In Memory of Ben's Passing - 1 Year Anniversary

[JimFox]

It's been 1 year since Ben passed away, and I don't think that there is a day that goes by that I don't think about him. That's how great Ben's presence was in those around him.

Ben was constantly learning and striving to improve. He never settled for where he was at. He was either learning new photo techniques or he was out exploring new areas. I recall when Ben decided he wanted to learn how to photograph the night sky and specifically the Milky Way. It was something he hadn't done, and he struggled with it at first, but he stuck to it and he did get to where he was capturing some really great looking Milky Way photos.

Post a photo that reminds you of Ben please.

This photo is from one of the times we had a group FocalWorld Meetup in Utah. One night many of us went over to the Temple of the Sun and Moon to capture it and with the Milky Way. This is the image I captured that night, Ben was set up just a few feet away.

To Ben!

PS. Thanks to Craig for texting me and reminding me this morning of the 1 year anniversary. I am in Colorado helping out with the grandkids and the days can pass fast here.

 

[AlanLichty]

In the fall of 2018 Ben talked me into meeting up to shoot the Grand Tetons after I had been up in Glacier for a few days. While I was no stranger to the Teton area I had very few images of the place so Ben was on a mission to show off his favorite places to shoot there. Here are some samples from that visit.

The Shane Cabin (AKA Luther Taylor Cabin). I never saw the TV series but the cabin had some really nice views of the mountains:

Along the Gros Ventre road:

Shooting some aspen near Hedricks Pond - Ben, Jim, and Rick Kepler (rfkiii):

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Its been a year already? How time flies. I had the pleasure of meeting Ben on a couple of occasions in SLC. First time I met him we went to Ensign Peak in SLC for sunrise which surprisingly Ben had never been to. After which Ben treated me to Breakfast. After that we went to a couple of Ben's favorite haunts.

Ensign Peak sunrise

American fork river with Ben at work

The last time I met Ben was in 2020 while I was visiting my daughter and we visited the Boneville Salt flats. Here is a sunset shot from that trip.

 

[Mike Lewis]

I never had the privilege of meeting Ben in person, so I only knew him through FocalWorld. That said, he was ALWAYS so positive and supportive of my work and I greatly enjoyed his critiques ands his wonderfully inspirational image postings. I don't know if I have anything that does justice to his memory, but since I always associate Utah with him I will re-post one of my favorite images I have taken there, that maybe just maybe is sort of a 'Ben-Style' image in some small way...

ML

 

[JimFox]

In the fall of 2018 Ben talked me into meeting up to shoot the Grand Tetons after I had been up in Glacier for a few days. While I was no stranger to the Teton area I had very few images of the place so Ben was on a mission to show off his favorite places to shoot there. Here are some samples from that visit.

The Shane Cabin (AKA Luther Taylor Cabin). I never saw the TV series but the cabin had some really nice views of the mountains:

View attachment 72938

Along the Gros Ventre road:

View attachment 72939

View attachment 72940

Shooting some aspen near Hedricks Pond - Ben, Jim, and Rick Kepler (rfkiii):

View attachment 72941

Hey Alan, thanks for these. That was a really fun trip we had. My favorite memory might be our going to Dairy Queen.

 

[JimFox]

Its been a year already? How time flies. I had the pleasure of meeting Ben on a couple of occasions in SLC. First time I met him we went to Ensign Peak in SLC for sunrise which surprisingly Ben had never been to. After which Ben treated me to Breakfast. After that we went to a couple of Ben's favorite haunts.

Ensign Peak sunrise
View attachment 72953

American fork river with Ben at work
View attachment 72954

The last time I met Ben was in 2020 while I was visiting my daughter and we visited the Boneville Salt flats. Here is a sunset shot from that trip.
View attachment 72955

That was great that you were able to meet up with Ben around SLC. And I remember you guys going to Bonneville Flats. I tried to talk Ben into going there again after your guys visit there and he said it took him a month to get all of the salt off the bottom of his truck and he was never going to go there again. Which was too bad, but it's a kind of funny memory of him telling me that, as I know it took me also about a month and a half dozen carwashes to try and get all of the salt off the bottom of my truck.