Full Wasatch Lake gallery now up

It's taken me more than a month, but I've finally uploaded and done an initial winnowing of the mostly full volume of images taken in mid-April at Wasatch Lake. I had seven posts in April from that visit, but I've needed all this time -- in between other shoots and business -- to at least try to trim down the more than 1,300 shots I collected. It was an arduous task, and I still couldn't get the number below 875. At least for now, anyway.

If you really want to see a more complete gallery of images from my three days at Wasatch Lake in Owen County, Ind., and have some time to sift through all of them, visit the Wasatch Lake Spring 2012 gallery.

Scenes from Geist Lake on race day

The Geist Half-Marathon and 5K in Indianapolis and Hamilton County (Ind.) marked its fifth year last Saturday, and I was there. I was invited to photograph the event this year, and I eagerly accepted. 

My primary images were committed to the contracting firm that hired me to take pictures, but I did manage to squeeze off a few shots on a personal memory card in the moments before the start of the race ... and in the boat rides to and from that start line. It was the first time I'd ever been on this lake in a boat.

The rich, bronze-tinged photo leading off today's post was grabbed as the boat I was riding in headed northeast toward Olio Road, the start line in Hamilton County, moments before sunrise on race day, May 19. The view looks northeast. Below, I'm on Olio Road, about 15 minutes later. The sun is just beginning to peek above the trees in the eastern sky, about 15 minutes before the 7 a.m. start of the half-marathon. 

For full gallery of images from this shoot, follow the link in this sentence.

Above and next three below: Estates along the lake, photographed during the boat ride transporting me to the start line at the north end of Geist Lake.

Above and next two below: Easily the most enjoyable moments prior to the half-marathon start were observing these youths, wearing purple shirts emblazoned with "Lawrence Township School Foundation," going through a distinct warm-up routine -- dancing and grooving to the lively hip-hop music piped over the P.A. system to help energize participants. Andre, the tall youth in the front, led the group through a synchronized routine.

 

Above: A look north down Olio Road at the extensive lineup for both the half-marathon, which started at 7 a.m., and the 5K, which began in a series of five waves at 7:30 a.m.

Above: These youths are obviously loosened up for the half-marathon start.

Above and next two below: Shots taken from the Olio Road over Geist, including a very early morning water skier (immediately below). In the second shot below, the splash you see on the far left is the tail end of -- quite literally -- a fish out of the water.

Above and below: Some more homes along the lake, as seen on the boat ride back to the Fall Creek causeway, near the finish line.

 

Above: A boat in front of us as we near the Fall Creek Road causeway on the return trip after the half-marathon and 5K starts. Both 5K and half-marathon participants crossed the finish line a short jog to the right in Geist Lake Marina.

Wasatch Lake: You've already seen the pictures, now here's the video

Just when I thought I'd wrapped up my recent trip to Wasatch Lake, I remembered that I shot some full HD video on my Canon 7D while there, which will add a soundtrack dimension to the images you've already seen.

I've uploaded the two clips to my video gallery at SmugMug. Both are panoramic shots of the lake, taken in the pre-sunrise moments of Tuesday and Wednesday, April 17 and 18.

The clip from April 17 goes about 300 degrees. Although I shot this on a tripod, the pan is not the steadiest. The clip begins at the owner's Lake House cabin, west of and adjacent to the one I stayed in, then sweeps across the central and east portions of the lake, giving you a look at the lake's undeveloped northside, an extension of the Owen-Putnam State Forest. You'll be able to see the spot where the sun was to come up about 5 minutes after the video was taken. You'll also get to experience the mist over the lake and the sounds of the early morning -- the birds tweeting and, at the 1 minute, 25-second point, the geese honking. At the very end, as the focus turns to the south side of the lake, you'll also see the pier in front of the cabin I stayed in. I shot this video from a spot just left of the pier.

The clip from April 18, taken from the end of my cabin's pier, is a full 360-degree pan, starting from the same spot, but going full circle. You'll get to see my cabin near the end.

Because of the high-quality video, it would be wise ... after clicking the start button for either video ... to immediately pause it and wait for the buffer to build far enough (I'd suggest waiting at least a minute and a half) so the viewing can be smooth once it does start rolling. If you don't, the clip will be jarring from start to finish.

