BEST of On The Road
"A Look Back at 2007"

December, 2007

Hi and welcome to this edition of On The Road. My schedule really "amped up" to the point of exhaustion during 2007, but "I'm still standing." Here is a look back at some highlights of 2007.

Image #1. Lightpainting in Ouray ... This grand adventure was the kickoff for the new year and was a project that I had been thinking about for quite some time. It would include daytime strobe work with Nikon SB800 Speedlights for small objects and life size subjects and would also make use of portable Elinchrom Ranger packs and strobe heads capable of 1100 watt/seconds of power for illuminating larger than life "icescapes" with climbers. But my main goal was to Lightpaint these athletes during the night hours and make images of ice climbing that had not been made before. I believe I accomplished that goal and posted images and text in the February 2007 On The Road article. This image is a Lightpainting of Chris Alstrin ice climbing at 10:00 pm in Ouray, Colorado. Nikon D2Xs, ISO100, 30 second exposure at f5.6, Nikon 17-55mm Lens, WB 4000K, Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod with SLIK Super Ball Head, Pocket Wizard Multi Max Transceivers to trigger the camera remotely from my Lightpainting location about 200 feet to the right and across the ice gorge, Two Brinkmann Q Beam portable spot lights each with 2 million candles of power ... one Brinkmann with a blue gel and one Brinkman with a yellow gel, Lexar 4G Flash Card, ....and my favorite pair of spiked crampons.

Image #2. Egypt Trek ... April's On The Road article featured a trip of a lifetime, Egypt. As an instructor with the American PHOTO Mentor Series I have had the opportunity to make some travel images while teaching photography on the road in various locations. I really enjoy the variety of pictures travel photography offers and look forward to working with the workshop students, aka "trekkers" and helping them improve there photographic skills. Choreographing the schedule for a workshop like this is a gigantic undertaking of which the trek's director, Mirjam Evers is the best in the business. She arranges everything well in advance and has our group ready to photograph on location during the best times of the day ... and night. From the Great Pyramids of Giza to the Valley of Kings and a cruise down the Nile, the Mentor Series Trek to Egypt was the most incredible photographic and educational journey I have ever been a part of. Nikon D2Xs, ISO200, 1/500 at f8, Nikon 17-55mm Lens, WB 7100K, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

Image #3. Mexico Trek ... May's On The Road traveled south of the boarder to Guadalajara, Mexico and another fantastic Mentor Series Trek with American PHOTO magazine. Like the Egypt Trek, Mirjam set up a terrific daily schedule of wonderful sites and photographic opportunities within the city of Guadalajara, the tiny town of Tequila, and the surrounding country side of Mexico. This Vaquero was a good subject and became one of my favorite pictures of the trek. Nikon D2Xs, ISO100, 1/13 at f22 (NOTE: I used a polarizer filter to help reduce my exposure by two additional stops so I could achieve a very slow shutter speed of 1/13 to allow the walking motion of the Vaquero to be slightly blurred which gave the picture a very painterly effect), Nikon 70-200mm VR Lens, WB 8700K, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

Image #4. The Kentucky Derby ... The June edition of On The Road featured my favorite sporting event of the year, the Kentucky Derby. I was in my usual mode of documenting everything I saw that interested me. Rainy conditions gave images plenty of mood and the opportunity to use slow shutter speeds for beautiful pans. Nikon D2Xs, ISO250, 1/3 of a second at f4, Nikon 12-24mm Lens, WB 4000K, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

Image #5. Arlington ... In the July edition of On The Road I showcased a project that I consider the most memorable of my career. It was my honor to be part of a team of six featured photographers who were hired to photograph Arlington National Cemetery for both Arlington and the National Geographic. The assignment was photographed in 2006 but the National Geographic magazine article and the book, Where Valor Rests, made it's debut in May of 2007. My specific task was to Lightpaint various locations in Arlington National Cemetery during three consecutive nights. My years of practicing and honing my Lightpainting skills all came together to produce what I would consider my most treasured body of work. More important is the idea that I wanted very much for those who have loved ones buried at Arlington to see how peaceful and beautiful the grounds are after dark. It was my hope to bring illumination to Arlington with Lightpainting. Nikon D2Xs, ISO100, 30 seconds at f8, Nikon 12-24mm Lens, WB 7100K, Gitzo Carbon Fiber Tripod with Gitzo Ball Head and Kirk "L" Bracket, Two Brinkmann Q Beam portable spot lights, Lexar 8G Flash Card.

