Painting on the Lake

Here we are again... on the road in Salt Lake City, UT for a team meeting. A few of us got in a day early and decided to head out and play south of Salt Lake City and light some night sky... and some other things... turns out, that lable that says "do not hold mortar in hands" is a good suggestion. It typically results in a trip to the ER. This time our co-worker was somewhat lucky (if you can call it that) he can still count to 5 on his right hand.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM

Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM




Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM



Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM



Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM



Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM




Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM



Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM


 
Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM



Here's "The Shot" that will probably be the most expensive shot Jeff has ever done lightpainting...




Canon EOS 5D Mark III EF24-70mm f/4L IS USM

Arches, Cowboys (and Cowgirls) and Sunsets

One of the great things about my "day job" is I get to work with some AMAZING people in truly breathtaking locations. This past week I was out in Moab Utah in Arches National Park and based at Red Cliffs Lodge. If you have not been out to that part of the country, your soul would greatly rewarded making the trip. Photos just cant do it justice in any way.

The workshop was with the Canon Destination Workshops and Tyler Stableford the Explorer of light. He's one of the few who's as sharing with his knowledge as he is talented.

So if you're ever in the area, stay at the Red Cliffs Lodge and spend a week or so roaming in Arches or Canyonlands National Parks. 

Sunrise through North Window looking at Turret Arch

Sunrise in the Windows of Arches National Park



Sunset towards Double Arch from North Window


















The "Three Gossips" at sunset



Of course it would not be a trip to the desert if I did not do some light painting :)

One Last Spin in Valley of Fire

This is probably the last trip (this year) for me to Valley of Fire...but you never know :) so we took advantage of our NAB travel to Las Vegas and went out to the desert again. This time most of our team that could make it in early went out with us. We had a great time but I can tell you this, when you get 13 people who all are Canon educators, the knowledge level is pretty high and you better be on your game...otherwise, well take a jab at each other at any opportunity, needless to say, we laughed pretty hard the whole trip. I work with a GREAT team!

There is just something about the sunsets there that are inspirational.

Of course, we had to break out the "illuminating tools"...

The "river of light" was not added in PS, modified a little, but...

Here is the original, which do you like better?

Beaches, Birds and Barns

Yep, March came in like a lion...and continues to show no sign of becoming a lamb (work or weather related). Since the last posting on our travels to Las Vegas for the WPPI show, I have been all over the southeast US.

We'll start in Cocoa Beach Fl and I had a real bug to get up early and get some sunrise shots at the beach, but first upon arriving in the hotel, while on the phone with my boss, this little guy was working hard on a tree outside my balcony-

 I was able to get up and get a decent sunrise. Its mornings like this I really wish I had remembered my ND filters to get a really smooth look to clouds and water... I need to get a second set to add to the other camera bags... back ups are always a good thing.

One friend told me it looked very "Bay Watch"ish... in which I pointed out the HUGE difference- theirs is a SUNSET, this is obviously a SUNRISE! 


Next was St Simons Island GA where I was able to get some sunrise shots before a workshop in Jekyll Island. These are from the St Simons Pier

Again, I am wishing for my ND filters...maybe its time to invest in a Variable ND filter! Yep, that's it, I HAVE to have one now.

From St Simons, I headed over to Jekyll Island for a Canon workshop with Parish Kohanim, a truly inspirational photographer and instructor, I HIGHLY recommend you take a workshop with him or at least go see one of his lecturers. Since I was working the workshop, I dont really try real hard to get images, since its our job to assist the attendees, but I was able to get a couple keepers...

Its hard to get a bad photo when you are working with professional models...

I was planning on going back to get some sunrise shots at Driftwood Beach, however a storm rolled in and all we had was clouds and rain in the morning...so off to the next site.

One of my accounts had scheduled a shooting event at Sylvan Heights Bird Park. We had about 30 attendees and a boat load of gear for them to try, I had the opportunity to bring a Canon EF 200-400 f4 L with me and get some shots.

The workshop was over and the staff and I were all exhausted, but we still had an hour drive back to town, so two of us decided to make a few stops along the way to see what kind of images we could get of what seemed to be hundreds of old barns and structures in eastern NC along the way.

Well that wraps up this post, its off to Vegas (again) in a week, so keep an eye out for more LightPainting.

