Please excuse a bit of downtime as we move to new servers… in the lucky condition that you can see this, here are a few classic photos for you

Filed under the categories: Travel

New Video Tomorrow!

We posted a behind-the-scenes video a few days ago, and a new one is coming tomorrow. You can see previous ones on the Videos page.

Updated Woopra Video Review (Thanks London!)

I recently updated my Woopra Review, which is a cool real-time analytics tool for your website or blog. I recommend it! You can try it for free and be up and running in just 10 minutes after a visit to the Woopra site.

Daily Photo – Ripping Through the World

I know everyone has their own various tastes for HDR, and mine is all over the map! Sometimes I really feel artsy and go crazy with one, like this car below. It’s hard with awesome cars… because the reflectivity in HDR is so off the map.

I’ve been meaning to get to one of those high-end car shows and go crazy with my tripod. I’ve heard the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach is really one of the best in the world… but maybe you all know of some other stellar car shows you can recommend?

Filed under the categories: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Topaz Adjust, Travel

New Interview with Matt Brandon

Matt is a really nice guy, and I enjoyed our time together for the interview.  He runs a website called The Digital Trekker, and he has just recently posted the interview at that link.  His podcast is called “Depth of Field”, so be sure to check it out!

Want to know something really strange?  We were on the same flight from Tokyo to San Francisco a few weeks ago, and I didn’t even know it! I found out about this later via Twitter — he walked by me, and I was deeply engrossed in something on my laptop!

Daily Photo – Under the Docks in California

Some of you remember the great photowalk we had down in San Clemente.  I really had a good time there.  On my photowalks, typically I stop from time to time and tell the assembled crowd what I am doing.  Well, I finally got a chance to process this quintet!

I felt fortunate to have a good friend that had an amazing condo that overlooked this same beach.  Frankly, after a long day and night of shooting, I felt spoiled and happy just taking a few more steps to my pad…  grabbing some cool drinks… opening the patio doors to listen to the surf… good times!

Filed under the categories: California, LA, Nikon D3X, San Clemente, Travel

Behind-the-Scenes in New Zealand

I recently edited together and posted this scene from the south island of NZ, when I was out in this beautiful meadow at sunset. I was using a 70-200mm lens, so I used this to add to my Nikon 70-200 Review.

If you’d also like to see the resulting photo, check out the Video on the Valley of Abundance page.

Daily Photo – Manhattan Living

When I was in New York City, I had the good fortune to spend time with Steve Simon. We had breakfast at this great little French place and then went around to do a bit of shooting. We stopped at his place and went up to the roof. Peering over the side, I saw this and thought it was kinda nice… so I grabbed a quick one.

Be sure to visit Steve’s site on the link above. He has amazing work and I am sure you will get a kick out of it!

Filed under the categories: Milford Sound, New York, New York City, New Zealand, Nikon D3X, Te Anau, Travel

Art Show in Austin

I arrived a little late to the show, and the girl that clicked us in said there were over 200 people there! Crazy! But it was really awesome to see this World’s Largest High Resolution Tiled Wall display. I enjoyed meeting a bunch of new people, seeing other artists, and checking out the whole scene.

A gentleman there named David Ingram (Dingatx on Flickr) grabbed this photo below to give you some idea of the scene.

Daily Photo – The Spray of the Tasman Sea

This was an incredibly difficult photo to achieve!

I did this one live, in front of my HDR Workshop in Tokyo. I like to tackle new photos in front of people so they can see how I struggle through the HDR process. It’s never easy… and I like to talk out loud and let people know my thinking process. I think this is a very interesting way to give a live tutorial, rather than go by some automated and predictable script. The way you think about all the unexpected problems, dodge and roll with the issues, and synthesize various tools to accomplish an end goal is an interesting process.

You’ll also see this on the upcoming HDR DVD. One night after an outing, I came back to process some brand new photos, and they all got to see me struggle through a few pieces to come up a satisfying work.

This was shot very recently when I was down on the extremely frigid coast of the Tasman Sea, on the southwest edge of New Zealand. With a wide-angle lens, you need to get in really close to this icy cold spray to get the splashes just right… I was completely soaked after this, and it felt (and smelled!) like I had just finished a multi-week crab hunt in the arctic!

Flashback Photo – I’ve Reached the End of the World

You can see the edge of this one from the giant wall display above… This one was also taken not too far from Antarctica…but on the opposite side of the globe down near the southern tip of Argentina and Chile. The huge display allowed my son and I to walk up very close to it… there is a little iceberg there, and he saw the two rocks. He asked me what they were, and I told him that I threw them out there while waiting around!

Filed under the categories: Milford Sound, New Zealand, Nikon D3X, Te Anau, Travel

Newsletter Torpedo Away!

The Newsletter has left the building. It should arrive in your Sunday morning email box, shiny and happy. I hope you love it…

Good Night with Jack and Brian

I had a nice evening last night with Jack Hollingsworth and Brian Matiash. We went out to do a bit of HDR shooting, talked for a while at Mozarts, and then had some great BBQ at Rudy’s. After that, I brought them over to my place and showed them a secret new video (which you all will see as soon as it is done!). They are both very nice guys… and I am going to get Brian to do a guest post very soon.

Daily Photo – Ancient Nikko

I have a bunch of these textured shots (See my Textures Tutorial) that I will be posting over the next few weeks. I showed this one to Jack this evening when he came over, and he seems to like the look as much as I do!

This is my first shot from Nikko, Japan. Nikko is famous for all the incredible temples from the Edo period. I woke up early (violently early, let us say) to go out and visit all the sites before the tourists came. You guys know I don’t like tourists in the shots… Actually, to tell the truth, I don’t like them around at all. I like to listen to my strange music and roam around these ancient places by myself, stopping to take photos when I am ready.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Nikko, Nikon D3X, Travel

Technical Problems

Some of you have mentioned on Twitter that the site is slow and is having some memory errors. I’ve got a few people looking at it and I hope to get it fixed up soon!

Daily Photo – Akihabara Street

It took me many days in Tokyo before I finally made it over to one of my favorite areas – Ahikabara. This district is famous for its pure technology insanity! If you are a geek, then this is geek heaven!

Every street is filled with huge towers, each one flowing over with all sorts of technology, gadgets, games, robotics, toys, and scantily-clad-women. The streets are filled with girls that dress in… hmmm… how do I explain it? Imagine a grown woman wearing little-girl clothes, with puffy-laced mini-skirts, giant bows, and comely dispositions. They stand around, handing out little flyers, trying to get you to come into a shop, a cafe, or something in between.

There is even a cafe there with monitors built into the table. When you order a drink, your waitress goes over to the soda fountain, where a camera lies in the floor pointing upward. Upon pressing a special button, an extra blast of air is strategically blasted to increase your viewing cone.

Filed under the categories: Japan, Nikon D3X, Tokyo, Topaz Adjust, Travel