SGirimont Photography Blog: The Stories Behind the Images

Mesa Arch Sunrise

This is an image of the famous Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park in Southeast Utah. This is one of the most photographed locations in the whole of the southwest, but it’s something I really wanted to have in my own collection.

This location has become, perhaps, far too popular. At the time I clicked the shutter for this image (and the two other images of which it is composed), there were approximately 80 people surrounding me. I thought it was getting bad before the busload of Chinese tourists showed up shortly after sunrise.

At one point, I got so fed up with the crowd just before sunrise that I backed off and climbed a small tower of rock behind the arch just to take pictures of the madness of the crowd. Then the tour bus showed up. Sigh.

This image was taken after I got brave enough to venture back into the crowd. I had noticed the position of the sun, combined with the haze, was beginning to form a shadow in the air cast from Monster Tower you see in the background. I wormed my way into the crowd so the shadow would come in at the point where I wanted it and proceeded to get several exposures from 1/10th of a second to about 15 seconds at ISO 100. This image is a blending of three of those exposures to retain detail from the shadows through the highlights.

Mesa Arch itself is a wonder at sunrise. The arch is situated such that sunlight, reflected off the cliff face below it, causes the underside of the arch to glow a deep orange-red for a few minutes after sunrise. To get to the arch in time to photograph this phenomenon requires a short walk in the dark (less than 1/2 mile, I believe) from the parking lot. It’s not a difficult walk, but you must be careful about the numerous rocks and roots along the path.

This image was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II and a Canon 16-35 mm zoom lens. The lens is zoomed out to 16 mm, but this image is bit of a crop from the full frame.

Rings form a heart-shaped shadow on a bible

I’ve made a new friend. About two weeks ago, I was preparing my thoughts for how I was going to shoot a wedding when a thought popped into my head: the bride and groom will be getting ready at a hotel. Hotels frequently have bibles in their rooms. Put rings just so on an open book and light it just right, and you can make a heart-shaped shadow. Works like a charm and now I’ve got a new favorite image to shoot while I’m waiting for my clients to get ready in their hotel rooms!

I have to come clean and admit that the image you see here is not the one from that wedding a few weeks ago. The bride’s ring in that wedding was so thin, it wouldn’t stand on it’s own in the crease of the bible very well, so only the groom’s ring was really used. The image you see here is my second attempt at this. These rings were thick enough to stand well on their own, though I couldn’t light the rings quite right to get the diamonds in the front ring to be lit, so they’re a little dark. Also, in that very first attempt, I just opened the bible to any spot and plopped the rings down. I realized later that the right chapter to use is the Song of Solomon, with all those wonderful references to love and all. That’s what you see here.

The trick in this kind of shot is to open the bible to a chapter that’s reasonably near the center of the book. Too many pages on one side will cause the curves of the heart shadow to be asymmetrical. Fortunately, in the King James version, the Song of Solomon is pretty near the middle of the book. To get the shadow just right, you need to play around with the height of the flash to get the length of the heart shadow just right. Too high and the heart will be too short, too low means too long. Also, the flash should be just about the only light hitting the bible. Too much ambient light and the shadow will be too faint to non-existent.

Taken with a Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 135mm f/2 lens. Exposure was 1/200th sec @ f/16, ISO 100. The flash used was a Canon 580ex II. Pocket wizards were used to trigger the flash. All settings were on manual on both flash and camera.

I’m looking forward to the day when my clients are a huge groom and a petite bride. I think a large groom’s ring would make a heart shape wide enough that a small bride’s ring would fit laying down inside the heart shadow. So, all you engaged and soon-to-be-engaged football players and/or weight lifters out there: call me: (804) 564-1765!

My daughter at the beach taken with a Canon G9

Whenever anyone finds out I’m a professional photographer, inevitably the first question I’m asked is “what camera do you think I should get?” as if the fact that I make money with my cameras is all that’s required to know what would work best for them.

The fact of the matter is that the best camera to own is the one you’re going to have with you when you’re going to want to take a picture. While it never hurts to try to choose the camera with the very best quality your money can buy, sometimes that camera is rather cumbersome to carry around. I own a tremendous amount of camera equipment, all very expensive and extremely high quality, but when I’m traveling with my family, I don’t want to be buried under 90 pounds of camera gear.

I purchased a Canon G9 last year to be my “carry everywhere” camera because it fits neatly (if not lightly) in a jacket pocket. My wife loves it too and didn’t like the fact that I always had it with me, which meant it was never around when she wanted it, so she bought me the G10 for Christmas so she could have the G9. What a woman!

The picture above is a perfect example of a situation where I don’t want to be weighed down by a heavy SLR with a zoom lens; taking a walk with my daughter on the beach. I barely feel it when I’m carrying the G9 on it’s strap over my shoulder and when this scene presented itself, I just grabbed the camera, framed the scene by watching the LCD screen while holding the camera out in front of me at waist level and clicked when the wave was just right.

And the quality is just wonderful; I’ve printed a 16×20 of this image!

So, my answer to those who ask that question: whatever camera is going to be around your neck when the moment happens.