Bonneville Speedway ~  Bonneville, Utah

Home to multiple land speed records and 30,000 acres of dry salt lake bed.  I was so excited to get to see this place after hearing about all the lore of the 300mph + top speed records.  I dreamed of taking the Hummer across the flats at 100+ mph.  However mother nature had different plans for us.  It rained alot the last few weeks - rendering the salt flats into mud flats.  Either way, we still had a good time venturing out onto the salt flats, slinging mud everywhere.  FYI - when you are traveling in salty mud it fills the treads on your tires giving you no grip. I wasn’t able to get up to a speed over about 45 mph on the flats in the mud.  Needless to say I’ll be going back to Bonneville in the future in the summer for some better weather and some fast speeds on the flats.

It rained and created a lake on the flats H3 looks right at home though

Here are a few photo tips when shooting on gray days.  Set your white balance in your camera or in your editing program to a shady setting thus giving you a warmer looking photo.  If you are using Capture One or Photoshop, white balance off of some clouds or a pure white object.  Also, if your subject matter happens to be pure white, for example salt flats, make sure you underexpose your images to account for the fact that your meter is affected by all the bright white objects.  Also, don’t forget when nature throws you gray days with very little contrast it’s actually doing you a favor in a few ways. 

1. All the cloud cover makes everything like a giant soft box with lots of diffused light which is great for some really vibrant colors.

1. Also don’t be afraid to change your digital photos to black and white and really add  some contrast to bring out those clouds and some rich blacks.

1. Make sure you meter correctly find something that is middle gray or the (Zone V) equivalent ( Examples : green grass, blue jeans, grey t-shirts, brown/ green bushes).

Have fun with it and keep shooting especially if you shoot digital - its free!!!!