My Heber Valley world is now filled with images of water: April rains, melting snow bulking up the Provo River and the reservoirs, and the arrival of waterfowl following the melt with their migrations. It seems logical that I should fill this blog with images of water. I think it is a Chinese proverb that says when you drink the water, remember the spring.
The opening image shows a zero-edge pool on the Atlantic coast of Florida, where the shadows of the potted palms created a hue of blue in the pool to match the sea beyond.
Staying in South Florida, this ideal cottage is perched on pylons at the edge of the inland waterway. The evening I made photographs, the homeowners turned on a nighttime spotlight and manatees gathered.
Behind this same Florida cottage is this pool graced by statuary and carefully curated aquatic plant life.
Water never seems a more welcome sight than in a desert. This St. George home’s entry is layered as you enter: the metal pivot gate, a walkway crossing a shallow pool with spouting water, and the glass front entry door. (The camera is set within the home.)
A Wasatch Front rockworks specialist created this dramatic waterfall for a home that saves the bother of driving down to Escalante/Grand Staircase and visiting Calf Creek Falls.
This Promontory home designed by Upwall Design maximizes the views with ample windows, but the best views of the setting sun are from within the pool.
The sounds of running water evokes similar pleasures as seeing it and feeling the spray, as in the case of this classic fountain located by the open doors of the family room of a classically styled French chateau in Provo.
This is the pool and pool house of the Provo home, which maintains the classical elements of the home.
With the lights on and fires blazing, the pool photographs much more dramatically in the twilight, which raises an interesting point about photographing water. The longer exposures demanded by evening shots blur the water. This can be used to some advantage to show motion, but for more detail, I take an earlier exposure to layer with the darker evening shot.
My only other advice is to not fall in. I did have one occasion of being set up across a small lake from a northern Wyoming home when gusts from a Rocky Mountain thunderstorm sent equipment flying. My trusty assistant made an aerial catch and saved the camera, but unfortunately she was in the lake when she did it. It was a good photo with the lake reflections and angry sky but a very cold, wet and muddy assistant.
See more of Scot Zimmerman’s architectural work here!Â
