Yesterday afternoon saw some spectacular squalls blow across the Great Salt Lake.  It’s always amazing to watch the weather move in from such a distance.  The geography of the lake  and it’s islands really create a sense of scale and allow you to begin to understand the mechanics of the weather and it’s incredible fluidity.

Every once in a while there’s an image that slips through the cracks.  Either it wasn’t quite what you wanted it to be when it was shot or there just wasn’t a place for it in the portfolio.  No matter, it falls from your radar and vanishes into the abyss of hard drive space.  Like hitting a little lotto jackpot you one day stumble upon it while looking for something else or nothing at all.  I liked this image right off the bat for a variety of reasons.  First, it was the first snowfall in October of 2008 and that always puts a smile on my soul.  Second, the colors.  This thing had been hanging on the deck all summer and not once had I noticed the perfect color match between the house and the leaves.  Both the green and the purple are spot on for the foliage behind them.  Would have been cool if it was intentional but it’s crazy because the house was a gift from someone that had never been to our yard until they snuck in to hang it on the deck while we were out of town.  Anyway, I’m still not sure what to do with the image but I’m glad to have stumbled upon it again.

The alarm worked and I went out into the first hard frost of the season on the valley floors.  Temps in the 20′s made for a long wait as the sun and clouds did their thing over Mountain Green, UT.  This was a bit of filter chaos as I had an ND, reverse ND and a CP filter on the camera to try and balance out sky, foreground and the snow covered mountains.

I’m kicking myself for sleeping through my alarm today and missing what had to have been a most epic sunrise.  With the fall colors still exploding, a fresh coat of snow and wispy clouds dancing on a deep blue sky I really blew it.  That said, it was so pretty I went up to Snowbasin anyway with the dog to take it all in.  If I’d have shot these 4 hours earlier they might have been pretty special.  Hopefully I get another crack at it here soon.  The forecast is promising.