A new era begins

I will retire at the end of March. I've driven a company car for many years and so I had to buy something to drive. I did a lot of research and finally decided on the Ford Transit Connect. I will do a little conversion, nothing fancy. It hopefully will allow me to travel cheaply.

The main costs of travel are Gas, Food and Lodging. The Transit should get close to 30 mpg, I will be able to cook in it, and sleep in it several nights in a row.

My first mini trip (aside from racing photography trips) will be the second week in April, when I travel to Dallas. I went with a great group last year and had a great time, but their pace was a little slower than I'm used to. I'm going to shoot Dallas Blooms plus some skyline shots.

Chili Bowl 2013

Chili Bowl, a marathon event for photogs. I won't tell how many images I made but it was too many. Still, I got some great stuff. Check them out at http://www.spiveyphoto.com/Racing/ASCS

Bosque del Apache

My second time at Bosque del Apache (Sicorro NM). There are thousands of Snow Geese and Sand Hill Cranes. This time my travelling companions are Toan and Deep. First day morning was great, mid day excellent, sundown not too good as I picked the wrong spot and the birds landed elsewhere. Oh, well.

Tulsa Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk 2012

My 4th Kelby Photowalk was yesterday. The weather looked iffy and it probably kept the attendance down but about 35 shooters came out and we stayed relatively dry. The walk was held on the campus of Oral Roberts University, a target rich location. We went to Tres Amigos afterward and had a great lunch.

This was probably my last Kelby Photowalk as Organizer. Hope to hand it off to someone else next year.

Moab Photography Workshop

I spent the last week with 9 other photographers shooting landscapes at Mesa Verde and the Moab area. Great people and beautiful landscapes to shoot. I made many images I like including these two which rank high in my all time personal best group. We had some rental car issues and I pretty much ran out of steam on the climb and decent from Delicate Arch. But - I made one of my all time best images there, too.

Doug Henderson organized a great tour / workshop and I certainly would not hesitate to go with him on another one. Thanks, Doug. And, while I knew most of the other participants, we all got to know each other during out time together. Great fun. Sorry it's over.

Gloss Mountain photo group trip

I took a weekend off from shooting races to go to western Oklahoma to shoot with the Tulsa Digital Photography Group. There were about 15 or so photogs and we had a great time, including an afternoon strolling around the mesa top of Gloss Mountain. Sunday we toured Alabaster Caverns and made a short trip to the Great Salt Plains. As well as shooting a few old abandoned farm houses.

Next week: Back to racing with the USMTS at West Plains Mo.

King of America race, Humboldt Ks

I got put on the list to shoot from the infield at the King of America USMTS dirt modified race. One of the features of this type of race is the 4 wide parade lap, the salute to the fans. A great photo op, but challenging. First, it is hard to get all the cars in the frame and second it s hard to light all 30 of them at once. All the photogs were talking about where to shoot. I can light the first few rows with flash but I need track lighting to light the rest. Also, you need high ground and I think it is interesting to have them at least partially in a curve.

Between races I strolled to the top of turn 1 and it was obviously the right place. I waited until the last moment to get up ther and got this shot. A lot of cleanup was necessary, as I had to shoot at ISO 2500 on the 60D. More at SpiveyPhoto.com