Early Mornings and Late Nights

Whew! I am in need of a recharge! The last few weeks have been hectic- I am writing this post as I am doing laundry in a hotel in St Simmons Island, GA. Over the last few weeks, I spent the night camping in the desert, worked another show in Las Vegas, traced the outer edge of the state of Florida from Tampa to Miami, and now prepping for a workshop with Parish Kohanim in Jekyll Island, GA.

My boss and good friend Jeff Jensen and I decided to get some REAL camera time in the Valley of Fire (yes, we have become a little obsessive with that place) by going out to WPPI a day early. The goal was to scout for new locations so we could do a team building shoot, and to get some new light paintings done.

There are few places in the world where every single direction you look is as breathtaking as Valley of Fire. If you get to spend time there, make sure you see a sunrise or sunset, we got BOTH.

 5D Mark III f22 (HDR in Nik)

While the colors did not really "pop" like we wanted them to, the cloud cover was somehow "blown away" and by nightfall with no moon at all, we had stars... LOTS of stars.
5D Mark III f5.6 10min ISO 400

The "Cabins" were a great location to play with some new lighting tricks, "domes" and EL Wire we brought with us...its a good thing Jeff drove his Suburban, we had LOTS of gear.

 5D Mark III 14mm f5.6 6min ISO 400 and 6 or so pops of 3 600EX-RT's placed behind and on top of the cabins. the blue "smoke" is the EL Wire.

 

 We did one last shot that night on the way to the campsite, setting up a camera with an intervelometer to capture star trails. This is a 34 image stack from a  5D III 14mm f2.8 30sec. Thats either a plane or aliens streaking through.

Well, I did do ONE more that night... my little tent light painted. 

Like I said, sunrise or sunset, either one (or both) are spectacular!

 5D Mark III f22 1/25th sec ISO 250

Team Time

We did manage to convince some of the rest of the team to come out for some more on another night. I think we could have just left the cameras in the car and had just as much fun... but we did get some great shots.

5D Mark III 14mm f4.0 3.5min ISO 400

While Jeff spun an orb, I was waving the EL Wire to make a "river of light". Our coworkers were not sure what to think of this odd behavior until they saw the images on their screens... 

And then....

5D Mark III 14mm f6.3 4min ISO 400

This was the first time they had seen the steel wool set ablaze... 

5D Mark III 14mm f4 6min ISO 400

And for one final shot, we broke out the wheels again... NOBODY was going to come down that road.

Light Painting the Stars

On a recent trip to Las Vegas and Phoenix, a couple coworkers and I had the bug to get out to the desert and do some light painting. We had been out to Valley of Fire several times before, but never really explored much. This time would be very different.

Driving to Valley of Fire is a short one and a half hour trip (a little longer if you stop at the truckstop and fireworks stand for some amusement). Our usual spot is at the parking lot at the end of Mouses Tank Road. There are a few really great spots there (see some of my images in the gallery). This time we decided to hike in a bit. Down to an old movie set that is still standing and offers a GREAT backdrop. 

Here you can see a remaining wall of a "Spanish Fort" behind the Orb. 

Since we had near perfect skys, and just a sliver of a moon, we decided to set up a new little toy we had with us. The PowerShot S120 from Canon. Usually we just see these as point and shoots, not really intended for "creative use", but when you have 4 seasoned pro photographers jaws drop in unison when they see what this little camera can do, you know its much more capable. 

Canon PowerShot S120 Star Trails Mode

Here the S120's "Star Trails" scene mode was used...yes, this is fully automatic. All you do is choose how long you want it to go, and place the camera. The rest is up to this litle beast. 

Of course, we could not stop there...

 What can possibly go wrong with steel wool on fire and spinning it around in the dark?

We are heading out again in about a week, I'll try and post sooner this time

Canon PowerShot S120 Star Trails Mode

Growing the Gallery- Shameless Self Promotion

Been "snowed in" here in Georgia for a few days, so I have been working on the Fine Art America site to get more photos up.

Browse around, make a comment in the comments field or even just give me a thumbs up (more likes I get, the more exposure my photos get) and share with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or whatever new social media your using now. Who knows,  maybe one of these would look good on your wall as a canvas wrap or even a cool metallic print!

Here is the link for you   waterfalls metal prints

This is one of my past sales on FAA