photography

Looking at: Downey Idaho

/ Andrew McAllister / 30 Comments

Downtown Downey Idaho April 2012. Two classic brick structures define the main intersection of this small farming town (population 613) in southern Idaho.

Old Downey Theater sign says “opening soon Laurel and Hardies.” The two story structure is called Hyde Block and it houses the town’s market It features an ad for Mountaineer Overalls with Stop Loss pockets.

The best image from the shoot includes a dilapidated two-story building, a grain elevator, a bar with a log cabin facade, and a variety of other single-story buildings.

Cunningham Implement and Downey Lumber bathed in orange street light.

Exploring Cache Valley

/ Andrew McAllister / 6 Comments

Cutler Dam area, Cache Valley Utah. Taking advantage of a winter storm that was blowing into Northern Utah I revisited some areas that could benefit from some drama in the sky. Between Gunsight Peak and the northern end of the Wellsville Mountains is an area with dramatic cliffs with velvety hills and washes. The landscape of this area has fascinated me since moving to Cache Valley. Unseen from this view is a large dam and power plant tucked between the cliff and the river. The area has walk-in access for hunters, I need to find out if I could walk-in for photography or wildlife observation. If not maybe I could get a hunting license, register to walk-in and then “hunt” for photos and “shoot” them. Until then I’ll respect private property and stay on the road.

Technical info: Images captured with a Nikon D300s and 45mm PC-E lens and processed in Lightroom 4.

Soundtrack for gloomy weather photography: Crime and the City Solution and Nick Cave and the Badseeds.

2012 Pony Express run with UXOC

/ Andrew McAllister / 65 Comments

This past February 18th I joined up with the Utah Xterra Owners Club for their annual Pony Express run. Since moving to Utah this past summer and acquiring a 2006 Nissan Xterra I have been keen to get out and explore many of the canyons around Cache Valley. This past summer and fall the Utah Road and Recreation Atlas (Benchmark Maps) has been top on my reading list for finding new places to explore. One place I have been really interested in is the west desert area of Tooele, Juab and Millard counties. The area is also called the Great Salt Lake Desert and includes the Dugway Proving Grounds (no public access), The Pony Express Trail and a portion of the Historic Lincoln Highway. Plus it’s a really big wide open place with small mountains that look like islands and has tons of potential for photography. If that wasn’t enough my long standing project about looking at the west has up to this point primarily consisted of images showing how we experience the west through visiting National Parks. Joining up with an automobile club would be both fun and new way to think about how we experience the western landscape and meet some fellow Xterra owners.

We planned to meet at 9 AM in at a gas station in Lehi. This was my first time here and I have to say I was impressed with the town’s old commercial district and the grain silo. It was a perfect sunny morning with lots of activity going on. When the group of Xterra’s I was in pulled up to the gas station there were about 20 Land Rovers leaving on some adventure. Then I saw a group of road cyclists (about 30 strong) heading up the road. This must be a popular place. After everyone in our group of 11 vehicles had fueled up and did whatever we needed to do at the gas station we headed out taking 73 west toward Cedar Fort for about 30 miles then hit gravel road at Five Mile Pass and kept going west. After a short distance we stopped as a group to take the opportunity to air down our tires. This was something I was initially wary of doing since I did not have a way to air them back up. Talking to a few drivers I learned that by deflating the tires it would provide better grip and also absorb some of the road vibrations. With over 100 miles to go I decided to air down slightly and see if I noticed any difference. It was hard to tell how much difference it was making for my ride as I only aired down about 7 pounds. I’ll have to experiment with this more on future runs.

Our next stop was Lookout Pass Station. We climbed a small hill had a look around, snapped some pictures of our vehicles with their first mud of the day then headed down to the walled off pet cemetery at the base of the hill. We attempted to drive up Little Valley Rd. on our way to Simpson Springs but due to bad road conditions we decided to head back to the main Pony Express Road. Being new to 4-wheeling it was one of the muddiest sections of road I have been on. I think it was a good decision to turn back and try it again when it has dried out.

