Flatfoot 56 at The Madison Theatre

Thanks to Paddy Rock Radio I got to hear some music by Flatfoot 56, a Celtic Punk band out of Chicago, and discovered that they were going to perform in the area. First, if you want to hear a great mix of Celtic rock, go check out the online radio from Paddy Rock! It's helped me find bands I wasn't aware of and has certainly effected my spending on iTunes.

I decided to contact the band to see if I could photograph them for Paddy Rock as well as myself and thanks to TK of The Kreellers, I was able to get in touch with their management, Christian Picciolini with SINISTER MUSE, and get a photo pass.

There were four bands playing that night: Grooveshire, Duppy A Jamba, Flatfoot 56 and The Toasters. I was there strictly for Flatfoot 56 and got to meet the band. I took this shot of Tobin, lead singer, before their set and loved how it turned out.

The guys were awesome and I've become a big fan of their music. If you get a moment, check out their latest album, Jungle of the Midwest Sea. My favorite songs are Loaded Gun and Chinatown Jail Break. I love the energy of the music and love the bagpipes and mandolin from Josh, the only unrelated member of the band.

These guys are very talented and have great attitudes. Check them out if you get a chance. You can also check them out on their Myspace site at http://www.myspace.com/flatfoot56.

If you want to see more pictures of the concert, check out my website.

The Arcade - Dayton

The Arcade, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

On Monday, 11/17/2008, I got to go shoot with Vincent Laforte at an abandoned building in downtown Dayton, The Arcade. This is an amazing building that used to have stores, restaurants, office space and apartments. There is an effort to restore the building and re-open it.

Thanks to John P. Murphy, we were able to get access to the arcade and shoot with Vincent, a Canon Explorer of Light, as he was in town to do a presentation for the Focus Photo Club.

Vincent had a pre-release of the Canon 5DmkII DSLR. If you haven't been to his website and seen his movie, Reverie, created with a pre-release version of the 5DmkII, go there now and check it out!

While Vincent shot video, I looked for areas to shoot High Dynamic Range photos, HDR. Vincent loved the peeling paint and general decay of the building as we got to work with the 5D and video. The building was very dark and we only had flashlights, so it was a challenge in some of the areas. We only made it to 5 areas as we would stop and shoot for 30 min to an hour in each spot.

I found a door out to the fire escape and could have spent an hour out there alone. The shot here is one of my favorites. It is an HDR made up of 3 shots taken 2 stops apart. I processed them through Dynamic Photo HDR, a windows only program. I'm planning to switch to a new Macbook Pro in the near future and when that happens, I plan to switch to Photomatix as well.

When I shoot landscape HDRs, I go for a natural look to try and capture what I saw with my eyes but I've gotten to do a few shoots in decaying buildings and I like going a little to the extreme to create something different.

We also learned that the Arcade has a ghost! I look forward to going back and documenting more of the building.

CD Review - The Kreellers - "Sixth and Porter"

The Kreellers are a trio out of Detroit that consist of Derek Wade on Lead Vocals and harmonica, Paul Bruno on guitar and bodhran, and TK on percussion. "Sixth and Porter" is a combination of original and traditional Celtic music with great harmony, acoustic guitar, a bit of the harp and strong percussion.

The title track "Sixth and Porter" is about the Irish immigration to Detroit "...working drinking drinking working till I die". Derek's vocals and Paul's guitar drive this song with TK's drum keeping the beat. "Just A Hero" is a song dedicated to Derek and Paul's father. Traditional songs such as "Boys of the Old Brigade" and "Tell Me Ma" are powered by Derek's harmonica playing and an infectious drum beat. "Excursion around the Bay" has Paul on Bodhran, TK on drums and a 3-part harmony that makes their version one of my favorites and caused River Barge captains to complain in Cincinnati!

Where's the bag pipes, Irish whistle or fiddle you say? You won't miss them for a second! The percussion will get your head moving and your foot tapping while Paul's folk guitar playing and Derek's great vocals get you coming back for more. You see these guys at the bar in a Pub and you think, "Yeah, they're from Detroit" but you hear these guys on stage and you say "Wait, these guys are from Detroit???" I had no idea what to expect when I first saw them in Dayton but it re-ignited my passion for Celtic music. I love the album and give it Two Thumbs Up! They put on a great show and constantly interact with the crowd. If you catch them in a pub, go have a pint and enjoy the music!

