Checking in with the Fuji x100s

I feel like I haven't made serious photographs since early March when I shot about 10,000 race photos in two weeks.  I've been making pictures with the Fuji x100s as I go about my day and several landscapes have found their way to my Facebook stream.  One of the great things about the camera is it's with me almost all the time.

I do find myself looking for the Nikon and more lens flexibility when I'm shooting landscapes.  But the x100s is still lighting in bottle and keeps showing me great stuff.  Today was an example when my boys and I hit our favorite coffee shop for cocoa and cappuccino.

The light was nice from the big plate glass windows and I popped out to the car to grab the x100s. The boys and I always have a blast making photos of each other.  It must have been the cappuccino because my youngest was in rare form.  You get the many faces of Turner.  Of course I'm kidding about him being hopped up on cappuccino!  But, more importantly for our purposes here, this is the x100s pretty much straight out of the camera.  These photos are ultimately just snaps of my kid, but I also think they are beautiful images with great color, tone and contrast.  I'm always amazed at the way it handles shadow.  Sweet!!!  

So, you be judge....

By the way... do you think Fronside Grind in NoCo knows they have such great light in the afternoon? Dern it's nice!

Every Photo is a Gift That I'm Honored to Receive

When ever make a photograph that I'm pleased with, I always look at it as a gift.  It doesn't matter what type of photograph it is.  There's a million examples.  The sun aligned and the light was sweet on the field of lupine. The baby looked at the camera and smiled.  The fall colors were peaking on the ridge as the morning fog burned off.  The model looked up and let her soul shine through her eyes.  These are all gifts that I'm fortunate enough to have recognized and preserved with my camera.  I say thank you to the universe and feel filled with gratitude every time it happens.  Mother Nature, the person, the weather... whatever... has given me something precious.  As a photographer, I value what those photographs say and the feelings they inspire.

Nowhere is this idea more apparent to me than when I'm photographing sports.  The athletes are generous with their gifts of winning, accomplishment, strength, endurance, inspiration and so much more.  I always feel privileged to have these amazing people in front of my lens.  I try hard to capture everything they are in 1/1000th of a second.  

This past weekend I photographed the Granite State Snowshoe Championships.  I made a lot of photos that I'm really happy with but two series of images stand out to me.  In both frames, Nacho Hernando looked into my lens, showed me how he felt about his performance and gave me the chance to capture the story of the race.  The image on the left was made in the first 10 minutes of the race and Nacho was in the lead.  The photo on the right was about 35 minutes later and things had changed.  Jim Johnson, the race winner, had passed two minutes before and Nacho was now in second.  In both cases, whether he knew it or not, Nacho was giving me the photograph.  And like all the images I make, I'm thankful for that.

The Dion Snowshoes National Championship: Selected Favorites

On March 1st 2014, the best snowshoe racers from the U.S. and around the world converged on Southern Vermont to compete in the 2014 Dion Snowshoes U.S. National Snowshoe Championships. The historic village of Bennington, Vermont served as the host community and the races were contested eight miles away at Prospect Mountain Ski Area in snowy Woodford, Vermont. 

This was a big field of racers, so I've gathered together some of my favorites from the three National title race.  You can see full results here .  All images from the race can be viewed and prints/downloads purchased at my website.