The 4th Annual Worldwide Photo Walk is on the Way!

So – it’s the 4th Annual Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk – and as of the time of this post – there were more than 850 locations around the globe – with more than 15,000 registered photo walkers.

So – if hanging out with a group of photographers for a few hours sounds like a great way to spend part of your weekend – check out the website.  The really cool thing about this event – it’s free – and it’s for all skill levels.

Hopefully – I’ll have details on the Corvallis walk posted here soon.  But – if you can’t wait until then – you can find more details here.

Here’s the official press release.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Scott Kelby Announces the Fourth Annual Worldwide Photo Walk

The Largest Global Social Event for Photographers

TAMPA, FL – August 24, 2011 – On Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2, the whole world will be walking again with Scott Kelby, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and #1 bestselling computer and technology book author, in his Fourth Annual Worldwide Photo Walk™ — the world’s largest global social photography event in the history of photography.

This year, the Photo Walk will take place over two days in October giving more photographers from around the world a chance to participate. In 2010, more than 30,000 photographers walked in over 1,000 locations taking 6 million images in just one day. We anticipate that this year’s Photo Walk will be one of our biggest events.

The Photo Walk is free and open to anyone who owns a camera. More Photo Walk details are available at: http://worldwidephotowalk.com/ or visit the Scott Kelby Worldwide Photo Walk Facebook page.

The 2011 Photo Walk is co-sponsored by Adobe. Additional sponsors include Wescott, KelbyTraining.com, NAPP, Peachpit, Mpix, Wacom, Manfrotto, onOne Software, Tamron, Tiffen and B&H.

About NAPP
The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) is a dynamic trade association and the world’s leading resource for Adobe® Photoshop® and Photoshop® Lightroom® training, news, and education. An award-winning team of Photoshop and photography experts, authors, consultants, and trainers lead the association – keeping its members on the cutting edge of Photoshop, Lightroom, and photography techniques and technology. With 72,000 members in 106 countries, NAPP is the largest digital imaging and graphics association worldwide. Visit http://www.photoshopuser.com for more information.

Green Heron Fledgling

On Saturday – we went down to Willamette Park as a family to enjoy the much improved Oregon weather.  And while my daughter was climbing on the playground equipment – my wife noticed this green heron fledgling standing right there next to us.

It seemed a bit young to be without a mom or a nest (though –s/he looked quite healthy) – and before we left – the kind folks from the Chintimini Wildlife Rehabilitation Center came to tend to it.

Fortunately, for a bit, I had some great light.

 

Tulip Season 2011

Finally – a weekend to visit the tulip fields at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Woodburn, OR.  The festival runs through 1 May – and if you happen to make it out there – make sure to bring your camera – there’s an annual photo contest sponsored by Pro Photo Supply in Portland.

As for the photos below – both were shot with the Hasselblad + tilt adaptor.

Big Sur to Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz

Here’s the wrap up to this string of Central California Coast posts – and it’s in Santa Cruz – where we only spent a few hours but where I probably snapped the most images.  And during that 5 hours – I worked on a few things – including flat, simple compositions – then a bit of trying to capture the “moment” – and then some Lensbaby.

Bottom line: it was a relaxing evening with the camera.

By this time in the trip – Jim had already left to catch his redeye back to Michigan – and Hugh and I just thought we’d work on some travel-style images on and around the boardwalk.

After we wrapped up in Santa Cruz – it was over the hill to San Jose for dinner at the In-N-Out near the airport – where I had a Double-Double (animal style) with extra produce.  Though next time – I might have to cut out the extra produce – that makes for a mighty tall burger.

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More in this series:

• Part I: Asilomar State Beach
• Part II: Pt Lobos
• Part III: Driving to Big Sur
• Part IV: Shooting Fish in a Barrel
• Part V: Monterey’s Lover’s Point

Big Sur to Santa Cruz: Monterey’s Lover’s Point

Now typically – I don’t think I’d spend an entire post on a place like Lover’s Point.  Maybe it’s out of pride – as the name sounds like someplace straight out of Happy Days – or simply because it’s just a little city park on the edge of town.  Either way – I typically wouldn’t even stop – and I’d leave it to the joggers and family picnics.

