Best Location For Skyline Photo And The Great Salt Lake (Salt Lake City: university, gardens)

[Stay By The Phone]

Hello everyone,

Just wondering where the best location is for a skyline photo with the mountains in the background too? I have a car and getting around isn't an issue so any help would be great, thank you. Also where is the best location to drive to in order to get the best photo of the Great Salt Lake? I looked on googlemaps and it seems like its a big enough lake so if anyone could help me out with a specific place that would be great, thanks.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Stay By The Phone

Hello everyone,

Just wondering where the best location is for a skyline photo with the mountains in the background too? I have a car and getting around isn't an issue so any help would be great, thank you. Also where is the best location to drive to in order to get the best photo of the Great Salt Lake? I looked on googlemaps and it seems like its a big enough lake so if anyone could help me out with a specific place that would be great, thanks.

I'm not sure how helpful this answer is going to be because I am definitely not a professional photographer, but just in case you don't get a whole lot of answers, maybe this one will be better than nothing.

Salt Lake City is almost surrounded by mountains, but the ones I'm thinking you'd want as a backdrop for your photo would be on the far eastern side of the metro area. You'd probably want to take a shot where the buildings in the downtown area look like they're practically right next to the mountains (even though they're not) for a really impressive effect. I'm not sure how this is done, but I've seen a number of pictures using this technique. You'd have to take your shot from the west side of the downtown area, looking eastward. This photo, for instance, is pretty much what I'm trying to explain:




If you are west of Salt Lake City, looking east, this is NOT what you see. I mean it's gorgeous, and the difference in altitude between the city (4300 feet) and the tops of the mountains (11,500 feet) is pretty significant, but this really isn't what you actually see -- not from anywhere in the valley.

The following picture is even more exaggeratedly unrealistic. I suppose though, that you as a photographer would know how to achieve this effect.



You can get some beautiful shots of the city from the east bench (up by the University of Utah Medical Center, the Natural History Museum and Red Butte Gardens). These, however, would not include the moutains, since you're essentially taking the pictures from the foothills of the mountains, looking the other direction. You can get a similar effect but a different view from the mountains to the north of the city (above the State Capitol Building or at the top of Ensign Peak). These wouldn't actually show the "skyline" though, since you'd be looking down on the city from above.

Early mornings, before the smog starts building up, or at sunset would probably give you the most spectaular shots of the city.

Antelope Island is definitely the best place to get some pictures of the Great Salt Lake. As I said before, I'm not even close to being a professional photographer, and even I have taken some pictures of the lake from Antelope Island that I was very, very pleased with.

[Stay By The Phone]

Thanks for the information, the photos you posted are exactly what I want to achieve. Any exact cross streets I can drive to, in order to get those results? Also where was this photo taken from at the Great Salt Lake?

[Chango]

The photos of Downtown with Mt Olympus in the background are taken from the area around the refineries and sewer treatment plant near I-15 (10th through 1800 N, roughly. You can get good views from the freeway overpasses.

[SusVelo]

I'm relatively new to the area, but that GSL photo looks like from the antelope island causeway.

[SusVelo]

Like this picture for example

"Winter on the Great Salt Lake Antelope Island Utah" by Bellavista2 | Redbubble

[Stay By The Phone]

Thanks, simply1

Also would anyone recommend driving out to Bonneville Salt Flats for some photos? I have been to Death Valley before and loved the scenery so would you recommend this too? Is it worth the drive out there?

[nyllie]

I've gone to the salt flats to take photos a few times. It's literally just a white expanse with a few mountains, so photo quality is all about lighting, weather, and time of day. The first time I went it had just rained so the entire surface reflected the sky, which was pretty neat. It's only about an hour and a half away from SLC, so you might as well check it out if you have time.

[Stay By The Phone]

Would the flats be dry in a months time? I don't want to get there and it to be completely soaked.

[Katzpur]

Originally Posted by Stay By The Phone

Also would anyone recommend driving out to Bonneville Salt Flats for some photos?

Originally Posted by Stay By The Phone

Would the flats be dry in a months time? I don't want to get there and it to be completely soaked.

It's a two hour drive, and in my opinion not worth it. It's hard to say at this point whether it would be dry or not. The weather can be really changeable. You'd really have to check again when it got much closer to your arrival.