Juskuz

This blog is dead...

2010-02-25T23:27:00.002-05:00

So, I've decided that I'm only going to maintain one blog and that there is no reason to separate my personal life from my business persona. In todays world of tweets and Facebook there really is no way to keep them separate. So... head on over to www.juskuz.com and feel free to delete this blog from your RSS feed.

Later.

Winterlude 2010

2010-02-09T20:36:00.003-05:00

This last weekend marked our annual trip to Ottawa for Winterlude. Winterlude is a large winter festival held each year and Mari's father and friends have been attending for the last 25ish years.

Thursday and Sunday were spent in the car driving as it takes us 15-16 hours to make the trip. Friday Mari and I went to Ikea, got in a fight, checked into our hotel, grabbed some Thai food, met up with everyone, went out for chinese, came home and went to bed. Saturday we had breakfast at a little bagel shop where they make their own bagels in a large stone fired oven. We then went ice skating (~15km), had a beavertail and hot chocolate, watched participants preparing for the bed races, went back to our hotel to sit in the hot tub, had cocktails, then went out for some greek food. The next morning we had breakfast and hit the road.

I'd share more, but that's really about all there is to it. This is the fourth year we've participated and not much has changed. It's really good to spend time with Mari's family and this year I even tried to limit everyone's exposure to my camera.

Till next year...

Later

WTF Sunday...

2010-01-31T11:50:00.001-05:00

I found this on the Wend Magazine Blog...

We need more advertising like this.

Epuron
by Youpinadi

Another WTF Moment...

2010-01-24T23:23:00.003-05:00

So, the other day Mari and I saw an AT&T advertisement where an actor basically proclaims that AT&T's network is better than Verizon's but doesn't really give any evidence to support this claim. When it was over I wondered out loud why AT&T would spend their money on an advertisement like this. Do they really believe that this is going to convince anyone to buy their product? You would think that a company as large as AT&T would take the time to do the research in order to determine what channels and approaches would best sell their product to their target demographic.

Then Mari pointed out that they probably did do all the research and it told them that this was the best approach. Sometimes it is really scary living in this country.

New Website Development...

2010-01-16T23:48:00.002-05:00

So, my new website is up and running. I did mention this before, however at the time it wasn't completely finished... and... well... it's still not completely finished. The things that are missing are the opening slideshow, and galleries of my best images.

Some of you might think this is easy. It's not. Sure, I have a ton of images... there's bound to be something good in there. Yeah, there is... I hope. The problem is sorting through all of my images. There are a lot of them, and most of them are crap. There are some decent images, and every once in a while I come across something that even borders on good. The thing is I only want to show my best images. And on top of being visually interesting I want them to say something about my photography and about me.

Visual appeal isn't enough. There are a lot of people out there that can take a good picture. I want my images to show a unique perspective, illustrate my competence with strobes, showoff my creativity (or at least fool people into thinking I'm creative).

This is why I have yet to complete those pages on my new site.

Tomorrow I am hoping to put some time in and try and figure all of this out.

Stay tuned...

What's Going On...

2010-01-09T23:36:00.002-05:00

No, that's not a question. I just thought I would share what's happening around here at this time.

Firstly, Mari finally has her corrections and will be working on those for a while. I think that is going to keep her busy for some time. However, I do believe that she is done working on the weekends for a little while. You just have to have some time off every now and again and she hasn't been getting enough of that lately.

On my side, things have been pretty busy. I'm still working at Down Wind. It's pretty much a dead end job, but the guys there have been good to me and at this point in time any income is good income.

In the photography world things have been really good. Last Sunday I went down to Marquette to shoot some portraits of a couple of paddlers for one of the kayaking magazines. While we were down there the surf happened to be pretty good, and we hooked up with some people and that led to some of the best surfing shots so far this season. On top of that Conor Mihell, the writer I worked with in Ontario, sent a proposal for a story on surfing Lake Superior to a Canadian surf mag and they were extremely receptive. They asked for some sample shots, and out of the samples requested 11 high res copies. I don't know how many or when they might end up in print, but it sounds like some of them will make the leap from the internet to the printed page.

Conor and I are also working on some other story ideas... more to come.

Bike Magazine contacted me looking for some images, ended up liking a couple, requested the high res versions, and now I am waiting to see if any of them end up in print.

Michigan Tech asked me to shoot some portraits of Steve and Caleb for an article in the new School of Business publication.

I am working with Jeff Frenette on putting together a media package for Mont Ripley... on top of getting paid we also get season passes. I'm really hoping that this venture will result in some exciting imagery. Jeff has all the connections with the young skier punk crowd... and that's what I need. They are the ones throwing down in the park and other places. Without good subjects the images won't be that good. Stay tuned... this is going to be fun.

My friend Sam just launched his website - www.theinitiativesite.com. Sam in an aspiring adventurer and is kicking things off with his potentially record setting "All-In Trek". The plan is to leave on January 1, 2011 and hike all of the major hiking trails in the US in one calendar year. The four trails he will be hiking are th AT, PCT, CDT, and NCT. That's 12,500 miles in 365 days! Yeah... crazy. Anyway, you should check out his site. I've been spending a good amount of my free time helping design it along with some business cards, postcards and stickers.

Lastly, I'm looking into an opportunity to shoot a bunch of portraits at the upcoming Noquemanon Ski Race in Marquette. I would like to create a series of portraits at the finish line of all the different individuals, put them into a book... stay tuned.

Anyway, I think that's about it. I've been pretty lazy otherwise and am upping my efforts to make sure I get out and ski (alpine or XC) at least a couple of times a week.

Cheerio!

The State of Marriage in our country...

2010-01-07T09:22:00.004-05:00

Just thought I should share this. I'm a pretty laid back guy, and not many things are able to get me as riled up as discrimination against a specific demographic. Looking back... how crazy does it seem that we used to not let women vote, or let black people drink from the same drinking fountains. It seems totally nutz.

Yet, these type of things haven't gone away. We've just redirected our efforts.

Someday, we will look back on this and wonder... WTF!?

I just wish we could get on with it already.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T18:42:00.002-05:00

Whew! The holidays are almost over. Just yesterday morning – around 1am – Mari and I arrived home from our whirlwind christmas trip. We left on the 23rd and drove 975 miles to Burlington, VT. Here we spent most of our time hanging out with family and friends, eating, drinking, and just plain relaxing.

It was really good seeing everyone and I wish we were closer so that we could hang out more often. Gertie is getting to be a small person and Ira might even remember me the next time our paths cross. Aili and Jason are doing well, and even if she wanted to, there's no way Aili could hide the fact that she's preggers. That's going to be an exciting journey and if I prayed, my prayers would be with them. Andy, Ene, Bill, and Deena are as generous as ever and easy going as ever. I really lucked out with my in-laws... I could have done a lot worse.

In other news... Tiu and Ed and Mari's aunt Kadi made the trip over from New York. They brought with them a Wii which turned out to be a holiday hit. It was a ton of fun watching all the women box in the living room.

Eventually, we had to leave, and we decided to break up the trip by visiting my parents in lower Michigan. It was only 13 hours from Burlington to Jackson... no problem. Once there though we didn't have much time. We arrived late and got on the road the next day around 3:00. It was good to see them. I just wish we could have spent a little more time there. I feel bad because we missed out on Thanksgiving in Arizona, and then to not be able to spend much time with them at Christmas just kinda tweaked me. Some years things just don't work out.

So above is a photo gallery from the trip.

Happy New Year!

This blog is not going away...

2009-12-21T23:34:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to let everyone know that even though I have a new blog... this one is not going to disappear. I would like to continue using this blog for matters that have less to do with photography and more to do with my everyday being. Don't get me wrong, there will still be a heavy photography bias, but you might also find images of Lynn and Mac's dogs or shots of Bretzl's new house.

Anyway, it all boils down to the fact that you should now check both blogs.

Later.

New Website and Blog...

2009-12-14T01:07:00.002-05:00

So, I finally got around to moving my stuff over to wordpress. I can't say that I like everything about it, and I am sad to be leaving blogger. However, my new site feels more complete and professional.

It always bothered me that I could not easily get my blogger blog to integrate very well with my website. With wordpress that is no longer an issue. Also, I've been able to add a search function that will search my entire site.

Anyway, I will not be getting rid of this blog. However, I will be using it more for personal posts, and all of my adventuring and photography related material will appear on the new site.

To get to my new site just goto www.juskuz.com and click on Blog

Later.

Keweenaw Winter Surfing Adventure

2009-12-10T10:53:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was just another day here in the Keweenaw spent driving around chasing waves and trying not to put the car in the ditch. Earlier in the week there were reports of a huge system heading our way. I might have even overheard the phrase "Storm of the Century" used. I definitely wouldn't go that far, however it was pretty windy and that meant waves.

The system settled in a little to the east and south of the Keweenaw and that made for some interesting wind. It appeared to run right down both sides of the peninsula and that made it difficult for us to decide where to go. Myself, Sam Gardner, Mike Dziobak and Pete Rynes started out at Louis Point, but it seemed messy and inconsistent. Next we moved over to Big Traverse and here Lake Superior was kickin. Sam and Mike decided to give it a go, but didn't stay out all too long as it was pushing the "too big" limit. After Big Traverse we decided that maybe we should check out Great Sand Bay... no good. Finally, we headed up to Bete Grise... again no luck. At this point we decided to call it and started the drive back to town. On the way back though, we decided to make one last stop at Big Traverse to see if things had calmed down a bit... They had, but it ended up getting to dark and we called it for good at this point.

