After saving up for the past couple of weeks, the UPS man just dropped off my new panoramic ballhead from Really Right Stuff. This tripod head has been on my wish list for sometime now but I have held off on purchasing it until now because of its high price tag. That being said, RRS has a great reputation for making the best camera equipment out there and even though I haven’t had a chance to use it in the field yet, Im definitely impressed with its build quality so far. Its super solid and its operation is crazy smooth. This head is rated at being able to hold 50lbs and the Panoramic Clamp option that I went with allows you to be able to take multi-image panoramic’s without leveling the tripod itself, a feature that Im really excited to play with in the field!! One of the nicest features of this Ball-head is that its weather sealed, so dirt, dust, and any other grime that locks up other ballheads over time wont be an issue. I was constantly having issues with dirt and dust getting into the Kirk Ballhead I used while on safari in Africa. It really made the action of the head rough and while I was always able to clean it out, it was a PITA and I found it quite annoying. This RRS head shouldn’t have that issue and Im really stoked see how well it performs over the long haul!! Lastly, RRS also backs up this Ballhead with a 5 year warranty which is also pretty awesome. Once I get a chance to field test Il write a bit more of an in depth review. Anyways, if your in the market for a new ballhead definitely check out the Really Right Stuff BH-55!!

The Lucie Foundation announced the Winners of the 2012 International Photography Awards and I’m pleased to announce that 3 of my images have been selected as winners in this prestigious competition!

Definitely stoked for sure and so I wanted to share it with all you!! Here are the images that were selected:

1 – Awarded: Honorable Mention in the Nature – Landscapes Proffessional category for the winning entry “Sunrise at the Rocks.”

http://photoawards.com/en/Pages/Gallery/zoomwin.php?eid=8-39905-12&uid=&code=Landscapes

2 – Awarded: Honorable Mention in the Nature – Sunset category for the winning entry “WOW.”

http://photoawards.com/en/Pages/Gallery/zoomwin.php?eid=8-39906-12&uid=&code=Sunset

3 – Awarded: Honorable Mention in the Fine Art – Landscape Professional category for the winning entry “Wolf Creek Milky Way.”

http://photoawards.com/en/Pages/Gallery/zoomwin.php?eid=8-43880-12&uid=&code=Night%20Photography

With over 10,000 entries during this 10-Year Anniversary Edition of the competition, im definitely stoked to have been selected!!

In case your interested, here is some more information about the IPA:

The 2012 International Photography Awards received nearly 18,000 submissions from 104 countries across the globe. IPA is a sister-effort of the Lucie Foundation, where the top three winners are announced at the annual Lucie Awards gala ceremony. The Foundation’s mission is to honor master photographers, to discover new and emerging talent and to promote the appreciation of photography. Since 2003, IPA has had the privilege and opportunity to acknowledge and recognize contemporary photographer’s accomplishments in this specialized and highly visible competition.

http://www.istockphoto.com/file_closeup.php?id=21075332

http://www.rawartists.org/chicago/mixology

WHAT IS RAW?

RAW:natural born artists is an independent arts organization that hand-selects and spotlights independent creatives in visual art, film, fashion, music, hair & makeup artistry, photography, models and performing art.

RAW’s mission is to provide up-and-coming artists of all creative realms with the tools, resources and exposure needed to inspire and cultivate creativity so that they might be seen, heard and loved. RAW educates, connects and exposes emerging artists in 54 artistic communities across the United States and Australia, through monthly showcase events. Join us in celebrating the work of these artists.

WHAT CAN I EXPECT?

RAW events are multi-faceted artistic showcases. Each event features a film screening, musical performance, fashion show, art gallery, performance art and a featured hairstylist and makeup artist. These artists are all local, hand-picked talent who have been chosen to feature at RAW.

RAW events feature a cash bar for cocktails while you enjoy the night. Dress code is cocktail attire, so dress the occasion and get ready for an artistic circus of creativity!

*********** TICKETS ARE 10 BUCKS AND CAN BE PURCHASED FROM THE RAW WEBSITE HERE: http://www.rawartists.org/chicago/mixology ***********

Make sure you select my name when your purchasing tickets and I hope you see you all there!!

:Update:

Just when you thought this show coudln’t get any better… The RAW Chicago July 21st showcase is going to be live streamed on gigitytv! This way friends and family who can’t make the showcase can watch it as if they were there! Here is the link you will need to watch the live stream: http://gigity.tv/event/372/

First off, I want to warn you never to look at the sun through a magnified lens. Doing so could result in instant blindness or even a melted eyeball, which would definitely not be awesome, so just take my word for it and please don’t try it. Anytime you are photographing the sun, always use your cameras “live view” mode. Also remember that focused light from the sun can be strong enough to melt your camera, especially through some of the bigger lenses like the 600mm, 800mm, or larger, so be careful and dont point your camera at the sun for too long. Also the best time to shoot the sun is when it is low on the horizon. That way the Earths atmosphere will help diffuse the intense light emanating from the solar disk.