Image #6A. Sprint Car Racing from Pennsylvania ... Twice during this past year I went to the Harrisburg area of Pennsylvania to photograph dirt track motor sports and in particular the Sprint Cars. My host for these two visits was Bill Anderson, a veteran motor sports photographer, who knows the sport and its inner circle of drivers well. I was like a kid in a candy store during my first trip which I featured in the August On The Road article "Speedway Thunder from PA". My second trip to the dirt ovals came in early fall and was an assignment for Nikon involving the newly released Nikon D3 digital SLR camera. With a myriad of images to make during the night time racing event I used every bit of photographic technique and style I knew of. The D3's claim to fame is its extremely low noise capabilities at high ISO settings like 1600, 3200, and even 6400 (see Nikon D3 high ISO images in the November Workshop at the Ranch article.) I put the camera through its paces at a variety of ISO settings including this image at ISO2500. Nikon D3, ISO2500, 1/500 at f8, Nikon 14-24mm Lens, WB 5000K, Two Remote SB800 Speedlights in i-TTL Mode (held off camera by Bill Anderson) each with power output of +1, triggered with a Nikon SU800 Commander, Lexar 8G Flash Card. The terrific image quality and extremely low noise capabilities along with its incredible dynamic range and 3D Focus Tracking System makes the Nikon D3 an all purpose camera and the most impressive piece of equipment to come along in years.

Image #6B. Sprint Car Racing from Pennsylvania (close up cropped detail) ... I have cropped the image for a closer study. This extreme cropped enlargement illustrates the pixel detail and low noise capabilities of the Nikon D3 even at a high sensitivity level of ISO2500.

Image #7A. Transit Mix ... This picture is from my Transit Mix archive, an on going body of work that I do while literally being on the road, in the air, or whatever mode of transportation I might be partaking in at the time. Often times when I fly, drive, ride in a bus, boat, taxi or train I photograph what looks interesting (see March 2007 edition of On The Road.) This image of a ranch on the high plains east of the Rocky Mountains illustrates another feature of the new Nikon D3, incredible Dynamic Range. The smooth gradient transition of color and light from the brilliant sunset on the horizon to the deeper tones of pastel in the sky is an important feature that the D3 excels in. Also make note that the Picture Control menu is a function well worth investigating. It gives the photographer the option to render and enhance images at the time of capture and includes a beautiful Sepia tone and Monochromatic (Black and White mode) with optional color filters. Nikon D3, ISO200, 1/500 at f7.1, Nikon 70-300 G VR Zoom Lens, WB 10,000K, Picture Control settings of Vivid with Sharpening +3, Saturation +1 and Hue -3, Lexar 8G Flash Card. This picture was photographed while I was sitting in my truck on HWY 83 south of Franktown, Colorado.

Image #7B. Transit Mix (close up cropped detail) ...I have cropped the image for a closer study. While the Nikon D3 specs state 12.1 megapixels the image quality and detail look more like a camera boasting 17 megapixels. The 24 X 36 print made from this D3 file looks stunning.

What a wonderful year 2007 has been. So many great locations and subjects that I had a new Tera Station added to my computer to hold the mass of new files. No man is an island and so it is with me ... I owe a lot of thanks to many people who helped me along the way. My sincere gratitude goes out to Rich Clarkson for bringing me on board with the Arlington project, Mirjam Evers for including me on so many great Mentor Series Treks, Kieth Ladzinski for making the ice climbing in Ouray a successful adventure, Ron Taniwaki, Mike Corrado and Bill Pekala for there never ending assistance from Nikon, Eric Murphy at Two Doors Design who designs/hosts my website and keeps all my office electronics running smoothly, my wife Susan and daughter Haley for being the joys of my life, to you the 100,000 plus readers of On The Road and Workshop at the Ranch and to God who gives me grace, mercy and strength.

See you next year On The Road .................... Adios, Dave