I suppose just because it's BIG doesn't mean it good. Hopefully there will be more wind in the near future coming from a direction that is more favorable.

Here are some images from the day. I will post a more complete gallery in the next day or two.

Later.

UPDATE: Here is a more complete slideshow courtesy of Flickr.

Mikey letting us know Louis Point is no good

This is what happens when you overexpose an image and then try to bring it back in Lightroom... pretty interesting

Mikey ooohhing at the waves crashing over the breakwall

Sam jumping into the channel on his way out

What am I getting into?

Waves crashing over the breakwall

Mike making a lap

Paddling back up the channel

Taking a break and warming up in the van

Sam getting ready to go out at Great Sand Bay

Sitting... waiting...

The long walk back at Great Sand Bay

Mikey

Pete

Calling it quits at Big Traverse

Everyone knows what winter means...

2009-12-07T21:43:00.003-05:00

WINTER KAYAKING!

Yes, it is that exciting. You may think that paddling in the winter is stupid, but I am here to tell you that winter is the best time to paddle. Once you get past the fact that the air is cold, the water is cold, and if you go in there's a good chance you aren't going to come out... it's a ton of fun. It does require a bit more planning, and a bit more gear than kayaking in the summer, but it is worth it.

Everything is more beautiful in the winter and even though we usually don't have a problem with crowds around here... there are even less people. Plus you get to be that person that everyone looks at with one eyebrow raised because there's snow on the ground, it's 25 degrees out and you have three kayaks on top of you car. That's right... you could be that person.

On another note... the memory card that contains the bulk of the images I shot today is currently PhotoRescue ICU and they are doing everything they can to stabilize it's condition. However, you should know... the outlook is bleak.

In the meantime here are some other snaps I took while Sam and Matt were waiting for me to get my shit together.

Later.

It's Snowing Outside...

2009-12-07T08:19:00.002-05:00

So, this winter started off pretty weak. Usually we have some significant snowfall by the beginning of December. When I say significant I don't mean 3 feet. I'm just saying we usually have something on the ground. This year it was definitely a different situation. Up until a few days ago we hadn't had anything. Maybe some slushy rain, or some sleet, but nothing that stuck around.

Today, I am happy to say that the winter season is finally open! I don't know exactly what our snow totals are for the last couple of days. The snowfall in this area is very localized and just a mile or two can be the difference between 2 inches and 2 feet. Anyway, what I do know is that at our house we have probably seen somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 inches. It's that nice light stuff which makes shoveling easy.

Anyway, I'm supposed to go paddling later today, and hopefully for a ski this evening. In the meantime here are a couple of pics.

Later.

MTU Photography...

2009-12-01T12:30:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I did some more work for the university. Part of me really likes these opportunities, and part of me doesn't. Typically, I go into one of these assignments without a plan and with directions that boil down to..."Shoot a little of everything". I find it difficult to know what to focus on, and I hate leaving not knowing whether or not I have what I need.

It can be frustrating. I know that they are only looking for one or two images, and I feel that if a small amount of planning were to take place ahead of time I would know where to focus my attention and I could spend my time making sure that those one or two images are as good as they can be. Without having some focus I find myself actually trying to shoot a little bit of everything and making sure I have options instead of spending time improving the images. I know that you can't always plan everything, but I can only imagine that as the writer is working on the article or as the designer thinks about the layout they must be picturing something in their mind. If I could only get them to verbalize it.

Anyway, there is another side... the part of me that likes the challenge. Yesterday I went into this assignment not knowing where we were going to shoot, whether they wanted it lit or natural, how the image was going to be used - full page, spread, inset, etc... Also, the designer and writer came with which is kind of a double edge sword. It gives the subject someone to interact with during the shoot, but it also hinders my interaction with them. The only thing I am not happy with is how the shadow cast by the nose connects with the shadow side of the face. I should have move my flash a little more to the right to push that shadow back to the left a little.

Overall, I think it went pretty well. I left work, drove to campus, met with the writer and designer, walked over to Rekhi, scouted the location, set up my lights, had our session, packed up, stopped by the marketing office to get their FTP info, and was back at work in just a little under an 1.5 hours. The lack of a plan is frustrating to me, but I realize it is part of the job. I just wish there was a little more communication.

Above is one of the out takes from the session. I used two lights... one bare coming from camera left, and one thru a shoot-thru umbrella on camera right as fill. Both were gelled with full CTO's and adjusted my WB to taste which pushed the daylight coming in from the skylight to blue while maintaining a slightly warm color on my subject. Nothing special of exceptional, but quick and clean.

Anyway, I always appreciate comments.

Later.

First snow... sorta

2009-11-30T23:44:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to post a few images in honor or the falling snow. Truthfully, this isn't the first snow of the year. However, it is the first snow that might actually stick around for a little while.

Soon we'll be skiing.

Later.

Self Portrait Session...

2009-11-27T08:48:00.003-05:00

So, I really want to work on my portraiture. However, it's sometimes difficult to find people to sit in front of the camera. Fortunately, I always have me around. Here are some examples of a head shot whose setup requires very little space and I could pretty much execute just about anywhere. I think the results are pretty great, and I really like the combination of white background and black and white treatment as it doesn't clutter the frame and allows you to focus on the subject. I can see why there have been so many projects shot in this style.

Anyway, here are some larger examples of the images making up the composite above.

Later.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T12:10:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Neither Mari or I can be with family this year, but at least we have each other... and a small group of people from the geology department to feed us this evening.

Well, I suppose I have pie and mash taters to make...

Later.

Ahhh... isn't the Keweenaw awesome!

2009-11-22T01:03:00.004-05:00

This evening Sam Gardner and I decided it was time to see if we could find his "Secret Spot". This so called "Secret Spot" is a cave above tree line in one of the cliffs here in the U.P. In one of the images below you can see that it was about 20 or so feet up from the base of the cliff and the view was pretty incredible. We got there a little late and the light was pretty shitty. Also, I forgot my tripod so we pretty much wrote this outing off as a sort of "proof of concept" adventure.

Before we found the cave the light was anything but shitty... as you can see in some of the images.

So, I always tell myself that I need to spend more time practicing and developing my writing skills and that this blog is the place to do it. However, I usually just want to share my images and type a little as possible. So, if you are interested to find out more... let me know in the comments area.

Otherwise... just enjoy the pics.

Greg OUT!

Portrait of Sam taken in my living room before we left. He is working on a project of sorts and these outings are efforts to collect imagery in support of said project.

Getting our bearings while enjoying an incredible sunset... should probably get moving a little sooner next time, as finding caves high up in a cliff proves more difficult when lacking light.

Here you can kind of get an idea of how far up the cliff the cave was... makes for an interesting descent once the lights go out.

Was hoping for an image like this... maybe next time. (this is a composite - cut out the black hole that was the sky and inserted the shot of the moon)

Checking the weather to see if the sky was going to clear up anytime soon... ain't technology wonderful.

Quick side trip out to McLain State Park to see if the sky was any clearer over the lake... It was kinda/sorta. The fog obscured the horizon, but high above the stars were out in force.

Just love this shot...

2009-11-20T21:23:00.001-05:00

Day One Hundred
Originally uploaded by Dustin Diaz

Came upon this photo on Flickr... I just really love it... the setup, the light, everything... very cool.

Wish I would have taken it.

Some Hairydoughnut Love...

2009-11-15T18:33:00.003-05:00

Check out the short clips from Chris Marr and Jason Manders. These guys do some great stuff and Chris is currently working on a project that we aren't allowed to speak of just yet. Stay tuned... more to come!

Skateboarding and Explosions in Slo-mo... need I say more?

2009-11-10T08:51:00.001-05:00

Gales of November - Teaser

2009-11-09T09:11:00.006-05:00

Always good to leave a note

What a great weekend. I had the opportunity to paddle in a beautiful area, met some amazing people, and just plain had a good time. However, I'm going to be late for work if I sit here much longer, but I thought I would try and get a couple images out there. I will be post more later... check back!

Greg OUT!

Getting ready to paddle at Sinclair Cove

Pictographs along the shore featuring Mishipeshu the cause of all rapids, waves and whirlpools

Dave and Dave under the pictographs

Dave working his way back to the parking lot

Just another sunset over Lake Superior

Ultimate Backcountry Machine...

2009-11-03T21:23:00.002-05:00

Seats 4 comfortably with space for gear or dogs...

More Surfing Fun on Lake Superior...

2009-11-02T21:22:00.007-05:00

Well, the waves were pretty decent again...

I saw the forecast for today and it looked pretty promising. The wind was going to be blowing all day and the waves were forecast to start picking up in the evening. The only question was whether or not things would get good before it got dark. Yesterday after seeing the forecast I called Timmy to find out if he wanted to join me. The last time we went out I had the wetsuit and I thought that it was only fair for him to get to use the wetsuit this time. My plan was to use the drysuit I'm borrowing (thanks Sammy) and head out in the kayak. However, things did not go as planned.

