Diamond in the Rough

This winter has been a tough winter for photography.  To be honest, since the fall leaves dropped to the ground, my camera has mostly been collecting dust.  Winter house projects, longer days at work, and the desire to actually enjoy my activities rather than drag the camera along and feel that I’m obligated to take photos has taken a toll on the quantity of images I can take.  It is disappointing, but everyone has to choose priorities when they’re life gets to busy.  And making extra time for photography just didn’t make the cut this winter. 

BUT…

Sometime you get out, feel inspired, and come back with something good.  I went out last weekend to do a backcountry ski tour with some friends and my wife Sarah.  Sarah has spent very little time in the backcountry, so I mostly skinned and skied with her, letting my friends move at their own pace.  Sarah wanted to sit out one lap, so I did one run with my friends on some mediocre snow (definitely not the best snow of the day).  I had brought my camera so I figured I would use it.

Enjoy!

Snowboarding in Days Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Lone Mountain, Montana

Lone Mountain, Montana. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

British Virgin Islands

I think this post will give you a good idea of how busy I’ve been with non photography activities.  Here are some photos from December!  My family went down to the British Virgin Islands for a sailing trip and I planned on taking lots of photos.  Once I got down there, I found that I just had to relax.   So the camera mostly stayed hiden, but I did bring it out for a few shots.

Enjoy!

A lone phone booth near the Bitter End in the British Virgin Islands. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Kite Boarding in the British Virgin Islands near Sandy Spit. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Rays of light shining through in the British Virgin Islands. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

SCS US Rope Nationals

It has been a REALLY long time since I posted. Basically, the winter house projects have taken control of my life again. I’ll try to post some photos once we get a bit more finished.

I did take some cool photos of the US Rope Nationals this weekend. It was a fun event with some really strong climbers.

Final Results:

Women:
1. Emily Harrington
2. Paige Claassen
3. Sasha DiGiulian
4. Sydney McNair
5. Alex Puccio
6. Audrey Gawrych
7. Lisa Rands
8. Mykael Ann McGinley

Men:
1. Carlo Traversi
2. Dave Graham
3. Ethan Pringle
4. Julian Bautista
5. Jonathan Siegrist
6. Ian Dory

Audrey Gawrych at the 2009 US Rope Nationals. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Carlo Traversi at the 2009 US Rope Nationals. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Emily Harrington at the 2009 US Rope Nationals. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Final Fall Finale pt2

A few more shots… Little Cottonwood Canyon.

Little Cottonwood Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.Little Cottonwood Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.Little Cottonwood Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Little Cottonwood Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Final Fall Finale

Sorry for the dry spell of activity on the Crux Photo site.   I’m going to try to post the last few shots from the fall over the next few days.   As a reward for your patients, I’ll keep the words to a minimum.

A few bouldering photos from Little Cottonwood Canyon.  Elizabeth Hardwick on Surprise.

Elizabeth Hardwick on Surprise in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Elizabeth Hardwick on Surprise in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

An Evening Run

Late last week I went out with Elizabeth Hardwick to get some running photos with her new Five.Ten trail running shoes.  The setting and light was perfect, and the cold temperatures kept us moving quickly.  We took about 50+ photos in 15 minutes or so.  I think this one was the best from the bunch.

Trail running in Mill Creek Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Although the running shots were fun and turned out great, the sunset from above the city is always spectacular.  Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my graduated density filters since I thought I was just doing action shots.  Luckily I’ve been playing with more photoshop tools, especially the shadow/highlight tools.  I find if you shoot a photo that has a larger range of light, if you overexpose the bright spots, and then reduce the brightness of these areas with the highlight tool, you can gets some really good images.

Enjoy!

Sunset over Salt Lake City. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

A Few from the Fall

I’m going to leave this post fairly simple. Just a few fall photos from a few recent outings. I definitely don’t get as much time as I’d like to get amazing fall photos, but I definitely appreciate the time I get. I’ve had some wild adventures running through the woods trying to capture the perfect photo.

Enjoy!

Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Fall. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Fall. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Fall. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Fall. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Fall. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

2009 Calendars are Now Available

Crux Photo’s 2009 Landscape Calendar is now available for purchase.   I’ve kept the price at $15, just like last year.  There is a limited quantity, so if you’d like one, I do recommend that you purchase early.  If you’re in the Salt Lake area, just send me an email (cruxphoto@comcast.net) and I can delivery one to you.  If you’re outside of the Salt Lake area, go to http://home.comcast.net/~cruxphoto/purchase.html and you can purchase one online.

2009 Crux Photo Landscape Calendar. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

Thanks!

First Snow

I’ll make this mostly about the photos, but we had our first snow dusting in the mountains last weekend.  It’s always a beautiful time when there is a mixture of the yellow leaves and the white mountains.  I’m hoping to get more this week and next, especially with more snow in the forecast.

Here are a few images from Big Cottonwood Canyon.  Enjoy!

First snow in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.

First snow in Big Cottonwood Canyon. Copyright Nate Young and Crux Photo.