The Provo River Trail (White Balance Corrections)

The Provo River Trail is my place I decided to photograph.  It runs from Vivian Park in the Canyon, all the way to Utah Lake.  The pathway may be considered a yellow brick road of sorts.  It doesn't lead to the Emerald City, however it is peculiar looking and the most interesting things you will see are nature and the people taking their own journey.

Oh, the places you'll go and the people you'll see.

I absolutely love this heart of gum.  One piece of chewed gum alone is gross, but each person that travels through and leaves their mark knits a community of love.  We need each other, and the Provo River Trail connects us to be more than just individuals.

In this assignment, I learned that 10am is not early enough to take pictures, the lighting can be a little drastic and it's not as magical looking as the sunrise or the sunset.  I don't regret going at 10am or else I never would've seen hot Super Man, however I'm still not happy with the 15 mile marker.  I've tweaked that picture so many times and yet I'm still not satisfied with the white balance.  It is either too yellow or too blue, the one I have is my semi-happy balance. 

 Another problem with white balance I dealt with is making each picture consistent.  I adjusted each picture to have a warmer temperature to get rid of any over-ruling blues.  In the end I learned that even though each picture is tweaked, each photograph has it's own specific scenery and lighting that they can't all appear the same.   

The most important thing I learned: Get in peoples faces! Shooting pictures in close proximity is the key to getting an interesting angle.  I thank professor Slade for getting me out of my comfort zone to talk to anyone and charm a picture out of them.

Recycle for the Cause (White Balance Corrections)

Meet Jeremy, he recycles used Vegetable oil and uses it as diesel fuel. 

He takes these pressurized bins to restaurants and collects vegetable oil.

Jeremy spent around $2,500 buying everything in order to do the process out of his garage.  Even though it cost a lot, it paid off within a year by not having to buy gas for his truck. 

Vegetable oil is placed in this white container and then led down to the black tub to centrifuge unwanted particles out.

(Below) Collection of centrifuged matter.  Yum.

Meet Michelle, as long as I have known her she has always collected her recyclable garbage even though she lives in student housing and doesn't have a car.  Student housing apartments don't have recycle bins.

 Michelle takes her extra grocery bags to Smiths to be recycled.

 It wasn't until Michelle came to recycle her plastic bags that I noticed I walk past this bin at the entrance every time I come to Smiths.  Tall girl problems.

 Kiwanis park recycle center.  So many people recycle that the bin was already full!  She had to stuff her plastics in the paper side just to get them in.  (Don't worry, the whole container joins together so none of it is separated.)

Meet Dane, he is a financial adviser and still makes time to recycle. 

 Dane is my friend's dad.  She told me her dad always recycles.  Not only does he recycle but goes through the garbage bin to make sure his family didn't throw recyclables in the trash.  

 Dane told me his family "always throws things away that can be recycled but luckily [he's] there to fix it for them."

Through this project I learned that everyday people recycle and it still continues.  I picked it because recycling isn't a life or death cause (at the moment) and I wanted to show that it is still important and resourceful to many.  Photographically speaking I learned more about lighting and white balance.  Since this is the second time I'm posting this project I learned to pay attention to the white balance and make sure that none of the pictures' color balances are completely different than the others.  Sometimes the only available time to shoot projects is in the middle of the day (like Dane's) which is really annoying, but it's life.  Through camera positioning and Lightroom adjustments the lighting can be tamed.

The Provo River Trail