Oklahoma City National Memorial

While at a family reunion, I had a chance to make a quick stop over to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. I chose to travel light to Oklahoma City, and decided not to bring my DSLR. As soon as I arrived here, I started kicking myself for not bringing it. I was limited on time, and no DSLR. So what does a photographer use, his cell phone. The Samsung Galaxy 6 Edge has been known for having a great camera and I will be one of those people to say that it does. The camera on the Galaxy 6 Edge does have a pro mode that allows you to control exposure and ISO, and white balance. I did play around with the pro mode and its good to see these settings in a smart phone. I hear that mobile photography has taken off, I guess I'm adding my photos to the new trend.

Until the next post

2AN

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N2 Track Day - Road Atlanta

It has been ages since my last post. This post will be about another hobby of mine besides photography/videography. In mid May I started preparing for the July 4th N2 motorcycle Track Day at Road Atlanta. For the track day I decided to leave my DSLRs at home and just focus on the track. I did take my GoPro Hero2 and Hero3 cameras and had them mounted and tethered to my bike. I put the Hero2 on the rear and created a tether for it after watching  this YouTube video. Because the Hero3 was on the front I used a cyclemount solution by securing it on the bikes mirror mount. In order to tether this camera,  I used a series of zip-ties together.

Due to the rain, the morning session was a struggle. Turn 7 cause trouble for several riders, including me. I did go do but the crash was minor.  I walked away from it injury free, the bike had minor damage and it was deemed safe to return to the track.  Around lunch time, the sun came out and the track dried up.  Riding on the track was a lot better at this point. 

Raul Jerez of highsidephoto.com was on site taking photos of everyone racing on the track. Highsidephoto have taken photos at various track days and races/ below are some of the shots of me at the N2 Track day. To see more of Raul's work check out highsidephoto.com

Here are two captures from the GoPros mounted on my bike

Below is a video I have put together from my N2 Track Day. I have to give thanks to Flying Finn of Chain RXN with providing his GoPro footage to help make the video.

Enjoy

2@N

Georgia Tech Hotel Parking Deck

It has been a while since my last post. Last weekend I caught up with the Atlanta Urban Photo Walkers MeetUp group. We all met up at the Georgia Tech Hotel Parking deck in Atlanta to shoot the Atlanta skyline. I arrived with the my old reliable Canon T1i and Sigma 18-200mm f/3.4 lens with a Tiffen 62mm 1.2 neutral density filter. I planned on shooting a time-lapse scene using a "bramping" technique. Last December I purchased TriggerTrap, an app that lets you control your DSLR camera, and began doing some "bramping" (bulb ramping) testing. Well, my bramping time-lapse scene didn't turn out the way I wanted, but I did have a few cool shots from the Meetup.

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Later on that evening I got asked to join some other photographers to shoot the Atlanta skyline from a different location. We shot from the Coca-Cola parking deck in Centennial Park. This location was mentioned in a blog post, that talked about the top parking garages for photographers , by Ana Santos (She was at the Meetup also). Luckily, one of the photographers there allowed me to use a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens with my Canon 7D body. Below are some of the shots I took with that lens. Hmmmmm, this lens might be an addition to my gear in the future, not near future.

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You can check out more blog post by Ana Santos here. 

To see some of the work by the members of the Atlanta Urban Photo Walkers click here.

Enjoy

2AN.

The view of the Gateway Arch from Malcom Martin Park

On one of the good days that I was home, I went down to the Malcom Martin Park in East St. Louis Illinois to take a few shot of the iconic Gateway Arch.  In one day I made three trips to this park.  I went there at the dawn and the park was closed, later in the morning and one last time before sunset. The shots in the morning didn't turn out too good nor did the evening shots because of cloud cover, so the shot below is from my second time going to the park.  In this same park is the home of the Gateway Geyser but it was not running.  I hope to return back home in the summer to get some images of the Geyser running. 

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Here is a shot of the Gateway Arch from the Malcom Martin Park in East St. Louis, IL

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A shot behind the Malcom Martin Statue looking across the Mississippi River at the Gateway Arch

2@N

Roll Tide!!!...Again

Thanks to a contact that I have, I was given a call last Friday afternoon asking if I wanted to go to the Texas A&M vs Alabama football game and of course I had to say...YEA!  Saturday morning I got up and hit the road to Tuscaloosa, AL.  I arrived at noon for the 2:30 kick off to walk around and get some shots that I was not able to get last time I was at Bryant-Denny stadium.  So I won't bore you with the details, but I got some different shots from last time and the game wasn't too exciting as Alabama rolled over the Aggies 59-0.  