You can check out the album on their MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/thekreellers

Horned Owl at the Howell Nature Center

Horned Owl, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

This past weekend, I went to Howell Michigan and did a Nature Photography Workshop at the Howell Nature Center.

http://www.howellnaturecenter.org/animals/wildlifephotos.htm

The Howell Nature Center is a wonderful place to get close to birds of prey, especially during the Photography Workshop. The Horned Owl has been at the center since the '90s and is well experienced as a model. During the workshop, there are various stations with Hawks, Screech Owls, a Barred Owl, this Horned Owl, a Turkey Vulture, an Opossum and a Groundhog. The staff is very attentive to the photographers and they will attempt to adjust the birds for the best shot.

They do 3 shots a year and on this occasion, the temperature was perfect but the sun was pretty harsh. I didn't bring a flash as I wasn't sure if it would be allowed, and that was a mistake. A lot of people had big lenses with Better Beamers to give some fill light to the birds. A 70-300mm lens is about the shortest lens you would use here. I was using my Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR with a 1.7x Teleconvertor to get extra reach.

I also learned a few things about the birds. It's false that a mother bird will ignore an egg or baby if someone puts them back into a nest. This owl and a vulture were examples were people rescued the babies but tried to raise them by hand. As a result, the birds "imprinted" and were unable to be re-released to the wild.

I finally have power!

Well, after over a week without power, I finally got it late last night.

I've got a ton of pictures to upload from the Cincinnati Celtic Festival and from a wedding I shot on Saturday.

I will have a review of the Cincinnati Celtic Festival and an entry from the wedding later this week after I get everything uploaded to my site.

Kristen's Sweet 16th Birthday

On Saturday, August 9, I photographed Kristen's 16th Birthday Party. Nicole, Kristen's mother, went all out and had a large banquet room reserved and a live DJ with an excellent lunch provided to the guests.

As you can tell from this picture, Kristen is a beautiful girl and one of my favorite models.

One of the most moving moments of the party occurred when Kristen received a quilt made from her father's shirt. Her father is no longer with us and it was an emotional moment for Kristen and her family.

The party started at 12;30 and went until 4:30 in the afternoon. The buffet style lunch was excellent and there were small candy gifts for the little kids at the tables and by the cake.

After lunch and gifts, there was a lot of dancing until everyone was exhausted!

This shot was near the end of the party with everyone looking on as Tabitha teaches Kristen how to kick.

Dayton Celtic Festival 2008

Saturday was a busy day with the Dayton Celtic Festival in full swing.

Friday night, my wife and I hit the festival and enjoyed the music. We met up with Larry Fortson and 9 Castle Close before their 10pm set and made plans for me to photograph them during their set on Saturday. I also got to meet the Kreellers and agreed to swing out at 11:30 for their early set.

We ended the night listening to Gaelic Storm and headed home for the night.

Saturday morning, I was looking for a parking space, thanks to the Dayton Dragons game, but got to the stage before The Kreellers performed their set. First of all, these guys were great. I loved the set and had to get one of their CDs and I've been listening to it on my iTouch whenever I get the chance.


After their set, we headed over to a cool spot I noticed on my walk in and did a few promo shots. This is one of my favorites. The guys were a blast to work with and we got some great shots against this old building.

Hey, how often can you get a guy in a kilt leaping off a ledge for a shot?

I ended up having several Guinness with these guys as we listened to several other bands play.

I took the opportunity to shoot Homeland and Gaelic Storm before heading over to the over tent to catch 9 Castle Close.

Homeland put on a great show as well. I love watching these guys play. I had some great shots of Ric from St. Patty's Day at the Dublin Pub and it was fun to give the guys some photos from that show. The first shot in this post is from the stage when they were playing.

After Homeland, I took some shots of Gaelic Storm. It's crazy when these guys are playing. You can't get in front of the stage for good shots and I didn't want to block anyone's view. I settled for shots from the side or the back of the stage.

I didn't get a chance to see Dulahan play as it was time for 9 Castle Close and I headed over to the other stage after grabbing a bite to eat.


The guys put on a nice set even though it had gotten hot and humid! I was sun burned and tired so I know the guys were hot up on stage. It was a blast to see the guys play and I got quite a few shots before they ended their set. Unfortunately, we weren't able to do a band shot as they had to head out for the Dublin Pub for the after hours party.

