Panama City; 4:45 a.m.

I got up early to catch the sunrise. Ya know, that's the best time to make pictures, right? I, however, was mostly just hoping to beat the heat. It didn't work.

Nikon D90, 12-24mm lens @24mm, f/8.0, 20.0s, ISO 200.

Panama Flowers Friday

The trouble is, it's the rainy season. And it really rains. Like...a rain forest. So, the flowers are mostly on trees, and the ones growing on their own, are also growing on trees! Ever seen Medicine Man (Sean Connery with a pony tail)? Ya, those flowers are everywhere growing on top of trees, lodged between branches; it's pretty incredible. But it's also incredibly hard to climb high enough in the trees to make a pictures of them. So, here're some I could reach, even if I had to cross a few rivers and swamps to get to some of them. Enjoy.

Embera, Number 1

Just a quick one here. R. was our guide up river to his village where we had a blast swimming in a waterfall, and enjoying lunch and dancing with his family. More of these to come. 

Did I say I was "enjoying dancing"?

Old Panama

Panama City is the Capitol of Panama, and it is an interesting place. The city is near the Pacific side of the Canal (everything depends on the Canal, it seems), but there are all kinds of inconvenient hills and bays around the area, so the city is spread out and divided. Also, pirates sacked the city more than once and that lead to rash decisions on where to place the government buildings, I guess.

Anyway, the Presidents house is located on a beautiful point overlooking the ocean. It's in the old district, and it's about the only place tourists should consider getting out of their cars in the old district. There are literally about three blocks that are kept up and, most importantly, have police stationed on each corner. The rest is pretty run down and slummish. They are rebuilding many of the buildings that need some updating, and touristy places, but there's a long way to go. Still, it makes for interesting views--really raw stuff, ya know? And for me, it's really RAW, too (get it? 'cause that's, like, the file format my camera uses: RAW. Heh.). 

Here are some faces I met around town. You'll notice that everyone is sitting in the shade. It doesn't help. Click through to see a few more.

No time to Blog--Running from Dinosaurs...

Nikon D90, 55mm micro lens (manual), f/3.5, 1/50s, ISO 640.

An Old Favorite

Layovers can be miserable. A lot of time spent waiting for something that will probably be postponed again, anyway, and the worst thing is that you can't even go anywhere. Sure, you can walk around the airport, but you have to carry around your carry-ons (which are maximized since you didn't want to pay to check a bag), so it's really a lot easier to just stay near your gate waiting for one of the four people in line in front of you to move away from one of the two wall outlets so you can charge your laptop and maybe your phone (just don't stay too long or you'll be the recipient of crusty's from everyone behind you!).

However, long layovers in an area where you have a few friends may not be so bad. T. and J. picked us up in Atlanta yesterday morning and took us to some favorite spots. We saw the best view of Atlanta, enjoyed some shopping, viewed interesting neighborhoods, and, of course, ate at Souper Jenny's.Just can't get enough of that place.

Nikon D90, 50mm lens, f/2.8,1/20s, ISO 400.

Austin-Berstrom

Our trip to Panama is off to a rocky start. There were thunderstorms so terrible that they had to close the Dallas airport. We circle overhead for quite awhile waiting for it to pass, but finally had to land at the Austin Bergstrom airport to refuel. By this time, we were in serious danger of missing our flight to Atlanta to connect on to Panama.  As it turns out, we did miss it. It's pretty incredible to me that some people in the same job can do things when others just can't see a way. Stuart at Austin was incredibly helpful and got us to Atlanta about eight hours faster than the other two agents were going to be able to do. I'm sure glad that we met him. 

So, after Stuart arranged the flights for us, we had a few minutes to recharge batteries and stretch our legs. I captured the following images. I rather like this first one. I saw while I was headed to the restroom and had to turn around and get my camera. Then, I saw some stairs leading up to administrative offices with a landing overlooking this concourse. That was the spot for me. I'm finding that airports often have some really terrific architecture. Trouble is, most people aren't allowed to see it anymore. I can imagine myself going to an airport just to watch people and get creative; but I can't do it without a plane ticket. While I'm all for creativity, that would get mighty spendy after a little while.

Nikon D90, 50mm lens, f/3.5, 1/60s, ISO 200.

This image of the four man band was awesome, so I had to share it with you.

Barely Time for a Flower Friday

Nikon D90, 50mm lens, f/2.8, 1/60s, ISO200. Off to Panama! See you around here next week, hopefully.