Hope you enjoy the pics and thanks for stopping by. 

ROLL TIDE!

2AN 

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Shot looking down on Crimson Tide fans entering Bryant-Denny Stadium 

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While leaving the stadium I caught this fan holding up "GO BAMA!" signs. Needless to say that phrase "Roll Tide!" was said a few times.

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While walking around after the game I followed a line of people to Rama Jama's.  This restaurant is on the corner of Paul W Bryant Dr and Wallace Wade Ave in Tuscaloosa, AL.

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Here is another attempt of a panoramic shot of Bryant-Denny stadium. I arrived 2 hours before kickoff to grab this shot.  I was a bit ticked at one of the stadium workers who told me that I could not get to the top if I didn't have a ticket to sit up there.  Really?  You telling me that I have to buy a ticket to sit up there even though I am in the stadium?!?!.  Needless to say I was able to find my way to the north end zone and take some shots and make this shot.

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Here is my attempt at a panoramic shot of Bryant-Denny from the west side of the stadium.  After seeing this I really wish I had a fisheye lens to capture more of the sky in this shot.

NFL Week 6 outside of the Georgia Dome.

Week 6 of the NFL had the Chicago Bears face the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA.  A friend of mine came into town and invited me to tailgate.  When I was walking towards the tailgating section it felt like it was a Bears home game.  I took my trusty Canon T1i lens with the Sigma 18-200 f 3.4 lens.  Well the game ended well for the Bears as they won 27-17.  

Ran across this statue outside of the Georgia Dome before the start of the Bears vs Falcons Game.  Maybe the Bears gave the real wedgie with a 27-13 win. 

Falcons fans tailgating outside of the Georgia Dome

This Chic-Fil-A advertisement was outside of the Georgia Dome during the Week 6 match up of the Bears vs Falcons

Fans in line waiting to enter the Georgia Dome to see Falcons vs Bears

The below shots have nothing to do with the game or tailgating but here are a few things that caught my eye.  

I saw this in a time-lapse video I saw on Vimeo.  When walking around I was happy to discovery it.  The "ATLANTA" that you see is the entrance to the Philips Arena. 

The Ferris wheel here is the Skyview Atlanta.  This is by Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, GA

Thanks for reading and viewing

2@N

Walk To End Alzheimer's

This past Saturday morning I volunteered to shoot photos for the 2014 Walk to End Alzheimer’s event in Peachtree City, GA. It was a chilly morning, but over 1000 walkers showed up to help end the Alzheimer’s disease. For this shoot I used my trusty Canon T1i and Canon 7D bodies and used a Canon 70-200mm f 2.8 lens and Sigma 18-200 f 3.4 lens. The 70-200mm lens turned out to be great for this event. It was cloudy that day and I was getting a bit frustrated using Canon T1i and Sigma combination because I was trying to shoot a cleaner image by keeping the ISO to 200 but the shots just kept being under expose. So what does a photographer do, keep calm and shoot on. It was a great turnout for a great cause and with the money raised, hopefully a cure for Alzheimer’s will be discovered soon.

Aproximtley 1000 walkers at the start of the Walk To End Alzheimer's in Peachtree City, GA

A shot of walk participants warming up before the walk. 

Below is a shot of the Promise Garden.  Each walk participant received a flower and the color of the flower represented a connection to Alzheimer's 

Blue: is for someone who has Alzheimer's or dementia

Purple: is for the lost of a loved one

Yellow: is for someone supporting or caring for someone with Alzheimer's 

Orange: is for everyone who supports the cause and vision of a world without Alzheimer's 

Members of the Peachtree City Jazz Edition performing during Walk To End Alzheimer's. 

At the finish line there was a cheering squad that help all participants to finish strong.  Here is a shot of one of the volunteers giving a high five to one of the runners. 

Finally I'll leave on the last shot below.   For this event I took my GoPro Hero 3 camera.   I was doing some testing with the GoPro app on my phone and got this shot of the Promise Garden.  It was so nice to have a live preview on my phone while doing some testing. As the walkers cross the finish line, they saw the big Thank You banner.  

Thanks You for checking out this post

2@N.

Roll Tide!!

I had a chance to experience my first SEC football game.  I headed out to Tuscaloosa, AL to see Southern Miss vs Alabama.  I took my trusty Canon T1i with a Sigma 18-200mm f 3.5 and snap a couple of shots. It didn't turn out to be a good shooting day but overall it was a great experience for it being my first SEC game.  Oh how can I forget, "Roll Tide!". 