Military Funeral

Military Funeral, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

I received a call Tuesday evening from a family friend asking me if I could photograph a military funeral. The family had learned that John, as a retired Navy Chief Petty Officer, was eligible for a military color guard and 21 gun salute and they wanted to capture the moments as there were family individuals that could not make it.

I remember when my father passed, a retired Chief as well, and we had the military funeral. It was a powerful memory that I wish I had captured as well.

I posted this image just as a reminder for the men and women serving over seas and for the retired military that served when needed.

Bee at Cox Arboretum

Bee Macro, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

I finally made it out to Cox Arboretum to check out the Butterfly House on Monday. Unfortunately, there weren't many butterflies flying around but I did get to chase a few bees around before it started to rain.

I liked the light bouncing off this little guys wings.

Far Hills Community Church Vacation Bible School

Last week, I spent my evenings at Far Hills Community Church volunteering for the second year as the Vacation Bible School Photographer. This year, the theme was Armor of God and the format was switched to evenings to allow more parents to participate.


There were about 140 kids and the weather was perfect. Everyone had a fantastic time going from craft sessions, recreation (recess) activities and group activities with theatre and music. It was a blast watching the kids jump up, dance and sing to the music as they learned about the Armor of God as John Truthfinder threw down his Belt of Lies, Sword of Hatred and armor of Sin.

Classes were split between Preschoolers, Kindergarten to 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade to 5th Grade.

To close up the week, the parents came in to the Worship Center and the students received their last lesson, received their "Knighting" in service to God and celebrated with music and singing, closing with Stephen Fee's Broadcast.

During the week, the kids had a competition, boys versus girls, to see who could raise enough money for an orphanage in India that was visited earlier this year by a Far Hills Missionary team. It was inspirational to see the kids raising money for children they had never met to help them with food and shelter. In the end, the boys were announced the winners but it was a win for everyone!

Claudia Spradlin and the team of volunteers did a fantastic job and it was a blessing to be able to participate and see the joy and happiness of the children each day!

Caught in a Cattle Drive

Cowboy in Escalante, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

During our trip out to Utah, we headed out to Escalante and headed down the back roads to get Peekaboo Slot Canyon.

On the drive in, we saw a large dust cloud in front of us and discovered that we had a cattle drive coming down the road right at us.

I stopped the car and put it in park to keep from scaring the cattle and had enough time to grab my camera out of the camera bag. There were 3 cowboys and 1 or 2 cattle dogs driving the cattle to a different area to rotate them from eating an area down too much. In different areas, there were cattle crossings to keep the cows in their specific areas.



It certainly made an interesting experience as we had a cattle drive go around us!

Star Trails at Devil's Garden

Star Trails at Devil's Garden, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

One of the plans for visiting Devil's Garden was to try our hand at Star Trails thanks to a website Terry Watson discovered.

Using a photoshop action located here: http://www.schursastrophotography.com/software/photoshop/startrails.html

You run a batch operation on the folder that holds the star trail images and it opens them 1 at a time and combines the pictures.
It looks like it takes the first picture and uses that and then adds the stars before it flattens the layer.

In our test, we setup under the arch at Devil's Garden and I played with Manual Exposure until I got the results that I wanted, using a 30s exposure. From there, I locked my remote release to force the camera to fire every 30s or so. I shot at ISO 200 and used my Sigma 10-20mm lens since I didn't need a fast f/2.8 lens for this shot.

While we were taking the shots, we were frequently buzzed by bats as the insects came out. We also had a 1/2 moon that caused the sky to stay lighter than we initially wanted but it added tot he light on the arch.

I only shot 15-17 min as I wanted to do some light painting with flashlights in a few other areas as well.

One nice aspect of this Star Trail is that the upper left star wasn't moving and it makes for a nice circular pattern for the stars.

Peekaboo Canyon via PS Blend

Peekaboo Canyon via PS Blend, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

In my second part of my HDR blog, here is a shot where I took 2 shots of different exposure, used the Quick Select Tool in PS CS3 and used that to create a Layer Mask to select just the sky from the second shot.

Here is a picture of the results of combining 5 shots via DPHDR:


I like the blend a little better. I think the HDR shot brings out a little more detail in the shadow areas.

Overall, neither picture is perfect. I think the blend is more asthetic to me. Probably, a combination of the two would make the best picture.

Red at the Madison

Red at the Madison, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Red opened up for Seether on May 21st at the Madison Theater in Covington, Ky. They put on a nice set. Flyleaf was supposed to open but they canceled due to illness.

