Cody Hatch Photography » temple

Salt Lake City in Miniature

Cody — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 19:36:34 +0000

Not too long ago I took my kids to a model train set convention. My kids, as almost all kids do, really dig trains so I figured they would appreciate the model train sets on display at the convention. While they did enjoy the model train sets, I kept my kids very close to me. Have you ever seen the folks at model train set conventions? Fat, greasy, social-retards are the norm. I thought, “Good grief, I don’t want my kids to turn out like these guys. Let’s get out of here.” I like the miniature look, though. Perhaps I can enjoy the same miniature model look to photos without rubbing shoulders with Grizzly Adams?

I have always been intrigued by the miniature effect that can be had through the use of tilt-shift lenses. Unfortunately I don’ t own one, though I am considering purchasing one, primarily for the infinite focus they provide for landscape photos. Perhaps I’ll rent one someday.

Anyway, I like the miniature effect, where a photo looks as if the subject was actually a scene from a model train set rather than of the real world. It’s a cool effect but won’t work on just any photo. I realized that I could get a very similar look through some Photoshop effects so I decided to head to Salt Lake City and give it a try.

I think Photoshop recreates the effect pretty well and I had a lot of fun trying to find subject matter that would look good as miniature. I’ll definitely give it another try sometime.

Salt Lake Temple at Dusk

Cody — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:32:50 +0000

This photo was taken on a trip to the Salt Lake Temple to shoot the autumn leaves with the temple in the background. Like usual, the original purpose for my visit was a complete waste of time as the leaves weren’t peaking at all, but the skies were looking pretty good. After looking for several different angles of the temple with the pool in the foreground, I ended up walking to this spot while on my way to a different location. I liked the angle of the temple with the clouds as they seemingly swirled around the spires of the temple, so I threw my wide angle lens on the camera and got close to the reflecting pool (I was practically up against it when taking the shot). I really liked the color of the dusk sky against the lit spires on the temple, though the barrel distortion of the wide angle lens is evident in the spires. Of course, I wouldn’t have been able to capture the excellent clouds around the temple without that wide angle lens.

18mm, 4 seconds, f/11, ISO 100, polarizing filter

Bountiful Temple at Sunset

Cody — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:00:27 +0000

I was on my way to the Utah State Fair to take some pictures when, due to a large storm, I decided to head to the Bountiful Temple in Bountiful, Utah. I had been waiting for dramatic skies in order to photograph it and it appeared that I would be blessed with great skies due to the storm. There had also been high winds associated with the storm and the winds had blown a tremendous amount of dust into the air toward the west, so I figured I might also get some nice colors as the sun went down.

The photograph below was taken just to the west of the temple and managed to capture the dark storm clouds and the red highlights as the sun set. If you look at the trees in the foreground you can see how strong the wind was blowing. They are slightly blurry due to movement.

22mm, 1/4 second, f/11, ISO 100

The following photo was taken as I left the temple. I had packed everything up and was heading home. The road I was on climbs along the south end of the temple and intersects with another street. I stopped at the intersection and turned around to see the scene below. I couldn’t believe the colors and the dramatic sky against the lit temple. I quickly parked the truck and took several photos.

Many people ask if the orange along the horizon is a result of image editing in Photoshop or if that is how it really looked. That is how it really appeared due to the dust from the storm. The main editing I did was to straighten out the steeple due to barrel distortion (I used a very wide angle lens), which meant I had to do some cropping, too.

18mm, 2 seconds, f/11, ISO 100