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!

Photographing Action Sports Events - 10 tips

Whew!  Hope everybody has had a wonderful holiday season so far.  There’s just major one left, happens on about the first of January and I’m sure you know what I’m talking about!  It’s got me thinking about what’s left of 2010 and what’s ahead in 2011.  I’ve got all sorts of fairly sensible resolutions.  So I can keep an eye on my progress, I’ve written a few down.  But that’s not what this is about!  I’ve been blogging about landscape photography recently and I feel like changing gears (pardon the pun) here on the blog a bit.

Roger Lee Hayden powers the Kawasaki MotoGP bike out of turn 5 at Laguna Seca during his one-off ride in 2007. 

As usual, thinking about the future has me remembering the past somewhat fondly, and there’s something that I hope to do in 2011 that I’ve done quite a bit in the past.  It’s been a few years since I attended any major motorcycle race events, and as I prepare to hit a few races this year I’ve started to formulate a photographic strategy to maximize the chance to come home with some memorable images.  

As I look over images I've shot in the past, and in an effort to move toward some new kinds of images this year, it’s worthwhile to take stock of where I’ve been in the past.  Several things emerge as strategies to help me come home with lots of good images.  I’m going to share ten tips for shooting at large action sports events.  I’ll use motorcycling in the following tips but these will generally apply to any kind of action sports event.  

I’m going to assume you, like me, are stuck behind official boundaries.  Press access is not available to most of us, yet many outstanding photo opportunities exist.  With that in mind, here are my top 10 tips for photographic success at events this year.

Lost Highway

The other morning I was out for a short run when Bon Jovi’s Lost Highway played over the iPod Shuffle.  Sometimes life gives you a good moment.  This was one of those.  Felt like goin’ on forever.

“I’ve finally found my way, said goodbye to yesterday...I’m bustin’ loose, I’m lettin’ go, out on this open road.  It’s Independence Day on this Lost Highway.” 

Evening at the Isaac Hale Beach Park, revisited

Sitting in the airport in Hilo, just about to board the plan for HNL then on home.  Looking through the LR3 library, working on keywording and ranking, etc.  Thought I'd share this image from last night's sunset.  Sort of a precursor to yesterday's blog post, and not really what I felt like I was there to do, but thought it was interesting anyway.  The composition is identical to the previous image as it was difficult to safely crawl around on the wet lava in the dying light.