Modifieds at Humboldt

I shot the USMTS modifieds at Humboldt last weekend. This was an audition for a slot to shoot the 4 day King of America race at Humboldt next weekend. These are the big guns of modified racing and these are the guys that starred in the reality show Dirt Knights.

Guess I passed the test because I got the word that I am good to go. Now if only I can monetize it.

My first Real Estate attempt.

Don McKee asked me to shoot a couple of homes he had on display at the QuipTrip Center. I've been wanting to get into real estate photography. I wanted to try two different techniques - realistic HDR, and additive flash photography. The flash was a failure - I did something wrong. But the others turned out pretty decent, I thought.

The Battle of Round Mountain

Had a great time at the Civil War reenactment at Yale.

Tip: if you have a hard time asking random people for their permission to take their picture, an event like this is just the ticket. These people have taken the time, effort and expense to look like this and they are not going to refuse to have that effort recorded.

Roller Skate Rink

I've seen this sign for awhile and finally got around to shooting it this weekend.

I got my big gun back last month from Canon repair. The problem was fixed but now it back focuses badly. I've got a ticket open and hope they will fix it. Stay posted. BTW, this is a composite. The lens align from the actual test was cut and pasted into this image.

Bristow Chrysler Plymouth sign

I saw this sign a few months ago on Flickr. I had to go to google streets to find it. I left work Friday afternoon to get to Bristow for sunset. All the way down the Turnpike things were looking great. Spotty clouds for interest but plenty of sun to light the sign. Of course, when I pulled off the turnpike this huge cloudbank covered the sun. I took some brackets while I was waiting for a hole that never came.

The wind was howling and I never could get the branches in the lower part of the picture to align in the bracketed shots, so I used one shot and worked it over in HDR Efex Pro (single shot), Viveza, Color Efex Pro, and Lightroom 4 Beta. Canon 5D Mk II, 24-105.

New BridgeQuest Recon

After our successful BridgQuest Meetup last year, I thought I would organize another one. I have been shooting a lot of Truss Bridges lately and they are relatively easy to find on Google Maps. Toan and I decided to get an early start and so had breakfast at Jimmy's Egg. When we walked in, we found Jim and Leona Jordan who were on their way back to Bosque del Apache New Mexico.

We went to a couple of bridges that we had been to before including one that is very close to a winery. How about a little tasting after the shoot?

There were a few I had listed that were inaccessible or just not very interesting. I was running down the interstate and caught a truss bridge out of the corner of my eye just after Stroud that I didn't have listed. I doubled back to look for it. Found it plus this giant spherical oilfield storage tank. Later, we went to Shamrock which is almost a ghost town. Very enjoyable day.