When we got out to Mclain State Park we found the lake in good shape. Timmy finished putting on the suit and headed out, while I grabbed the camera to snap a few shots. I should have known better than to grab my camera. Once I started taking photos I couldn't stop. I never did make it back to the car to unload my kayak and the images are ok, but shooting in such low light means using a higher ISO than I would prefer. With my D300 I find that much above ISO 800 and the images start getting noisier than I would like. What are you going to do... most of these images were shot at ISO 1250, F2.8, 1/200. As things got darker I just bumped the ISO and the later images got up to ISO 3200... and were still really dark, hence the conversion to black and white and some pushing around of the sliders in Lightroom.

It was a good night. I'm hoping things pick up again in the next couple of days as I would like to get out again. In the meantime enjoy the pics.

Later

Cowabunga! - First Time Surfing on Lake Superior

2009-11-01T10:40:00.002-05:00

wow... aren't these suits attractive

Let me preface this post with...I had/have no idea what I was doing.

Now that we have that out of the way...

Wow, yesterday was a ton of fun. My friend Sam was out of town and had left his board and suit in case the conditions were such that I could get out and give it a go. So, I had been watching the weather for the last couple of days and yesterday was the day.

I started the day off by getting up early and heading out to McLain State Park a little after 7:30am. It was still dark, but I wanted to get out there and get ready so I could be in the water as soon as it was light enough as I had to be to work at 10:00. Finally around 8:00 it was light enough for me to feel comfortable getting out in the water. Standing out in the wind I was feeling a bit of a chill, but that would soon go away once I got in the water.

You would think that getting up early to go jump into water that's in the low to mid 40's with air temps a touch below 40 degrees isn't the smartest thing in the world. Also, it might be hard to believe that you could be comfortable in said conditions. Well, I just want you all to know that it is smart, and you stay plenty warm.

The first couple of times I paddled out through the waves just to see what that was like. First, it is a great way to warm up. Secondly, it's a lot of work and I found it more enjoyable to run out to the end of the breakwall and then jump in.

So a little after 9:00 I decided I needed to get out and get on my way to work. When I got to the parking lot Pete Rynes had shown up and Mike Dziobak wasn't too far behind. I wished them well, went home, showered, dropped Mari off at school, and made it to work before 10 after 10... not bad.

Work was fun, but the waves weren't going away. Timmy Kostner called and wondered if I was headed out again and decided to come along. I left work at 5:00 and headed home to grab a drysuit for Timmy and to put on the wetsuit... it's a pain in the ass. We then headed back out to McLain.

When we got there Pete was just leaving and Mike was still at it. We got ready and then I made a couple of runs before Timmy gave it a go. I think not having a hood kind of deterred him from going again. He ended up leaving and I stayed out for a while longer.

In all I think I spent a little over 3 hours in the water yesterday. I didn't get up once, but by the end I could get on all fours... but not completely stand up. It's a lot harder than people make it look. Monday is looking like another good day. Hopefully I'll make it out again.

Here are some pics from Timmy's camera

Later.

Me... taking the plunge!

Some wave action...

Mikey making it look easy...

Timmy giving it a go...

Surfboards make great body boards...

This was a pretty typical scene...

Timmy and Tucker... all smiles!

Cokin Filter System Review...

2009-10-31T22:25:00.005-04:00

UPDATE: Here's an advantage to the Cokin P-system that you might not be aware of... When the adapter ring is on Nikon's 70-200 2.8 it doesn't stick out very far and is almost impossible to use. You can unscrew the filter a bit and the filter holder will go on. Now what this means is that I can leave the adapter ring on and my hood will fit over it. Now you can't use the hood and the filters at the same time, but when not using the filters I don't have to take the adapter ring off... cool... yes it is.

Alright... now initially I was going to write a big bitchy post about how much this system sucks... but I don't think that will be as productive as it could be.

What I am going to do is complain about all the other reviews out there. Before purchasing this setup I did some research and a lot of people were saying that the P-series holder sucked. However, they were stating why it sucked and in the meantime it appeared like they continued to use the system. I don't see how writing a review of something and just saying it sucks helps anyone. Maybe it will make you feel better, but it's not productive.

Now, in the face of all the poor reviews I went ahead and purchased the Cokin P-series filter holder, 77mm adapter ring, and the P121S (soft, 3 stop graduated ND). Now, I don't expect too much from the filter. It was cheap and if I like what I see than I will invest in something made out of glass from one of those other companies.

It's the filter holder system that's putting a twist in my knickers. The actual holder itself is pretty decent. It didn't cost much, it seems pretty durable, and it holds the filters securely. Not too much to complain about here except some vignetting... but I expected that... so it's not really a fault.

The thing that sucks about this system, and I'm sure many of the other reviewers just forgot to specify this, is the adapter ring. This ring threads into your lens and creates the flange that the filter holder mounts onto. The 77mm size doesn't consist of very much metal and the one I received was all bunged to hell and required quite a bit of "adjusting" to get it even close to being flat/true so that I could screw it onto my lenses without feeling like I was going to bung up the threads.

Now, if you are using a lens with a smaller diameter... I think you will be just fine. These adapter rings will have significantly more material which should help keep them true throughout the manufacturing/shipping process. As for using the P-series filters on lenses with a 77mm diameter... probably shouldn't do it. You should most definitely be using the "Z-Pro" series which is 100mm and whose adapter ring should be less prone to getting bunged up. Yeah... it is more expensive, but you just paid almost $2000 for that 24-70 f2.8... remember, you get what you pay for.

So, I guess I don't really have a beef with the Cokin filter system. I should have bought the Z-pro system, but I didn't. I'll play around with this and if I like it I will upgrade.

I hope this is helpful. If not let me know... I hate wasting my time reading useless info. Don't let me waste yours.

Later.

Playing around in post... and thinking...

2009-10-25T23:28:00.004-04:00

This evening I was thinking about my upcoming trip to Ontario to photograph the Gales of November. I've never done anything like this before... I wanted to... I want to... but I thought that I would get to assist someone else before it was my turn to step up to the plate. Now, I'm not worried about producing great images. I've got quite a few ideas, and in the end I feel like it will all come down to conditions and time. What I am worried about is all of the other stuff that transpires that is not directly related to creating the image, but is essential to the image making process.

Things like getting to the site of the event, feeding myself, lodging, equipment insurance, etc... Who is going to pay for these things. I've been told that I will receive a $100 travel premium and I'm sure that's not going to cover my expenses. Part of me doesn't care as this is one of those opportunities that I can't pass up... and I get to go kayaking. However, another part of me knows that doing jobs like this isn't a sustainable business model. What I'm hoping to glean are those things that would make this employment path sustainable.

Also, I was thinking about the fact that the information I received concerned with delivering my images has me providing the RAW files. Now, I totally understand wanting to see the RAW file to make sure that images weren't fabricated and that the photographer is doing their job with the camera and not in photoshop. However, the RAW files will need to be processed and I am not comfortable letting someone else do my processing. And part of me isn't really that comfortable letting someone else crop my image, as that too changes the story that the image tells. I should have control of the way that my images are presented. Good or bad... it should ultimately fall on me.

Hopefully I am just naive and most of these issues will be cleared up once I talk to the editor.

Anyway, with that in mind... what do you guys think of the images below? This first one is the original image... more or less. I'm sure that when I originally processed it there were some black and white point adjustments, a curves adjustment to add some contrast, and probably a little tweaking of the colors. Not totally sure on those, but those are my typical goto's when in photoshop or lightroom.

The second image is something I worked up this evening pretty quick-like. While looking at it this time I felt it was a little "cool". So, I warmed it up a little, bumped the colors and the contrast, and added a little creative vignette which most of you probably wouldn't/don't even notice.

So, I guess what I would like to know is which one you like the most and why? Does that fact that I goosed one in photoshop bother you? When you saw the photo at the top did you think, "That has to be photoshopped"?

Please feel free to leave any other comments...

Later.

Seattle - Day 2 & 3

2009-10-25T20:18:00.005-04:00

So, the big plan for this trip was to get out camping somewhere. I've been out to Seattle a couple of times now, and the city is great, but it is still a city. Last year over Thanksgiving I was out for an extended amount of time and found myself really bored of city life. This time I was determined to stay busy. Also, with Justin coming out, I knew I would have a partner in crime no matter what we decided to do. So, we went out there knowing that we were going to try and go camping, but not really having a plan as to where and when. On Sunday (day 2) Justin and I stopped at REI and to try and gather some information concerning the different backpacking options in the area. Inside we were greeted by a woman that was extremely determined to help us and had a lot of great information. However, in hindsight, the trail she suggested didn't meet the criteria that we provided. So, despite her enthusiasm I am going to have to give her 2 stars out of 5.

After all of the information gathering, we decided to tackle the Thunder Creek Trail in the North Cascades. That night when Eric got back into town we still needed to to some convincing and eventually he decided to take another two days off from work to come with us. The next morning we got up kind of early and headed into REI so that Eric could pick up some hiking pants and a pair of hiking boots. Then we got in the car and started driving. We only had two days to be out as Johnny had Wednesday and Thursday off and I wanted to be back to be able to hang out with him. Also, Eric was happy to go hiking, but I could tell that he was feeling like he needed to get back to work as soon as he could.