2@N

Here is a shot from one of the nose-bleed seats at Bryant Denny Stadium.  I decided to hike up to this section with five minutes left in the second quarter. 

This shot was taken when by section N-1 when I was trying to find my way to the top of Bryant-Denny Stadium.  It was cool to be at ground level close to the action.

Here is a shot looking up the south east corner of Bryant Denny Stadium.  I took this shot while I was trying to figure out where was my seat.  Unfortunately the gate I needed to be at was on the other side of the stadium.   

Here is a panoramic shot that I did with Samsung Galaxy S4.  I couldn't get to the top of the north end zone because the seats at the top were still occupied for the halftime show. I still like how this shot turned out. 

MotoGP at the Circuit of the Americas - 2014

Back in April I had a chance to go to the second annual running of the MotoGP races at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) track in Austin, Tx. I went to the races last year and had a blast, but after watching the races on TV,  I realized that there were parts of the track I did not walk to. So this year with one of my best friends we went exploring to another part of the track. Most of the shots are from my Canon 7D with a Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5 and a few I took with my Samsung Galaxy S4. It turned out to be a good weekend, great racing, and it wasn't too hot. So here are some of my shots.

Here is another area of the track I got to to see some action.  Here are two riders turning into Turn 9 at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA)

During a practice run, Moto2 rider number 55 looks at the other riders coming out of Turn 2 at the Circuit Of the Americas.

Moto2 Riders passing under the pedestrian bridge by Turn 16 at the Circuit of the Americas.

I had a chance to go to the top of the observation tower at the Circuit of the Americas and the views were spectacular.  It is the best seat in the house to see the entire track.

Here is a shot from the Observation tower looking down on riders at turn 16 of the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

Here is a wider shot from the Observation Tower looking down on Turn 16.

Looking down on Turn 18 one ride had some bike trouble.   Here is another shot I captured from the Observation Tower of a track, where a corner worker is trying push start this bike.

Looking down on Turn 18 one ride had some bike trouble.   Here is another shot I captured from the Observation Tower of a track, where a corner worker is trying push start this bike.

Each moto GP Event I have been to (only Indianapolis and Austin, Tx) there is Ducati Island (Ducati set up a nice area for Ducati owners to park and have some nice seats at the track.  Here is a shot on Ducati Island from the rea of the Observation tower.

Here is a panoramic shot I took from there.  On the right side you see turn 1 and on left you see turns 13 and part of 14. 

Below are a few shots from the track walk after the practice runs on Day 1.

During the track walk I took this shot from one of the starting grid positions at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

This shot was taken during the public track walk after day one practice.  From the start  line to turn one there is a 133 foot climb in elevation.  Ok so that doesn't seem like a lot but let me know bad your quads and calfs are burning when you reach the top.

Once the qualifying sessions were done I followed a a crowed of people and ended up going to a rider Q&A session.  Unfortunately, I did not get an autograph because I didn't  have a wristband, but here are a couple of shots I got from that Q&A session.

Columbian MotoGP rider Yonny Hernandez tosses a signed hat back to a fan at Circuit of the Americas riders Q&A session.

MotoGP fan favorite Valention Rossi waves to the crowd.

I had a chance to meet an interesting lady in the vendor village.  There was a BMW S 1000 RR that caught my attention.  While looking in the bike I noticed that there was a different type of mount for a GoPro mount by the handlebars. I asked if the owner of the bike was here and then I was introduced to the 5 time land speed record holder Valerie Thompson.  We had a chance to share some different riders stories and end the end I got an autograph from her.  Now even though she can go 210+mph on land, she has a fear of skydiving.   Well at least I have one up her on something.  To learn more about Valerie go to her site here and facebook fan page here.

Hope you enjoyed what you seen.

2@N

MLB Opening Day - LET'S GO CARDS!

Ok Cardinal fans, all together now...LET'S GO CARDS!, LET'S GO CARDS! It's opening day for the St. Louis Cardinals and they start the season on the road against the NL Central rivals the Cincinnati Reds. I really wanted to make an image for opening day. I took several caps I own and rally towel I received when attending game six of the 2011 World Series against the Texas Rangers. I shot this with a Canon 7D, a Canon 430 EX II flash with a red gel, and a Canon 600 EX-RT on a light stand with an umbrella to light the front. With a touch of post processing with Adobe Lightroom and some magic from Adobe Photo Shop here is the photo.

Enjoy

2@N