Thank You

I've been blogging for over one year, and have more than 330 posts, and many hundreds of images hung up here. Thank you all for making it a very enjoyable year. I've appreciated your viewing, your comments, and, especially, your custom. 

I feel that I've come a long way this year, and have improved my photography skills leaps and bounds over what I was doing last May. I'm absolutely thrilled that so many of you have joined the Club. After one year (next week) we already have 130 photographers on board, and we have great meetups each month with new people every time. I'm totally honored to be part of their community.

Here's to another great year!

Nikon D90, 50mm lens, f/4.0, 1/15s, ISO 200. Window light, and a cutting board finish this one off.

One Just For Me

As long as you've got a bride all dressed up, and three assistants ready to work, you might as well make some images you'll like, right? I don't think that Mom will buy this one, but I sure enjoyed making it with them all, and everyone had a good time viewing it, too. Maybe because we all had to work together to make it happen.

It's dark outside, and raining. Fortunately, we had enough umbrellas to go around! This one has two lights, both outside the building (might have had three, but a friend was borrowing one of my speedlights!). First of all, we got the light on the background set up. J was holding my SB-800 zoomed to 105mm with a heavy red gel and a slight orange gel taped on the front. The wall is painted a deep red/maroon, so it usually ends up black in photos. This gelled light brightened the wall, and cast shadows from the muntins in the door across it, too. This is just what we were trying to do. 

The other light is an SB-600 with a diffusion dome shot through an umbrella into the door's sidelight so that it would interfere too much with the red light. The flash itself is not colored, but a Flash White Balance setting warmed up that light just the right amount. 

Three tricks to making this image. The lights outside the building had to be triggered by my pop-up flash! This meant aligning everyone so that the pop-up could be seen, the 'brollied light would hit the model, and the gelled light would enter the door just so to get the shadows cast. It was not simple, and it was not warm outside for my assistants. Next, I had to get focussed on an eye that Neither I nor the camera could see in the dark room. That 70-200mm f/2.8 lens gets heavy very quickly. Finally, the model had to not blink with three flashes pointed her way. It was a good bit of team work, and I'm pleased with the result.

I like the detail in the dress, the cookie shadow on the wall, and the single flower in the light; the shadow of the bricks is a little bonus that I didn't ever imagine. What do you think?

Bride To Be

S. has been a student of mine this entire semester at BATC. She started in my digital photography class, and is wrapping up my Photoshop Elements class right now. I've shot her youngest daughter and friend before and had a blast. So, when S. asked me to shoot bridals for her elder daughter, I was pretty excited about it. I knew it would be fun, and I knew that S. would like some fun and beautiful pictures.

Like many of my clients, K. didn't know what to do--didn't know how to stand or when to smile, etc. This is totally understandable, and I think it's a great portion of why people don't like to have their pictures taken. I know that I never have liked the way I looked in many pictures when I was younger. For my senior portrait, I just remember the photographer putting me in the most uncomfortable position he could think, taking three shots, and sending me on my way (he didn't even respond to my questions about photography as a career--no wonder it took me so long to get back on track!). I, however, do things differently: once I have them in the pose, I take lots of frames, from various angles and settings. This way, that uncomfortable pose is maximized!

Click through to view some more images from this shoot.

A New Photog

The following are some images made by a young friend of mine. This is his first foray with a camera, and he did a fine job--especially using a fully manual camera. Actually, this may be a contributing factor to why he did well; thinking about how to make an exposure look good, including manual focus, is key to making a good picture and sometimes all the auto settings rob you of the best pictures. Knowing how to do it manually is a boon I'm glad I learned on my cheap Ricoh with Tri-Max 400. If Mr. Barbera could see me now...

Nikon D90, 55mm micro lens, f/3.5-22, 1/80-1/200s, ISO 200.

Class of '10

L. is an artist, and an absolute dream to work with. Here's to wishing her well as she moves on to college, etc. Be sure to click through for some more images.

Flower Friday II...and III

These are a couple of works in progress. I thought you might like them--what with Mother's day coming up, and all. I have an idea for shooting these, and I work on them almost daily lately. These two are very close, and I'll be sure to alert you when I think I've nailed it.

Flower Friday

You know what they say, "April showers make wet flowers," or something.

Nikon D90, 55mm micro lens, f/5.6, 1/100s, ISO 400. 

Sadie

She lives with my Grandparents. She's some kind of Husky/lab mix. She's a continuously outputting battery of energy, too. These are the only two images that aren't blurry from her constant movement! She's very lovable, too. That's the reason we keep dogs around, I suppose.

