The Rochester Institute of Technology's Big Shot project!

I spent last weekend selling my photography at the Art on the Greene art festival. Weather was lousy and they even cancelled Sunday because of high winds. Fortunately, I heard about the The Rochester Institute of Technology's Big Shot project. This event was going to take place Saturday after dark at Cowboy's Stadium which just happens to be across the street from the art festival.  I decided to bring my camera and tripod on Saturday so I could get in on the fun at Cowboy's Stadium.

This annual project has been going on for years at various landmarks. After turning out the lights, hundreds or even thousands of people with flashlights shine them on the structure and "light paint" it during a long exposure. Participants are instructed to move themselves and the lights during the exposure. For comparison I have included a before and after of the stadium.

Several minutes of light painting would be followed by a five minute gap when instructions to the participants were given from a PA System. Adjustments would be made and there would be another two minutes of light painting. After I took several shots from my location, I decided to head back to the art show. The man shooting next to me had mentioned taking some shots earlier by this reflection pool. I decided to stop by it in case they did some more light painting. Lucky for me! They did and I was able to get this shot. I can't believe I was the only one shooting from this location. It gave me the most unique shot I have seen from the event.

Art on the Greene is a nicely laid out show and it is a shame the weather kept everyone at home. All reports from last year were good for attendance and sales but that wasn't the case this year. I took this shot at the show right before walking over to Cowboy's Stadium Saturday evening. I don't think I missed much while I was gone.

A trip to New Mexico!

In January, I was invited by my friend, Gary Kelly to ride with him to New Mexico for several days of photography. Gary is the field trip chairman for the Dallas Camera Club. The field trip was mainly centered around the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge but we also spent some time at several other locations. Bosque is know for it's huge populations of Snow Geese and Sandhill Cranes that winter at the refuge and it didn't disappoint. Both mornings we witnessed massive blast-offs of the geese from one of the lakes at the refuge. However, I probably spent most of my efforts towards the cranes. Lots of good opportunities for shots whether they were flying, landing, or just walking in the lake.

During the trip, I had the opportunity to shoot some with a 600mm lens. While driving the refuge road I got this image of a White-Crowned Sparrow.

About an hours drive west of Socorro is the The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array. The skies on Friday afternoon cleared so we decided to make the drive to the Array and get some night shots. Conditions couldn't have been better.... Actually, the elevation is 7000 feet and the temperature was 9 degrees when we finished shooting that night. Fortunately, the wind had died down or it would really have been hard to have spent much time out of the car.

We spent the middle of the day on Saturday driving to White Sands National Monument near Alamogordo, New Mexico. Our plan was to shoot the evening and following morning at the monument. I was able to get some good images but I do wish they would open the gates and let you drive in a little earlier in the mornings. The sun is already up by the time you are able reach your location and start shooting. I bet photographers have spent many a tortured moment sitting in line at the entrance gate watching a great sunrise go to waste. Fortunately, it was a cloudless sky and we didn't really miss anything.

Everything about the trip was great until.............the drivers side window broke and was stuck in the down position. This happened about an hour into the last morning at White Sands and it was about 7 degrees outside. I guess its good that it didn't happen the first day because locking the car with it full of camera equipment would have been a moot point. Dealing with that would have been a PITA. Driving home that day was a little cold. Fortunately, I had brought some of my serious cold weather head gear with me. I don't even want to think about how cold my face would have gotten without it.