In the end it as a beautiful drive up into the mountains and the hiking we got to do was great. The colors were out and the temps were perfect. We ended up having to do a little hiking in the dark to reach our campsite, but it was all good. I like these little adventures. Yeah they're a little lame, but we got out. We weren't stuck back in the city wandering around buy overpriced coffee and wishing we were somewhere else. Also, the company couldn't have been better and this trip is something that could easily be repeated on a weekend.

Anyway, you may have noticed that my picture taking has been a little sporadic. Lately, I've been struggling with whether or not to take my camera, and even sometimes when I have my camera with, whether or not to take it out and take photos. It's not that I'm getting tired of taking photos, but I do feel that sometimes I get caught up in the image making and forget to enjoy the experience at hand. On top of that I want to start messing around with video and was using my little P&S to capture some different moments in order to have the raw materials to play with. So, as you will notice I didn't take too many photos on the way to the Cascades or on the initial hike out. On the return trip I did decide to pull the camera out and that is why there are more images from our trip back to the car.

So... here are some images from the trip... Like Them!

Greg Out!

Can you say distraction?

Justin just couldn't resist getting a coffee from a bikini clad barista...

Getting ready in the parking lot...

Creepy shot of Eric lit with my headlamp...

Home sweet home...

All I can say is that 3 guys in a 2 guy tent = warm...

Eric refilling his water bottles -- the water here tasted awesome!

Self portrait... I never get to be in any of the photos

Seattle - Day 1 & 2...

2009-10-25T10:57:00.005-04:00

Typical photo from Kerry Park...

So, I'm back from Seattle. It is always a lot of fun out there, and this time it was especially fun because my friend Justin from Idaho made the trip also. I don't often get to see him, and because I'm so bad at answering my phone... I don't get to talk to him that much either. Anyway, the plan was to not have much of a plan. We knew that we were going to try and hang out with my brothers John and Eric, that we were going to try and go hiking somewhere, and that, if possible, we would try to fly down to Portland to visit Mari who was attending a conference.

On Saturday I flew into Seatac and met Johnny in the baggage claim area, he gave me a key and told me how to get to their place. Johnny was working a double so he had to go back to work and wouldn't get home until around 7am. In the meantime, Justin picked me up and we headed into the city, found their place, and went to bed.

The next day Johnny had to work again, and Eric wasn't due back from Grand Rapids until late. So, Justin and I decided to hit the city on foot. However, before that could happen we needed to get out of the house. Apparently, the place where John and Eric were living had been broken into a couple of weeks ago. The door had been kicked in and the door and frame had been broken. You'd think this would have been something to fix quickly. However, the landlord thought that the tenants should pay for it, while Eric and Johnny thought otherwise. In the interim, as a quick fix, the landlord had screwed the door shut. This meant that you had to go through the garage or squeeze around back.

Here's Justin making himself smaller so we can leave the apartment...

How does Johnny do it?

After escaping from the apartment Justin and I headed towards downtown, stopping first at REI to get some info about backpacking in the Cascades and the Olympics and to look around. Unfortunately, there was a sale taking place and Justin was forced to pick up a few odds and ends. Below you can see a creeper photo of Justin and a freaked out check-out girl.

After REI we swung by Glazer's Camera store... just took a look around, then decided that we were hungry and started looking for places to eat. We just happened upon Zeek's, a pizza joint near the space needle. I had eaten here once before and started really craving their Thai pizza. I convinced Justin that this is where we needed to eat and we ended up getting the Thai Pizza and another one called the Cherry Bomb... both were awesome!

After lunch we continued downtown stopping for coffee near the Catholic Seaman's Club... don't ask... we didn't. We then cruised through Pikes market as things were closing up, made a detour past the gum wall, then turned around stopping at the space needle before heading back to the apartment.

Approaching the Gum Wall...

Justin recently purchased himself a pretty nice dslr... the T1i from Canon, and he was looking for opportunities to use it. So, after resting for a little while we decided to jump in the car and go looking for a place to take a good photo of the city. You'd think that we would have just gotten on Flickr found some images of the city we liked and looked to see where they were taken. However, that's not how we roll... so we just jumped in the car, fired up the GPS, and started driving.

The first place we ended up was off limits to motor vehicles and would have required some significant walking to get to where we wanted to go. The second place we ended up might have had a decent view if there hadn't been a marina in the way. The third place we stopped had some good views... but wasn't great. The fourth place we ended up didn't have any good views, but the street the park was on offered a unique vantage point.

At this point we were rather close to calling it a night. However, many of the streets around this location continued to go up. So... what the heck... let's see where they go... "Hey look, there's another park up ahead"... "Kerry park..? Well, let's check it out".

What we didn't know was that this was the place where everyone goes to take photos of the city. There were buses dropping people off with their cameras... it was pretty crazy, although not incredibly busy. Anyway, the view was pretty decent and we did take a photo or two. Below, after taking few photos of my own, I made it my mission to document Justin documenting the city.

After the photo excursion we headed back to the apartment and waited for Johnny and Eric to get home, then went to bed.

What happened next will have to wait... Seattle - Day 3&4 coming soon

Decisions... decisions...

2009-10-16T14:32:00.002-04:00

So, I am getting everything together to head out to Seattle this week. I am planning on spending at least a couple of day backpacking in the Cascades or possibly in the Olympics. Nothing is set in stone... we're planning on just winging it. I just hope this doesn't backfire on us.

Anyway, I'm trying to figure out what photography equipment I am going to take and how I am going to transport it. I've been going back and forth and I think that I'm going to go with a minimal kit. I'll probably wish I had a longer lens, or a tripod, or some other piece of kit... but what fun is that. If I did bring everything I would probably spend too much time switching out different items that I would miss out on many an opportunity.

So, here's what I'm bringing:

- D300 w/out the battery grip

- 35mm f2.0

- 10.5mm f2.8

- well used 18-70 f3.5-4.5 - it's a good carry around lens, small, and I don't really care if it gets beat up

I'm not taking any kind of flash, support, etc... I'm just going to try and enjoy this trip and make due with these few items.

That's it for now... next post will be after I get back and hopefully I'll have a couple of decent shots to show off.

Later.

NOTE: The lead in photo has nothing to do with this post... I just needed an image to lead off and this was laying around on my desktop. So, Nelson... if you see this... this is the image I've been trying to get to you. You can click on it and download it at it's full res.

My first assignment...

2009-10-12T23:35:00.003-04:00

So, tonight after the photography club's weekly meeting I was driving home and saw that the lights at the football field were on. It just so happened to be snowing at this time so I pulled over real quick-like, got out the camera and shot a few frames. Now, this isn't anything special... but I thought it was interesting. Also, it has nothing to do with the title or this post.

What I am really excited about right now is an opportunity that recently presented itself. From what I can gather, Ryan Labar showed some images I took of friends surfing on Lake Superior to a friend at Bike Magazine, they then passed it on to someone else, and blah... blah... blah... they ended up on the desk of the editor for Canoe and Kayak and Standup Paddling Magazines. At this point it seems that Jeff Moag, the editor @ C&K, happened to be looking for images of people SUP'ing on Lake Superior and contacted me wanting to know if I had any . I didn't, but I did get him the contact info of a couple of people that might.

From here I'm not to sure what happened, but the result was Jeff offering me the opportunity to go take photos for Canoe and Kayak at a kayak surf gathering on the Canadian shore of Lake Superior.

I accepted.

So... here I am. I don't think this opportunity is going to generate a lot of money, but I do hope that it is a good experience. Actually, I know it will be a good experience. To be honest... I'm clueless as to how this process works and what better way to figure it out than to participate. Also, maybe I'll get an image or two published in a national mag. How cool would that be... yeah pretty cool.

Anyway, I've got some ideas for unique paddling shots that I would like to try. Hopefully, they look as cool on the computer as they do in my head.

Stay tuned...

First Snow!

2009-10-10T12:36:00.002-04:00

Well... it finally happened. I have to say, I was pretty sure that it was just going to be rain. However, when I returned to the bedroom after showering I was met by a white world outside. It's kind of exciting, but also a little sad. I really like the snow. I enjoy xc skiing and snowboarding. Also, this is one of my favorite times to paddle. However... I do not like moving snow.

Fortunately, this little dusting we got probably won't stick. It'll be another month of two before I have to start worrying about shoveling. In the meantime, here are some snapshots from the day.

Later.

What if Facebook friends were "Real" friends...

2009-10-09T08:49:00.000-04:00

I don't like getting screwed either...

2009-10-07T15:13:00.002-04:00

Copper Harbor Trails Club Photos...

2009-10-04T19:53:00.010-04:00

A little dampness on the way back to town...

So, we finally got some photos of the trails up in Copper Harbor. We've been trying to schedule this shoot for quite a while now. Every time the weather has been less than cooperative. This weekend the only difference was that we decided to go out anyway.

We were up early and made it to Copper Harbor just a little after 8AM. We woke Sammy up and he called Steve Peters who was interested in going for a ride and ended up being a great guide. We then headed up stairway to heaven to Here We Go, over to Garden Brook, then Whoop De Woo, and back to town. We stayed pretty dry for most of the ride, but on the way back down Garden Brook to town the temp dropped and we ended up getting a little damp. For the most part it was a pretty decent ride.