Seether put on a good show but it was fairly shot and they didn't play a lot from their new CD. Also, they didn't do an encore. I guess the venue was too small.

I used my wife's Canon A710IS Point and Shoot for this shot. I experienced my first ever media card failure in 10 years of shooting digital. The Sandisk SD Ultra II 2 GB card failed to let me write to it shortly after this picture. I've been unable to format it or erase any images. Quite the surprise. I didn't have a spare card in her camera case, another good lesson. In the field with my normal cameras, I always have 3-4 cards available. Of course, I couldn't take those into the theater. Alas!

Dynamic Photo HDR and Pictures from Utah

Bryce HDR, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Well, I'm back safe and sound in Dayton and I'm slowly getting a chance to review my photos and clean them up.

On this trip, I purchased RoboGeo to geotag from photos and I already owned Dynamic Photo HDR to create High Dynamic Range Photos.

In this post and the one tomorrow, I'll go over in more detail the positives and negatives of Dynamic HDR with landscape photography and compare it to doing overlay layers in Photoshop CS3.

When I shoot for HDR, I like to shoot a shot for 0 exposure, -2 and +2. For my D80, I'm able to do 3 bracketed shots with a 2 step exposure but on my D300, I'm only able to do a 1 stop step so I've been shooting 5 bracketed shots. I've also switched to shooting RAW+Jpg as I usually shoot raw and find that the JPG shots seem to make it process a little faster.

For the slot canyons, I tended to shoot a shot for the shadows and then a shot metered for the sky and the dynamic range was too vaste for a standard bracketed shot.

I'll do a couple of additional comparisons on my next post showing some HDR shots compared to Photoshop layers.

Heading Home, May 17, 2008

Today we finally head home after 10 days. It's been a long time away from the family. We got up around 7am and at a quick breakfast at the Comfort Lodge and we've packed up and we're getting ready to head to the Vegas Airport.

On our way, we're going to stop at St. George and the Johnson Farm to check out the dinosaur tracks. Then it's off to the airport.

I hope my main luggage is under 50 pounds! With tripod and spare camera pack, it's pushing the limit!!!

Moonrise in Zion, May 16, 2008

Moonrise in Zion, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

As our last full day in Zion, Terry and I took it easy while Brian and Ken hiked Angel's Landing. Our plan was to meet back at the Visitor's Center around 12:30.

Terry and I started on a trail to Emerald Pools but was told that it wasn't much today because of a lack of rain. We took the shuttle down to the Court of the Patriarchs and shot a little and then headed out of the park to do some shopping.

We finally heard from the guys around 1:30. They were at the top of Angel's Landing and said it was the scariest thing they had ever done. There was a half mile on a 3 foot ridge with an 800 foot drop-off on one side and a 1200 on the other. Plus, they had to use both hands and feet at times to climb up the ridge. If you're afraid of heights, this trip isn't for you!

Terry and I decided to grab lunch and we had a Polygamist Stout, to good to drink just one!

After some more wandering around, we finally hooked up outside the park at 3:30 and took Brian and Ken to a mexican restaurant for their lunch. We had a 39 ounce heffe-wieze beer and drove back to the lodge to take a few shots of the Watcher and get setup for sunset.

We could see clouds behind us but we never got a good sunset and we headed back to the room to pack and get ready to head out for home!

The Subway, May 15, 2008

The Subway, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, we decided to do the trail to take us into the Subway, a combination Slot Canyon-River.

This was a tough hike of 4 miles to the subway as the Narrows were closed because of high water. The hike started with a 1/2 mile steep decent to the Virgin River.

I started the hike with a litre of water but it wasn't enough. The trail was a scramble over rocks and trees and over the trail when we saw it. At about half way into the hike, we came across some dinosaur tracks that were very cool! We also got eaten alive by flies!

A little after the tracks, Terry made a good move as he was about out of water and he turned around and returned to the car. We started the hike around 9am and 4 hours later we were still a ways from the Subway.

Ken was ahead of us and got to the Subway before rian and I. Brian hiked the entire way with his camera out. I took out my D300 and carried it for a while until I slipped while looking at a snake sunning on a rock. I put a small mark on the battery pack and decided it was tie to pack up the camera in my pack so I could have both hands free.

The boots and hiking stick from Zion Adventures came in very helpful as wading through the river was sometimes the easiest path.

