Where have I been lately??

Hi Blog peep's! Sorry I have been so busy shooting, editing and face-booking to post here on the blog. I'm seriously trying to button down and catch up, it's hard! But I'm making a solid effort. I have a ton of NEW image's and content and not just images; that I want to share with you :D Have a wonderful day and enjoy this KILLER weather, it won't last for long :D

Love You All,
Michael

Expression

I've always intended to use my blog as a photoblog, but I sometimes forget it's a way that I can express myself with words instead of images. I have this really, really bad habit of not expressing my feelings or thoughts or experiences I have had, after photographing people or just in general for that matter. My focus after the shoot, is to just get the work done! I think I learned that from my workaholic Dad, I love You Dad :D I come across blogs, fan pages, websites etc. that really dig into content and expression about photography sessions, emotional experiences and just plain old story telling. I think I have done myself a dis-service by not sharing more and not expressing more! So I have decided to make this a NEW goal to talk about, express & share my thoughts and experiences, and not keep them so bottled up :D

I remember when I had a Hmmmmmm moment about actions & different tweak styles. I look back on that and all I can think is how I was wasting time. BUT, I was being true to myself and I always think you should do that too!

Kazj & Jalynn - The Lucky Couple

Michael Lloyd Photography is on Twitter

So I decided to finally create a Photography Twitter account so I can check one more thing during the day in my office....J/K It'll be fun :D

http://twitter.com/M_L_Photography

40's Style Baby

I love having theme weddings. Alecia & Sam's wedding was 40's Style. This is a sample of Alecia's bridal from the vintage Sinclair. There are so many pix to see, so I posted the 16x20 that I printed for their Reception.
I will create a folder on my website, from her bridal shoot.

LaVell

Today I had the privilege of meeting LaVell Edwards at his home in Provo, Utah. I was asked to shoot still images for an upcoming documentary about him (More pix & info about the documentary to come).

LaVell is a very kind, spiritual and humble man. I was very impressed with his competitive nature, his honesty and of course his beautiful flower gardens. He was showing me his day lilies after the interview, they literally bloom for a single day and then they are done. He takes much pride in his gardening. I felt very peaceful and calm while I was with him, it kind of made me feel like I had a grandpa again, my Grandpa Lloyd has been gone since I was 10 years old..........I sure miss him!! But I sure treasured the time with LaVell this morning :D

My NEW favorite image

Provo River photograph on KSL 5 news

LOL did Dev call it or what?!! (see post below) According to Dan Pope this storm was worth between $55 and $95 million dollars in water resources for the state of Utah. We just increased our state wide snow pack by 12% in one storm. One inch of water melted from several inches of snow is worth about $20 million dollars. Crazy how they have it all figured out!

Provo River, Flocked Trees, A Cool Old International Truck

So I decided to leave the office this morning to capture the rad snow that fell last night. I have been gritting my teeth not being able to shoot the last couple of snow storms. The snow was so deep and it just sat 3-4 inches on top of the leaves and branches of all the trees. Saaaweeeet! I shot for a couple of hours and I felt like I was just getting warmed up. It was fun to 4 wheel and trek through the deep snow in my winter gear :D

Dev loved this image and I liked it, funny how that works. Nature photo of the day ^

Love all of the H2O

I think that this is my favorite shot from this morning.

I wish that the little old house was about another 60+ years older for the look. This image has a dry brush finish to it.

Is this a sweet old International or what?

Cattail's & A Killer Sunset

While I was on my way to shoot the Reception today at the Mapelton City Center, I missed my turn and drove up another street looking for a place to turn around. Along the way I saw a field of beautiful fresh white powder (+snow mobile tracks, of course!) and some really sweet looking cattails. I had to get out of my truck and photograph them basking in the sun, covered with last nights fresh snow. I live by the hurry up and wait motto, so I had a few minutes to spare.

When I was selecting my settings in the camera, I remembered that a small aperture is best on a sunny day because it makes the sun look like a star instead of a big over exposed blob. I chose to shoot the 24-70mm 2.8L, @ f 13, 1/400, -2/3 compensation, 100 ISO. By shooting at a short focal distance with a fill flash, it helps under expose the background, which is great for a beautiful sunny open sky.

So now you are wondering why the sky isn't blue, but red & black instead?? Well I'm a big fan of infrared film and this is my version of it :D I think it gives it more of an abstract, artistic feel.

Nature photo of the day ^

After I finished shooting the Pre-Reception tonight, I looked outside and saw the killer sunlight that was setting. Of course, I went into holy freak mode and got all excited because I know that I have just a couple of minutes to capture the light. I switched to the 70-200mm 2.8L and zoomed right in on the top of the mountain. It took me 2 shots to get this one. When you shoot a shorter shutter speed than focal length you risk a soft image. So the closer you are to 1/200 the greater the chance you have for a very sharp image. I was zoomed at 200mm, @ 1/100, f 5.0, 200 ISO. I felt like I was pretty close to max for a sharp image, even with my very steady hand.

The first shot was a bit soft, I fired a second image right after that so it was a smoother more steady shutter release. I hate tripods and I love to shoot hand held in low light. It was very sharp and clean when I looked at the pixels at a 100%.

It's funny, when I was looking at the photo that close, I could see every little thing on the mountain and I kept thinking I'd for sure see an animal or a herd of them!

Squaw Peak @ Sunset

While my wife was out doing a little shopping, she called me up and said to go look outside at the beautiful sunset on the mountains. I grabbed my camera and wide-angle lense and ran outside. The light was Awesome and the color was so vibrant! After I fired off some hand held pix I decided to run back in and switch to the long lense, dumb...on my part! If there's one thing I have learned about light, especially with sunsets, It's that you never leave the light!! It will be gone every time, I promise.

1D Mark III, 24-70mm 2.8L, 1/125 @ f 4.0, +1/3 compensation, 640 ISO, AWB.