Utah | FUJI X WEEKLY

Photoessay: Antelope Island State Park, Utah – Part 1: Fujifilm X-E1

Posted on May 6, 2018 by Ritchie Roesch

Bison In The Road – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

The Great Salt Lake in Utah is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River, the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere and the 33rd largest lake in the world. It’s massive! It can seem almost ocean-like, or perhaps more like a large ocean bay, but it is located far from any ocean. One difference between the Great Salt Lake and an ocean is that the lake is much saltier, and the only thing that lives in it is brine shrimp.

The largest island in the Great Salt Lake is Antelope Island, which is 15 miles long and five miles wide. The highest point, Frary Peak, is 6,594′, and is often snow-capped in the winter. It’s accessible by road via a causeway. Antelope Island is managed by the Utah State Park system.

Antelope Island seems like a world away from the Salt Lake City metro area, even though it is located very close to the city. It looks remote, and it must have been very remote before the road was built and the city grew. Interestingly enough, the oldest non-Native American structure in Utah is located on the island, an adobe ranch house built in 1848. The Fielding Garr Ranch was a working ranch from 1848 to 1981, and now the old ranch is open to the public for self-guided tours.

Wildlife abounds on Antelope Island, including buffalo, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, big horn sheep and many other animals. At one time it was believed that the bison herd on Antelope Island was the largest in America. There are a huge variety of birds that migrate across the area.

The water is often calm and the reflections can be incredible. There are sandy beaches. There are trails that curve across the rugged landscape. There is a unique beauty to Antelope Island that draws me back. It’s one of my favorite places to photograph. But it’s also disgusting! There’s a certain “rotten egg” smell that can be found near the shores. There are tons and tons of bugs, including biting no-see-ums, brine flies (that cover the shore like a thick cloud), mosquitoes, tons of spiders (venomous and non-venomous), among other things. It’s pretty common to see dead birds. There’s plenty to love and hate about this place. I try to look beyond the gross to see the beauty.

The photographs in this article were captured using a Fujifilm X-E1. It was my introduction to Fuji X cameras. I bought it used about two years ago and kept it for a year. I loved that camera and didn’t want to get rid of it, but I used the money from selling it to help pay for my Fujifilm X100F. Without the X-E1 this blog wouldn’t exist. Some of these photographs are straight-out-of-camera JPEGs, many of them are not and were post-processed using Alien Skin Exposure and/or Nik Silver Efex.

Part 2 of this series will feature photographs captured at Antelope Island State Park using a Fujifilm X-A3. Part 3 will feature the X100F. And the final installment will feature the X-Pro2. Enjoy!

Blue Umbrella At The Lake – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

The Vastness of the Lake – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Red Buffalo At The Great Salt Lake – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Boys Playing In The Salt Lake – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Buffalo Hill – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Area Closed For Bison – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Island Buffalo – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Deer Statue – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Ice on Antelope Island – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Ice, Lake & Mountains – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Frary Peak Reflected – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Light Streaming Over Antelope Island – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Wasatch Mountains From The Causeway – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Old Salty Stump – Antelope Island SP, UT – Fujifilm X-E1

Part 2 – Fujifilm X-A3 Part 3 – Fujifilm X100F

Road Trip: Bonneville Salt Flats, Wendover, Utah

Posted on April 29, 2018 by Ritchie Roesch

Kids At The Salt Flats – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

The Bonneville Salt Flats are an otherworldly place in Utah near the Nevada border, just outside of the town of Wendover, along Interstate 80. It’s a remnant of Lake Bonneville, which was a giant lake that covered a significant chuck of Utah plus parts of Idaho and Nevada. The Great Salt Lake is also a remnant of Lake Bonneville.

You’ve likely seen this place before, even if you’ve never been there. Almost 50 movies, documentaries and television shows have filmed scenes at the Bonneville Salt Flats, including Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, Independence Day and Con Air. Plenty of television commercials and advertisement shoots have taken place in the stark and salty landscape. Award-winning photographs have been captured there, too.

The Bonneville Salt Flats are perhaps best known for fast cars. The Bonneville Speedway is a section of the salt flats that has been set aside for motor sports. Many land-speed records have been set there, including a couple that exceeded 600 MPH! Even if you are not racing, many people take their cars out on the salt flats for fun.

Bonneville Salt Flats – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

This was my second trip to the Bonneville Salt Flats and the first for my family. It might seem like this is just a flat and bleak desert, but upon close inspection there is plenty to find interesting. The kids had fun just exploring. The place is surprisingly photogenic, and it seems like every exposure is a keeper.

I used my Fujifilm X100F for a few of these shots. I was teaching my wife photography, and so she had that camera for most of the trip. The camera that I mostly used was my Fujifilm X-A3 with the 16-50mm zoom lens attached. Even though it is a cheaper camera model, it did just fine capturing great pictures.

All of these images are camera-made JPEGs. About half of the images captured using the X-A3 received some light post-processing using Nik Color Efex or Nik Silver Efex, and a few saw a little more robust editing. Many of them are straight-out-of-the-camera JPEGs using the different film simulations. I hope you enjoy these pictures that I captured at the Bonneville Salt Flats, an unusual place that’s unusually good for photography.