The light was decent, but a little low. Most of the images here were shot at iso 400 or 800 and at f2.8 or f4.0. I brought in a flash for the majority of the images to open up the shadows a little and to help freeze the action. Most of the images here were shot at 1/200 or 1/160. I know that 1/250 would be better for freezing the action, however using 1/250 would have dropped the ambient light more than I wanted. Also, a slightly slower shutter speed allows a little blur to creep into the photos giving a sense of speed. I suppose this is all a matter of taste, and I think they turned out pretty well. Anyway... in the past I've kinda punched the scene in the face with flash. Today I attempted to be a little more subtle. I wanted to open up the shadows, but not make it obvious that a flash was used.

Anyway, I hope the Copper Harbor Trails Club likes what we came away with. They're doing a really great job with the trail system up there and I actually just got an email letting everyone know that the Copper Harbor Trails have been awarded "Epic" status by IMBA.

So, if you haven't made it up to Copper Harbor to ride, I just want you to know that you are missing out.

Later.

Surfing related WTF...

2009-10-02T22:00:00.002-04:00

surfing big wave from samcristoper on Vimeo.

Squonk Opera is coming to Houghton!

2009-10-01T18:23:00.003-04:00

Image stolen from the Squonk Opera website

Well, it's official... the Squonk Opera is coming to Houghton.

What is the Squonk Opera you ask? I don't know.

Wikipedia to the rescue...

Squonk Opera is a group of interdisciplinary performing artists from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Led by artistic directors Jackie Dempsey and Steve O'Hearn, Squonk Opera formed in 1992 and has created nine distinct shows and performed in over 200 venues in the United States (as of 2006). In the 2003/2004 season, they also began performing outside their home country, doing shows in Scotland, Belgium, and South Korea.

Squonk Opera's shows consist of music, visual art, and acting elements in an attempt to make a form of opera accessible to all people. The group "like to think of ourselves as a wacky, provincial opera company," says Dempsey, who named the group "Squonk" after a description of a jazz saxophonist's playing as a "squonk-fest", rather than the legendary creature of the same name.

If you need to know more you should visit their site: Squonk Opera.

So, about now you are probably wondering what the connection is between this group and myself. Really... Greg and Opera?

Well, it just so happens that they contacted me and might be interested in using some of my photography and a couple of time-lapse videos that I've done in the past. Also, they would like to set up an interview so they can more easily make fun of me on stage... actually, I'm not really sure what it is for, but it can't be good.

Anyway, it really does sound pretty interesting and as I learn more about it I will keep you up to date. In the meantime, open up your calendar and goto December 11th. Now pencil in Squonk Opera at 7:30pm... you probably don't want to miss it.

Later.

Lake Superior Surfing - Great Sand Bay

2009-09-30T10:34:00.007-04:00

Well, here are some images that I was really excited to get out and make. Over the last couple of days there has been a pretty substantial system that moved through the area. Forecasts were all over the place... everything from 30-70 knot winds and 18-27 foot waves. Anyway, my friend Sam decided it would be worth it to drive back from downstate just in case there ended up being any good surf. So, on Monday night after work, Mari and I drove up to Great Sand Bay to meet Sam, Beefy, Robbie, and one other friend.

When we got there I almost couldn't believe how big the waves on the lake were. Some of them were easily pushing 18-20 ft and it became even more apparent once some of the guys got out there and and provided a point of reference.

Anyway, I want to apologize for the quality of the images ahead of time. Many of these were shot at iso 3200, f2.8, and around 1/60 to 1/160 of a sec. These settings don't make for the best image quality. I'm just glad I came away with anything and that my camera still works considering the rain/sand/wind.

Also, some of these images have been cropped from a larger image. I was stuck on shore with a 200mm lens and could not get nearly as close as I would have liked. If anyone out there has a 400mm f2.8 they would like to gift me... I would definitely take you up on that.

Here are the pics from Monday night.

(click image for larger version)

After the session on Monday evening, Sam and I decided to return early the next morning to see what we could see. So, Sam picked me up at 6:30... well... it was probably more like 6:45 as I forgot to turn on my alarm and was awakened by the sound of my phone vibrating next to me. Eventually we made it back up to GSB and found that the waves had mellowed out quite a bit. They were still pretty big, but nothing like the night before. Sam got a couple of decent rides, but we had to cut it kind of short in order for me to get to work on time... sorta.

Here are some pics from the Tuesday morning session. I am now seriously considering getting a suit and board. This looks like a ton of fun. I just don't know if I can justify it at this time. It's really kinda of a bummer not getting to participate a little. Maybe I can borrow some stuff and giver a go.

Later.

Collegiate MTB Race - Copper Harbor

2009-09-26T23:27:00.006-04:00

Not too much going on here. Thought the collegiate race up in Copper Harbor, hosted by Michigan Tech's Cycling Club, would be a good chance to get out and play around with the camera and lights. I'm getting to the point with my race photography here in the Keweenaw that seems a little stale to me. I'm need to mix it up a bit more, and it always seems like I fall prey to an old habit - mixing on camera flash and slow shutter speed. I like it because it gives pretty consistent results and it is easy to do whilst walking down the trail as I only need to focus the camera for a decent result.

However, as consistent as it is, it doesn't really do that much for me anymore. I can't imagine that I've tapped all the possibilities around here... I think I just need to go do something else and come back to it with a fresh eye.

Cyclocross season is starting up... maybe that's what I need?

Till then...

MTU Football vs GVSU

2009-09-26T22:54:00.005-04:00

First off... we got our asses handed to us. I won't even repeat the score here as usually numbers that high are only seen in basketball games.

Anyway, I'm pretty behind in some of my posting and in the next day or two there are going to be more images and less verbal dribble.

Today I spent the morning in Copper Harbor shooting one of the collegiate mountain bike races. I will post those images shortly, but as a heads up, they aren't anything special. I've really been struggling to do something new with the race photos and haven't been having the greatest luck. Anyway, those will go up shortly and we can continue this there.

After the MTB race, I was planning on just heading back to town and hanging with Mari. However, the weather had other plans. It had been overcast and grey for most of the day and I had written off shooting the football game this evening as the light was going to suck. As I was headed into town though, I noticed that the sky was clearing up pretty nicely. I then told Mari that I wasn't going to hang out with her – still dealing with the consequences from that – and went to the game to see what I could see. I sweet talked my way onto the field (no press pass) and proceeded to take some photos.

Here's what I came home with.

Hope you like.

Later.

John van der Laan doing his best to get the rest of the Huskies football squad pumped UP!

A day off...

2009-09-21T10:38:00.001-04:00

Went paddling on Thursday. It was great. Wasn't super windy, but the water was fairly active. Nothing crazy, just enough to make many of the little rocky passages a little more interesting.

The plan was to paddle down to Fish Cove. We ended up overshooting a bit, but no biggie. In all we probably paddled 15-16 miles. It was great. I need to do that more often.

Enjoy the pics.

Rachel and Cory's Wedding...

2009-09-21T09:04:00.005-04:00

Another beautiful wedding at the Mountain Lodge in Copper Harbor. I just wanted to congratulate Rachel and Cory. I hope you guys had a great time mountain biking out west. Anyway, I just thought I would post some of the images from the event.

Later.

Taglione Senior Pics...

2009-09-20T21:49:00.003-04:00

This evening I met with two super nice kids to take their senior pictures. Richard and Valerie were really easy going and I had a lot of fun working with them to create these images. However, if I had to do it again, I would have scheduled them separately and then scheduled a third shorter shoot to get some images of them together.

Usually having your portrait taken isn't the most comfortable thing to do. You've got some guy you don't know (me) pointing this huge camera at your face and asking you to "smile", "look like your having fun", "relax". How you can really relax in a situation like this. Truthfully, I don't think you can, and that's why it's nice to have at least an hour to work someone. In the beginning it is awkward, but you push through it and eventually you get to know each other and people start to loosen up. Usually, towards the end of the session is when you start to get some of the best images. Images where the subject is relaxed, and really having a good time.

This session did not work that way. Richard and Valerie showed up with their older sister, who is a super nice person. But this created a situation where I was the outsider. This made it hard for me to get a conversation going and start to get to know the subjects. Part of it is me needing to develop my small talk skills, but part of it was the fact that there were two other people there that they were more comfortable with. During the session we would switch between brother and sister and when they weren't with me they were hanging out with big sis. This meant that every time I got one of them in front of the camera it was like they were sitting there for the first time again.

As much as I think this could have been better, I do think we came away with some nice images. I'd love to hear what you think. Leave you comments in the comment area at the bottom of the post.

Greg OUT!

2009 Color Tour...

2009-09-20T09:25:00.003-04:00

So, to tell you the truth I didn't really plan on taking any images of the color tour this year. However, one of the cycling brochures that WUPPDR is responsible is getting ready to go to print and they were looking for a new photo that wasn't Lori. There were three conditions for the images, they had to have a cyclist in them, they had to show off some of the bike facilities in the area, and they had to be generic.

The images needed to be in early this week and I thought the color tour would be the perfect opportunity to grab some shots that would work. Problem was that I had to work on Saturday. So, I grabbed the cam and headed down the Color Tour route until I found a long straightaway with a wide shoulder (bike facilities), and nothing but trees in the background (generic). Now just to wait for the Color Tour participants (cyclists).

