Hey! Ever want to escape to rural America and experience real people having real fun? All the time! I was asked to join my sister in photographing the Willamina Oregon, Mud Drags on Jun 25th, 2011.
It was a blast! Roaring engines, flying mud, real people being themselves having a great time. It’s a real family event with people traveling in from all over the Pacific Northwest to enjoy the festivities.
The race was run by Total Destruction Racing at the request of the city of Willamina. The event is a fund raiser for their annual 4th of July fireworks. Also a great event!
I shot nearly 4000 images. Below is a video comprised of more than 3000 of them. Enjoy!
Last Sunday I found myself standing at the viewing area of the Munson Creek Falls near Tillamook Oregon. This waterfall drops 319′ feet making it the tallest in the Coastal Range. More on how to get to the falls and the region can be found here. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_245.php
I was riding my motorcycle and hadn’t packed a tripod which precluded me from taking a typical long exposure shot to “silkify” the water. Yes, I just made up that word, “silkify”, kinda has a ring to it! Since I find snapshots of waterfalls… um boring, I thought I’d shoot it doing something different.
Hoping to get a more painted, brush stroke effect, I decided to shoot a longer exposure while moving the camera to “blur” the image. I’ve shot images like this before with pretty much poor results.. it takes a certain skill to intentionally mess up an image and have it turn out great! I’d love your feedback on how you think this one turned out.
f/22, 1sec, ISO 100, Canon 24-105 IS L series at 58mm, EOS 40D - Click image to enlarge.
Today I went on a ride to meet a man doing something most of us would consider impossible. He’s riding from Canada to Mexico…. in a wheelchair.
James Barnett has Muscular Dystrophy but he’s not letting it keep him from experiencing adventure. His goal is to raise money to promote adventures for other wheelbound people. While speaking with him today I caught just a bit of his passion. James dreams of riders with diseases like his own along with others like Disabled Veterans wounded physically but still capable of living life to the fullest and experiencing adventure joining him on a ride of Route 66 or other shorter adventures.
Riding with James for a few miles wasn’t just an amazing experience. It was an adventure.
You can learn more and support James at his website Wheelbound.Org
Click the photo to see a handful of the images from the visit.
I’ve had the honor of witnessing a fresh move of God within the Pacific Northwest Native American Nations. Elders and Chairmen from several Nations gathered on the Lummi reservation this weekend to claim back their next generations from alcohol, drugs, and all manner of sinful oppression. These proud peoples are boldly proclaiming God’s Word, are entering into relationship with Christ and are seeing a wave of The Holy Spirit move to heal relationships, addictions, and physical needs. Visit this link below for more details http://www.consignliving.com/
Thank You God for allowing me to be a part of what You are doing.
It’s already the 13th of January 2011! How’d we get this far into the new year without me posting? I’ve been insanely busy. Busy doing what I believe is God’s work; prayer, spiritual warfare, ministry, raising my children and loving my wife. I’ve also been busy with distractions.. College Football Bowl Games, NFL Playoffs, entertainment. I know my God understands a bit of a diversion, I’m sure Jesus played catch with the neighborhood kids in Nazareth but do I really have to watch every episode of this season’s favorite television show? No, not really.
Along with many in my local church I am currently on day 4 of a 21-day fast. Each of these 21 days I’m not eating Breakfast or Lunch. Instead, I’m focusing on God and seeking His will for my life. I’m praying for wisdom, discernment, and understanding of Bible Prophesy, I’m interceding for my church, community, state and nation.
At this point I’m just shy of 20% complete with this fast. What has God been speaking to me? Bubbling to the surface so far is a need to be more deliberate about telling the story of redemption through Jesus and making sure that everyone knows that we are closer now than ever to Jesus return. The rest of this post will focus on how we can know when Jesus will return.
A few months ago I was invited to watch a video entitled Daniel’s Timeline. I was completely blown away by the mountain of biblical evidence available to us that I believe tells us when Jesus will return. I urge you my friends to grab a Bible, pen and paper, then click the link I’ve provided and really dive into this presentation. The teaching lasts about 2-hours but I suggest you set aside 3. You’ll want to start with prayer asking God to reveal Himself and to confirm in you if this is Truth or not. You’ll also likely want to look up many of the scriptures presented and read them for yourself.
This link is the complete presentation without interruption hosted by waytozion.org. You can also watch the presentation broken into chunks via the embedded YouTube videos below.
Friends, if this study is right, or even close to right, we are now living in the beginning years of the Tribulation. We must be ready and we must tell our friends to be ready and we must act in Love to lead others to Jesus before it is too late.
Ok, so here’s the skinny on how I can quickly get pictures turned around for web and initial customer review. Actions. Actions are automatic functions in Photoshop that perform editing steps all by themselves. It’s Magic!
No, it’s MCP Actions. Jodi, over at MCP Actions has put together quite a portfolio of actions every photographer from novice to professional will find very useful. Some are free… who doesn’t love free? … some are not, but all are worth your time to check them out.
To make things better, MCP Actions is running a contest right now for a $500 shopping spree at Adorama.com. Yes, this is a shameless plug for the contest in the hopes that I’ll win, but I’m also a user of MCP Actions and it’s about time I take a moment to recommend them.
Since 2006 I’ve participated in the Olympia Toy Run. It’s a great event bringing together 12,000 plus motorcyclists to donate toys and cash to the Salvation Army for distribution to kids as Christmas Presents in the region.
Last year my whole family enjoyed the event but due to Nut Cracker ballet and Church Choir rehearsals only myself and my amazing boy Brandon enjoyed it.
Our 7:30 AM departure welcomed us with clear skies and a temperature just above freezing. We met Erling Selsted, Teal Van Kirk and Dean Hoopes for breakfast at a local diner then made our way to the event. Parking at the diner was a bit of an adventure as there was still some black ice on the pavement but we managed without dropping the bike. I took some photos at the event which you can view within my Facebook Photo album. Motorcycle Stuff.
Seattle Cossacks "Flower", five guys on one vintage Harley.
I mounted a standard definition Flip Video recorder on my bike for the ride this year. Bummer that it slipped a bit and the image went a bit off-kilter. Regardless, it’s cool to see the ride from the perspective of my handle bars. Hope you enjoy it.
I love fast glass, wish I had the resources for lots of it. This article from B&H Photo Video Pro Audio explains a great deal about why it’s an important tool for every photographer.
This is crazy cool. Wish I could go and shoot stills.
With the world’s largest inventory of rental equipment, visual impact screens in Miami provide the latest services online. Visit their website at www.leddisplayrentals.net for more details.
I find these photos astounding. First, the intricate designs created to reveal the Glory of God. Simply incredible. Second, the scientific techniques used to photograph them after painstaking collection and preservation is off the hook! Yup, I said it.. off the hook. Can a 43 year old photographer actually use that phrase?
MSNBC reports the Caltech Scientist, Kenneth G. Libbrecht, who took the photos is due in Stockholm next week to receive an award for his efforts.