Welcome, It’s Bright – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Salt Exploration – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Kids & Salt – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Exploring The Salt Flats – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Deceiving Distances – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Baby On The Flats – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Mountains Beyond The Salt – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Salty Sasquatch – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

45 MPH Road – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Racing Stickers – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Almost Flat – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Desolate Desert Wandering – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Hopeful – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Umbrella Boy – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Salt Water Reflection – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Hills Beyond The Salt – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Amanda, The Boys, Bonneville Salt Flats – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Joshua & Umbrella – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Stark Salt – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Bonneville Bright – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Jon & Joy Exploring Salt – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Salt Flat Fire – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Sky’s The Limit – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Sun Roof – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Salt & Light – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Inhospitable – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Rays Over Wendover – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Desert Circles – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Salty Tree Stumps – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Wendover Will – Wendover, NV – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Concrete Curves – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

A Sad State of Affairs – Wendover, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & 16-50mm

Travel: Dead Horse Point State Park, Utah

Posted on March 25, 2018 by Ritchie Roesch

Endless Canyons – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

The day after visiting Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park in southern Utah, I checked out Dead Horse Point State Park. It is located very close to the Island In The Sky district of Canyonlands and offers stunning views of the national park. It’s essentially a smaller Island In The Sky with some good views of the Colorado River.

The story behind the name is tragic. Early settlers used these “sky islands” as natural pens for livestock and other animals. Even the local Native Americans did this to an extent. Some early American settlers trapped a group of wild horses on the mesa that’s now the state park. They picked the mustangs that they wanted to tame, then left the others on the mesa to die of thirst. That’s why it’s called Dead Horse Point. My 10-year-old daughter loves horses, and she was particularly appalled at the story. That, of course, is just a brief dark period for this land, but the name stuck, even though it is a little grim.

Dead Horse Point State Park is breathtakingly beautiful! The views are stunning. For the most part, what you see is Canyonlands National Park, just from a little different angle. You actually get better views of the Colorado River here than on Island In The Sky. It’s surprising to me that this section isn’t included in the national park system.

If you have the choice between the two, definitely go for Canyonlands. If you have time for a little more, visit Dead Horse Point. On the way out from Moab on the way home, my family and I detoured to see the state park. It took us, from the time we left U.S. 191 to the time we returned, a total of three hours. We could have stayed much longer, but we were a little strapped for time.

Lighting was terrible for photography when I was at the state park. There was a thin high overcast layer of clouds that did just enough to make the light ugly. Also, I was there mid-morning, well past the golden hour. I used a Fujifilm X100F and Fujifilm X-A3 with a Jupiter 21M lens attached to capture these images. I edited the camera-made JPEGs using Nik Color Efex and Nik Silver Efex software, with the exception of two, which are straight-out-of-camera JPEGs. I would have preferred to rely just on the JPEGs unedited, but the light was just so ugly for photography while I was there that they needed some work to make them look decent.

I didn’t capture any great photographs while at Dead Horse Point State Park, but I definitely saw the potential. At the right time under the right light, the opportunity to capture some portfolio worthy images certainly exists at this place. I hope to return sometime in the near future to capture better photographs.

The Dead Tree – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Erode Down – Dead Horse Point State Park, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

La Sal From Dead Horse Point – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

South Vista – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

The River Bend – Dead Horse SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Rock Temple – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

A River Runs Through It – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

River Island – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

Cliff Above The Canyon – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Hanging On – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Long Ways – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

It’s Not Easy Being Green – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Desert West – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

Red Desert Cliffs – Dead Horse Point SP, UT – Fujifilm X-A3 & Jupiter 21M

Travel: Arches National Park – Part 1: Color

Posted on March 10, 2018 by Ritchie Roesch

North Windows Arch – Arches NP, UT – Fujifilm X100F

I moved from California to Utah almost two years ago. One reason that my wife and I chose Utah was its proximity to many great National Parks. So far we’ve made it to a few, but not nearly as many as I would like. Last week the opportunity came to take my family to Moab, Utah, to see Arches National Park, and so we went.

When I was a kid my family visited Arches National Park, but it had been nearly three decades since I was last there. In fact, I was near the age of my two oldest children. Even though it had been a long time, the park seemed familiar, and I was constantly saying, “Oh, I remember this!” It was really good to return, and to share the experience with my family.

The weather was quite pleasant. It was sunny with blue skies. The temperature was little cool but not cold, far from scorching hot like it gets in the summer and not freezing cold like it was that same day at my house near Salt Lake City. We were there midday, so the lighting was about as awful for photography as one could find. The shadows were deep and the light-colored rocks were reflecting the brilliant sunlight. Trying to balance the exposures was a tricky task, because it was easy to have blocked-up shadows or blown highlights or both.

Arches National Park is simply amazing! The odd red rock formations seem like something from another planet. The place looks fragile and even sometimes impossible. It’s a grand landscape in a harsh and barren desert. It’s worth seeing, if you ever find yourself in southern Utah. If you do go, make sure you download onto your phone the GyPSy automated tour guide app. It’s the best few dollars I’ve spent on an app ever.

I brought along a Fujifilm X100F, which is the camera I most enjoy using, and a Fujifilm X-A3 with a Jupiter 21M lens attached, which is my telephoto option. I used DR400 on both cameras because of the harsh light conditions. I used Velvia, PRO Neg. Hi, Classic Chrome and Eterna film simulations for these images. All of these pictures are straight-out-of-camera JPEGs.

I don’t believe that I captured any great color images at Arches National Park, but I do think I got a few decent exposures. It just wasn’t a good lighting, and photography is about light perhaps more than anything else. I do hope to return sometime in the near future, and maybe I’ll be able to photograph the place under better conditions.

It’s very difficult to capture anything remotely unique when visiting a heavily photographed location. Thousands of pictures are made inside Arches National Park every day. I always attempt at unique, knowing full well that I will probably fail. Are these pictures art? Maybe a couple of them. Mostly they’re snapshots, simple memory aids for my family. I hope you appreciate what I captured and that you enjoy these pictures.