In the end these were two of my favorites for the project. Nothing super spectacular, but both images have cyclists that are dressed like typical commuters, you can see the width and cleanliness of the shoulder, the smoothness of the newer asphalt, and in case you missed how wide the shoulder was the cyclists are riding two abreast. Hopefully, the people responsible will think the same.

That's all I got.

Greg OUT!

Astrophotography at Quincy Mine...

2009-09-19T01:24:00.003-04:00

Well, it's currently 1:30am, Mari and Lynner are watching a movie... well I think Lynner is sleeping. Anyway, I am not asleep yet so I just thought I would throw these up.

The Michigan Tech Camera Club set up a meeting this evening at the Quincy Mine to take advantage of the new moon this evening. On my way up to the mine I pulled over at this little pile of mine rock that overlooks the portage and snapped a couple of shots from there. You can see campus and the bridge pretty well. Not super interesting... so what.

The rest of the image are from up at the mine. There were a surprising number of street lights and other light sources that at first didn't seem to be much of a problem, but it would be interesting to shoot somewhere they didn't exist.

Well, enjoy the images. I think I'm going to go try and get some sleep.

Later.

It's funny how throwing the image slightly out of focus helps draw your attention to the stars that make up the big dipper.

Erik and LInda's Wedding...

2009-09-17T20:46:00.003-04:00

So, I'm finally getting around to posting some of the images from Erik and Linda's wedding last weekend. It was a very nice event, and I was really surprised at how nice the location was for the ceremony. Anyway, I didn't want to carry a lot of stuff around and I was hoping to have a little fun... so... the only lens I brought was my fisheye. And what you see here is what I came home with.

Anyway, congratulations Erik and Linda. I think you two will be very happy together.

The rest of you... hope you like the pics.

Greg OUT!

Snapshots...

2009-09-13T23:59:00.003-04:00

Just wanted to drop a few shots from the weekend. Yesterday was our friends Erik and Linda's wedding up in Copper Harbor. Congrats to them, it was a great time. The image at the end is from the evening at the lodge. I have a few more images, but I am going to post them separately.

The other images are from today. I was out playing around trying to get a good image of road biking in the Keweenaw. The problem was that I was by myself today and shooting and riding at the same time is pretty difficult. So, I broke out the old superclamp and magic arm to see what I could come up with. I really need to find some fresh pavement and wait till later in the day to get the quality shot I am looking for. Also, these new bikes with all of their specially shaped tubes really reduce the number of places where you can mount a camera. I'll have to play around some more and try and figure out a better perspective. More to come.

The other images are just me driving around with the above rig mounted on the car. I had it with and it was ready to go, so why not... right.

Anyway, enjoy the images.

Later.

Fat Tire 2009...

2009-09-07T08:35:00.021-04:00

Here are some teasers from the 2009 Fat Tire Mountain Bike Race.

This year we were able to scrounge up a couple of the other area photographers to help out with coverage. A big thanks goes out to Brockit Photography who was kind enough to lend us their sharpshooter Rebecca Forsell. I also need to thank Jennifer McCarty and Travis Pond, two independent photographers that were also kind enough to lend us their services.

Also, I can't forget to thank Sammy and his crew for organizing this event. Not only do they put on an amazing event, but they bust their asses all year long developing and maintaining the trails that make this a "can't miss" event.

Well, the images are slowing making their way online. Once they are all up you will be able to download a low resolution version for free, and purchase prints, or higher resolution images for a fee.

Visit the gallery here!

Enjoy!

UPDATE: I've started uploading Rebecca's images to the Course Gallery!

UPDATE: After a couple of hiccups images are now being uploaded into the "Course" gallery. Check them out!

UPDATE: I've added some of Rebecca Forsell's images below, and at this moment images are ready to be uploaded to the "Fat Tire Course" gallery, but Smugmug is making some upgrades... hopefully later today I will be able to resume uploading images. (9.8.09 3:45pm)

UPDATE: More sample images, courtesy of photographer Travis Pond, can be found below.

UPDATE: Images from the kids race are finally being uploaded to our online galleries.

Images courtesy of Jennifer McCarty

Images below courtesy of Travis Pond.

Images below courtesy of Rebecca Forsell

What a weekend...

2009-09-07T08:30:00.000-04:00

This last weekend was pretty crazy. Lynn and Jason had friends in town, I had some friends in town, it was Fat Tire weekend so a lot of mutual friends were in town, I had a wedding on Saturday from 12-8, camping Saturday night at Montreal Falls, kayaking in Copper Harbor Sunday morning before the race, the Jr. Fat Tire at 12:30, the Big Kid Fat Tire from 2:00 till about 5:30, then back to Houghton to catch dinner with my friends, back home to so Mari could get some sleep, then breakfast on Monday, then photo editing time.

It's good to keep busy, but sometimes I feel like I am missing out on spending some quality time with my wife and friends. Camping on Saturday night was fun, but I didn't get there till after dark and we were up early to go paddling. And truthfully, paddling was the only part of the day when I felt pretty relaxed. The pictures here are from that short session.

An old friend of mine, Jenny Koskey... I mean Jennifer McCarty was in town with her new husband Mike. I hadn't seen her in a long time and didn't even know she was married until not too long ago. Anyway, I think they had fun out on the water, and it was good talking to them both. They are both really good people and seem like a perfect match. I wish them well and hopefully our paths will cross again at a time when we can actually hang out a little bit.

Anyway, enough of my yapping. Check out some of Jen's pictures from the race above. She's starting to get into photography and I think she is doing a great job already. Let her know, and everyone else for that matter, what you think of the images. Be honest... it's good for us.

Later.

Congratulations Bryant and Stacy!

2009-09-04T14:42:00.006-04:00

I just wanted to thank Bryant and Stacy for for letting me drag them around the Houghton area asking them to pretend to like each other and even be affectionate every once in a while. I had a lot of fun yesterday, and I hope you enjoy the images.

Congratulations again, and good luck with all of the wedding plans.

Yaking...

2009-09-04T14:40:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week when Jill and Hans were in town we decided to go kayaking as that is something we used to do together and... well... they brought their boats all the way from Vermont.

Anyway, the day we chose was pretty nice out, but kinda windy. For a while we couldn't decide where we wanted to go, but eventually Jill threw down and told us that we were going to go drop a car in Copper Harbor and then let the wind push us from Habard Park north. Not a bad idea.

Anyway, if you've never paddled this stretch of shoreline, what are you waiting for. It's especially decent with a strong tailwind and some small waves to surf/play in.

Here are the pics.

Later.

Senior Edits...

2009-09-03T13:15:00.002-04:00

So, after playing around the other day with the images from my last wedding, I decided to try a similar treatment out on some of the senior photos I recently took.

Here are some of the results.

Just wondering what people think.

Lightroom Fun...

2009-09-02T19:49:00.004-04:00

Today I was finishing up the post on a wedding I shot recently and after I finished all of the standard edits I started to play around with some of the images. Typically, I am not usually into heavy handed processing, but I am starting to see the draw. I guess it all comes down to the story you want to tell, or the mood you want to covey.

Anyway, I kinda liked where some of the images went and thought I would share.

Let me know what you think. I am always interested in what people like and don't like.

Later.

Jill, Hans, and Roy are in town...

2009-09-01T12:48:00.002-04:00

I'm going to make this quick as I'm supposed to be headed down to the DT for lunch right now...

But, I just wanted to let everyone know that our friends Jill and Hans are in town and they brought their dog Roy along. Last night we hung out at the KBC for a while and today we are having lunch then headed out to go do a little yakking. It's really good to see them.

Anyway... gotta run. I'll post a paddling update later.

Roy Boy...

This setup looks awfully familiar...hmmm

Just a parting shot from the deck behind the KBC last night

Norton Senior Pictures...

2009-08-30T23:03:00.006-04:00

This evening I had the opportunity to work with this lovely young lady in taking her senior photos. We started up at the Qunicy Mine. The problem up there was choosing a location. There is just so much that it is hard to decide where you want to go. After working at Quincy for a while we headed down to the Houghton waterfront and wandered around looking for different opportunities.

Now, I'm always hard on myself when looking over my images... so I'm not going to share what I think. However, I would like to know what everyone out there thinks.

Don't hold back...

Later.

WOW!

2009-08-30T11:42:00.004-04:00

Found this over at Wend Magazine and it's just crazy. I always find this kind of thing amazing. The fitness and body control are incredible. Just watch.

Note: The music is pretty lame

Damien Walters Showreel 2009 from checkplayers on Vimeo.

Rain, rain go away...

2009-08-28T19:49:00.004-04:00

So it was raining this morning... then I went to work... it was still raining... then I came home... still raining...

I haven't had a photo assignment since yesterday and I don't know what to do with myself. I did loan out my camera to a buddy at the newspaper yesterday that is considering purchasing a D300, and it came back in one piece. So, when I was hanging out around the house I decided to just shoot whatever looked interesting.

So, I'm pretty much just bored and thought I would post a couple snapshots from this period of boredom earlier this evening.

Enjoy!

All nighters don't end with college...

2009-08-28T15:31:00.002-04:00

Last night Lynner came over to try and get some work done. She has a deadline approaching and still had a lot to do. So, while she was diligently working away on her computer I decided to capture the moment just in case anyone didn't think she was putting in her time.

