Photo Warmups

A new Podcast was posted today. It is a recording from the field while on my Florida photography excursion. The recording is an observation I made on the importance of "photography warmups." You can check out the Podcast on iTunes or at Feedburner.

Updates and miscellaneous

I have just completed a data backup and initial RAW review of the images from Florida taken in February. I am very excited about what is to come, but it will be a while before images are presented. One reason for delays is that we are very busy with my daughter in High School tennis right now. So nearly every evening we are with Jennifer at a match or practicing. It is a joy to watch her play. I hope to update the Podcasts very soon with some audio I recorded on the Florida trip. I am also in final testing for my return to astrophotography. I hope to get out during the new Moon in April for a test run and maybe collect some nice data. So, things are slow as far as new stuff as the tennis season reaches its peak in April. Look for many new things coming after the season. Also, I just registered for my 7th workshop with Alain and Natalie Briot. This workshop is the Digital Fine Art Summit and will have as a special presenter and teacher Charles Cramer. I am very excited about learning from Mr. Cramer, oh, and the location is Zion! The workshop is in November. I have many commentaries on things photographic to come. One is my evolving approach toward photographic education. More and more I am convinced the best way to improve your photography is through one-on-one apprenticeships with a quality instructor. Small workshops are fine as long as there is ample time for the instructor to productively engage each student in individualized instruction. More to come on this as my thoughts become clearer. Have a great day and stay tuned for more in the near future.

Quick observing night and some testing

Couldn't pass up a quick look tonight. The skies started to turn
partly cloudy around 10:30 or so. I really love the 8" Orion XT dob.
Everything just works so simply. I wanted to get first light through
my new 19 Panoptic and it was a joy. I switched all night from the 35
Pan to the 19 and then on Saturn went with the 12mm Radian. About
100x was nice for Saturn tonight as seeing was washy. Viewed M42 and
Running Man, the open cluster in Gemini (I was observing with no aids
and strictly from memory-I am a bit rusty), and the Leo Trio of
galaxies. It is always nice to get a little cold and see crisp views
of stars through the scope. Hoping for clear skies next weekend.

Earlier in the evening I did some testing with the Canon 350D and 135 f2 lens off the tripod. I wanted to get some "dark" condition experience operating the TC80N3 remote and also practice focus techniques. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to practice with your gear and get as familiar with buttons and knobs as you can. In the dark it really pays off when you know how to activate image review and move through images at high magnification as well as adjust ISO setting. So even though I wasn't photographing tonight, it was a good practice run for when things get "real."

San Juan River Newspaper article

On March 2, Dave Lavender of the Herald-Dispatch published his article "Nature's Handiwork" which provided some insight into my San Juan Portfolio Grand Opening that same night. Dave did a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of the portfolio and I now have a digital PDF version of the article for your review. The article may be viewed at this link. I do not have a version with the photographs embedded. The article looked wonderful and I am very thankful to Dave for doing such a nice job. He is a self-proclaimed "river rat" himself, and so he has a very strong passion for the beauty of our rivers. Enjoy the article and have a great day.

Horseshoe Bend 2006 Image and articles

Horseshoe Bend is a fascinating location for creative photography. An early view for those who read my blog is now available of my latest print from Horseshoe Bend. The image is a first in two ways. It is my first near-far composition captured utilizing the tilt/shift lens with panoramic movement. It is also my first experience with the stitching plugin in Photoshop PS3 beta. I am very happy with the new PS3 stitching plugin and I am very excited about future efforts with this lens/software combination. The image has stimulated me to write about two topics related to the image. One article is titled "Two and three-quarter years" and discusses the importance of returning to locations in order to fully explore the creative potential that is there. The other article is titled "What do you do?" This article is an attempt to provide a very brief overview of how I take a RAW image and develop the image into a fully optimized print. Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy the new material.