The Garlick Press: July 2013

Saturday, July 27, 2013

The Ballad of Dog Ballou

The last weekend in July traditionally means it's time for GarlickDance, our annual family film festival.

Because we are dog lovers here at The Garlick Press...it seemed only natural to include them this year.

After remembering a movie from his childhood, Dean came up with the idea. You might even remember the classic movie "Cat Ballou" from 1965 starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin. With a clever rewrite of the ballad by Cassandra and Dean, some guitar accompaniment from Chet, and one very patient goldendoodle...we had our entry for the film festival.

So without further ado...I hope you enjoy "The Ballad of Dog Ballou."

The Ballad of Dog Ballou from Lisa Garlick on Vimeo.

The winning film this year was produced by Dean's brother Rod. But ultimately this film festival is all about the fun we had in putting Dog Ballou together. There were so many things I loved about this movie...seeing Cassandra and Chet work together to come up with the ballad. Dean trying for days to figure out the best way to put a video camera on a dog. And laughing for hours at Izzy wearing a unicorn head. It doesn't take a lot to entertain this family.

Next year will be the 10th anniversary of Garlickdance and Dean the Director already has big plans.

It's going to be epic so stay tuned!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Steam Mill Hollow

Logan Canyon is located just minutes from our home. As one of my favorite places in the world, the canyon is full of history. Just take a look at the names of its sites and trails...Temple Fork, where most of the timber was felled for the building of the Logan Temple; Stump Hollow, where perfectly sized railroad ties were milled; and Steam Mill Hollow, named for the old boiler that once powered a saw mill still located there.

These areas, lush with trees, are now mapped out for hiking and mountain biking along with many other trails. Every year we expand our hiking repertoire trying to see just a little more of Logan Canyon.

The canyons and streams of Cache Valley were very important resources in the successful settlement of Logan and its surrounding small towns in the 1800's.

Much timber was cut high in these mountains and used for ties as the railroad made it's way though the valley to other Western towns springing up. Following the boom from the railroad, timber was needed to build the structures and buildings in Cache Valley, some of which still stand today.

It was surprising to find this old abandoned steam mill from the 1800's up in the middle of nowhere. It must have taken quite an effort to mill the timber and then transport it all the way down the canyon.

As much as possible, the timber was floated downstream by river passage. But not in Steam Mill Hollow. Those early settlers must have been pretty tough. Here I am hiking over eleven miles in and out of the hollow wearing Lululemon with water wicking fibers and the latest and greatest in hiking shoes...thinking how hot it is and how awesome a Diet Coke is going to taste when we get back to civilization.

This is usually my view while I am hiking. I sometimes forget to look up and see the beauty of each canyon bend as it unfolds.

Izzy is the queen of mooching. I used to bring dog snacks for her, which she never eats as long as there are people snack foods around. Spoiled!

Arriving near the end of the Steam Hollow Trail we found a dried up pond that most likely fills with snow melt as Spring emerges from Winter's clutches

The lake is our final destination where we will have hiked up over 3000 feet in elevation from the trailhead.

He doesn't appear to be one bit tired!

The vegetation on these hikes seem to spring from nowhere. These plants were all about 3 feet high. Nature is amazing isn't it?

We always take time to shoot a picture with the timer...getting Izzy to face forward is the tricky part.

Look at the size of that tree and its stump that was lifted from the ground. Seemingly, it toppled over like a weed being plucked from a flower bed. That takes some force!

We found snow...where Izzy played for a bit.

Then we began our trek back down the mountain...

stopping to take in the plentiful wildflowers,

especially my favorite Columbine...

contemplating just how my feet got to be so dirty. Thank goodness I'm not an early settler and I have a shower and a beverage waiting for me in my air-conditioned home. Now who is spoiled?

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Shootin' Raw in Utaw

Internet critics are plentiful...including those claiming that technology in general is diminishing society's communication skills. While it seems to be that way, in this instance I would have to disagree.

Most of these beautiful women I met in Karen Russell's online Photographer's Workshop a couple of years ago.

We have remained close friends ever since. We keep up with each other all over the country using Skype, Facebook, Emails and text messaging.

Whenever class members find themselves visiting another state, on-line photographer friends are the first people they look up.

Gettin' Raw in Utaw (a meetup of some of this group of friends) has been in the planning stages for over a year. You may or may not understand our humor in the usage of the word "raw" and "Utaw." You should have seen the looks we got running around downtown SLC.

I came up with the plan to reserve our condo in Park City for this week in June and invited the photographers to join me.

I love these girls...I love their families...I love their dogs...I love their talents and abilities and I love that I can count on them for love and friendship whenever I need them. Who would imagine that you could gain such a connection with basically "pen pals."

Admittedly...having recently returned from Italy, I wasn't sure what Utah would have to offer as far as sight-seeing and photographic wonders. We don't exactly have Rome's Coliseum here.

But I was able to find a beautiful thing or two for us to photograph

and be photographed in.

These girls have a way of finding random things to shoot pictures of as well.

We planned this weekend to coincide with the Super Moon...thinking we would get AWESOME shots. We sort of epic failed on the moon shots. It took forever for the moon to rise over Park City...this was as good as I got...bleak I know! However, I am resolved to try again.

Because no Utah visit would be complete without adequate time spent in the mountains, I took them hiking to Stewart Falls at Sundance Ski Resort.

Where we saw beautiful plants and scenery

and Search and Rescue didn't even have to bring us off the mountain. Although I don't actually see Marilou in this picture...I know she made it off the mountain.

But perhaps my favorite moment was shooting at The Great Salt Lake as the sun was setting.

Photographers crave the light that only happens at this golden hour.

And we didn't have any time to waste as that golden sunlight was sinking faster than we were shooting.

Beautiful girls at a beautiful time of day, we thoroughly enjoyed taking photos of one another. See I told you Marilou made it off the mountain, here she is!

Photographers like Joni are always willing to pose and smile on demand.

Aurora taught us how to use off-camera lighting in conjunction with the light from the setting sun

to create stunning images like this one of Nicole that Aurora captured. Gorgeous...stunning...exquisite...oh and the light is pretty good too!

Kelly's sunglasses were the source of many awesome reflection shots all week. This group of photographers are so willing to share and help each other grow. I learned so much from ALL of them.

And it was very nice of that couple to plan a romantic moment for us to capture as the sun was bidding farewell.

We spent some time in downtown Park City.

Park City is an old mining town with quite a history, but we seemed to forget all the history and navigate to our favorite food spot Vinto's. Previously in SLC, we had eaten at Vinto's. So nice you must eat there twice! When you decide to dine at Vinto's try the Ortaggio Verde Pizza. Destined to delight with asparagus, fresh peas, zucchini, leek, scallion, lemon ricotta and fontina cheese. Stop it...it's amazing!