But – Jim thought it would be a cool stop – and I’m glad we did.

We probably spent no longer than 90 minutes checking it out – and most of the images won’t find their way out of LR – but it was a great little location with all sorts of photo ops.

The top image was simply the Lensbaby – wide open – with no aperture ring (probably my favorite way to shoot it).  The bottom image – well – this gentleman was just sitting on the rocks enjoying the sun – and he was agreeable with me taking his photo.

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More in this series:

• Part I:  Asilomar State Beach
• Part II:  Pt Lobos
• Part III:  Driving to Big Sur
• Part IV:  Shooting Fish in a Barrel

Big Sur to Santa Cruz: Driving to Big Sur

After Pt Lobos – we simply took HWY 1 south with three goals:  (1) find lunch (2) find tall trees and (3) try to outrun the fog.  Fortunately, we were successful on all 3 accounts.

The drive south was quite nice – and we stopped for the obligatory photo op at the iconic Bixby Bridge (maybe I should have washed the sign first?). After that – the turnouts gave us a look along the stunning California coast – and, after not too much more driving, we pulled into the Big Sur / Pfeiffer State Park.

Here – we snapped some photos of redwoods and took a hike to Pfeiffer Falls.  To be honest – my images of the Falls were not that good – and pretty boring – so they’re not included here.  In fact – they may not make the light of day.  Regardless – it was a nice 1.5 mile round trip hike to see them.

We were going to try and shoot sunset at Pfeiffer Beach – but the wind – blowing sand and salt spray – made it difficult to work.  Had I had a rain cover for the camera – I may have been a bit more adventurous.  Oh, well – maybe next time.  I should probably invest in a few of the inexpensive ones just to stuff in the corner of the camera bag – just for times like that.

And though we really didn’t find a place to settle in for sunset on Monday – it was a pretty full day of shooting.  And we found some pretty good tacos back in Monterey for dinner.

Oddly enough – looking back at the afternoon’s photos – it was a lot of fisheye (yep – the Lensbaby).  I’ve found that sometimes it’s just the right tool to pull in more of the story.

And- yes – that’s Hugh down at the base of those trees shooting straight up.

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More in this series:

• Part I: Asilomar State Beach
• Part II: Pt Lobos

Big Sur to Santa Cruz: Pt Lobos

On the only full day of the 50 hour “weekend” – we drove in the general direction of Big Sur.

The first stop was Pt Lobos – where some guys by the name of Adams and Weston are also known to have stomped around with cameras.  Lots of trails here – and it can be pretty busy.  Fortunately – we hit it semi-early on a Monday.

Our morning / early afternoon at Pt Lobos was greeted with more fog.  Again – we weren’t doing so well in finding that California sunshine – but it definitely wasn’t a showstopper.

(And – just a note – if you’re thinking about visiting Pt Lobos – there’s lot of poison oak lining the trails.  Seriously.  Be mindful of it.)

We started on the north side of the reserve – and worked our way south – for the only reason that somewhere I think I’d read that the north might have more photo ops – and the fellow working the ranger station as we entered also had good things to say about it.  Not sure if it indeed has a higher percentage of images – but it seemed to work for us.

And maybe it was the fog – maybe not – but my memory apparently has Pt Lobos painted in sepia tones.

And the top two photos?  Yes – same trees – just different lenses.  I actually couldn’t decide which one I liked better.  If you have an opinion – please let me know in the comments below.

As for the last three images – a bit landscape – and all three include Hugh and Jim working in the field.

One side note on gear – the piece of gear that I’d wish I’d had for this shoot was a 10 stop neutral density filter.  There were plenty of rocks, surf, and (filtered) sun – but the 3-stop I had with me wasn’t going to slow the shutter significantly.

At some point – I think I’d like to get back to Pt Lobos and do some more shooting.

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More in this series:

• Part I: Asilomar State Beach

Review: Think Tank Retrospective 10

Bottom line: This is a great bag.