Ok, so the main challenge with a shot like this is being able to record the highlight data spewing out from the giant ball of gas in the sky we call our Sun. The second challenge here is having a long enough lens to magnify the solar disk so that you can record an image that has enough detail for it to be usable. Now, it should probably go without saying that yes, I have a nice camera, but it isnt the top of the line model by any means. I shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II and my longest lens is the Canon 70-200 2.8L USM II paired with the Canon Extender 2x II. I love the setup I have but I will say that its pretty standard and nothing special in the professional photography world. It definitely has its limitations that could only be corrected with some nice big expensive glass. It would be totally awesome to have a big lens in my inventory, but I don’t, so I make the best with the gear I do have. Anyways, To get this shot, I also used a Century Circular Polarizer and a Century ND.6 Solid Filter. The filters acted like sunglasses for my camera and dimmed the light from the sun by a total of 6 stops, allowing me to use a sharper aperture like f18. Here is the pic of my exact setup for the Venus Transit taken with my EVO 3D Smarphone:

My Camera settings were as follows:

Aperture: F18
ISO 100
Shutter Speed: 1/8000

I may have been able to capture the shot without the use of a second filter, but the extra filter enabled me to use an aperture value of f18, which is still in the window of what I would call “acceptably sharp” for the Canon 70-200mm 2.8L USM II. Without the second filter, I would have had to use a smaller aperture like F64, which would have caused a lot of image distortion due to light diffraction. Since the image is %100 cropped in, small amounts of distortion make all the difference in whether or not an image is usable in the end, so using a sharp aperture is essential. One last thing is to use Manual Focus. When you are photographing the sun, because the strong sunlight will be blasting your AF system, there will not be enough contrast for it to function properly, so you will need to focus manually. Its pretty simple with live view enabled, just make sure you zoom in as far as you can in live view and focus from there till its as sharp as you can get it.

Ok so the keys to remember when photographing the sun are:

A – Fast shutter speed
B – Small Aperture (But not too small) I would say anything between f8-f22 would be acceptably sharp
C – A minimum of one ND filter, 2 works much better
D – A tripod
E – Manual Focus

Well there you go, thats how I captured the Venus Transit. We are going into the most active year in our 10 year solar cycle, so dont forget you can use this technique to capture any solar event, including sunspots.

I am currently working on putting together several workshops that I will be offering this fall. Il have more info after I return from Africa next month so stay tuned.

Before you buy a Nike golf product you may want to read this….

I was playing golf with my mom on mothersday and after a great afternoon, I T’d up my ball on the 18th hole to finish out the round. I lined up and hit a powerful drive that would have been great, accept the head of my $500.00 Nike 400cc Driver went flying with it. We were all shocked and It was a major bummer. I have 3 other witnesses that saw this happen and after consulting the resident golf pro, he suggested I call the manufacturer because its clear this was not my fault. First off I want to make it clear that even though I have had this club for around 6 years, I keep my golf clubs in my house in the closet and only use them a few times a year. These clubs have been babied for the majority of their years and have not been abused in any way. I just called Nike to tell them about my problem and even after the rep admitted that he had never heard of this happening, he said that there was nothing he could do to help me since it was out of warranty. He recommended I go to sportmart and buy a new, cheaper driver that is a few years old to replace it and that hopefully I choose to stay with the Nike brand. After I told him I would not be purchasing another nike club, he said that he was sorry to hear that and that he wishes me luck in my search for a new club… WOW, seriously!?!?! Yeah, needless to say I will no longer buy any Nike Golf product, and after that horrible customer experience, I may not even buy any more Nike products period… According to Nike’s website, they say that “Nike stands behind all its products for flaws in materials or workmanship for both our retail accounts and consumers.” Obviously this is not true…

Anyone have any recommendations for a new driver…? That Taylormade R11 looks pretty sweet!!!!

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I am working on upcoming workshops that will feature both Landscape and Wildlife photography and also a workshop on post processing. If you are interested in attending one of my workshops and would like to learn something specifically, please leave a comment with you particular field of interest. I would love everyone’s input during the planning of these workshops so I appreciate any input or feedback from all of you!!! Thanks in advance!!

A huge lightning bolt fills the sky over Lake Michigan in Chicago, Il. I was heading home from shooting a corporate event for the Network of Executive Women when a thunderstorm was passing over the city. Lightning filled the skies and even though I was exhausted from shooting for 6 hours, I had to stop for a bit and enjoy the show…. It was definitely relaxing to sit back and relax with my camera, trying to time my exposure just right to capture these beautiful bolts of lightening. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the day!!!

Not sure if you know or not but I am participating in the Spring festival of the Arts at the Odeum in Villa Park this weekend. The show runs Friday – Sunday and I will have my abandoned series on display along with a few of my new pieces from the Colorado Adventure! The address at the Odeum is:

The Odeum
1033 North Villa Avenue Villa Park, IL 60181
(630) 941-9292

Admission is $8 but I have a bunch of $1 off coupons so message me and I can figure out a way to get one to you if you want. My booth is #K2. I look forward to seeing you there!!!!

Here is one of the Colorado prints I will have on display this weekend:

Animas River

The Animas River runs along US HWY 550, also known as the Million Dollar Highway for obvious reasons. This photo was taken just outside of Silverton Colorado, a small ski town in the middle of this vast mountain wilderness. It was in this town where Red Bull built Sean White his own personal private superpipe so that he could prepare to win the Olympics. During the winter months, the sounds of Helis and Snow Cats taking skiers and riders up to the peaks of this AK style terrain echo through the mountains. In the summer, mountain bikers, climbers, and tons of mountain off-road trails make this a truly epic mountain paradise!!!