BEST of On The Road

December, 2004

Hi and welcome to the December On the Road. The readership of the On the Road and Workshop at the Ranch articles have really grown during 2004. We entered the year of 2004 with 800 enthusiastic photographers logging on to the website tutorials. Each month has brought more and more people reading these two instructional pages and absorbing the information, instruction, images and advise. Today we have nearly 2,500 photographers and editors who visit the Workshop at the Ranch and On The Road pages monthly. During the course of the year I fielded and answered over 3,000 questions via the website. I must be crazy.............but many of you are just like me..........you want to learn more about photography. I thought it might be fun to take a short walk down memory lane and recap some images and events from the year 2004....

	Image#1 The task of capturing images of Olympians on their way to Athens began early in 2004. Many assignments from coast to coast gave me a wonderful opportunity to get a glimpse of some of our nations future Gold Medalists. Waterpolo is a great sport and always produces some interesting moments. This was my last frame of the day. Nikon D2H remotely triggered with Pocket Wizard Multi Max Transceivers, Clamped to catwalk with 2Bogen Magic Arms and Bogen Super Clamps, Nikon 70-200mm VR lens, ISO200, 1/250th at f8, 4 Elinchrom Style1200RX Sport Strobes, Lexar 1G Flash Card .
Image#2 The Masters was my favorite event of the year. I enjoyed every minute and especially enjoyed working with Matt Ginella the staff of Golf World/Golf Digest. This image of Phil Mickelson was my first frame of my first day of golf at Augusta National. Captured with a Nikon Coolpix 8700 and its silent shutter with 8 mega pixels and raw file capabilities I embarked into uncharted waters of shooting during the golfer's back swing. Technology is definitely something to cheer about these days and this event proved that there are ways to use features of cameras to capture something unique. Nikon Coolpix 8700, Aperture Priority, EV -0.7, ISO200, Lexar 1G Flash Card.
	Image#3 Rain pounded Churchill Downs most of the day leading up to the Kentucky Derby. This fan stayed dry and tip toed through the mud after Smarty Jones won the Run for the Roses in May 2004. This was my last frame of the day. Nikon D2H, Nikon 400mm f2.8 lens, ISO320, 1/500 at 2.8, Lexar 1G Flash Card.
Image#4 Athens, and my 11th Olympic Games. I believe I am still feeling the effects of 21 days of continual shooting and scrambling from one venue to another. But it was well worth it. This image was my first frame of my first day at swimming. This image of a swimmers back with water droplets and an Olympic rings tattoo was one of my favorites from the games. Nikon D2H, Nikon 600mm lens with TC 14E 1.4X Teleconverter, ISO250, 1/500 at f5.6, Bogen Carbon Fiber Monopod, Lexar 1G Flash Card.
	Image#5 I spend a portion of my time working in my office with images from my archives. Almost 25 years of sports are in my library including John Elway. This is my last image of John as he left Mile High Stadium for the last time in his career after winning the AFC Championship Game. My first NFL game was Elway's starting debut as a rookie at Mile High, a game which I covered for Sports Illustrated through a small photo agency called Focus West. It was a big break for me and I enjoyed documenting John from his first game to his last. Nikon F5 film camera.
Image#6 I am known for my sports images but as most of you who visit the Workshop at the Ranch and On The Road regularly know, I have been working on my landscapes and western images over the past few years. So....what better way to end the year than with a sunset taken with a Nikon D2H and a Nikon 12mm- 24mm lens. There are so many aspects of photography that attract me. Sometimes it is new technology, sometimes it is the moment, sometimes it is just a beautiful scene, but, I always have my eye on the future.... somewhere down the road. I don't dwell on the victory celebration of the game or the sunset that just ended. I prefer to look ahead 2, 5 or even 10 years from now. I am in a constant process of learning.

Well.....The year is coming to a close. I want to extend my thanks to so many people who's hearts were with me when my father passed away a few weeks before my departing for the Athens Olympics. This was a tough year for me but it was also the a great year filled with wonderful moments, memories and images. No man is an island. I owe a debt I can never repay to God for granting me life, grace, mercy and wisdom, thank you. To my wife Susan and daughter Haley, thank you for all your love, patience and the joy that being a husband and father bring me. To all my friends who enrich my life more than I can express, thanks. And thanks to all of you who have come to visit On the Road and Workshop at the Ranch during 2004.............I will to see you next year.

Adios, Dave