Published

Published, originally uploaded by Ivan Makarov.

This next year, if you're visiting Utah by plane or by car or are just passing by, pick up a copy of free "Destination: Salt Lake" magazine, and you may see a familiar photo on page 40. You can find the magazine in any information booth in the SLC airport or in any hotel in Utah.

In the section about National and State park, the publisher chose to use my photo "Sitting on the Edge of the World" to represent what you may find in Utah.

Although it's been my most popular photo on Flickr and was even once aired on NBC, I never thought that one day it'll be used in such a way.

Thank you for all your comments and feedback on my work - it's truly been an inspiration to me.

Have a Happy 2009!

Winter Wonderland

One of the ways to get images you normally would not get is sometimes just to turn around. I remembered that advise from Jay Maisel that I read not long ago on Scott Kelby's blog, and this is exactly what I had to do to capture this image.

I was taking a picture of Provo Temple, which I will post later, but then I decided to turn around and I was immediately attracted to how the setting sun enveloped the Nativity scene in front of this pool and how steam coming from the water was providing additional contrast. To capture better range of detail, I used two ND Grad filters, a total of 5-stop.

Sometimes additional shots are just one turn or one step away from us.

Hope you are all having great holidays!

10 Places I'd Like to Visit in 2009

I'm setting a lot of goals for this year in all areas of my life. I've been setting goals since I was a young kid trying to become a faster swimmer, and ever since then I've set goals in all areas of my life.

I recently finished reading Michael Phelps' new book "No Limits: The Will to Succeed" and among other things that left a lasting impression on me was how many goals Phelps set before the Olympics. He didn't just want to win the 8 gold medals. He had a goal of how fast he wanted to finish each race for that medal, including split times for each lap of the race. This has been a pattern for him his whole life. Last year has not been the most eventful year in my life, and I attribute part of it due to me losing sight of setting proper goals, and I am going to fix it this year.

Those of you who follow our family blog may have seen my 101 things in 1001 days list of goals which I started working on. It's been good to force myself to do things I'd otherwise probably not do. In that same spirit, I decided to create a list of places I'd like to visit on photo trips. This will help me stay more focused and motivated in the next year and hopefully visit places I would otherwise not visit if I don't plan for it.

10 Places I'd Like To Visit in 2009:

1. Point Reyes (January)
2. Death Valley NP (February/March)
3. Lake Tahoe (August)
4. Yosemite in the spring (waterfall and dogwoods) (May)
5. Glacier NP (June/July)
6. Top of Mt Timpanogos (July)
7. Lake Mono (July/August)
8. Napa Valley (August)
9. Utah Lake (September/October)
10. Yosemite or Utah Canyons in the Fall (October)

What places are you planning on visiting in 2009 or what other photography goals are you setting?

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 for Nikon Review

This is my second Sigma lens (the other one I own is 10-20mm), and I am pleased with the quality of image it helps produce, enough that I'd buy it again if I have to.

I wanted a lens that I can use for all kinds of situations when I'm outdoors shooting nature, shooting portraits on assignment or capturing our family life. After three months of use, I am very satisfied with the results and here is why.

• The lens is very sharp at just about any aperture. I'm pleased with all the details I see in my images when I'm shooting buildings or other objects, as well as when I'm shooting people. In fact, I am sometimes amazed at the sharpness I get.
• I love the fact that being f/2.8 lens, I can use it in dark situations. Now I am not forced to pull out my 50mm f/1.8 every time and this lens gives me another option for low light photography, with more of a range of zoom.
• It's not too bulky and well built.
• AF works very well and faster than my Nikon 50mm f/1.8
• It handles color very well.

Now a few cons.

• The images are somewhat soft when you're shooting at f/2.8. However, I knew that was the case from other reviews, and it's fine by me. If I'm after sharpness, I can always apply little extra of it in post processing. I didn't want to pay few more hundred bucks for Nikon's version of this lens just to get a bit more of sharpness at f/2.8.
• It uses 82 diameter, which forced me to buy new filter adopter ring and expensive polarizer.
• It's probably not the sexiest looking lens out there, but hey, once again, you get what you pay for with Sigma
• Sigma really needs to work on the design of their caps and screw caps on the back of the lens. It takes longer for me to put these on when compared with Nikon lenses and sometimes it's a pain when you're outdoors in the dark.

Overall, I'm very happy with this purchase, and I now shoot 80% of the time with this lens. If you're on a tight budget during these uncertain economic times, this lens may be a good idea.

Links Worth a Click

Haven't shared any links in a while, but I hope these may still be worth your time if you're like me and are spending time catching up on all that's been happening on the internet in the past little while.

-- The Year 2008 in Pictures, part 1 and part 2 - some memorable images you may have seen before and others that represent all that's been happening this year all around the world. Simply outstanding photography.

-- Fragile Russian Wilderness - very unique landscape images from part of the world that we hardly ever see.