Just so you all know... Mari and I went to bed a little before 1am and Lynn was still working hard. I think she just needed a change or scenery so that she could plod through the tedious tasks that always seem to rear their heads when working on web based stuff and deadlines are near.

Anyway, Lynn, if you are reading this... good luck!

One Day... one day...

2009-08-27T21:37:00.006-04:00

Check out these links...

These are actual invoices from a few different photography assignments.

I just need to get me a piece of this action and I'd be all set.

Really... check these out... they're pretty crazy.

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10459121/National-Advertising-Shoot
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10465288/AdBid
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10465776/Editorial-Invoices

I stumbled upon this stuff over at www.aphotoeditor.com.

Later.

Quick and Easy Outside Portrait

2009-08-26T18:11:00.004-04:00

Just thought I would share a quick portrait that I made this evening for the Admissions department at MTU.

For this photo the admissions department wanted something similar to the portraits of their other staff members. Here you can see some of those other portraits - http://www.admissions.mtu.edu/apply/meet_the_admissions_staff

As you can see it is a relatively easy photo to take, and I just thought I would share the process in case anyone was interested.

At first we just needed to identify the location we were going to shoot. I picked a spot on campus that had a similar background to the sample photos that I was given. Then it was just a matter of dialing in the exposure. At this point I wanted to under expose the background so that the greens would be nice and saturated. I then planned to use a flash to bring up the exposure of my subject. Here you can see the three images that I took when dialing in the background.

Too dark...

Getting better...

Ahhh... there we go

Now to add the flash... I did leave out the one image where my flash was set a little high and the subject ended up over exposed. But here is the image we ended up with. Once we picked our location everything went pretty quickly. From setting up the lights to getting the proper exposure really only took about 10 minutes. Anyone with a flash you can fire off camera can get really similar results... just go out and play. This isn't anything special, but it is something that I can consistently reproduce.

Hope some of you find this interesting. Until the next post... later.

Welcome Freshman

2009-08-25T22:49:00.005-04:00

Just wanted to welcome all the new freshman to Michigan Tech, and thank them for holding still long enough so I could snap their picture. Honestly though, things went pretty well even though there were a couple of hiccups. What are you gonna do?

Next year I think we should have the mic on the lift with the photographer so that we don't have to play telephone with the walkies to pass directions to the people on the ground. Also, someone should let the staff on the ground know what the plan is in advance and make it very clear where the boundaries lie.

Either way, for a first attempt I feel it went well and I have to give props to the student life staff for pulling it off as smoothly as they did.

Till next year...

Michigan Tech Football Portraits

2009-08-25T15:10:00.005-04:00

Today I was scheduled to shoot individual portraits of 100 football players and shoot a team photo from a cherry picker, and we had to cram it all in between 1:00 and 2:30. Honestly, I really didn't think it was going to happen.

I met Wes Frahm up at the football field a little after 12:00. The idea was to choose a location and get setup so that when the athletes arrived we were ready to go and could start knocking them off.

Below you can see the example photo that was sent to me – it's the one with the scoreboard in the background. Truthfully this didn't do that much for me, but at the same time they really didn't seem to care and speediness seemed to be the overriding factor.

Actually, I was just getting my lights out when the first player showed up. At that time we had a pretty good idea of the shot we wanted, nothing special just a tight cropped image head on with a background that wasn't too distracting. With the lights I decided to set up a little cross light with the main light being an sb26 fired with a pocket wizard through a honl short snoot. The rim/back light was my trusty sb800 set to slave with no modifiers. I underexposed the ambient a little, and brought the players back up with the speedlights.

I think the images came out ok. I like the highlight the rear strobe creates on the players right side. However, if I were to do it again, I would maybe kneel down or back up a little and use a longer lens to push the track in the background down a little more. But, it's alright.

I have to say that I was a little apprehensive going into this. I was supposed to be 100 outside portraits and a team photo just after noon on a field with very little shade. Fortunately the clouds saved me and knocked down and softened the ambient a bunch.

As far as time goes... we were done with the whole thing a little before 1:30... Crazy! The other sports teams should take a page out of the football teams playbook. They were organized and they listened to what they were told. This was a great group to work with.

I hope they like the pics.

As always I would love to hear what people think, and not just how great my pics are - I know. Tell me what you don't like, what would you change.

Here is the example I was sent when I asked what they were looking for...

This is what they got – I like this version more... What do you think?

Custom Helmet Cam...

2009-08-23T01:26:00.005-04:00

Apparently, this little contraption you see here is for some super secret project going on here in the Keweenaw. Anyway, I wish I could tell you more. If I did, I think I would have to be eliminated.

Anyway, here are some pics... maybe you can figure out what they are up to.

Later.

Update: Yes, I am aware that it is a helmet camera... did you not read the title of this post. Anyway, what do you think they are going to use it for... a bike movie, a ski movie, a day in the life of..? Maybe it's just for fun. Whatever it is, it's a secret.

Michigan Tech Freshman Move In...

2009-08-23T01:09:00.004-04:00

Today, I had the opportunity to shoot all of the freshman moving into their new homes in the dorm. It was pretty exciting watching all of the new students arrive and settle in.

Anyway, I thought it's been a while since I've dropped some crazy, over-processed images on the blog, so here you go. Yeah... I know they look funny. Some might even think they look like crap. But, how are you going to know what you can and can't do if you don't take things too far everyone once in a while? Huh? That's what I thought.

Tomorrow I almost get a day off, but not quite.

At least it's supposed to be nice outside.

Later.

Song's for Eating and Drinking...

2009-08-21T12:19:00.003-04:00

So, I follow this guy named Chase Jarvis's blog. He's a photographer out in Seattle who does some pretty amazing work.

Anyway, he is one of the people responsible for something called "Song's for Eating and Drinking".

As I don't like typing you should head on over to his blog and check it out.

Here's da link to Chase's Post

Here's the link to the Eating and Drinking website

In case you are as lazy as I am... I've included a couple videos from the event.

Check it out... it's perty sweet.

Need a Headshot..?

2009-08-20T00:13:00.002-04:00

I've been doing a lot of headshots this week. I suppose that is because Michigan Tech's student photogs are all out of town. Either way I'm sort of enjoying it believe it or not. This afternoon I had the volleyball and hockey teams to shoot. In all I think I did about 50 headshots today. Anyway, here are a couple from the last two days.

So, if you or anyone you know needs a headshot for any reason... let me know. We can do something like you see here, or we can get more dramatic, or less dramatic.

You can think of me as your one-stop headshot shop.

Anyway - enjoy!

Gone Paddling...

2009-08-19T23:55:00.003-04:00

Just some crappy point and shoot pics from my paddling this evening with Bretzl.

Can you believe he has never seen the movie "The Usual Suspects".

Anyway, after paddling we ordered up some pizza from the Ambassador, stopped by the movie rental center and preceded to educate the him.

I hope he liked it. I always thought it was a pretty awesome movie.

Enough of my BS... later.

Frisky Visitor...

2009-08-18T22:58:00.001-04:00

This evening when I got back from my ride with Bretzl I was greeted by this little guy. Too bad he already had a home.

One of these days we will get a pet... one of these days.

Until then these pics will have to do.

Later.

Mayer Wedding...

2009-08-15T21:07:00.005-04:00

Here are some of my favorites from a recent wedding... Congratulations Alex and Suzanne! What a wonderful event it was. It could have been a little cooler, but we're not going to complain. I hope everyone enjoys the images.

later.

Getting ready...

Learning how to tie a bow tie on YouTube...

Was a team effort to get into this dress...

Looking good...

Some dress detail...

Haven't quite figured it out yet...

Who wouldn't want them in their wedding party...

Our happy couple...

The maid of honor...

Whoops! - almost dropped the cake...

Adventure Mine - Greenland, MI

2009-08-13T22:52:00.004-04:00

Today I was asked to join one of the writers from Michigan Tech on a trip to the Adventure Mine located down near Mass City in Greenland. My job was to take some photos of the experience to supplement the article that we were gathering information for.

Now, I was excited to have the opportunity to go into the mine and take some photos, and I opted not to use flash for the most part in an effort to be as truthful to the experience as I could. The mine does not have any underground lights besides the required headlamps on each participants head, and it was pretty foggy due to the combination of high humidity outside and low temps inside. However, that meant shooting wide open, at 3200 iso, and 1/20 of a second most of the time.

In hindsight I don't know if that was such a great idea. Iso 3200 on my D300 is pretty decent. But, it makes for some fairly soft images once you have dealt with the noise, and shooting at 1/20 of a second with the 24-70 (36-105 equivalent) meant a lot of throw aways dues to camera shake or subject movement.

Regardless, I believe I came home with a few decent shots.

You can see some of them are posted here.

Feel free to tell me what you think.

Later.

Getting ready...

Our transportation - this thing is awesome!

In the mine...

Our guide pointing out a huge chunk of copper...

Walking towards the light...

Nice profile of one of the participants...

Taking a break at the lookout...

One of the larger chambers...

A big thanks to Matt and Vicki for maintaining the

mine and allowing us the opportunity to explore

Some Snapshots from today...

2009-08-12T21:59:00.004-04:00

Just some shots I took while on a shot walk this evening... nothing special... just playing.

