Rainier Climb 2011

Spent the better part of last week on Mt Rainier, climbing with friends.  Had an amazing time, perfect weather, just a great trip.  The emphasis must remain on climbing, but naturally, there was some photography as well.  Mountaineering forces you to make some pretty strict decisions about how much gear is carried, and as usual I brought just one camera and lens, no filters, no tripod.

Recent portrait session

I've been shooting new portraits of my colleagues at work this year.  Aside from getting the portrait images we need for use in the veterinary world, there's been a little time for fun as well.  Here are a few images from the last shoot a couple of weeks ago.

It's going to be a busy couple of weeks, but I've got a ton more stuff for the blog this fall, so check back!  Thanks for stopping by.

Curt

Big News!

Wow.  How long has it been since my last post?  (Cue sound of crickets chirping in the distance.)  Totally didn't mean to do that.  Oh well, the silence is over!  Where was I all spring? Working, mostly.  Working on some really fun and (hopefully) cool stuff.  It may be months overdue, but I've finally got a real space, in real life, with real fine art prints hanging on the wall.

For the last couple of months, my buddy Jim Bouden (of Light Shaman Art) and I have been working out details on getting space at Green Chutes here in Boise.  Green Chutes, located conveniently at State and Collister, is a huge artist's co-op where you can find tons of awesome art, crafts, etc.  There are several dozen great artists featured there, and now there are several dozen, plus US.   So it's good times.  We're sharing space inside one of four large shipping containers which are arrayed throughout the Green Chutes interior - ours is the one in the back right corner of the store.    I've opened my display with about a dozen images, ranging from small to quite large, in a variety of finishes and mounts.  I hope folks really enjoy them.  Many of these images really haven't been shown anywhere before, not even on the walls at home.  I'm planning on a refresh at least every three months, putting in a few new images, and although I've got tons of new images to get out and shoot, I also already have a great set of images to release through the next several seasons.  Already can't wait for fall!  But for now there's plenty to enjoy.

As a huge, no, serious, huge bonus, Green Chutes shares space with Salt Tears Coffeehouse and Noshery.  It's a great little cafe with one of Boise's best lattes, and a bunch of great "nosh" too!  So here's what I'd recommend.  After first double-checking hours, head on over.  Grab a drink at Salt Tears, then spend an hour browsing Green Chutes.  Make sure to stop by my little space, the shipping container in the far right corner, and have a look.  Then stop back by here or the Curtis Brandt Photography facebook page and let me know what you think!  Keep your eyes open too, shortly there'll be a little "open house" where Jim and I will hang out, talk shop, and chat with anybody who wants to come by.  So there's tons to look forward to.

And check back at the blog from time to time too, I'll be adding stuff more regularly, promise!  Seriously, there's lots to share...  Talk to you soon!

Curt

USCSA Western Regional Championship Alpine Events

This last week I had the opportunity to shoot at the USCSA Western Regional Championships at Bogus Basin.  Two hundred twenty of the Northwests best collegiate alpine ski racers and freestyle athletes were converging for a three-day shootout to see which teams and individuals would be heading to the Nationals in Sun Valley in March.  

Snow on Wednesday and overnight meant that Thursday morning we awoke to the first significant snow accumulation in nearly a month.  No matter, JJ McCloud and the crew at Bogus had the racing surface prepared - we just had to move a few inches of snow off the firm base underneath and it was showtime!

Images, equipment and technique after the jump...

New APC canvas wrap pano of Lanai

Yesterday afternoon the FedEx guy delivered something really cool, a fun first for me.  I was sleeping, getting ready for an overnight at work but I couldn't resist getting up just long enough to unbox it and have a look.  Now I've had a minute to look more closely and to shoot a quick snap my newest print.  This is a pano assembled from about 11 images of the island of Lanai from the Maui/Lanai passenger ferry.  These images have been just sitting on my hard drive for a couple of years and it's exciting to finally do something with them.  I'm fairly proud of the image, to be sure, and Artistic Photo Canvas printed it and put it together just GORGEOUSLY.  There's something special about a nice big pano, something special about a nicely done canvas wrap, and, wow, just nothing like it when it all comes together.

Pano assembled from about 11 images taken with D200, 17-55 f2.8 lens at 17 mm.  Exposure was manual, making sure not to blow any highlights.   I chose f5.6 because there wasn't much in the close foreground, shot at 1/640 of a second to minimize motion (shooting moving water, from a moving boat).  Used just a touch of Nik's Tonal Contrast to bring out midtone contrast.  Though it's not visible from here, the print is absolutely detailed, absolutely sharp.

Rainy Evening in the Capital

After enjoying the afternoon at Bogus Basin yesterday, I was stoked to arrive back down in town to find that it was raining.  Saves having to order up a water truck anyway, and I doubt I'd have gotten away with hosing down the steps of the Capitol.  Made a couple of pictures that I've been looking forward to shooting.

Now if you'll excuse me, it appears I have some sensor cleaning to do.  ;-)  HDR really brings out the crud!

Downtown Boise in the Rain

Had a fun shoot downtown this evening. Bad weather makes good photos.

January Wallpaper

It's been awhile since I've posted an image for wallpaper.  Here's one from December 2010 that you might enjoy.  Just click on it to make it bigger, then download as you like.  Hope you enjoy!