Sunday, May 17, 2009

134th Preakness Stakes

The final result
Blood-Horse Cover Image: Jeffrey Snyder 2009
Nikon D3, Nikkor 600mm f4 AFS, Lexar 300x 8GB Media



Rachel Alexandra with jockey Calvin Borel
Above: Nikon D3, 600mm f4, Lexar Digital Media

(l-r) Owner Jess Jackson, Jockey Calvin Borel, Trainer Steve Asmussen

A bit of history took place at the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. Rachel Alexandra with Calvin Borel aboard was the fifth filly to win the middle jewel of the Triple Crown, the first since Nellie Morse in 1924...Yes, 1924, 85 years ago.
Pimlico Race track, a Maryland institution was the setting, with just over 85,000 in attendance, down by about 20,000. This was the 1st year that Preakness officials new rule went into effect, attendees could no longer bring in their own Beer. Where the infield was once wall to wall people partying the day away, this year you could see the grass field sparsley populated.
I was shooting on the Blood-Horse crew, my position was in the 1st turn, shooting head on with a 600mm lens as the horses headed directly at me. Always great to work with my friends Anne, Skip, Rick, Dave as well as Jerry and the infamous Jimmy McCue of the MD Jockey Club. A BIG thank you shout out to Tom Quinn for assisting me this year.
Calvin Borel rode Rachel Alexandra into the eyes of Horse Racing history.....From the Start to the Finish line to the Winners Circle.

Friday, May 15, 2009

"Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian" DC Premiere




Owen Wilson, Robin Wiliams, Hank Azaria, Ben Stiller, Amy Adams

Last night at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space Museum, it looked like Hollywood. The Premiere of "Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian" took place beneath and alongside Airplanes, Space Capsules and Rockets. With an A+ Cast, consisting of Ben Stiller, Robin Williams, Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, Ricky Gervais and Owen Wilson, this is sure to a box office hit. Robin Williams & Ricky Gervais were hysterical from the moment they arrived...My assignment, Red Carpet arrivals.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Caps/Penguins Playoff 's Game 7

There I am, behind the glass with camera pointed up instead of towards the ice...



Caps wave goodbye to the crowd after losing

What should have been an exciting game, with the crowd goin nuts, the Verizon Center (aka The Phone Booth) was not shaking as it shoulda have been. You could have heard a pin drop. What a disappointment....Caps lose 6-2. Maybe next year?

Thursday, May 7, 2009

DLWS Kitty Hawk OBX Day 4 PM




What a great way to end DLWS, which is Digital Landscape Workshop Series, here in the Outer Banks. The DLWS team is simply amazing. I've been to 100's of workshops/seminars over my 30 years in this biz, and nothing compares to the DLWS series. Moose Peterson, along with his wife Sharon run a 1st class workshop, aimed at everyone with an interest in Landscape photography, Lighting Techniques (w/ Joe) , Digital Darkrrom assistance plus so much more. With a staff consisting of Joe McNally, Laurie Excell & Kevin Dobler, every participant gets as much personal attention as they'd like. It's an exhausting few days, dawn to 11pm, but worth every moment. If you have that photo bug, and would love to learn from the best, I'd urge you to check out the website for DLWS, and sign up. Don't wait, they sell out at every location.
For our last shoot, we headed to the Bodie Lighthouse for sunset. The top & bottom images above were shot in HDR, a series of 5 images, at different exposures, all processed via PhotoMatix. Once processed, the magic appears on your screen.
Next stop for DLWS, Bar Harbor in September, then NYC in October......I can't wait!

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

DLWS Kitty Hawk OBX Day 4 AM



Todays call time was 4:30 am, for the hour drive to the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We made it there in plenty of time to see the sun rise over the ocean, and to see the beams of light from the Lighthouse, before it went off for daylight. It was a great drive to Cape Hatteras, very scenic.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

DLWS Kitty Hawk OBX - Day 3 AM





Another 5am call time, we all headed to Wanchese Harbor, very near Nags Head. This is a working fisherman's harbor, so it was abuzz with boats coming & going. Enjoy.

Monday, May 4, 2009

DLWS Kitty Hawk OBX Day 2-AM




All images Nikon D3, 24-70 AFS & 14-24 AFS, Lexar Digital Media

Call time at 5am this morning, in the car, in line to get to the shooting location. We headed out for a sunrise shoot at the Currituck Lighthouse, near Duck, NC. Couldn't see how beautiful the area was on the way, but on the way back, with daylight, Duck looks sorta like Bethany Beach, but the homes are all lined up along the beach, many many very large homes.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

DLWS - Kitty Hawk, NC OBX




HDR Image - 7 Frames processed with PhotoMatix



All images, Nikon D700, 24-70 f2.8 AFS, Lexar Digital Media

Down here in the Outer Banks, Kitty Hawk, NC for Moose Peterson's DLWS, Digital Landscape Workshop Series.  Amazing shooting for the next 3 days with Moose, Joe McNally, Laurie Excell and Kevin Dobler, plus 35 workshop participants from all over the USA and the world.  Great group of people, all completely into learning about how to make better images.  The images above are from last night, from the balcony overlooking the beach.  We start shooting for real tomorrow at 5am, yes i said 5am.