Every year since we have been married we have tried to create
fun christmas cards for the holiday season. We usually do a fun shoot
on one of our travels and use a pic from that, but this last year we
didnt go anywhere too exotic... goblin valley is.... kinda exotic.... but no
christmas card shoot was attempted amidst the goblins. Since training
for and doing our two triathlons this year has been our main focus and
goal I suggested that we try to make our own Nike add for our shot.
Over the years Reece and I have
visited the Spiral Jetty and the surrounding area and
have loved (EVERY TIME) photographing the unique
and ethereal landscape. I thought the long beaches of shallow
water in the Salt Lake would be perfect for our shot so we packed
up our gear to make the drive to our favorite photography spot.
We were racing the sun as it trailed through the sky cause we
wanted that sunset in the background. When we got to the
location I forgot that in October (which is when we did the shoot)
the Salt Lake was low tide. So we started the rush of hauling
our gear across the now exposed lake bed which was basically a salt flat
to built our set at the waters edge. I was trying to shoot pictures while
doing the big haul as well as ever monitoring the position of the sun.
After unloading two loads, I yelled
at Reece to hurry with the last load as the sun was then
quickly setting. He sprinted, dropped the gear, changed on spot, I
set up the lights got in two test shots before we both started posing
for the camera that I was rapidly firing with my remote.
15 min later, it was dark.
Well we did the best we could and I couldnt wait to get the
images back so I could look at them on the big screen. We were
both pretty happy with what we were able to get under such
unpredictable circumstances and a completely experimental set up .
Thanks husband for being willing to get out
and "Just do it" for my random idea for a christmas card, and thank you
Utah for having such an amazingly diverse landscape that provides
endlessly beautiful backdrops.
oh and by the way, after splashing in the water we were both
caked in salt crystals by the end of the shoot. What a funny
feeling....only in salt lake. (maybe the dead sea too but thats
too far away).
