Military Appreciation Day

A few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to photograph the State of Oregon's Military Appreciate Day. It started early in the morning with a Blackhawk helicopter landing at the Capital Mall. I arrived early, 7:10AM, and asked which direction the helicopter was coming in at. I got into position and waited. I wanted a shot of the blackhawk flying low, directly over my head. Then as I could hear the helicopter coming in, I was told I had to move because I wasn't allowed to be in the flight path. I tried to say that was the shot I wanted, but was told I HAD to move to under the trees. 

See the full gallery on Posterous

So I moved under the trees and got some cool shots, but not the shots I wanted. The rotor wash shook the trees so violently that I was actually hit in the head with a branch, hard. I looked over at the guy that told me to move and said, "Safer huh?" He just laughed.

After the Blackhawk was on the ground I shot some photos of the cannons.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Then at noon I made my way back in anticipate of the F-15 fly over of the capital. I got to listen to the governor make a speech...

After the speech, I got in position for the F-15 flyover and caught a couple of great shots.

See the full gallery on Posterous

Then at the end of the day as I was walking to the studio, I ran into my good friend Merlin, was freshly back from Afgahnastan, literally landed the night before. It was a great day over all. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Our Memorial Day

Our memorial day was a beautiful day of friendship, travel, photography and BBQ. The morning started at 9:00AM when our friend, and fellow Studio 247 resident, Liz Smith, showed up at our door. We loaded some lunch, camera equipment and our tired butts into her car and headed down the road. Our desitination? The top of the Oregon Coast Range.

Welcome to Mary's Peak. 

[[posterous-content:pid___0]]Mary's peak includes some beautiful water features. Run off from the spring melt creates some amazing water falls and creeks.

[[posterous-content:pid___1]]The top of Mary's Peak was socked in with clouds creating a sense of gloom. And while we never had the chance to see the bounty of beautiful views of the valley as can only be had on top of Mary's Peaks, the view we were presented was stunning none-the-less; it was beautiful.

As we headed back towards home, we stopped for some lunch. After a tasty meal, we hit the road back to Salem. When we arrived at our final destination, I cam across a treasure throve of imagery. Starting with fire.

[[posterous-content:pid___2]]The came the machinery...

[[posterous-content:pid___3]]And finally came the view and surrounding object.

[[posterous-content:pid___4]]My wife finally got some use of her new camera as well.

[[posterous-content:pid___5]]It was an amazing day. Thank you Liz, and Kirsten, for having us out that  beautiful day. 

A Evening with Nathan Smith

Yup.. that's right, photographers are not excluded from being in front of the camera. How else can we make our subjects comfortable in front of the camera if we aren't. So here a small set from an evening at the studio with Renowned photographer and lighting expert, Nathan Smith.

See the full gallery on Posterous

A new boom was tested this evening at our studio, and the results are simply amazing. I am loving the light once again. Thanks Nathan for being patient as we worked through the light angles.