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Fall may be arriving a bit ahead of schedule here in Utah, but it sure is pretty.

Went up to Park City yesterday not realizing it was the penultimate stage of the Tour of Utah. We were there in time to catch the pro race, and so got to see the big boys ride insanely fast on a narrow criterium course around downtown Park City. Utah native Jeff Louder took the top spot after a pretty dominating performance and American Levi Leipheimer — Go Montana! — retained the overall lead heading into today’s final stage.

Cruised out to my city’s namesake tonight to wedge myself in between the wedding and fashion photographers for a few landscape shots. The crazy landscape and nice light make it a natural location for a certain style of photo, but I can’t help but feel bad for the models and soon-to-be-newlyweds who have to spend time out there. It smells a bit like you’re at the beach… in hell. The salt flats are so dry (and sulfuric) that if you accidentally kick up a bit of the surface, it sounds like glass shattering. Not exactly inviting.

With snow melting out of the high country pretty fast now, the first real hike of the year took me up Utah’s Grandeur Peak. At 8,299 ft. above sea level and only about 3 miles from a paved road, it’s considered one of the easiest summits around Salt Lake City and still provides a spectacular view. Also did a bit of riding this week, which has left me with a partially torn MCL and doctor’s orders to have no fun for the next few weeks.

Photos all taken w/ a Nikon 10.5mm fisheye lens, which I borrowed for the weekend.

So, the lens wasn’t technically wide enough to get the moon too. But it was still an awfully pretty scene.

Had another shoot for Gold’s Gym last weekend. Went into this one with much more confidence, though with about 30 “models” on hand, it was confusing at times. Definitely channeled my good friends Lido and Jessica when thinking about lights, hope it worked.

Had an opportunity to do a little commercial work for Gold’s Gym this week to promote their personal training offerings. Not only is it one of the first commercial jobs I’d ever done, I haven’t shot anything but landscapes for three months. So yeah, I was a little nervous. Keep in mind these are a bit of a rough edit since I had 12 hours (including sleep) to cull a few from the herd.

Hiked in to some hot springs a ways south of the city today with some friends. he closer you got to the spring, the crazier blue and milky the water became. It was a great time, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get the sulfur smell off me.

The red rock deserts of southern Utah are some of the most un-Earth-like places I’ve ever been. Ironically, for a place defined (literally) by the color of its rocks, I was really thinking in black and white this weekend. Some post-processing vignetting has been added, just because I like it. I have a lot to learn about desert light.

Right above downtown is a crazy downhill called Bobsled. Why, you ask? Because there’s not a single straight line on the whole thing.