New (to me) Nikon D2x

Last week I was fortunate enough to find an affordable used Nikon D2x camera body on the internet (http://www.keh.com/ I always get great service from them, and even their bargain grade equipment is in great condition). The D2x is the upgraded version of my previous camera, boasting 12.4 megapixel and a frame rate of up to 8 frames per second.

Steve, crooked grind. D2x, Nikkor 18-70mm @35mm, ISO 100 f4.2, 1/250th

We went back to the middle school on Friday with a new plan. We brought my Speedotron strobe set and some extension chords, and dragged an old picnic table down to the stairs. Steve and I had been talking about setting this up for a couple of weeks, and he always claimed he'd crooked grind down it. So we set it up, and after some manuals and a backside grind, he finished off the night with this. Backside crooked. It was so much fun to bring all of my lighting out to a skate spot and light it as if we were in a studio, and being able to shoot it on a current pro end camera was a great feeling.

Next week I will be spending the week with my family in Hawaii. I am bringing my cameras with me, so while I won't be able to post from there, I promise to post a double blog about my trip.

Go Skateboarding Day 2000 and 10

Go Skateboarding Day 2010 was a mild success. I had to work most of my day so I didn't get to go skate until the dwindling hours of the evening. Steve and I went out to the middle school, dug our old bench back out of the garbage pile, and set it down the two-flat-two stair set. This shoot was a sentimental one for me, because I had been skating this set of stairs with obstacles set down it for ten years. I remember skating near by with friends while the older crew like Dallas, TJ, Jeff, and others skated the stairs. We'd wait for them to leave and try our hardest to mimic their tricks. What made today special was that we skated this spot with Dallas, and had a skate trip down memory lane.

Steve, BS grind. D1x, 18-70mm @56mm, ISO 200, F4.5 1/320 sec

This picture turned out to be my favorite of the day. Out of better, more difficult tricks, this photo really sticks out to me. The main reason, is because it was completely on accident. The flash on the right had not been firing correctly, so I ended up forgetting it was there. Eventually throughout trying different flash combinations the flash on the right ended up pointing almost directly back into the camera, messing with my polarized filter by throwing a big purple ring into the shot. This was one of those moments for me that made me step back, realize how I screwed up, and figure out how to do it again on purpose later.

UGH! Blog put on hold.

Alright, I hate my computer. I am doing this update from my mothers computer to let you know that my computer has died. As soon as I've gotten it taken care of we will have BIG updates. I promise.

Last Afternoon In Eureka

On Saturday I took my family to the Jetty on the Humboldt bay. We saw starfish, and were lucky enough to see a dolphin swimming in the entrance of the bay. Along our walk we got a tip from an older couple that there was a baby seal further down the jetty. Kate had seen seals swimming in the bay and I was excited for her to see one a bit more close up, so we continued walking down the old boardwalk. I hadn't expected how close up we'd get to see it.

Nikon D1x, Nikkor 17-80mm @ 50mm, f/8, 1/250th, ISO 200, SB 600 (1/4 power)

It was a wonderful way to show my family the town I live in, and a great reminder of why I've loved my time in Humboldt.

Photo thanks to my mom's Iphone

New toy (made out of an old toy)

I was doing a little research online to find a good price to sell an old flash for, when I found out it does a trick I didn't know about. Apparently my old SB-50dx flash I've had laying around for years works as a wireless slave! Basically I use my SB-600 flash on my camera and set the SB-50dx anywhere up to 50 feet away, and the SB-600 fires the SB-50dx remotely.

I went out to the old Stuff n' Things storefront where my good friend Justin Love has done some spray paint artwork, and did a quick little test of this system.

This is a little profile shot I took to show how the SB-50dx works. You can see it on the sidewalk, illuminating the wall. While it's not the coolest picture I've ever taken, it was fun to be able to use the wireless flash, and is an exciting glimpse into things I can do later on. Turns out that rather than selling this flash as I had planned, it looks like I'm going to be buying more in bulk!

Nikon d1x, Nikkor 18-70mm at 18mm, F3.5m 1/45th, SB-600 and SB-50dx

Double post to make up for last week

Nikon D1x, Nikkor 18-70mm at 18mm, f6, 1/500th, SB600 full power

Hey all, sorry for missing my posting on Monday, was having internet troubles.

Got out and skated around Eureka with Milon, Dash, Chet, and Tony today. It was off and on foggy so shooting was a pain, but before the fog rolled in for good I got this shot of Milon doing a nose bonk (ollie over an obstacle, while hitting your front wheels on your way over). Tricks like this with skaters like these are difficult. There's only a split second to get the shot, and more often than not the skaters will land it their first try whether I get the shot or not.

Nikon D1x, 18-70mm at 56mm, f4.5, 1/750th


On the opposite end of the spectrum, sometimes it takes a few tries, as with this backside lipslide from Dash. Sometimes you can't help but see that their stressing it, and you're only making it more stressful. But he put it down, and thankfully we got a good shot to prove it was all worth the effort.

Thanks to the Arcata crew for getting out of the park and skating street with the little people.

Playing with Pigeons

D1x, Vivtar 28mm, f8, 1/500th sec, ISO 125, sb600 1/2 power

I got a new Vivtar 28mm lens Friday, and really wanted to have something to post today taken with the new lens. Sadly I drank most of the weekend away (alright, all weekend), and only got to shoot Friday morning.

I went down to the gazebo in Old Town Eureka and set my camera at a 20 second delay. I set the focus to infinity, put the camera on the ground, and hit the shutter. As soon as I did I would step back and throw bird seed in front of the camera. The result was chaotic shots of pigeons flying and fighting for food. Most of them were too chaotic to really look like anything, but this one worked out.