded my lens set to cover wider and narrower views and so begins the process of learning how these tools effect how I see and how to get the most out of them. The above image form this past weekend was made with the wonderful Zeiss 100 Makro-Planar. I am pleased with the lenses ability at and near infinity, a distance that many of my subjects occupy. Excellent contrast and focus from 1.4 miles distance in the foreground and at 2.23 miles near the top.

Above: Dramatic light and shadow on the rugged base of Willard Peak in Northern Utah.Above: Dramatic light and shadow with blue-grey sky and passing cloud cover on the rugged rocky base of Willard Peak in Northern Utah.

Cache Valley Inversion winter 2013

February 17, 2013April 5, 2014 / Andrew McAllister / 2 Comments

Above: Dramatic view of the Cache Valley Inversion 2/2/13. The inversion continues and like most things looks better or worse depending on the day and the hour. As a newer resident I am shocked at how disgusting the air can be. At times you can taste it in your mouth for 30 minutes after you have come inside. I’m fortunate to live on the bench and am above the thick part of it most of the time. Visually the inversion can be stunning and enjoyable to photograph. I prefer drama to a clear blue sky any day.

Above: USU and Cache Valley inversion 2/3/13. A closer view with USU, the Wellsville Range and some pollution in-between. Taken at the beginning of another red air day.

Winter 2013 Inversion Cache Valley Utah

Above: A wider view from the same morning. I really hope that Cache Valley can get a grip on the pollution. I was shocked when I first moved here at the number of diesel pickup trucks that treat every green light like the beginning of a race or some contest to see who can spew the largest cloud of black soot onto the intersection. The pollution problem is large and more complex for sure and I am no expert. It will be interesting to see if Logan and Cache Valley can meet EPA requirements by 2014. If my images or distinct vantage point can be of use to people working on the inversion problem please contact me I’d love to help out.

Cache Valley: Foggy Grey Winter

February 2, 2013April 5, 2014 / Andrew McAllister / 2 Comments

Above: Grain Silos near Lewiston, Utah on a grey foggy January afternoon in Northern Utah. Depending on the screen you view this on you can see quite a bit. I’m amazed I was able to get sharp focus on the silos. Could be the start of a series of posts on agriculture architecture. There certainly is a lot around the area. Does anyone know the difference (if any) between a silo, grain silo and a grain elevator?