Nikon D4 Unboxing...

2009-08-12T16:58:00.005-04:00

Even the package is designed to take a beating...

So, I've been meaning to post this for a couple of days, but I wanted to take this opportunity to put on a proper show and do an official unboxing.

Now to tell you the truth I don't know what the big deal is with the whole unboxing bit, but it seems really popular on all of the gadget sites like Gizmodo and Engadget.

So, without further ado... THE D4!

Certificate of Authenticity - reminds me of my coin collecting days

I recently had a birthday and the other day my wife got some of our friends together and we had a little party. A little late, but better than nothing. Honestly, I prefer it that way. All of these belated events have stretched my B-day out into a 9 day event instead of a single one. Can't really complain about that.

Anyway, I have this friend John who's kinda of a photography industry insider and apparently he was able to get his hands on one of the new prototype D4's. And not just any D4, but the the limited edition (as in this is the only one ever made) gold edition.

I haven't had the opportunity to shoot with it yet, but I'm sure that it'll kick the snot out of anything Canon has laying around waiting to get painted gold.

Enjoy!

Personal message from Nikon CEO - Nice touch Nikon!

Finally a glimpse of the next generation of Canon ass-kicking equipment...

It's small, it's gold, and you can choose from 5mm to 500mm all at f1.0... CRAZY!

A close up view... just drink it in... ahhh!

Michigan Tech Alumni Reunion

2009-08-10T17:14:00.003-04:00

This last week was Michigan Tech's Alumni Reunion and the marketing department put me to work documenting the event.

So, I thought I would share some of the candids and portraits that were produced during this time.

Later.

More Puppy Pics...

2009-08-08T00:04:00.002-04:00

Well, the puppy's parents get back tomorrow night. I am not sure if we will be returning them to their rightful owners tomorrow or sunday. Either way it was good having them around, however I can't wait to run the vacuum and clean up all of the hair.

More Snapshots...

2009-08-05T16:52:00.003-04:00

Took these on my way home from work today with Nikon's 24-70 2.8... I'm really loving this lens considering the short time I've been using it.

Dog Sitting...

2009-08-04T16:48:00.003-04:00

I don't really have that much to say... I just needed an excuse to post some images of the dogs to make Lynner jealous.

That's it.

Later

Nikon 24-70 2.8...

2009-08-03T17:10:00.003-04:00

Well, while I was out kayaking on Isle Royale a new lens showed up in the mail... Nikon's 24-70 2.8. I haven't had the opportunity to shoot much with this lens, however I'm really excited to finally have a nice, fast, standard zoom.

In the past I've been working with the kit lens that came with my D70s from a few years back. It's the 18-70 3.5-4.5. It's not a horrible lens, and it has taken some great pictures, but it is a little limiting and the autofocus just isn't as fast as I would like at times.

I see this lens being attached to my camera most of the time. I should have quite a few opportunities this weekend to shoot with the new lens while doing some work for Michigan Tech. I will post some sample pics and some more of my thoughts after getting to use it for a few days.

Later.

Isle Royale 2009

2009-08-01T19:20:00.010-04:00

So, we made it back from Isle Royale in one piece. I think that everyone had fun. It was a little windier and wavier than we hoped, but that didn't stop us from enjoying our time.

We ended up doing a little more hiking than expected, but the weather wasn't too bad and the island was pretty quiet meaning open shelters everywhere we went.

Anyway, I'll try to post a better trip report tomorrow.

For now here are some pics from the trip.

Later.

UPDATE:

So... let's see... On Monday my father and brother Zack drove up from the lower peninsula. They arrived in the later afternoon and after I finished work we started unpacking all of their stuff and repacking everything into dry bags for our trip. I had wanted to try and pre-pack the kayaks just to make sure that everything fit before we left, however we ran out of time and I just took a good look at everything and decided we'd be ok. We put all our crap in the car and went to bed.

Tuesday we were scheduled to leave on the queen at 8am. We were up a little before 6am and started driving. When we arrived in Copper Harbor we were unloading our equipment when we realized that my dad had left a drybag containing his fleece and rain jacket back at the house. Little did Mari know, but soon she would receive a call asking if she would be willing to go for a little drive. When...now. Do I have time to change out of my PJ's... no. A big thanks goes out to her for getting there just in the nick of time.

The ride over on the Queen was pretty interesting. We had waves in the 5-7 foot range and we weren't 5 minutes out of the harbor before people started moving outside to boot. The three of us didn't show any signs of illness and we arrived in the harbor to winds in the 15-20 mph ranges and waves that were 2-4 feet. Fortunately, they were all headed he same direction we were. We launched from the harbor, made the turn north, and more or less let the wind push us along. Eventually, we reached Scoville Point. At this time there were some pretty thick clouds rolling in and we decided that it was probably prudent to take a moment to put on the paddling/rain jackets. Just after Zack finished zipping his jacket up it started to rain.

At this point we around Scoville Point and headed for Merritt Lane. Lucky for us the rain doesn't last too long and before we know it we are in the protection of Merritt, the sun starts to peak back out, and we now have almost no wave action, just a healthy tailwind and a pretty strong current pushing us along. When we reached the Merritt Lane campsite we decided to call it a night. We unpacked our boats and hung up our equipment in the shelter so it could dry out. Dinner was served shortly thereafter and soon after that heads hit the wadded up fleeces that served as our pillows.

For the rest of our trip things were pretty good. It was a little windy and that kept us from making it around Blake Point. However, we did have a good time exploring all of the little islands on the southeast side of Isle Royale. We did some hiking (lookout louise, suzy's cave) and relaxed and tried to enjoy the little bit of time we had away from regular life.

Overall, I think everything went really well. I didn't end up pushing anyone too hard, while at the same time everyone got to test their limits a little bit. I had a lot of fun and hopefully this will be the start of a new tradition.

It would be great to get the rest of my brothers out on a trip like this.

Maybe next time.

Later.

Some Recent Snapshots...

2009-07-26T16:50:00.001-04:00

Crazy Relaxing...

2009-07-24T23:00:00.000-04:00

(must watch full screen)

Zack's 21st B-day

2009-07-24T14:57:00.002-04:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while...

Things have been really busy and I just haven't been finding the time to share. Anyway, here are some images from my youngest brother Zack's 21st birthday. I flew into Grand Rapids on a Thursday then on Friday, July 10th, my brother birthday, we drove to to Louisville where Patrick was working and got Zack drunk.

Any and everything that happened that night was not Zack's fault. I blame it all on Johnny.

Bar Games...

2009-07-08T19:55:00.002-04:00

Always take the camera with you... you never know what interesting photos/people will make their way in front of your lens.

Lately, I've been playing with some high speed sync tricks using my D70s, a sb-26, and a modified sync cord.

With this setup it is pretty easy to get some interesting effects. I only wish my D70s had a little higher resolution, besides that it's pretty cool.

Enjoy!

Fourth of July on Grand Island

2009-07-06T07:42:00.007-04:00

Well, I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. A handful of good friends met Mari and I down in Munising on Friday and we spent the weekend kayaking around Grand Island... It was a ton of fun.

Anyway, I will post another update a little later. I'm supposed to be at work right now. Here you will find a couple of pics from the trip and at the end there is a more complete slideshow.

Later.

(best viewed fullscreen)

Tuesday Evening Paddle...

2009-07-02T17:30:00.002-04:00

Not much more to say. Tuesday my friend John Hatch called me up and asked if I wanted to go for a paddle. Well, I'm always up for a paddle, so I said sure. It's wasn't exactly nice out. It was kinda windy, grey, and rainy. However, once all tucked into my kit all was well. We paddled around for a while until John took a little spill. After that we decided that it was pretty much time to head back to the car as he was now soaked and the temps were hovering in the low 50's. If there was ever a perfect situation to become hypothermic... that was it.

Anyway, we made it back to the car without any other issues, landed, loaded up the cars, and went home.

I'm going to miss these little adventures when we move away from here.

Well, enjoy the images.

Later.

Thought these were pretty good...

2009-06-30T13:53:00.001-04:00

Paddling in Marquette...

2009-06-29T16:27:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, while my brother Zack was participating in a road race, Mari and I decided to go for a paddle near Presque Isle in Marquette. I have to say, the paddling right there in town is pretty awesome. Here are some pics from our short little trip.

Note: We had to delay our original plans due to the weather. Eventually, after tracking down a paint pen, we decided to go anyway. We stayed fairly dry up until the end.

Later.

Mari's Birthday...

2009-06-29T07:47:00.004-04:00

My wife, Mari, had her birthday on Friday. And, seeing as how I was stealing her away to Marquette to watch my brother race bikes, I felt I needed to do something special.

So, at 6:30 on Friday morning I woke her up and told her to get dressed to go paddling. She had been wanting to paddle a stretch of the Keweenaw shoreline north of Esry Park. So that's what the plan was.

After paddling I had our friends Lynn and Mak secretly meet us at the Ramada for lunch. It's wasn't all that secret as Mari picked out their car the moment we pulled in. Anyway, lunch was pretty good and Mari got her's for free.

After lunch we went home and fell asleep. We woke up just in time to pack and get on the road so that we arrived in Marquette with enough time to catch Zack's first race.

I think things went pretty well.

Now what am I going to do next year...