Once I got to the Subway, I found Ken and sat down to eat a quick lunch of Tuna. Unfortunately, I misplaced the cap to my water and decided to finish it before spilling it. I also bummed a Pepsi off Brian and we all shot for a couple of hours before heading back.

The trip back was much quicker as we didn't take many stops for pictures. The worst part of the hike was the start and finish with the last .6 miles and 500 foot altitude change up a steep cliff. At this point, I was pretty wiped and took a quick snack of some oranges that Brian had. I was also regretting the fact that I hadn't purchased a carbon fibre tripod and that I had brought my heaviest pack because it had the best water protection. it combined for a 40-50 pounds I had to carry uphill. A lot of the climb was very steep and required both hands at certain points. A little over half way up the trail, Brian and Ken were a few switchbacks uphill and another couple had just past them when I heard a huge noise and a scream. A boulder the size of a vmw bug started tumbling down hill and started a rock slide. The couple were 1 min from the point of impact when they heard the rock slide start and ran back down the trail. I watched the rock bounce down the mountain, frequently several feet in the air. We were all freaked out and had to deal with getting over the area where the rock slide just occurred.

At this point, I was dehydrated and exhausted. I got over this area but was pretty wiped. Brian came down and made me give him my pack as the sun was setting and we didn't want to be on the trail that late. My pack was WAY too heavy. It was much easier to make it to the car where we found Terry waiting for us with Gatorade.

Two key things I learned : (1) Pack plenty of water or gatorade and (2) don't over pack gear.

Friday is a mellow day for me and Terry but Brian and Ken are doing Angel's Landing, a very strenuous and dangerous hike .

Zion National Park, May 14, 2008

Brian in the Rapids, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, we drove from Page to Zion National Park in Utah. It is the oldest national park in Utah and is similar to Yosemite or Rocky Mountain Nation Park in services.

So far, it's the most family location we've been to and some place we would bring our families. The place is beautiful.

We caught the shuttle at the Visitor Center and headed up to the last stop to walk along River Walk and do some shots on the Virgin River.

One thing we can't figure out, it seems man capris are in fashion with the foreign tourist. We've taken to calling them manpris. Terry and I have taken a pledge that if we ever see the other wearing them, we will kick the crap out of them. ;-)

Tomorrow, the Subway!!!

Rimrock Hoodoos, May 14, 2008

Rimrock Hoodoos, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

After hitting the Upper Antelope Canyon, we hit our rooms to freshen up and headed out to the Rimrock Hoodoos near the Arizona/Utah border. We had heard that they were very similar to Devil's Garden in Escalante but found them a little lacking in comparison.

Rimrock is about a mile hike from the highway parking lot but it's an easy hike.

We had looked forward to a nice sunset with clouds. Unfortunately, the storm that hit in the morning was totally gone by sunset without a cloud in the sky. In addition, the sun goes behind a ridge before sunset and we didn't get the colors we were hoping for.

Still, I'm glad we came and saw them.

We went back to Page and grabbed dinner at a Mexican restaurant and crashed out for our trip to Zion on the 15th.

Upper Antelope Slot Canyon, May 14, 2008

Spirit Bear, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

We woke up to rain and dark skies. Terry, Brian and Ken decided to walk to McDonald's to get breakfast as a Tour Bus full of French tourist were eating breakfast already at the hotel continental breakfast.

I was just hopping ingot the shower, so I joined the guys after getting ready. Surprisingly, the guys just got their food before I got there so I didn't slow them down too much. We decided to do a little shopping while waiting for the weather to clear and hit Jack-in-the-Box for lunch.

The weather finally started to clear up around 2 and we headed over to the Upper Antelope Canyon, AKA Corkscrew Canyon. We paid the $6 Navajo fee and $40 for a 2 hour photo tour from one of the local guides. The best time to see the shafts of light in the Upper Antelope is from 11:30 to 1, so we missed that and the light was very poor for general photos. One of the high points of the tour was catching Spirit Bear! it is only visible in the mid to late afternoon.

I was very glad that our stay at the Page Tavelodge was almost over. I can't believe that their internet access had been down for a week and their response was for us to use the Best Western wireless from across the street. The Deluxe Continental Breakfast was pretty poor as well. It was cereal (Raisin Bran or Frosted Flakes), toast and/or bananas and oranges. Pretty weak.

