Early day for me tomorrow, but the silver lining is that it’s the closest race to me that I’ve ever shot. Any closer and it’d be in my back yard! I’m not complaining, but I do need to get some sleep.
Big event for the area tomorrow morning. See ya bright and early – well, at least early.
Well, simply because I can. You know you’ve used that excuse at some point in your life, right?
A little course recon this morning for the Battlefield 1/2 this weekend. Hope the weather forecast is good for Saturday morning cuz I’m hoping to get some good running aerials.
Kernstown Battlefield near Winchester, VA
As I take inventory of all the opportunity that has come my way over the last eleven months, I can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed. I count myself lucky to have the relationships I have in this community. What really amazes me is that these people actually recognize something in what I’m doing. I’ve never considered myself a “video producer.” I’ve never considered myself a “photographer.” I’ve never considered myself, on any level, a “graphic designer.” These were just new ventures that kept my wandering brain focused with something to do. I can’t believe that, after all these years, people still consider what I do is decent enough to appreciate. It just blows my mind. I certainly have so much more to learn in a field that is always expanding. It’s an endless chase, but it’s certainly been fun and exciting so far. So a heartfelt thank you to all those who’ve seen something in what I do especially when I begin to doubt my abilities.
Whew, that was like a therapy session and today’s image is what sparked that thought…
This is where I’ll be this weekend.
So I was driving down the interstate highway and got the urge to take this photograph. So I did. Its pretty colorful along our section of 81.
Our colorful section of I-81 near mile marker 309.
It was such a cold day for a football game. I know most people would say it was perfect weather for a football game, but not me. I’ve certainly become a fair-weather person in my “old” age. But the sunsets are no less spectacular – that’s one reason I could photograph the sunset every day. Maybe that’ll be my theme for all of next year – what a challenge.
I passed this sign as I was walking (aha, see what I did there) to a meeting yesterday from the parking garage in downtown Winchester. Watch out for walkers tonight (haha, did it again).
Are you a “Dead” fan?
So it’s tough enough to handhold an HDR image, but given a choice between handholding and aerial HDR – I choose handheld. Even with the 3-axis gimbal guiding the camera, the aerial cam just can’t hold still enough. I probably spent about 20 minutes trying to eliminate all the ghosting in this image (and could have easily spent another 1/2 hour). Enough’s enough. This will have to do. I think I’ll just stick to the one image post-processing using the raw data straight out of the camera.
I just realized that was an incredible amount of technical geek-talk. It’s late at night – thanks for listening. Now just enjoy the image.
Fall On The Mall – Old Town Mall in Winchester, VA.
It’s nature’s color palette. What a great time of year to be a landscape photographer.
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“Morning’s Here
The Morning is Here
Sunshine is Here
The Sky is Clear
The Morning’s here (hey you’re back!)
(Hey!) Get into Gear
Breakfast is near
The Dark of Night Has Disappeared”– Joey & his neighbor (Friends)
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Yep, that’s what they’re calling it.
It’s been a while since I actually shot something other than aerial. It felt creative.
Another awesome sunset over what has turned into my favorite place to shoot these days. Go figure.
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“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
– Albert Camus
The peaking foliage over Abram’s Creek in Winchester, VA.
Anybody have an issue saying the word “foliage?” I worked with someone once who did. Anybody have a guess as to who it was? I wonder if she’s reading now. Anyway, the fo·li·age [ˈfōl(ē)ij] is about to peak here in Winchester. Hope the weather holds for some great images.
The foliage on SU campus in Winchester around Wilkins Lake.
This is how I started my day – actually about an hour and a half prior to this. Long day for me.
HLSB (Shenandoah University’s Health and Life Sciences Building). | Order a print of this image.
There was going to be a great sunset at the school this evening, but I had my first complaint about the aerial camera that cut me short. A lady was going to go walk somewhere else this evening (as opposed to her usual walk at the school) because she was “uncomfortable” with the drone. I was just hovering taking a shot every couple of minutes – just waiting for the money shot. This is the last shot I was able to get. I never did get a clear answer as to what made her uncomfortable. Oh well.
Another great sunset over Handley High School. | Order a print of this image.
Who would’ve thought that, amongst all the high-tech engineering and impressive architecture, the rockers on the “front porch” would be good old Cracker Barrel brand.
Get that down-home “front porch” feel at the newest SU Building in Winchester.
I was near downtown today when the sun began setting. It pays sometimes to keep the gear in the car.
The new Discovery Museum in Old Town Winchester
I was out doing some mapping photography today and got a preview of the coming Fall colors. I think I’m heading to the national forest next week to shoot some photographs with my UAV. I might even fly at 401 feet. I’m such a rebel!
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If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from all my sports shooting it’s that high-speed burst shooting should be used very sparingly. I think it was last year that I came home from shooting Winchester Applecross with close to 7,000 images. Three 0’s people! Sure the high-speed bursts have their place, but for me I’d rather come home with images that were shot purposefully as opposed to images that are simply part of a series of high-speed bursts where maybe one is decent. I don’t want to be that photographer who tries to impress people with the sound of their shutter rapidly firing off 20 frames at a time in a couple of seconds. So how, then, do you get the good images you might ask? Anticipate the action and know the sport you’re shooting. I still came home with a crap ton of images (2k but that’s a far cry from 7,000).
Winchester Applecross coming my way.
Cedarmeade Studios 