Dune Buggy Draws in the Sand

This is Sand Mountain. From the base it rises over 700 feet. This "mountain" is largely responsible for the sand dunes in Little Sahara. The southerly winds pick up sand from the dry Sevier lake bed to the south and deposit the sand at Little Sahara when it is slowed upon hitting this mountain. There had been a significant storm the night before this image was taken. The normally soft dry sand was wet and hardened. The topmost inch of sand had dried to its normal light color. Just below this surface the sand was wet and dark. When the dune buggy or motorcycle climbed the mountain the dark tracks were "drawn" in the sand. It looks as though the "Off Road" artists enthusiastically made patterns in the face of the dune.

Little Sahara Sand Dunes

Original color and black and white rendering of a view of the Little Sahara sand dunes looking north. The clouds render dramatically in black and white. The view was chosen so that the dunes are on the horizon. The rendering uses a red-prefilter so that the blue sky is darkened resulting in large contrast between the sky and puffy clouds.

Dead Juniper Trees against the clouds

These Juniper trees are typical of many in Utah's Tintic valley in Juab county. On this day the "Clouds are (were) hung for the poet's eye". The two images strike a theme of inverses. In one image the trees are in full sunlight and the background is composed of dark storm clouds. In the other the old gnarled tree in the foreground is in the shade and the background is bright clouds with great structure. The black and white rendering is dramatic. There had been a series of storms in the valley. Within minutes a hail storm started.

Little Sahara Sand Dunes

The Little Sahara National Recreation area in Juab County, UT affords wonderful photography sites and doubles as a great place to visit, especially for kids. The dunes are result of confluence of two geographic features of central Utah. The sand comes from the dry Sevier Lake bed. Southerly winds pick up sand and carry it northward until they hit a set of 700 foot mountains in the Little Sahara recreational area. The mountains force the wind upwards, slowing them down causing the sand to drop. For kids the surrounding Tintic valley is an unappealing expanse of Sagebrush. The Sand dunes, however are a kids delight as shown in these photographs.

Sand is just Fun to Play in

Sand is so fun, especially if dad gets into the act. Body surfing a dune is great but sand gets everywhere. So what, if you're a kid

Running the dunes

Running down the dunes is almost as fun as jumping off them. Plus if you fall, the landing is soft and fun also. These photographs were taken in the afternoon and lighting is difficult, but back lighting often works well, especially when kicking up sand.

Walking back up the dunes

Walking back up the dunes so that we can run back down. Grandpa wants more pictures. Initially, the kids thought that the dunes would be uninteresting since the approach was pretty barren. But Oh Boy, big piles of soft sand are 'really fun.'

Black and White conversions - Jumping of Dunes

The Deming kids at the Little Sahara sand dunes in Central Utah. Andrew and Emma quickly learned that sand dunes are fun. Shoot from below and the kids 'fly'.

Black and white conversions add to the dramatic nature of the images. I chose red or orange pre-filter to darken the blue sky.

Big Horn Sheep in American Fork Canyon

This Rocky Mountain Big Horn ram, at the mouth of American Fork Canyon, was most accommodating as he posed very close to the road.  The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has a project to restore the Big Horn in Central Utah.  On April 6th there was a spring snow storm and the canyon road was snow covered, plowed and salted.  Upon entering the canyon, this ram and three ewes were close to the road.  Even at some time they ventured onto the road to lick the salt covered ice there.  This fellow posed unconcerned with traffic.  The fresh snow provided an excellent white background.  The females all carried a radio transmitter around their necks, presumably for tracking by the DWR.  These images were shot with a 70-200 lens.