Lower Antelope Slot Canyon, May 12, 2008

Key Hole, Lower Antelope Slot Canyon, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, we got up and grabbed breakfast at the hotel and headed over to the Lower Antelope Slot Canyon at 8:30. Just after we pulled in, a tour bus pulled in behind us. Terry and Ken rushed in and headed to the back as Brian and I stopped at the entrance and shot as the photography tour went past us.

The Lower Antelope was beautiful I highly recommend it if you're in the area! The best times to visit seem to be from 8-10:45 and 2-4. The Key Hole is lit up around 10:15 if you want to capture a ray of light. After 11, the light goes away. Primarily, you're trying to capture the walls with the reflected light. That provides the best red colors. It's sometimes difficult to avoid the sky in a photo. If you do get it, you'll have blown highlights and you won't get the pretty blue of the sky. I was taking multiple exposures, one for the shadows and one for the sky, and I plan to merge them in Photoshop later.

After the slots, we hit Pizza Hut for lunch and did a little shopping. We were planning on heading out in the afternoon but clouds rolled in and turned the sky to gray. Instead, we went over to Slackers Bar and Grill and had dinner while watching the Red Wings beat the Star in the NHL playoffs. It started raining while we were there and rained through the night.

Page Arizona, Sunday, May 11, 2008

Horshoe Bend, Page, Arizona, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, we drove from Tropic Utah to Page Arizona to see Horseshoe Bend and the Antelope Slot Canyons. We stopped for breakfast at Ruby's Inn and headed down the 2 hours to catch Horseshoe Bend around 1pm.

On the drive down, I got pulled over for doing 70 in a 65. Lesson: Set your cruise control and don't worry that everyone else is passing you at 80. Luckily, I got off with a warning and the gentleman that pulled me over was very courteous.

We got into Page and passed the Glen Canyon Dam. Be warned, the speed limit there is 15 and police were setup with radar and pulling people over left and right. We were going to visit the Dam Visitor Center but they have pretty tight security to get in and we didn't feel like standing in line.

We checked in to the Travelodge and discovered their internet access was down and it's been a bear to get access to upload pictures or my blog.

We drove over to Horshoe Bend and did the 3/4 mile hike. After the Bryce Canyon Rim Trails, I wasn't overly eager to stand at the edge of the canyon and take a shot. Looking through a viewfinder and tracking birds can cause a sense of vertigo. Terry and I were both of the opinion that it was better to inch out the last little bit to hold the cameras over the edge and shoot. It's an amazing sight and even with a 10mm lens on my D300, I couldn't get the outer edges. Terry got a shot with a boat that helps add a sense of perspective.

After Horseshoe Bend, we headed over to the Lower Antelope Slot Canyon. After paying $26 to get in, Brian and I were walking over to where we thought it was and didn't see an entrance. One of the local guides popped out of a crack in the ground and showed us the entrance. We were in there from 2 until 5 or so shooting. The light seems best from about 2-4. The Lower Antelope was MUCH EASIER to navigate than Peekaboo Canyon. It's also a lot taller. There was a lot my traffic than Peekaboo but everyone has told us that the Upper Antelope is crazy busy and you're lucky to get a shot without someone in it. We're going to do the Lower again Monday morning and hit the Upper on Tuesday.

We had dinner at Sonic and watched the big crows fly around. We were all fairly tired so we got into our rooms. unloaded, headed over to Walmart for a few supplies and crashed out after some beer and wine.

Devil's Garden at Night, May 11, 2008

Devil's Garden at Night, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

After shooting sunrise at Bryce Canyon, we went back to the cabin and caught a little nap to try and catch up on a little sleep. For the evening, we headed back out to Devil's Garden in Escalante to do a night shot to catch stars. We had a late Brunch at Ruby's Inn before hitting Devil's Garden and it helped us crash for a few hours.

The sky wasn't great for afternoon shots but it worked well for shooting stars in the evening.

Here is one of the shots taken at f/4 with a 30 sec exposure. In this shot, we used a flashlight to paint the rocks to allow them to show up much better without over exposing the stars. This shot is without any photoshop work. I plan to blend this with a non-painted version of the rocks to give it a natural look without over-exposing and getting a lot of noise.

Devil's Garden proved to be one of my favorite spots around Bryce Canyon and Escalante. The interesting this is that there were a lot more foreign tourists (mainly French and German) than Americans. I guess the strong Euro has made it easier for travel!