Soon after we arrived at Simpson Springs Pony Express Station and stopped for lunch, conversation and picture taking. The highlight of the stop was watching a helicopter rounding up what I assumed to be wild horses. After some time the horses actually ran pretty close to where we were parked and everyone tried their hand at photographing the action. I got a couple of shots off before my camera battery mysteriously died. After some time we geared up and headed west toward Dugway Pass. Between Simpson Springs and Dugway Pass it’s about 20 miles of straight and flat road. Leave plenty of distance between vehicles (dust and visibility) and watch your speed. It’s easy to start going fast and you have to remind yourself that gravel roads handle very differently from highways. A hole in the road or dip could put you in a bad situation a long way from help.

After a restroom break at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge we stopped at Wilson Hot Spring. This was where my Xterra got muddy. The drive out to the spring was a sticky mix of mud, sand and salt. At one point I was sliding toward a very wet patch that had boards across it; some kind of sign not to go that way. Luckily I stopped before sliding into it and was able to back out and take the little bypass. The sticky mud reminded me of a passage in Earl Swift’s book The Big Roads,  “a truck convoy finding the Siberling Cutoff impassable, set off across the salt. This would have been a risky move in a light runabout. In a giant cargo hauler the results were inevitable. every truck that ventured onto the flats broke through and became hopelessly mired; even a Caterpillar tractor failed to achieve any traction in the stinking goop that lurked beneath the surface.” (page 68). The story ends with the trucks being carried out by hand. I’m glad to be living in a time of better roads and capable vehicles. The story is a good reminder of the dangers of traveling in the west desert of Utah.

A little farther down the road on the other side of the Fish Springs Range we took a side road at the Utah and Emma Mines. It was a nice climb up to the top. I waited on the main road until the end of our convoy as I wanted to get a shot of all the Xterras going up the road before I joined the party. The drive up the old mining road ended with everyone parking in a row with a spectacular view of the Deep Creek Range and Snake Valley. In low range and third gear I only had to tap the brakes on a few sharp bends in the road on our way back down. At this point we would be heading in generally North West and would go through the very small town of Callao.

About 5 miles out of Callao we turned onto a section of road that is marked both as the Pony Express Rd. and the Old Lincoln Highway. Except for one spot the road was dry but it was slow going as the road wound through many washes and small hills. This was the only part of the trip where we had traffic coming from the other direction. I can only imagine what it must have been like traveling in this area with a 1930’s or 40’s era vehicle (loose steering, breaks that lock up, no seat belts) and then coming around a curve to find another car headed your way. After 25 miles we were back on asphalt. Realizing we had missed the turnoff to take us to Gold Hill; members of our group talked via radio to see who wanted to go to Gold Hill and who wanted to just head to Wendover. Most of us decided to go to Gold Hill and arrived around 5 PM the place was literally a ghost town. I now understood why there were so many photos on the web of this old store front. It’s about the only thing there. I joined in and shot about 30 frames of the building from a few angles so I could stitch together a panoramic image of the place.

Next stop Wendover. A quick dinner and then the trek back to Logan. Since a winter storm was hitting the Wasatch Front I opted to take a northern route back to Cache Valley via the Old Midland Trail (Utah 30) and hopefully avoid traffic and snow. As it turns out it was the best option. In two and a half hours I made it to Tremonton and entered Cache Valley via Riverside. At Beaver Dam the snow had started and the road conditions deteriorated rapidly. Crossing the valley the snow just kept coming and traffic slowed to a crawl. My journey that had started at 7 AM that morning was completed 17 hours later at 11 PM. The only trouble I had was getting up my steep and snow-covered driveway. But I made it.

©2012 (images and text) Andrew McAllister

All images photographed with the Leica M8 and Zeiss ZM lenses.