To see all my still images from my three-day visit to Wasatch Lake, see my Wasatch Lake Spring 2012 gallery.

Reflections on Wasatch Lake, Part V

For the first 24 hours of my recent return to Wasatch Lake in Owen County, Ind., I had the whole grounds to myself; I was the only guest.

It was a pretty overwhelming sensation to be the only human amid that ecosystem, including that first-morning sunrise. Because I had maximum access -- including perspectives from the fronts of all the other lakeside cabins, I used that first 24 hours to take the majority of my photographs.

As a bonus, none of the few other guests who came that week went out onto the water in the boats that are provided, so because there were only the fish and water fowl to disturb the lake water, I had many opportunities to compose reflection shots, which is what today's post is about. You've seen a few already in the previous posts directed at other subject matter, if you follow the blog regularly. So today's post will be on some of the others, leading off (above and first two below) with versions that struck me for their oil painting impressionism look. I'm sure it had to do mostly with the minimum stir in the water by the smooth swimming strokes of the water fowl, but partly, too, by the way and angle sunlight was striking the water at that point of day. The rest are largely traditional "mirror" reflections.

To see all my images from my three-day visit to Wasatch Lake, see my Wasatch Lake Spring 2012 gallery.

Wasatch Lake, Part IV: Misty Mornings

Another "first" for me during my recent trip to Wasatch Lake was having my camera gear at the ready to photograph a heavy mist over the water in the predawn and sunrise hours of two mornings.

Actually, most of the mist shots were taken the first morning, Tuesday, April 17.  That's when I made the effort to get photos from several angles while zeroing in on the mist, but I couldn't stray too far from my pier or I'd miss the prime spot for the sunrise when it peeked over the trees at the east end of the lake. My best mist shots came from the south side of the lake, which gave me enough light to pick up detail and separation. It also offered me some cool highlights of the mist in its final moments after the warmth of sunrise did away with the vapors

Today's post is dedicated to the mist shots, some of which overlap with the sunrise shots several days ago. One of my favorites is the one above, leading off the post. It integrates the clear tall grass of the foreground with the mostly clear pier and solitary chair just beyond shore with the mist that muddles mostly everything else beyond the pier, including -- if you look closely enough -- resident swan Sonny. If you have trouble spotting him, click on the picture and look at the larger photo; he's pretty much smack dab in the middle, just above the center point of the rope along the pier.

To see a gallery of my full shoot of Wasatch Lake from 2012, visit my site at SmugMug.com.

Above: Shoreline along the south rim of the lake, looking toward Cabin 8, one of two cabins on the far east end.

Above: Furniture on the expansive pier in front of the lakehouse, which is used only by the property owner and special guests. My cabin was just east of this; you can see its pier in the background.

 

Above and below: The two geese seen in the lead-off photo Wednesday in pictures taken only moments apart. Above, both are clearly separated from the mist; below, just a few seconds later, the lead goose is obscured by the mist.

 Above: The north shoreline, as seen from the opposite side.

Above: A view of the lakehouse pier, as seen from the pier at my cabin.

Above: A shot that includes an array of color and components in the minute or two before the sun peeked over the trees.

Above: The sun begins to show. 

 

 Above: Another shoreline shot just as the sun emerged.

Above: the single-chair pier in a post-sunrise shot, with Sonny and a couple of geese in the lake water.

Above: The sunrise splashing some highlighting along the shoreline.

Above, a long-range view of my cabin and pier, looking northwest from the south shoreline; below, the same angle, only a tighter shot of just the pier. 

Above and next three below: The sunrise and its highlight and coloring as depicted in pictures taken only 3 minutes apart from roughly the same point -- in front of my cabin -- but looking in different directions. Above, the sunrise at 7:33 a.m. looking straight out from just behind my pier. 

Above: At 7:35 a.m., standing on the steps in front of my cabin door and looking north and west of the photo above.

Above: Still on the steps, looking back straight out over the pier at 7:36 a.m. and seeing the last of the mist before it would evaporate soon after.