Bryce Canyon, Sunrise May 10, 2008

Thor's Hammer, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

We dragged ourselves out of bed at 5:15 after a few hours of sleep to head over to Sunset Point to get shots of the sunrise on Bryce Canyon. Terry was the first one out as he wanted to catch the sun crest the rim of the canyon.

The tire patch job Brian did yesterday has held and we were in good shape. I met a guy with his 3 daughters shooting a 15 year old Hassleblad as I shot my D300 (tripod) and D80 (hand-held 70-200mm VR).

We finished up around 8 and headed over to Bryce Point for some more shots. We saw some California Condors but they were too far away for my 70-200mm lens.

We stopped at Ruby's Inn and grabbed some breakfast. We couldn't take another meal of trail mix and jerky!

We ended up at midday back at the cabins exhausted and took a nap before heading out at 3:30 for Devil's Garden for sunset shots and night shots.

More to come for Saturday!

Devil's Garden, Afternoon May 9, 2008

Devil's Garden, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Two entries in one day! After our escapade to Peekaboo, we went back down the dirt road to hit Devil's Garden for sunset and night shots.

The sky was beautiful, as you can tell by this shot, but clouds started rolling in and we didn't get the golden sunset we were hoping for. Devil's Garden was so cool, we're going back this afternoon to shoot the sunset and do night trails.

Devil's Garden is certainly one of the coolest places we've been AND IT DIDN"T REQUIRE HIKING!!!

After the Navajo Trail in Bryce Canyon and the hike to Peekaboo Canyon, it was a good change of pace.

Escalante, Morning of May 9, 2008

Peekaboo Slot Canyon, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Yesterday, we went to Escalante to find Peekaboo Slot Canyons. The colors were very cool but the hike to the slot canyons required a lot of decent into the canyon and a lot of sand!

To get into Peekaboo, we had to climb about 8 feet. Ken went in first and we handed up tripods and camera gear. I wore my ThinkTank belt system and that was a big MISTAKE! It was hard to turn sideways to get through a lot of the openings. There were also a lot of people that came through. It was a popular place!

The exit to Peekaboo was pretty tight. Terry and I climbed over Lemon Squeeze, were Terry almost broke his foot, and finally exited with no idea how to get back to the parking lot. We could see it but we had trouble finding the trail back to the bottom of the canyon. The hike back up the trail was pretty strenuous but we got back and headed back to Escalante for lunch. On the way back the dirt rode, we picked up a rock that put a small hole in the left rear tire. Brian "The MacGuiver" Woolum bought a tire repair kit and we've been as good as new ever since.

Bryce Canyon, May 8, 2008

Ken and the Tree, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, we got up at 5am to the sounds of a massive ice/rain storm. It looked like the morning was washed out but the weather here is strange! By 6:30, it had cleared with very few clouds in the sky.

We drove to Sunset Point and did the Navajo Trail to Sunrise Point. It was long and the hardest day for me as I didn't bring much water. You have major inclines at the entrance and exits so the climbs up the trails were killer after the 3+ mile hike!

We went to Inspiration Point and got back to sunset too late for shots of Thor's Hammer.

All in all, it was a good first day in Utah!

Bryce Canyon at Sunset - Sunset Overlook

Bryce Canyon at Sunset - Sunset Overlook, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

I'm in Utah for the next 10 days with Terry Watson, Ken Kennard and Bryan Woolum. We flew into Las Vegas and drove up to Bryce Canyon. We got to the overlook at 5:30 pm to scout out sites for sunrise and sunset pictures for 5/8.

Unfortunately, it is icing and raining this morning. Luckily, it clears up later and we're looking at where we want to shoot midday and evening.

Reflector Terry

Reflector Terry, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, the Focus Photo Club did a Model Shoot geared at the Senior Portrait group. John Heckler gave a presentation to start the day with a discussion of fill and flash light in the day.

It was fun getting the kids together and watching the other photographers group around.

Terry Cavanaugh was a CHAMP! He didn't bring a camera to shoot, although he can teach everyone a thing or two, but he helped tremendously with reflectors and helped us with our lighting.

Thanks Terry!

Less than 1 week until Utah!

In less than a week, I'm off to Utah to see the Antelope Slot Canyons and Bryce Canyon, to name a few spots. Ken, Brian, Terry and I are off to Utah and Arizona for 10 days and it should be a blast.

I hope to post pictures here each day.