Top 5 images from 2011

/ Andrew McAllister / 12 Comments

My top 5 images for 2011 start with this image from Little Cottonwood Canyon. Photographed on very foggy Fathers Day weekend. What pleases me most about this image is the sense of scale. The massiveness of the rock, the angle, the fact that the rocks disappear into the clouds.

Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. This has to be the dreamiest landscape I have taken.

Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park. The multiple bands of color and texture make this a favorite of the year.

Fall Color in the Wellsville Canyon. Dreamy and vibrant, not what I was expecting to find in northern Utah.

Cliffs and fog in Blacksmith Fork Canyon. Similar to the first image in that it has cliffs and fog, here though I have opted for a panoramic cropping and a brighter overall feel. This landscape is successful to me because the sense of hight and angle of view. It has many places that you can get lost in it. This would be a great image to have a lone hiker or rock climber in. Or better yet a majestic bull elk standing at the edge of a rock.

All images were captured with my trusty Leica M8 and either a 35 or 50 mm Zeiss lens.

©2011 Andrew McAllister

The West Hills in Northern Utah

/ Andrew McAllister / 1 Comment

The West Hills of Northern Utah

The West Hills are just north of Tremonton, Utah and cradled by I15 and I84. The gorgeous rolling hills have many photographic possibilities. I’m glad that I live close to this area and look forward to visiting then in different seasons. The route I took was 30 west out of Logan to Riverside and then up north toward Plymouth and then west again toward Nucore Steel. From there the road changes to compressed gravel and you enter Johnson Canyon. The canyon is basically a route through the gently rolling hills, nothing like Logan Canyon or anything in Southern Utah. The area is a Cooperative Wildlife Management Area with No Trespassing signs about every 100 yards, must be a popular hunting area. After a short drive you arrive in Whites Valley. At the only intersection you choices are head West to go to the Let The Good Times Fly Hunting Club or head South and end up at Exit 32 (Ranch Exit, no services) on I84. At that this point I could have gone south on I84 toward Tremonten and then back to Cache Valley via Riverton or Brigham City. I chose to back track to get a second look at Nucore Steel and drive a road that two old guys I talked to earlier in the day suggested. That road is Short Divide and it crosses Gunsight Peak on the north end of Cache Valley. From that road there are some good views of the Wellsville Mountains. I was lucky that the road was open as it is listed as closed winters and it was clear most of the way. A few stretches that get no direct light had some serious ice to contend with. I’ll defiantly be back when it warms up. This area has some hiking possibilities.

Camera: Leica M8 w/ Zeiss zm 50/2

©2011 Andrew McAllister (text and images)

First Snow

/ Andrew McAllister / 2 Comments

After months of sunshine finally Northern Utah had a few days of rain and clouds in the forecast. A storm coming up from the south decided to bring some cold temperatures and snow at higher elevations. As it started late Wednesday I took a quick drive up Green Canyon (I’m based in Cache Valley) to see what was happening at the higher elevations with regard to weather and road conditions. The next afternoon as the cloud cover started to pull back a bit I could see that indeed elevations above 6000 had snow cover. I decided to head out to Blacksmith Fork Canyon and see how the snow was mixing with the fall color and the cliff faces. I found a few good spots to photograph along the way toward Hardware Ranch. About half way there the clouds and cliff faces were looking good near the Left Hand Fork of Blacksmith Fork Canyon. I decided to check it out and maybe go as far as the old ranger station that I had photographed this past summer.

