Music and More: Sara Penny Blog

Thanks to Iron County Today for recognizing these young musicians. Thanks to Stephen Sharp Nelson, Jon Schmidt and Jenny Oaks Baker for making these opportunities available for students. Photo from Jenny Oaks Baker performance is from the Iron County School District social media. Local Student Musicians Appear In Professional Shows Sara Penny Wed, Jan 04, 2023 Iron County students had the opportunity of performing with the Piano Guys at SUU and with Jenny Oaks Baker and Family at the Heritage Theatre during December. These experiences help give them insight into what it takes to be a professional musician. There may only be two people on stage during the Piano Guys, but there is an army of helpers who make it look spontaneous. While I was watching from behind the scenes as the students were getting ready to go onstage for “Beethoven’s Secret” there was a stage manager to guide them plus a man with heavy gloves hammering dry ice to put in the container that adds the stage fog. There wer...

Thanks to everyone for their kindness and service during the past few months. I have been too numb to write proper thank you notes, but my family and I really have appreciated your friendship and support. The link for the memorial is on YouTube at   https://youtu.be/SuNjpY5Grrc   Obituary  link written by our daughter Bridget. There are also a few videos of Des. One of my favorites is with our granddaughter who now uses his guitar in her band:  https://youtu.be/2u42o9Eca4o   In Facebook under Canyon Reverb are several videos with Des singing in a band, from Nov. 2018 to May 2019,  Canyon Reverb  (recordings are not professional, but we had fun). Another one is Lonesome Boatman in the Performance playlist. Des wrote the words and the violin is supposed to sound like seagulls. https://youtu.be/Q5OyB-UdSgc Remembering Des with Much Love, Sara Penny Photos from the Day of the Memorial: Thanks to everyone who gave flowers and food. It was a great comfort. ...

 In the past I have taught high school photography in Texas and a course for Elderhostel at SUU. The cameras were 35 mm before digital, but many of the concepts are still useful. It was wonderful to introduce people from all over the country to our beautiful southern Utah landscapes in the Elderhostel program. Coming in through the tunnels to Zion was wonderful with people who were seeing it for the first time. Many of the technical points are from Kodak publications. (Photos by Sara Penny, unless otherwise noted.) Zion National Park pulpit view in late winter. Three armed basketball player shows how a merger with the background impacts photography. Trees can appear to grow out of people's heads. Look twice and see how background is positioned with your subject. This was taken by a student at Forest Park High School when I was the photography and journalism teacher while we lived in Beaumont, Texas.  Guidelines are for a 35mm camera, but still useful ideas for digital. These w...