Nikon D90, 55mm micro lens, f/5.6, 1/100s, ISO 400.

Wish-it-was-Friday Thursday

Here's a little something to get you through almost the end of the week. Maybe it should be, "Images that belong in a Spa Thursday"...?

Nikon D90, 50mm lens, f\3.5, 1/500s, ISO 200. Remember, you may use any of my pictures as your desktop background, it you like. Click on the picture to make it larger, then, in internet explorer, right click and choose set as back ground; for other browsers you may have to save it your computer before the right click trick will work. I recommend Black as a background color in your desktop properties.

To the Chapel!

I told you these two looked good! and now that their announcements are out there, and the date is almost here, I can share the rest of these with you. 

A. and K. are two of the nicest people in Cache Valley, and that's saying something. Why, just today another of their friends remarked to me about how good they are and are a good match. That's a good thing and a great way to start out. Congrats, you two.

Nikon D90.

On Lighthouses

So you're in New England a Mid-Atlantic State, like Delaware, for instance, and you think to yourself, "Gee, I have some time and a camera; what should I should I make a picture of?" Something that kind of represents the area, something that says you were in a Mid-Atlantic State, right? Huh, atlantic...that's an ocean...something ocean-y, perhaps... boats?... crabs?... salty sailors? ...oooh, maybe there's a lighthouse nearby!

You turn to your trusted resource on the web for lighthouses and find that there are indeed some lighthouses nearby. This is important, because now you can go to the camera store and ask whether you should go to the New Castle lighthouse, or if it's worth the drive to the Henlopen area. This way, the guys at the shop know you've done your homework, and are worth spending some time with on directions (you just nod and repeat a turn now and then, though, because you have a GPS in the car).

And you're off. Driving past some really terrific cemeteries that will probably look great at sunset, and past this incredible farmhouse that is going to have unbelievable light in an hour, and you continue past another amazing cemetery with a classic church house in the yard because you have a Plan for a lighthouse--a Mid-Atlantic State Lighthouse--at sunset; the kind of picture that will make your wife weep with joy that she allowed you to get all that ridiculously expensive camera equipment. Stick to the Plan.

Finally, Henlopen begins to be mispronounced by your GPS voice, and you pull up to the beach. Having double checked your settings, you open the door which is promptly slammed shut against your foot by the 82mph wind gusts. Hmm; those cemeteries are looking better and better, and you might just make it before sunset...Stick to the Plan!

You've got a choice here of two lighthouses, one on either side of a small peninsula. Choices are good, because one is always bette than the other, and you immediately spot the lighthouse you want; of course, it's the one that's much farther away. Good thing you planned to arrive at least an hour before sunset because it's a long walk out there.

And about half way you come across a fence, or the un-buried  portion of a fence. Evidently, the wind is commonly this strong around here. The sign on the fence, which runs all the way down the beach and into the water, informs you that there are endangered birds nesting on the peninsula: no entrance by order of the FIsh and Game department. As all fishermen, know, rangers are never around until the one time you break the rule.

So, you slog through the sand back to the parking lot to try the other lighthouse. When you reach the parking lot, you find that your smooth leather shoes have been sandblasted into suede. Fortunately, it looks like you can get a nice angle from the other side of the peninsula. 

So, you make your barefooted way down to the other beach until you find that those endangered birds are greedy little things requiring the entire peninsula to themselves. With this end of the fence behind you, the pier down the beach is looking like a good vantage for lighthouse pictures, and you can probably just make it by sundown.

Beaches are deceptive about how long they are. Almost to the pier, the sun is setting, so you set up your tripod and use a long lens to bring that lighthouse a bit closer. However, every frame is looking a little fuzzy. After the third time cleaning your lens you realize that despite the tripod the wind is continuously rattling your camera around, causing the fuzziness. 

The sun is set. You've got no lighthouse pictures, no cemetery pictures, and numb, sandblasted toes. Might as well make the best of it. Turn around and see if there's anything else to shoot. 

So far, the Plan has never failed me. Besides, you can always shoot lighthouses in Utah.

Nikon D90, 50mm lens, f/16, 20.0s, ISO 100.

Seamstress

Here's another of the interpreters at the American West Heritage Center. She mans the Seamstress shop, dressing in her period clothing and describing how dresses were made and worn by women of the nineteenth century. I recommend stopping by for a fitting. Uh, that is, if you're into dresses; otherwise just stop by to learn.

Nikon D90, 50mm lens, f/3.5, 1/125s, ISO 200.