Winchester Speedway Sprint Car Races

Uh Ohhhh, Wreck time, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Sunday, I checked out the Sprint Car Races in Winchester, IN with Terry Watson, Bob Coyle and Terry Cavanaugh.

It's the first time I've tried to shoot auto racing and I worked on my panning technique at slower shutter speeds. It's a little tough to get a sharp photo of the cars at a slow shutter speed to show active motion by blurring the background and showing tire rotation.

In this photo, these 2 cars were racing hard for the lead. I think 17 bumped the rear tire of 67, causing it to skid and resulted in 17 crashing into the side. This was on the exit to turn 4. #17's right front wheel was damaged but 67 was able to continue and won the race.

These guys were flying around this 1/2 mile track in 14 sec. and I was shooting at 1/320 sec in shutter priority mode.

Rolex Cross Country Event 4/26/2008

Tipperary Liadhnan, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

This past Saturday, I took the family down to the Kentucky Horse Park and watched a little of the Cross Country Jumping event. I only got to see 4 horses before they paused the event because of an accident.

During the day, there were 2 accidents that resulted in the euthanization of the horses. One accident was pretty severe as the rider had the horse going too fast and it's front legs hit the jump, causing it to flip over and land on it's back, fracturing it's skull and causing damage to a lung. The rider was air lifted out but was in stable condition. She had severe rib injuries and punctured both lungs. It is very sad as the horse was Frodo Baggins and starred in The Lord of the Rings before his jumping career. He and his rider were on the short list for the Olympics.

Goal!

_D3H6400, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Saturday, my wife and I went to see the Dayton Bombers play for the first time. They were playing the Elmira Jackels. They lost 7-3 but it was a fun game and gave me a chance to practice some Hockey photography. I thought the front row would be good seats except for the glare of the glass. We went to sit with a few friends in the third period and got a slightly different angle.

I would say that the best spot is mid-court above the glass.

Lunar Eclipse

_DSC3730, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

I had a little fun last night and took some shots of the lunar eclipse. This photo kind of stood out to me. I discovered that if I shot too long, the movement of the moon would cause elongation of the moon.

This shot is interesting in that I had stars and a green lens flare going through the moon that reminds me of the Death Star when it blew up.

North American International Auto Show

200801naias2-402, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

On Sunday and Monday, 1/20-1/21, I went up to Detroit with some friends and hit the Auto Show. This was the first year without Porsche since I started going 7 or 8 years ago.

As usual, I really enjoyed the various concept cars. My favorites were the Mazda racer and the Audio R8. I really liked the Mini Cooper area and the new Clubman is pretty nice. I would love to get a Mini Cooper S Convertible or even a little Clubman. I miss my old Mazda Miata and the Mini Cooper S is the closest thing that can seat 3 to fit in the family.

If you're heading to the show, check out the DUB cars. They certainly have some interesting customs.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the Ford display this year. The Mustang Mirrors look extremely cheap and there was a bit of a cheap feel to them. on the opposite, the Mazda display was pretty cool with 2 very interesting concept cars. I think Lexus, Acura and Ferrari had the best looking Product Specialists!

Also, I entered some pictures in the annual NAIAS Photo Competition. If you want to check them out, here are the links:
View Photo 'Bio Ferrari'>>
View Photo 'DUB Transformer'>>
View Photo 'Cart Racer'>>
View Photo 'Maybach Luxury'>>
View Photo 'Mazda Racer'>>
View Photo 'The Eye'>>

US Air Force Museum

200801wpafm-hdr-240-hdr-Edit, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Today, a bunch of us went over to Wright-Patt Air Force Base and visited the museum. This was our second trip there and we spent the day shooting HDR photos.

Here is one showing a WWI Tri-Plane attacking an allied blimp.

Punk Rocker

Punk Rocker, originally uploaded by BillyCrafton.

Welcome to my blog! This is my first post to and I thought I would talk about my last photo shoot on Sunday.

Zack and his brother, Justin, came over to Terry William's studio and I got to grab a few shots of their great mohawks!

We had two areas setup for the shoot, a High Key area with a white backdrop and Alien Bee lights, and a Low Key setup with a black background and lights.

As we were shooting, we pulled in the Drywall Platform that was in the entry room for some work in the lobby.

This was one of my favorite shots of Zack. He was wearing a Ramones shirt and Terry had his son bring over a Bass guitar. We put his jacket on the platform and started shooting away. I asked him to give me a good snarl aka Sid Vicious and got this great moody shot!