My First Photowalk

A few weeks ago a friend reminded me that Scott Kelby's second annual worldwide photowalk was coming up. We decided to sign up for the one in Scottsdale.

It was still over 110*F when our walk stared that evening, but there was still good turnout as we gathered at the fountain. Our walk leader Kim gave some brief instructions for safety and then told us to look for different perspectives. I had aleady decided to start out with my wider-angle lens instead of my zoom. That was an intentional choice to try and experiment with a new perspective for me since I usually leave my 200mm zoom on most of the time.We started wandering along, taking pictures of flowers, walls, reflections in windows. All the things I had not paid much attention to even though I had worked in the area several years before. I took the oportunity to take a self-portrait using a store window reflection.


I even did some window-shopping and found a photographically-themed shirt:
I had noticed a sculpture driving by a few weeks before, but didn't think to ge closer until my friend mentioned there were mirrors on the inside. I think it looks like looking into a giant kaleidascope.

While the image Scottsdale likes to portray is one of affluence and glitter, there will always be those that choose to put their own stamp on things with graffiti.


Then the dust-sorm rolled in. It is hard to capture the mood of a storm like his, but I like how the white of the clock tower contrasts with the brown dust rolling in behind it.


After spending some time chatting with other photographers at the gelato store, we headed back to the car, but stopped to grab some pictures of the fountain where we started. I had to use my tripod otherwise I would have felt it was a waste of energy to carry it around for the whole walk. I like the way this one worked out and may submit this as one of my 2 entries for the contest.


What do you think? Leave me a comment here, shout at me on Twitter, or head over to Facebook and leave me a comment on my Fan Page there. Always looking for more people to become fans on FaceBook, so drop on by.

Technical Notes
These were all shot with my Nikon D60 in RAW/NEF with my little lens (as compared to my 200mm zoom that I usually use). As far as post processing, I did some cropping and straightening and a white balance adjustment on some of them. Otherwise, they are SOOC.

Sports Shooting - Triathlons

Triathlons are hard. I should know, I've done a few (check out my other blog for more) from short Sprint Triathlons all the way up to a full Ironman. When I attended my first race as a spectator with a camera instead of as a competitor, I had a great time cheering on my friends and taking lots of pictures. I got enough compliments on the pictures I took that I decided to do it again at another race. After a few races, I decided to try and get in with an official photographer to get more exposure.

I contacted a Race Director and after some discussion, I became his Race Photographer. This was a huge step for me since now instead of just trying to get pictures of a few friends, my goal was now to get good pictures of every competitor in 3 different disciplines. I knew I could not do it myself, so I proposed a partnership to a friend I had met a few months before at a photography workshop. Paul agreed and we planned our approach to the race. Paul has had kids in swimming, so we decided he would cover the swimming leg of the race and then move over to the finish line.

I would find a good spot to get the bikes and as soon as the last bike was past, I would get most of the runners before they got to the finish line.

Paul got a lot of great shots and I was able to find some pretty good angles for the bike and run portions. It was fun to see so many competitors with big smiles having a great time.

Now after 2 races, Paul and I have a good plan and really work well together. Sales are starting to roll in. Nothing I will be able to retire on, but at least it seems to be paying for the expenses of flyers and gas to get to the races. I am sure that the longer I do this, the more sales will take off.

Take a look at the race photos and let me know what you think. Do you race? What do you like to see in your pictures?

Fireworks Practice

Taking pictures of fireworks is a lot of fun, but can be challenging since there are not a lot of opportunities in most places. I was getting excited for tonight, but wanted a chance to practice some night shots. Mother Nature was kind enough to provide me with a firework show of her own last night. I grabbed my camera and tripod, double checked my settings and opened the patio door.

The lightning was fast and furious and I was able to get a lot of shots with lightning bolts. Here are some of my favorite shots.

In this one, I did a bit more post processing than usual and I kind of like how it turned out. I just played with the recovery slider and a touch of exposure control. The next two were pretty much straight out of the camera. I like the shots of blue branching off on the next one.

I really like the snaking motion on this one. I thought lightning took the shortest route to ground, but this one seems to have gotten a bit confused.

So what do you think? Does this bode well for firework pictures tonight?