Hard News: Red Hills Desert Garden

Red Hills Desert Garden - St. George, Utah

Red Hills Desert Garden. What is the story? The garden is suppose to open in the spring of 2015. March is over in a week and summer is fast upon us. Still not sure when they will have the grand-opening. The purpose of the garden is to help locals learn about the red hills desert and how to conserve water through dessert landscaping. 

Certainly, water features are a more conservative way to go, than lets say, watering your grass. This garden is right at the one of the entrances of the Red Cliffs Desert Preserve. What I found interesting is that this garden, intuitively, drew attention away from the red cliffs and moved it towards the St. George. You will see that in the images of the swings and view points.

For a complete story on the Red Hills Desert Garden click here. The link takes you to an article by KCSG television posted in January 2015. 

Natural Light Shots Indoor/Outdoor

Indoor North Light Shots 2:1/1:1

f/5.6 shutter 1/80 ISO 400 lens 139mm

f/5.6 shutter 1/100 ISO 400 lens 132mm

f/5.6 shutter 1/100 ISO 400 lens 132mm

Outdoor Shots 2:1/1:1

f/5.6 shutter 1/250 ISO 200 lens 147mm

f/5.6 shutter 1/250 ISO 200 lens 94mm

f/5.6 shutter 1/250 ISO 80 lens 147mm

Glamour Shots 3/16

This is the shot. It happens to be very zoomed in. The reflection in the eyes are nice, the light off the forehead circles down to the light under her right eye and you are drawn into those Lily eyes. 

f/4.5 Shutter 1/100 ISO 400 lens 64mm

Bonus shots:

f/4.5 Shutter 1/100 ISO 400 lens 64mm

f/4.5 Shutter 1/125 ISO 800 lens 64mm

f/4.5 Shutter 1/125 ISO 800 lens 64mm

Wednesday Lab

I have three different rembrandt's. The first is 5:1. You see the triangle and a little bit of the eye lit up to complete the face but the shadow is over balanced.

The second image is a 2:1 ratio. The eyes are very visible and the reflection of the lights off her iris brings the image to life. What I would change is I would have her turn her head a little more towards the main creating a more looped rembrandt and also creating more movement with the eyes. 

The third image is just under a 1:1 ratio of light. The same principles that I stated in the second image applies to this one. I must have been in a hurry because these images were not very well focused. So many things to think of, I just need to get some of them to be automatic so I can focus on the variables that change.

f 5.6 Shutter 1/50 ISO 400 Lens 50mm

f 5.6 Shutter 1/50 ISO 400 Lens 50mm

f 5.6 Shutter 1/50 ISO 400 Lens 50mm

1st Studio Shots

Disclaimer: I did not have my camera so I borrowed a camera from Emily. Thank you Emily. Having said that, I took a few photos with my iPhone. The other photos were taken with a Fuji film camera unfamiliar to me. At the bottom I have an analysis of my experience.

Enjoy!

iPhone Shots: BW followed by Original Color.

iPhone 6: ISO 32, lens 4.15mm f/2.2, shutter1/15

iPhone 6: ISO 32, lens 4.15mm f/2.2, shutter1/15

iPhone 6: ISO 32, lens 4.15mm f/2.2, shutter1/40

iPhone 6: ISO 32, lens 4.15mm f/2.2, shutter1/40

iPhone 6: ISO 32, lens 4.15mm f/2.2, shutter 1/15

iPhone 6: ISO 32, lens 4.15mm f/2.2, shutter 1/15

These are the photos I shot with Emily's Fuji film. Original first and then BW.

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/6.4, shutter 1/40

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/6.4, shutter 1/40

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/6.4, shutter 1/10

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/6.4, shutter 1/10

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/9, shutter 1/10

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/9, shutter 1/10

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/5.6, shutter 1/15

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/5.6, shutter 1/10

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/5.6, shutter 1/15

ISO 100, lens 50 mm f/5.6, shutter 1/15

ISO 200, lens 50 mm f/5.6, shutter 1/10

ISO 200, lens 50 mm f/5.6, shutter 1/10

Analysis of my experience:

First of all, I learned to always have my camera with me. As it turns out, taking pictures is really hard to do with out a camera.

The second things that I learned is that the iPhone actually does a decent job. Not nearly the quality but for photojournalism it is a nice alternative to not getting the take. 

The third thing I picked up was with the iPhone I have very little control over the wide angle, and I had to either zoom in a lot and pixelate the photo or step in very close, which may be kind of awkward depending on the person/situation.

The forth thing I learned is that using a camera that you are unfamiliar comes with a learning curve. So the majority of the photos that I took at first either had too much exposure, under exposure, or the shutter speed wasn't fast enough and the picture turned out blurred. I think after you have enough experience in certain areas of photography you will have a good idea of what exposure, speed, and aperture setting you need and will be more adept at taking photos with any camera. But the hole thing was new and that took some time to figure out.

I'm excited to see what I do with my camera on Wednesday.