Shifting Clouds Over the Carter-Moriah

This view is very familiar to me.  As a kid, we spent so much time in Shelburne, NH fishing, exploring the woods and visiting my Grandfathers camp in shadow of the Mahoosuc Range.  This photo was made almost directly in front of the famed Philbrook Farm Inn in Shelburne.  The view is looking south to the northern end of the Carter-Moriah Range.

A New & Meaningful Exhibit

Yesterday I went to Berlin, NH to hang a new exhibit at Tea Birds Cafe & Restaurant and I hope some of you can check it out! Thanks to the kind folks at Tea Birds for the opportunity in their nice gallery space and Pics Crafted by Cathy' for helping organize!

It's exciting to do a show in my hometown, but more so because I had the opportunity to include several of my sister's paintings. As some of you know, Laura Viger passed in 2012 and was a wonderful artist.

Here's an excerpt from the bio I wrote for the show that sums up why this is so important to me...

"My earliest memories of my sister, Laura Lee Viger, involve art and painting. Growing up on Second Avenue, my sister’s bedroom was barely big enough for a twin bed and in spite of the small room; she always had an easel set up with a painting in progress. She frequently would draw for me, encourage me to be creative and help me figure out drawings of my own. Laura took art lessons at Leo Aubin’s studio on Main Street and she was a patient big sister when I wanted to be dragged me along too.

If I ever make a good photograph, it is undoubtedly because of these early experiences with art. My appreciation for composition, light, color and line all come from Laura. My sister gave me an amazing gift by helping me see the world in a way that has allowed me share my point of view with others. I’m so grateful for that. In her passing, I’ve come to realize that with photography, I carry her with me everyday."

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.

Fuji X100s: First Look

RICH  adjective  \'rich\

rich·er, rich·est.

1.

having wealth or great possessions; abundantly supplied with resources, means, or funds; wealthy:a rich man; a rich nation.

2.

abounding in natural resources: a rich territory.

3.

having wealth or valuable resources (usually followed by in  ): a country rich in traditions.

4.

abounding (usually followed by in  or with  ): a countryside rich in beauty; a design rich with color.

5.

of great value or worth; valuable: a rich harvest.

After owning this little wonder of a camera for five days, one word, "rich" sums up my first thoughts about the Fuji X100s.   I still feel like I haven't had time to shoot it in a focused way, but I've made about 500 shutter clicks and can share some initial impressions.  Despite it's obvious limitations and less obvious quirks, it's definitely one heck of a camera that delivers an amazing image file in a package barely bigger than an iPhone.

The X100s has been a hot topic in the photography blogosphere.  Pros Zach Arias and David Hobby have been particularly enthusiastic about what the Fuji X100s can do calling it the "new Leica" and "the best camera I've ever owned".  Both have said that they are using the camera for pro work and letting their  DSLR's lay dormant.  Some of the videos produced by Hobby about describing his reverence for the camera are about as inspiring photography porn as I've seen in a long time.  

So... why is rich the right adjective?  The files from this camera are beautiful.  They have depth and substance.   All of the files you see in this post are barely touched in Lightroom and are a good reflection of what comes right out of the camera.  

In one of the first images I made with the camera, you can already start to see this... great skin tone and the x100s manages the light and shadows beautifully.  But, this image also shows one of the quirks... The camera makes razor sharp images and the fixed focal length 23mm, f/2.0 is a killer lens, but there is a learning curve to getting focus right.  In this shot, I used the optical viewfinder (OVF) and the nature of the OVF requires some practice to know where the focus point really is.  Fuji ingeniously has two viewfinders on this camera... the OVF and an  electronic viewfinder (EVF).  You quickly learn that the EVF can produce more reliable results for the newbie.  

Of course my children were the handy and sort-of-willing subjects of my shakedown photographs.  I'm starting to figure some things out as I make the images below and, while this isn't a camera you can effectively shoot sports with, I was glad to freeze my youngest in action here. The photographs are giving me an indication of the secret sauce of depth and richness of color and contrast that I've read about. 

36 hours in to owning the X100s, I hopped on a plane to Florida for a business trip and this is where things get a little crazy and cool.  It's not uncommon for me to haul a DSLR out to dinner when traveling, but the Fuji makes that a no brainer and nobody even notices it slung over my shoulder.  Best of all, I don't notice... roaming around a city with a DSLR and pro lens can start to be a real drag.   I'm starting to see the camera definitely has some juice.  This simple shot of a storefront window in Clearwater, Florida at about 8:30 pm was made at f/2.0 and handheld at 1/8th of a second at ISO 200.  Handheld and sharp at an eighth!?!?  Not since I was 12 and scored a set of neon green Kyrptonics wheels have I seen skateboard wheels look so beautiful.

Landing in foggy Boston on the way home, I'm thinking about Revere Beach before we even hit the ground... a ready spot for a few more test shots.  Check out the depth of field with the f/2.0 lens.

By now I've discovered Auto-ISO and set it to shoot a minimum 1/30th of a second in an ISO range of 200-1600.  This image was shot at 1/30 sec at f/16 and ISO 1600.  It's very clean, with no noise for such a high ISO shot. 

A black and white conversion done in Lightroom.

 I get a new piece of gear, I'll often sit in front of the TV at night and noodle with it, dialing in settings and testing different capabilities.  More high ISO and shallow depth of field here with one of my favorite new books.  The focus point was on the cheek of the cover shot subject, Luis Sarria.  The only light in the room is a table lamp to my left with 75 watt equivalent CFL bulb and the Sochi Olympics men's Slalom on TV. Sharp and clean at 1/13th of a second, f/2.0 and ISO 1600.  Fantastic depth of field.  

So, my first thoughts are that this camera is remarkable.  There is a learning curve and I still have a lot to explore about what makes it tick, but there is a unique quality to what it produces.  Point of view is so important in creating a compelling image.  The photographer definitely creates the photograph, not the gear.  But, this is an example where the gear offers something new and opens up possibilities that didn't exist.  I don't want to over state this but there is a soul to the files from the X100s... a deep feeling of richness in color, tone and contrast.  It won't replace my Nikon DSLR, but it will definitely bring something new and valuable to my photography.  Stay tuned!

A New Arrow in the Quiver: The Fuji x100s

Yeah... so it snowed today. And I got one of these. I'm excited to see what the camera called the "new Leica" can do!  At first glance, its unbelievable to have a camera with such amazing image quality barely noticeable around my neck and the files are clearly something different and beautiful.  But, it's a quirky little bugger to shoot.  Stay tuned...

If you're not in the loop on the Fuji x100s, then dig this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omL9HOudSwc