#TravelTuesday Las Vegas

March 11, 2014

Last weekend I was covering the NASCAR races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway so my wife and I had a limited amount of time to see Vegas. We had visited there a few years ago, so we had a general idea of the layout. After walking for hours at the track all weekend we decided to set out for a few hours Sunday night and walk “The Strip”. It was a pleasant 70°F and clear skies. We started our trek late in the afternoon as the Sun was going down which was nice for some photography. The sky was turning a deep blue and of course the lights of Las Vegas lit up the town. I’ll spend the next few days recapping our journey, but between us, Vegas is fabulous this time of year, and it’s almost always cheap to get there.

Nikon D4, Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 24mm f/8 ISO 800 1/13 sec

Sweet Return

March 5, 2014

The sunset has returned. Not that it ever really went away, but for those of us that work inside, Winter’s shortened days steal this daily beauty. Days are growing longer, and just when our internal clocks are gathering steam, Daylight Savings Time begins this Saturday evening to throw them off again. Don’t forget to forfeit an hour this weekend. You’ll get it back, just when it’s time to think about Christmas shopping.

Nikon D4 Tamron 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 52mm f/9 ISO 1250 5 image HDR

March 2014 desktop calendar

March 3, 2014

The picture this month is from our recent trip to Acadia National Park. This is Jordan Pond and may hold the clearest water I have ever seen. Feel free to download and make this your wallpaper. I publish one every month. Just click the link undre the picture to be taken to a page that you can download it. Remember, think Spring.

Download calendar here: March 2014

#WildlifeWednesday Tree Squirrel

February 26, 2014

It’s not a very glamorous rodent, but then that might just be an oxymoron in itself. Squirrels live on every continent of the Earth except Antarctica. They have adapted to life with humans quite well and are so common they are often overlooked or ignored. I admire their fearlessness. They leap from perch to perch, scurry up trees, and run full speed down the bark, always sure of their footing. Confident of their speed and agility, they tempt fate against stronger and bigger predators. And to top it all off, they are planners, thinkers, collecting food while it’s abundant, and saving it for the famine of Winter. Pretty smart for a rodent.

Nikon D7100 Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.5 @ 500mm (750mm at 1.5 crop) f/8 ISO 100 1/320 sec

Nikon D7100 Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.5 @ 500mm (750mm at 1.5 crop) f/8 ISO 100 1/800 sec

Action in the Dark

February 25, 2014

As a professional sports photographer one of the challenges I face is stopping action in low light situations. The physical difficulties (shutter speed, aperture, ISO) are topics for a different post. I wanted to take a few minutes to share a little secret about black and white images. Contrast is the amount of difference between the light areas of a photograph and the dark areas. In black and white images this tonal difference can be exploited easily. Without the distraction of colors, our brains can only work with what our eyes supply, or… contrast. When our eyes detect a sharp difference between adjoining sections of a picture, the edges look sharp, crisp and clean. Look around the face of the fighter in the background and down the muscles in his arm. The sweat looks exact, precise, and defined. The opposite occurs when gradual shades of gray are prominent, like on the shoulder of the fighter on the ground. Molding this very distinct attribute of contrast in a picture can lead the observer around the photograph, their eyes lingering in different places. It’s all about me showing you something I thought you should see, and using the camera to bring it to you.

By the way, the picture was taken at Harrah’s Casino during the XFE 36 Mixed Martial Arts event that took place last Friday night. My pictures from the fight are on their website.