Road conditions were generally ok for the weather. A little sloppy in areas but those spots were few and there were a few ranchers working in the area with much larger vehicles and trailers so I figured the roads were acceptable. Stoping for photographic opportunities and the occasional group of cattle in the road we made it to the old ranger station in good time. After a few shots I decided to go to up to the junction of Herd Hollow and see how that was. At this point the the roads were in good condition, compacted dirt and gravel mix with larger rocks here and there and not sticky at all. Now this area is listed on some maps as a 4×4 road and on a ShoShone Trail map from the Forest service it is listed as most difficult but not ATV only. I decided to give it a go, soon I came to a sign saying that the road was not suitable for passenger cars 6 miles ahead. Since the Nissan Xterra has higher clearance than a passenger car we kept going. Now this road passes two springs and runs along the base of Boulder Mtn. ending at the junction of trail 3 (Shoshone trail map) which is rated easiest. If we could make it to the junction and the steep hill out of the canyon was passable this could be a round trip to Hardware Ranch. But was not to be the case this time.

A few miles up the road I came to a point where it looked like trouble could be ahead. I got out and walked the road for a bit and it appeared that no full size vehicle had bee through there in some time. The good part of the road had been used for ATV “cars” that have a sightly larger wheel base than an ATV but smaller than a truck. The trail had a steep bank on the left side that a truck could drive on without tipping and the right side had pretty thick cover of vegetation. Now this part was technically doable albeit with some major scratching on the right. The situation as I saw it was there was no way I was going to back out of this spot should the road be not passible up ahead as the sign at the trailhead had suggested. It was just me and my dog Mirabelle, and there was nothing she could do to help in a situation should one arise. Had I been traveling with another vehicle or at least another person experienced in off highway driving maybe I could do it. Oh yeah and it was starting to snow again. Time to back out of here and stay on a more defined and better maintained road. We had seen plenty of gorgeous fall color and snow caped cliffs, had a nice drive and we not looking to do any camping do to getting stuck.

Back at the junction of Herd Hollow Rd. I had a decision to make. Either head back on the Left Hand Fork which I knew was solid or take Herd Hollow and end up in Logan Canyon. So the plan was to take Herd Hollow as far as we could and if passible end up at some nice locations to get shots of the snow and fall color. A short distance up the road and past the first cattle gate I came up to another truck. That’s good news. Some one else on the road should we get stuck and track to gage the road condition. Now I’m new to 4 wheeling and this was going to be the first time I heard the slipping indicator in the Xterra. The first sticky spot was just a dozen yards long so it was a bit of a warning of how the Xterra would handle these sections of the road. When on sold ground I stopped to take a few shots of the landscape and the road and pressed on. By the time we made it to the junction of roads to Logan Peak and Old Ephram’s we had driven a few more of these really slick sections. Not quite white knuckle but definitely not a casual drive. Having the tracks of the truck in front of me as a guide of where to go and where not to go was helpful on this first trip through the mud. I kept the truck moving a good speed so not to sink or loose grip but just fast enough to keep it under control. I wanted to make it though wile doing minimal damage to the road. I’m not a fan of people that just blast through these areas just to get the truck muddy and mess up the road. I also did not want to drive off the road surface and make the road wider than necessary.

The road down from the junction to Logan Canyon was well maintained and uneventful. A nice change and appreciated. From there we headed toward Tony Grove taking plenty of stops along the way to photograph the landscape covered with a thin layer of snow. Though this subject matter has been done before by many photographers it is such a nice visual that I just give in and go for it. Overall this first snowfall and our journey to look at it was a success. New places, experiences, appreciations and few good images along the way to remind and inspire more exploration of Northern Utah this winter.

Large format photography in 2011

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Heading down to the PDN Outdoor Expo in SLC later this week. Hopefully there will be some large format camera reps at the trade show. The more I get into the western landscape the more 4×5 makes sense. Point a camera up at a mountain and it flattens out. Use a front rise and now your talking. After correcting my M8 files I’m left with less than a big print. That and every photographer I’ve met so far in Utah shoots 4×5 or larger. Carston is shooting 8×10 (foreground) and Chris 4×5. Going out shooting with these guys inspired me to break out my 6×7 film camera that has seen hardly any use since I started shooting with the M8 4 years ago. I’ll post a few frames when I get the film scanned.