-- 34 Essential Tutorials to Get Started with Digital Photography - if you got the new camera this Christmas or just want to take your pictures to the next level, this is a good place to start.

-- Sports Illustrated Best Pictures of 2008 - this one speaks for itself.

3pm, Ferry Building

Another famous landmark of San Francisco is the Ferry Building. I was hoping to take a shot of it that I have not seen before, and as it usually the case, nature had to help me. The painted sky that portrayed themselves as I was walking past it was just was I was looking for. It's hard to take any kind of interesting outdoor shots without some luck.

Welcoming the New Day

Some pictures are dear to me just because of the memories they capture. I took this picture last week when Maks stayed in a hotel with us. Just like any other human, as soon as he woke up, he wanted to see the morning light and welcome the new day. He's growing fast and daily becomes more and more like the rest of us.

A Roar of Hope

"No. No, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until 'justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.'" -- Martin Luther King

MLK Memorial, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco

A New Day on Embarcadero

Here is a more traditional view of the the James 'Sunny Jim' Rolph Bridge, aka the Bay Bridge, taken on Embarcadero walkway right before sun appeared. It was a good place to start a day.

After trying shots at longer exposures when water is smooth and shorter exposures when waves are frozen in time, I decided to settle on a version of the image that's in between, as this best captured how I felt about the mood that presented itself.

Magic Light on the Sunny Jim

This is "the other" San Francisco bridge that may not get as much attention as the Golden Gate Bridge, but that is no less important. In fact, at 9 miles long this bridge is the second longest (this image covers just the third of it as it goes through Treasure Island) and the second busiest in the world, carrying an average of 270,000 vehicles a day. It connects Oakland to San Francisco from East to West.

What's unique about this image is that it's taken at sunset (most images from this spot are taken at sunrise when the sun is rising behind the bridge. Soft light hour typically doesn't appear here for very long as sun quickly hides behind the SF skyline. But there is a few minutes spot when the sun appears in between the streets directly across from the bridge and it is eliminated for few minutes. You may see that the right quarter of the bridge is beginning to disappear in the shadow.

By the way, the official name of the bridge is "The James 'Sunny Jim' Rolph Bridge", not a name known even to most locals.

Colors of Art

This picture is #14 in my 100/365 project.

When I shoot architecture, I always look for abstracts. When good colors enter the picture, I'm even more pleased. This is exactly what happened when I was out with my camera last night in Yerba Buena Gardens in downtown San Francisco. This is a place full of all kinds of waterfalls and streams, surrounded by buildings supporting the art. It all seemed to came together in this reflection (this fountain is right above the Martin Luther King Memorial).

The red color is from SF Museum of Modern Arts. The yellow color is from a nearby art gallery. The blue color comes from the Center of Art right behind me.

Sempervirens Waterfall

This picture is #13 in my 100/365 project.

Seeing and taking picture of this waterfall was actually my main purpose of going to the Great Basin Redwoods State Park recently, and it did not disappoint. It's about two-mile hike from the camp, and when I got there, I was all alone. You can see the waterfall from the platform which looks down, but I didn't like the angle and there were no elements in the foreground for my composition. So I actually climbed down to the waterfall (there were signs I wasn't allowed to, but no one was there to stop me), and decided to try a low angle and long exposure to capture some motion in the water and to smooth it out. Overall, it was a beautiful peaceful place I enjoyed finding.

Do You Hear What I Hear

This picture is #12 in my 100/365 project.

Not the most original shot, as I've tried this before and you can find variations on this theme from many photographers, but I wanted to try this one more time with the new tree to capture the festive spirit there is in our home with the Christmas tree. From technical standpoint, the key for this shot is to get as close to your subject as possible and use a prime lens wide open (I used 50mm f/1.8 at 1.8) which creates all kind of funny light effects in the background.

Coexistence

This image is #11 in my 100/365 project.

Details and textures. Recently I been paying more attention to these elements of nature. I saw this scene while hiking in the Great Basin Redwoods State Park and was immediately drawn to color and contrast between these little green leafs or whatever they are and a big massive trunk of this tree. They seem to coexist just fine.

Discovery

This image is #10 in my 100/365 project.

Photography is so much more pleasant when the light is right. I took this picture last Saturday in Santa Cruz, at Seacliff Beach which is right next to the famous Boardwalk. That beach has a couple of miles stretch of sand, and we were very lucky with the weather that day (it's been foggy and cold since then). Maks was able to run around without a shirt enjoying the sun. When the sun was kissing the horizon, the light turned golden, eliminating everything with its beautiful glow. I wanted to take a picture of my son appreciating this beauty. I caught him at the moment I wanted - when he was looking at the sun while standing at a low tide. In fact, he just stood there for few second looking at the sunset with amazement, just like I did just the moment before. Kids are not that much different from us.