I’ve had a few camera bags over the years – a big blue Crumpler, the classic Domke J-3, and a re-purposed Patagonia bag with the Mountainsmith Cube.  All very good bags.  The Crumpler is no longer around (replaced it with the Domke), the Domke still gets loaded up for formal events, and the Patagonia will still likely be employed for ultra-lightweight adventures.

But the Think Tank Retrospective 10, I think, has just become my go-to bag -  the one that always has gear in it – the one ready on a moments notice.

This is a well made bag – with so many details – even Think Tank didn’t list them all on their website.

And if you’ve been poking around on the web – you’ve probably seen the reviews: “swallows up gear” with “room for more”.  All I can say is that from my experience – that looks to be pretty accurate.

How did it do in the field?

I decided to take this bag to task and carried it exclusively for this last trip to the Central California Coast (Big Sur to Santa Cruz).  For day-to-day shooting I had a 50D + 70-200 f/4L (attached), 20D + 24mm f/2.8 (attached), a Lensbaby, Lensbaby Fisheye Optic, a couple of Kenko extension tubes, and a Blackrapid strap in the primary compartment.

In the front pocket – blower, pocket notebooks, memory cards, MP3 player, small flashlight, headlamp, and biz cards.  In the side pockets – one had a small case that I use to store a couple of P-filters and a Cokin filter holder – and in the other a small water bottle.

Also – crammed in various pockets I had a couple of filters, extra battery, and some lens cloths.  And at times – I had the little travel Gitzo tripod + Joby Ballhead X across the top – held securely under the main flap.

In other words – I had the smallest bag in the line crammed with stuff – and it worked beautifully.

Color

After checking to see if my body + lens combo would fit in the bag – my next decision was color: Bristlecone or Black?  I was leaning towards Black – but thought it might be a bit formal – and went with the Bristlecone.  Glad I did – it’s dark enough – and has a good distressed feel.

Features

The feature list reads like a sushi menu – there’s a lot here.

The bag includes a comfortable (non-slip) shoulder strap, inside stash pockets, external water bottle holders, rear external zippered pocket, rain cover, Velcro silencers, and even more pockets.

The only knocks I have are very (very) small.

(1) It is a true 7” wide.  I wouldn’t mind if it were an inch or two narrower.  But I think it’s something I can get used to.  And (2) I’d like a slightly larger water bottle pocket.  This bag will only take the narrowest bottles – and I insist on carrying water when I’m out shooting.

Wrap Up

If you’re gear is longer than the 70-200 f/4L + camera body – it might not fit in the R10.  But for me – this bag is brilliant.  I’m a fan.  It looks great, carries well, is easy to work from, and appears to be exceptionally durable.

Favorite 5 Country Farms

A day off with the family – armed only with a camera (and a Sonic burger).  Today’s excursion was to the 5th annual Favorite 5 Country Farms tour near Wilsonville, Oregon.  We only made it to 3 of the 5 farms – but – as it turns out – they’re all within 5 minutes or so of each other.

The event is free – with voluntary canned food donations to go to a local food bank.  It’s running over the next couple of weekends – so – if you’re in the Willamette Valley – it’s a fun trip for the family.  And the kids will probably like rubbing the ears of a friendly miniature donkey.

Just a few quick notes about the above photo:  (1) yes – it’s a friendly miniature donkey (2) that Lensbaby fisheye is pretty sharp – and (3) when shooting a fisheye – and a donkey – try not to get donkey snot on your lens.  Seriously.

Tulip Season 2010

Here in the Northwest – it’s tulip season.  If flowers are your thing – make it on out to your local field and check it out – and, of course, take that camera.  And if contests are your thing – there’s likely one close by to submit your images.

This particular photo was taken out at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival – near Woodburn, OR – about two weeks ago.  The festival is still running – and if you’re in the Willamette Valley – I think Friday and Saturday are supposed to be pretty good weather.  And the lens?  It’s the ultra cool Lensbaby fisheye – at f/22.

Last season – I cobbled together some notes for shooting events like this.  If you’re interested – you can find them here.